Ticketing & Membership Assistant, Southbank Centre, London
Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre and one of the UK’s top five visitor attractions, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames.
We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. We want to take people out of the everyday, every day.
The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection.
It is also home to four Resident Orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and four Associate Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain).
We have an exciting opportunity for full and part time Ticketing & Membership Assistants to join our team. The post holders will serve as the first point of contact for our visitors and members over the phone and via email, as well as in person at our Ticket Desks and Members Area.
The post holders will provide first class customer service to engage with Southbank Centre’s visitors and members to provide a welcoming, efficient and knowledgeable service.
Some experience working in ticketing or with membership schemes would also be beneficial. Ticketing & Membership operates 364 days a year between 8am and 9pm. Team members must be flexible, particularly to covering evening and weekends.
We offer a stimulating and professional environment in which to work – and the pace and scale can be breathtaking. This is a remarkable place to work and our people require the ability to work in The Southbank Centre Way – to think, act and learn with speed and agility.
Job Objectives
Be the first point of contact with Southbank Centre visitors, Members, ticket holders and audiences
Provide a welcoming, efficient, knowledgeable and friendly service, ensuring a first class experience
Commercially engage our audience through target driven ticket, Membership and gift aid sales
Main Responsibilities
Ticketing
- Provide a positive and accessible service to all customers and colleagues at Southbank Centre.
- Actively upsell and cross-sell tickets, Memberships and any other products on sale via Southbank Centre and its partners
- Assume responsibility for acquiring and providing product and venue knowledge
- Respond positively to customer enquiries and maintain effective customer relations
- Maintain a good knowledge of Southbank Centre’s health and safety procedures
- Act as an ambassador for Southbank Centre, ensuring you are always well presented and smiling
- Provide general assistance to ensure personal and communal work stations are well presented and fit for purpose
- Reconcile sales transactions to adhere to Southbank Centre accounting and data procedures
- Distribute marketing and event updates as directed, engaging audiences with our marketing materials
- Support colleagues and work as a team following Southbank Centre’s standards
- Take action to ensure the effective resolution of customer comments and report on customer feedback escalating issues to managers as needed
- Make recommendations for an improved ticketing service as appropriate
Membership Experience
- Provide excellent service, exceeding Member expectations when dealing with concerns and issues
- Maintain efficient day-to-day communications with Members via the Membership inbox, phone calls, voicemails and online Member activations
- Have an active presence in the Members Area, carrying out regular walk rounds and maintaining outstanding presentation
- Assist with the prompt delivery of new welcome packs and the welcome calling process
- Support with maintaining stock
- Assist in compiling statistics to demonstrate Member service satisfaction
- Assist in the delivery of Members’ events.
- Proactively uplift Gift Aid and ensure data protection opt-ins are up to date and compliant, in line with Southbank Centre’s data protection policy
- Endeavour to achieve sales and Membership income targets through the sale and retention of Southbank Centre Members
- Maintain excellent relationships with internal partner companies, promoters and artistic partners
- Make recommendations for an improved Membership service as appropriate
Person Specification
Essential skills and experience required
We are looking for someone who:
- An active interest in the arts, culture or music
- Experience working in a customer services or ticketing environment, providing excellent service and resolving customer issues
- Experience working with cash and credit card sales
- Excellent communication skills; able to communicate with a wide range of people, and assist all visitors in a helpful, courteous and confident manner
- A confident salesperson who will promote Southbank Centre Membership, activities and events and has experience meeting sales targets
- A problem-solver who remains calm under pressure
- Flexible to working evenings and weekends. Please note Ticketing & Membership Assistants will be required to work a minimum of two out of four weekends. Part time Assistants are required to give an average of 75% availability for weekends
- Organised, with excellent attention to detail
- A team-player who will establish positive working relationships
- Strong verbal, written and telephone communication skills
- Excellent IT skills including familiarity with Google Suite
- Able to demonstrate an understanding and commitment to diversity and inclusion within Southbank Centre and its programming
Desirable skills and experience
- Experience using Tessitura
- Experience working in a London arts venue
