Introduction to Benefit Products and Memberships

Membership schemes, or Benefit Products as they are called in Ticketsolve, provide a range of advantages for both customers and organisations. As part of your membership scheme, you can offer customers a variety of perks and benefits such as access to exclusive content or special events, priority booking for high-demand shows, exclusive discounts, access to unique educational experiences, enhanced experiences like premium seating or free parking, or the ability to build up points as part of a rewards programme. 

Memberships give customers a sense of community and emotional attachment to your organisation and are a great way of opening up additional revenue streams, cultivating a loyal customer base, and enhancing customer engagement.

How memberships are defined in Ticketsolve

To avoid confusion, below is a quick glossary on how memberships and Benefit Products are defined within Ticketsolve.

Membership or Member (italics): Customers can have an online account (with login details) in your Ticketsolve. These customers are called a member and have a membership.

• Memberships can be active (Live) or inactive. 
• An active or live customer account with login (membership) can be associated with only one email address.
• Members do not have to be part of a membership scheme (Friends, Patron or Supporter, etc.)

Membership Schemes: What you offer your customers as memberships (stand-alone e.g., Family Membership or multilevel patron schemes).  

• Your memberships can offered as free (e.g., Access Register) or paid (£500 Patron Membership).
• Memberships are defined by Benefit Products in Ticketsolve.

Benefit Product: Membership scheme benefits or rewards are set up as a Benefit Products and linked to Discounts within Ticketsolve. For multilevel membership schemes, each level (e.g., Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.) should have it's own Benefit Product associated with it. 

• Each Benefit Product is linked to a Discount that is set up to give members of the scheme their perks e.g., exclusive access, free tickets, priority access etc. 
• Customers must create an account and login or have an account already (be a member) to purchase Benefit Products (memberships). Accounts can be created at checkout. 
• An email address can be linked to only one Benefit Product.
• Once a membership is purchased, the associated benefits or discounts are then assigned to the customers account. 

 Important

Only members (customers with a login) can be a part of a membership scheme and avail of benefits. While not all members need to be a part of a membership scheme, any customer who wants to join a membership scheme you are offering, must create an account with a login.

Types of memberships

Within Ticketsolve, Benefits Products define what perks and benefits you can offer within your memberships. Benefit Products can be set up to serve multiple purposes, but are predominantly used for paid membership schemes, i.e., annual patronages. Some examples include:

• Annual memberships
• Tiered loyalty membership
• Free or paid for community / seasonal benefits
• Accessibility card holder - exclusive access to carer comps

Types of benefits to consider

There are a ton of different benefits - and creatively packaged up benefits - you can offer your members. Below are just a few of types of benefits you can implement easily within Ticketsolve!

• A rewards balance
• Exclusive access to shows
• Exclusive access to ticket allocations - perhaps at a reduced members price, VIP seats, or include a complimentary drink
• Exclusive discounts (either continuous or one offs) and offers
• Skip booking fees and booking charges
• Exclusive events (back stage tours, walks, talks)
• Newsletters
• Virtual recognition of their support

Irrespective of the type of Benefit Product you want to offer, all Benefit Products must have a Discount associated with it (which may have zero effect if necessary). For this reason, it is a good idea to clearly outline the membership scheme you want to offer, what the price point will be (if there is one) and what benefits customers will receive. 

Once you are clear on the type of membership scheme you want to offer you, follow the steps in our articles to create and manage your membership schemes. 

Step-by-step articles on memberships

We have several articles that will tell you everything you need to know about Benefit products and give you step-by-step instructions on setting them up in Ticketsolve and the myriad possibilities to be unlocked!

• How to set up Benefit Products for membership schemes
• Selling memberships (Benefit Products) through the Box Office and Online
• Managing memberships at the Box Office
• Setting up and customising Benefit Product expiry emails