A vibrant home for culture in the heart of Ostend
In Ostend, De Grote Post has been a fixture in the cultural landscape for more than ten years. Today, the monumental, former post office is a vibrant cultural center where theater, music, comedy and residences alternate. Visitors will not only find shows, but also an accessible cultural café, an open counter and initiatives that lower the threshold to culture.
Since 2021, Matilde Schokkaert has overseen ticketing, ensuring a smooth and welcoming experience throughout the entire public process. She is part of the hospitality team and combines ticket sales with customer communication. “There is a lot in the house here,” she says, “so even on a regular office day, I'm in the middle of it: there are always artists or residents rehearsing or building something.” At De Grote Post, ticketing is not a separate back office function, but a direct link between the audience, reception and the audience.
.jpeg)
Ticketing as an extension of their mission
Hospitality at De Grote Post starts well before the performance, with communication and initiatives that inform, engage visitors and also give people in vulnerable situations the opportunity to participate.
One example is the preservice and after service mails. In advance, visitors receive a clear reminder with information about the duration, location and content of the performance, tips for accessibility and accessibility, and a link to the Culture Café. Afterwards, a thank-you email with suggestions for similar shows and a short survey will follow.
“This showed, among other things, that visitors benefit a lot from that pre-service information mail. And that they are happy that they are reminded again,” says Matilde. Thanks to the integration into the ticketing system, she does not have to switch between platforms, and all communication remains linked to the right presentation and customer data.
In addition, there is the solidarity contribution: with every online order, visitors get the option to donate a small amount. That money is used to allow people in poverty or newcomers to come to shows for free, always in cooperation with local associations and organizations.
On average, three euros are donated. That adds up quickly. Last year, we were able to give hundreds of people a solidarity ticket in this way.
-- Matilde Schokkaert
--- Responsible for ticketing at De Grote Post
From cumbersome to comprehensive: the added value of ticketmatic
When De Grote Post switched to ticketmatic, colleagues immediately called it “a breath of fresh air”: user-friendly, clear and easy switching between counters. Matilde fully recognizes that feeling. “I appreciate the ease of use very much. It's so intuitive.”
What makes ticketmatic extra valuable for De Grote Post are the features that make daily work easier and more efficient:
Volunteers and temporary teams on the move quickly
Ticketmatic's user-friendly interface makes it easy to train new people. This is a crucial factor for De Grote Post, where permanent desk staff as well as temporary workers and volunteers work.
“In itself, that sale, creating that order, everyone gets that quickly. It all makes sense,” says Matilde. At festivals such as Theater Aan Zee, she sometimes gets the task to help the temporary ticketing manager get started. This usually happens within one hour, after which new employees can already do a lot of things independently.
To quickly familiarize new people with De Grote Post's specific way of working, Matilde and her colleagues developed their own manuals. They are in line with the standard ticketmatic documentation, but include the house's internal steps and choices. There is a short version for the most common actions and an extended version with screenshots for more complex tasks such as registering coupons. This way, volunteers and temporary workers can come to a solution themselves even if there are less common questions. “It's just good that they're as self-reliant as possible,” explains Matilde.
Keep building hospitality
Today, De Grote Post gets around almost 90% of sales online and the rest via the counter, yet a relatively high share in the sector. The counter remains a conscious choice to maintain the relationship with regular visitors and to bring in new people easily.
Matilde is particularly proud of the smooth, customer-friendly experience that visitors now have. “If customers don't have any problems, that they have simply been able to buy a ticket carefree and have been well informed... then we have good ticketing.”
Partly thanks to a combination of hospitable processes, smart communication and a user-friendly ticketing system, De Grote Post can further achieve its mission: creating a connection out of wonder.
.jpg)
.jpg)
