Growing Subscriber Loyalty With a Flexible, Audience-Centered Approach
Pairing technology with human connection to support audience engagement
Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) has been a cornerstone of Utah’s cultural life since 1969, producing bold new works that challenge and inspire audiences.
Based in a converted 19th-century church in Salt Lake City, the organization is known for championing stories that might not otherwise find a stage in Utah. Subscribers are central to SLAC’s model: loyal supporters who return year after year and make ambitious programming possible.
At the 2025 Spektrix Hub in Denver, Nick Fleming, Director of Ticketing, shared how moving to Spektrix gave SLAC not just new functionality, but new ways to listen to patrons and adapt their approach. Their story highlights the value of pairing connected technology with human interaction to better support audience relationships and subscription sales.
We were very excited to swap to Spektrix, smooth out that subscription process, and most of all, give our patrons the ability to subscribe online.Nick Fleming, Director of Ticketing
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568 more subscriptions
than the previous year
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300 subscription sales
linked directly to the mobile approach
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More flexibility
for patrons choosing how to subscribe
Growing subscriber loyalty with easy online subscriptions
On their previous system, patrons could not purchase subscriptions online, relying instead on a manual process handled in person. With Spektrix, patrons finally had the option to subscribe from home, on their own time.
Nick and his team leaned into that shift, building campaigns around the message that subscriptions were now just a click away. For many theaters, that kind of digital convenience would be the goal. Yet at SLAC, something unexpected happened: enthusiasm did not translate into signups. Many patrons said, “I’ll do it when I get home,” but never did.
Our audience loves talking to us, and we love talking to them. While renewing, many said, 'I know I could have renewed online, but I waited until I was here because I want to do it with you. I like this interaction.'Nick Fleming
Recognizing the value of human connection
SLAC realised that while online tools offered convenience, their audiences valued the personal touch even more. Patrons enjoyed stopping to chat with the team, renewing in person, and making subscriptions part of their theater going ritual.
A team member was already assigned as a subscription specialist to move through the theatre, talk with patrons about subscriptions, and encourage them to sign up. During those conversations, the team kept hearing that people would love to subscribe, but many never did. It involved walking downstairs to the box office, scanning a QR code on a phone, or remembering to do it at home.
All of that pulled people out of the experience of being at a live theatre show. So instead of asking patrons to subscribe later, the team equipped team members with iPads and completed subscriptions on the spot.
As patrons were subscribing from the comfort of their own seat, we were seeing an added effect on their friends, and even strangers, sitting near them. They would watch them subscribe and say, 'Hey I want to do that too!' and we would sign them up on the spot as well!Nick Fleming
Driving human connection with mobile technology
The in-person approach to growing subscriber loyalty was paying off. Subscriptions increased by 568 compared to the previous summer, with 300 of those sales directly linked to the mobile approach.
Some subscribers still chose to join online, but now they had the flexibility to choose the route that worked best for them. Nick and the team saw each new approach as an addition to their toolkit, not a replacement.
The one technological change that was essential to the project’s success was the ability to manage signups and payments on the move. Using iPads logged into Spektrix, subscription specialists could move around the theatre, start conversations, and complete signups on the spot.
Payment processing might have been more difficult. Many payment terminals still require a wired connection or complex setup. But the team in Salt Lake had chosen Spektrix Payments as well as the Spektrix platform, and that meant they had portable payment terminals that worked smoothly wherever they were in the building.
Stay on the lookout for less obvious ways to use your new tools. In this case, it was taking advantage of the mobility of the platform. We can work Spektrix on an iPad. Spektrix Payments doesn’t care what device you’re on. It just syncs seamlessly. It’s awesome.Nick Fleming
Listening to your audience
Salt Lake Acting Company’s story is a reminder that technology and human connection work best together. By enabling online subscriptions, then adapting to what their patrons really wanted, the team found a way to make subscription sales easier, faster, and more personal.
The combination of Spektrix Payments, mobile devices, and on-the-ground staff turned potential drop-offs into confirmed subscribers, strengthening loyalty and making it easier for more patrons to continue supporting bold new theatre in Salt Lake City.
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Signups and payments
now managed on the move
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Portable payment terminals
work smoothly throughout the building
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Faster, easier subscriptions
made more personal by combining technology with human connection
I would say the moral of the story here is to listen to your audience. We were so excited about online subscriptions that we almost let the personal connection that our audience loves slip away. A lot of people come to our spaces searching for human interaction outside of our cell phones. Don't undermine that by just sending them to a QR code.Nick Fleming
