Integrating CRM & Ticketing Systems (Specific to Continental Europe)

April 2023

An inquiry from an ABA member about useful systems for integrating ticketing and CRM databases kicked off a short ABA research project that included a handful of interviews. Our research looked to understand the different schematic system workflows of different organizations, common challenges behind existing platforms, and how arts and culture institutions maintain the necessary expertise to adjust these systems. Due to the nature of the requesting member, interviews were based in continental Europe as certain technological systems are not offered globally, but the overall takeaways can be applied more broadly:

A highlight of the findings include: 

• The choice for most continental European arts organizations is to stitch together several semi-customize solutions. Ideally, Tessitura is a single system that meets most of the customer data needs of arts organizations in one place, but when not available, Tixly and Salesforce seemed to be good alternatives. 

• Interviewees expressed preference towards consolidating their systems ("the fewer the better"). When too many systems are in play, organizations not only run the risk of creating additional customizations to integrate different systems but also require training for staff on all systems. 

• Ongoing customer service from vendors after set-up and integration should be a priority. It is rare for arts organizations to have dedicated internal staff who work on maintaining CRM/donor and ticketing, and IT departments are not big enough to do this kind of work. Typically, interaction with these systems are a few peoples’ responsibilities amongst other duties in marketing, development, and the box office.

To read these and more findings, download the report at the button below.