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Look to the Future with Theatre Software That Doesn’t Hold You Back

When Nottingham Playhouse switched to Spektrix from Tessitura in 2020, they opened up a new world for their audience development strategy. Now with a robust, intuitive CRM at their fingertips, they’re confident they can tackle anything they set their minds to.

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Nottingham, UK
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Producing Theatre
Switched to Spektrix from Tessitura in 2020

With the agility, ease, and support of Spektrix, Nottingham Playhouse is driving growth and crafting the ultimate audience experience.

One of the UK’s leading producing theatres, the playhouse was founded in 1948 and has a long tradition of creating memorable performances, including drama, music, dance, comedy and their iconic holiday pantomimes. Since 2011, they’d been part of a consortium of local arts organisations using Tessitura. 

But, the Nottingham Playhouse team saw that this set-up was blocking their ability to deliver the audience development strategy they aspired to. At the beginning of 2020, they took a deliberate change of direction, embracing a future-thinking approach to data, technology, and audience relationships – and they needed theatre software that was up to the task. In conjunction with a brand new website, they wanted a modern CRM that would be easy to use, enable powerful segmentation, allow their whole team to access their data, and drive revenue.

an exterior look at Nottingham Playhouse with blurred images of people on the plaza

They found all that and more with Spektrix. And when the pandemic hit in the middle of their migration, they didn’t miss a beat, reaping instant benefits from a cloud-based platform and the full support that's offered to Spektrix users from day one.

Now with their new strategy in full swing, the team reports that they’ve smashed the goals they set out to accomplish. In fact, they’re seeing their highest ever percentage of people booking online - over 80% and steadily increasing.  

We spoke with Joanna Sigsworth, Director of Marketing and Communications, and Rich Surgay, Sales & CRM Manager, to give you a look into how Spektrix has paved the way for new ideas and continuous growth.

“I thought we were pretty good at segmentation before. But actually, we're pulling more and deeper kinds of segments. It has really helped us tailor our communications and get better ROI."
Joanna Sigsworth
Director of Marketing and Communications
Nottingham Playhouse

Spektrix is so intuitive that the entire organisation uses it with ease.

The whole team at Nottingham Playhouse has embraced the Spektrix system. And we mean the whole team, with users throughout marketing, sales, finance, and even production. 

Some theatre software is so complicated that only a few specialised roles know how to use it, or even requires coding experience to operate. Not Spektrix – the system is so user-friendly that anyone and everyone can use it.

“We enjoy using the system, and that shows.”
Rich Surgay
Sales & CRM Manager
Nottingham Playhouse

What does this ultimately mean for the Nottingham team? They can:

 

Trust their data.

Everyone’s updating the same system and securely inputting valuable information. No spreadsheets floating around, no confusion about which reports were pulled, no more silos.

Be nimble.

Everything is in one reliable system, so no need to chase people down for information. Actions can be made quickly and confidently. For instance, if marketing needs to send an email to VIPs? No problem - they can do it instantly. They already know exactly who their VIPs are because team members have been regularly tagging them in the CRM. 

Feel empowered.

Every team member can operate with a sense of independence. They’re no longer reliant on particular system-savvy colleagues to get things done. Everyone has access to key information, from show production requirements to sales reports. 

Train anybody.

Because the system is so easy to use, the team at Nottingham are confident that anyone can learn it quickly. That means previous experience with their CRM software is no longer a requirement when they’re hiring. They can recruit a wider, more diverse pool of people, and onboarding is painless. They can get new hires using the software right away, without any extra cost.

 

With a robust, futureproof system, they can be innovative and adaptive, overcoming challenges and jumping on opportunities.

The Nottingham Playhouse team is firing on all cylinders. They’re full of energy and ideas, and they feel confident that they can accomplish them. 

With Spektrix, they’ve already been able to overcome obstacles set by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, and they know that they can handle whatever comes at them next. The enhanced segmentation and reporting capabilities of their theatre software have empowered them to make quick, informed decisions and react to demand. 

 

Flexibility in action: A new type of festival


In October 2020, Nottingham Playhouse produced the Unlocked festival – an event unlike anything they’d done before. They were able to point, pivot, and turn right along with the changing conditions of the pandemic, implementing a brand new approach to paid digital content and setting up an array of fresh seating plans on the fly to meet their complex needs.

As they brought their community together, welcoming audiences online and in-person, their newfound digital approach with Spektrix gave them “peace of mind.”

 

 

 


And it's not just about being able to react. The team at Nottingham is always brainstorming new projects and fresh ways of working. 

From comms to queue to curtain call, they’re proactively thinking through every part of their audience experience and strategising on how they can enhance it. With the power, reliability, and endless configurability of Spektrix, they can try out ideas easily and stay on the cutting edge. The sky’s the limit.
“The fact that we can grow with the system is really important to us.”
Rich Surgay
Sales & CRM Manager
Nottingham Playhouse

The Spektrix experience truly feels like a partnership thanks to inclusive support and training.

The Nottingham Playhouse team loves that they have reliable access to the Spektrix team, with no additional charges or fees for support.

They’ve worked closely with our team throughout a variety of projects and challenges, and they know that they can always call us if they need something. 

Data migration and implementation

 

Moving out of a consortium naturally meant that data migration was a big process with multiple stakeholders, including their council. The playhouse set up an internal project manager, who worked closely with Spektrix implementation and our experienced data migration engineers, trusting in our extensive experience migrating data from Tessitura to Spektrix. Joanna and Rich felt confident throughout, knowing they had the right team in place to get everything up and running.

As Joanna puts it: “We didn’t have any sleepless nights.” 

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Training and events at no extra cost

 

The Nottingham Playhouse team regularly attends Spektrix-provided sessions, from training to in-person events. They see this as a huge value. “I encourage everybody to go to everything,” says Rich. “From a cost perspective, we wouldn’t be able to send too many people to courses all the time if it wasn’t free for every user.” 

Working with Spektrix partners

 

The playhouse has also tapped into our expansive Partner Directory. As a Spektrix partner, their web design team at Cog Design was already intimately familiar with Spektrix when the project began. 

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Plus, the Nottingham team has been working closely with Spektrix to explore specialised partner solutions. For instance, they’re now working with crowdEngage to supercharge their audience engagement and mobile ticket delivery, and they're using Baker Richards' Advantage Dashboard for even more advanced tracking. Building on the strong data capabilities of their Spektrix CRM, they can get creative and iterate on their tech stack to achieve exactly what they want to do.

The power of the right theatre software

 

Nottingham Playhouse is looking towards a bright future. With Spektrix at their fingertips, they’ve been able to break through barriers to build out an effective digital strategy, and their team is more confident than ever before.

Find the best solution for you Our step-by-step guide helps compare features, support, and pricing so you can choose the right ticketing software for your audiences and team.