You’ve got a great venue, an impressive line up and the catering is going to be out of this world… but before your attendees even arrive, the customer experience surrounding your event has already begun.  From that very first interaction, whether it be with your website, or when purchasing a ticket, your attendees are already forming an opinion of you and your event.  This will influence how likely they are to come away loving the whole experience or potentially the very opposite!

Here are some tips on how to ensure you wow your customers now:

1. Proactively keep your attendees informed.

Make accessing information about your event straight forward and easy.  Anticipate the questions your attendees are likely to ask and ensure the answers are readily available. Consider adding a FAQ section to your Eventbrite page!   For example, if you are using discount codes, make sure your attendees understand exactly how to redeem them.  You can also make use of our map feature to help attendees find the exact location of your event.

2. Be responsive and accessible!

Providing contact information for your attendees not only enhances ‘trust’ (which is proven to influence people’s likelihood to purchase from you) but provides you with an opportunity to wow your customers even before the event. Top tip – manage people’s expectations about response times.  If you can answer calls immediately, or emails within a few hours that’s great.  If it is going to take longer, make sure your attendees are aware of the likely response times.  Also ensure any partners you are working with have your contact information and that you’ve defined what they should do if they receive any direct customer contacts on your behalf.

3. Plan for the unexpected.

With any event, unexpected hurdles may pop up so make sure that your attendees know how to find the latest updates about your event.  Additionally, have a plan B — sometimes, even the best laid plans go wrong. Ensure that you have planned in advance how you will manage unforeseen situations and, most importantly, how you will communicate and manage the impact these changes will have on your attendee.

If you resolve a customer issue or complaint in the customer’s favour, they will do business with you again 70% of the time.  When you combine this with the fact that a loyal customer is worth up to 8x their first purchase – keeping your attendees happy makes great business sense!

4.  Act on Attendee feedback

Make sure you seek out and act upon your attendees’ feedback (you can use Eventbrite’s survey integrations to allow you to gain great post-event insights).  Remember that if someone is voicing a complaint there are likely many other customers who have remained silent.  When you implement a change based on attendee feedback, inform your community! This is a great way to win customer loyalty and to thank them for their contribution to helping your events become even greater!

A great attendee experience not only results in existing attendees coming to your next event but will also boost the number of recommendations you receive. Any tips you’d care to add? Tell us in the comments below!