San Marcos, Texas – If you have an affiliation with Texas State University and its athletics department, do not be surprised to hear directly from our new ticket office call center this summer about the upcoming 2013 football season.
To help spread the message about Bobcat Athletics, and increase season and game day ticket sales, Texas State has created an on-campus call center located in the North End Zone Ticket Office of Bobcat Stadium. The goal of the call center is simple and two-fold: increase awareness and increase ticket sales.
"This is an initiative we are very happy to have set in motion" said director of athletics Dr. Larry Teis. "It is imperative that we have the infrastructure in place to tell our story to as many people as possible, and we believe the call center will continue to assist us in spreading our message and driving our ticket sales."
The call center currently consists of a six-person student worker sales force, with plans to add two full-time sales professionals in the coming months. The current staff averages over 900 calls per week, with a total of more than 15,000 calls made since the center's inception in March. The result: over 150 new sales over the course of the last four months.
The ticket office staff, in conjunction with University Advancement, has generated a call list of over 30,000 names including past season ticket holders, recent alumni living within a 30-mile radius of Bobcat Stadium, multiple game ticket buyers and alumni with a prior giving history to the university. Additional lists of both athletic alumni and local businesses are also currently being produced and will be contacted in the coming months.
"Yes, we want direct sales from this, but we also just want to make as many people aware of Texas State Athletics as possible. A lot of people want us to send them a brochure from the ticket office or the Bobcat Club, so that they can learn more about what Texas State has to offer," said Teis.
On the call center's list of selling points are, not just season ticket options, but programs that will hopefully spark new ticket sales via our most valuable asset – existing supporters. New incentivized programs including the Re"fur"ral Program and Bring a Bobcat Campaign reward current season ticket holders and Bobcat Club members with price discounts and increased priority points when referring new customers to our athletics program.
"We'll reach out and call as many Bobcats as we can about buying football season tickets. Our office has already made more than 15,000 calls this spring and summer," said director of ticket operations Joe Verschueren. "However, our best sales people are our current season ticket holders. They are most passionate about Texas State's continued push forward, and we are lucky to have such a great group of incredible supporters. If each of our fans could refer even just one new season ticket holder, it would go a long way in helping our effort."
Current season ticket holders who refer new customers can receive 5 percent off their 2014 season tickets for each new account (up to 50 percent off). Current Bobcat Club members can increase their Priority Points and ranking by bringing in new donors to the foundation as well. The deadline for the Re"fur"ral Program is June 28 with the Bring a Bobcat Program continuing year round. Please click on the following links for more information.
"Increasing attendance at our football games is a top priority for the Athletic Department and a year-round focus for the ticket office. We continuously consider every option to improve in this area. Even if we do not sell a sale on every call, we are still informing the public of Texas State, where we are heading and the bright future of our athletics program is moving toward," said Verschueren.
Click HERE to buy season tickets
E-mail a list of re"fur"rals to: gametickets@txstate.edu
"Right now we are reaching out to alumni and attempting to get more Bobcat fans in the stadium. This is important to us because we realize that fans play a vital role in the program as a whole. As a current Bobcat, it is exciting to talk to alumni and get them as hyped as we are. We truly feel that we have a good product in athletics this year. Our job is to sell that feeling to the people we have been contacting." – Patrick Gilbreath – Call Center Student Worker
