A day in the life of a Client Relationship Manager!

Welcome to our 'A Day in the Life series'. In this series, we're going to explore and reflect on working at DigiTickets. We'll be looking at roles across the company, so you can get to know a little bit more about us! Kicking off first, we'll be looking at our Client Relationship Managers! This week we were joined by James Hancock and Josh Hayes to tell us a bit more about their day-to-day roles, looking after clients and being the face of DigiTickets.

Hi both! Josh, can you kick us off and tell us a bit more about your time at DigiTickets?

So, I've been with DigiTickets now for over five years! I came with a bit of an advantage as I'm actually a previous user of the system, having worked at Lincoln Castle and Lincolnshire County Council. I came over to the DigiTickets Team in April 2017.

So, five years is a long time, how has your role progressed since then?

Yes, it is! But it's been a really great five years though, learning about the sector and the different range of attractions we work with, from zoos to aquariums, farm parks to museums; there's a real diverse and wide range of attractions and, I've really learnt my trade that way. I've kept growing and now I'm a Senior Client Relationship Manager, which has been a great step up. 

So did you always start as a Client Relationship Manager Josh?

Well, yes, I did come straight in as a CRM, but back when I started the team was a lot smaller. So, there was Client Management, Support, Business Development, and a bit of Onboarding - a little bit of everything! 

So, James, tell us about your history with DigiTickets...

I've been at DigiTickets for just over three years now and I was completely new to the ticketing industry. I came from a tech background mainly, I actually used to work at PlayStation. But I came aware of the role, and actually knew someone already working at DigiTickets. I came in at a CRM role and now I'm currently Client Services Team Leader and a Client Relationship Manager - so a bit of a hybrid role. 

What's a typical day in a life of a CRM?

(James) Well, honestly, the days a very varied and you never really know what's going to crop up. But often you'll find us on-site doing face-to-face meetings with clients, which we pride ourselves on as a business or doing remote meetings. We would meet with different teams on-site at any attraction and we will discuss their future plans, and any additional things we think they might benefit from like our other solutions of ProPoint, Shiftie, Payyo or even just checking in on their Christmas planning! We also get very involved in problem-solving with clients, to make sure everything is running smoothly. Or, absolutely anything that lands in your email when you log on in the morning. 

(Josh) I echo that for sure, especially with the patch I look after, I could be at home, in Greece, Ireland it could be anywhere. So most days really are different, it's quite fun to be able to go between so many different attractions and locations, it certainly keeps you on your toes. 

So guys, what patches do you look after?

(Josh) Currently, I look after Irish clients, in Scotland, the US, Europe and some of the North-East and the Midlands. I'm a busy man. 

(James) Well, I'm not Mr Worldwide like Josh, but my territory is up to Newcastle and across to the Lake District and North Wales. 

So Josh, can you tell us what your best day at DigiTickets has been. 

Well, it was probably across a couple of days, but the Managing Director Rich and I went out to New York to do some training and till installs with one of our clients out there, which was a very full-on day. On the second day, we went to do some "attraction research" around the Niagara Falls area, so I got to see some amazing scenery and even do a zipline across the falls! 

So you've obviously attended a lot of events and ticket launches across the industry, is there one that particularly stands out for you?

One of the early ones I went to was the Frosts Christmas ticketing launch. Before they moved fully online, they used to split between sales of walk-up pre-bookings and online sales were put out afterwards. We got onto site around 7 am and there was already a queue around the street for the tickets, it was mad. As we opened the doors at 7.30 am, there was an amazing atmosphere and we had a military operation of nine tills running, getting all the customers through to book their slots. Anything that was left was opened up to those booking online. That really sticks out for me as it was my first Christmas ticketing launch - it was pretty special.

Then, in terms of an event opening, Dublin Zoo's Wild Lights is always the big one for me. You have 4,000 people ready to come in at 6 pm, and we lined up staff with handheld scanners as zap-in customers in a military-style. After twenty or so minutes they are all having an amazing time!

Okay James, your turn! 

The two best days that stand out for me, are my first day with the company, meeting everyone for the first time, getting to know them and really being welcomed to the team.  It sounds really cheesy, but just knowing you'll get on with everyone and that their ethos aligns with yours that's really the same for me today. The next one would be when I took over the National Trust account, which is a huge client for us and being given the responsibility for that account, was a proud moment for me. 

So, the event that really stands out to me would be the Beamish Museums ticketing launch. Was a successful but challenging one, it was mainly based on COVID and the restrictions at the time and the complications that brought. Beamish needed to change the way that their visitors were on-site but still wanted to ensure that the customers still have the best experience possible, regardless of which entry point, they went into. The other project that's been great to work on would be Knowsley Safari with their ProPoint installation. We installed over twenty tills in two days including all of their admission, membership and cafe till points and that went extremely well. 

Last question! What do you think the future holds for you both?

(Josh) For me, it's the number of things we're bringing under our belt, in terms of the payment gateway, EPOS a channel manager and lots more! We're going to have an amazing offering.

(James) I think if we keep focused and work hard, we'll have a really strong product and a great team. Plus, making sure that our clients are happy and getting the service they need.