US Ticket Search in Weston is surviving against industry giants by applying a call-on-me strategy in an industry typified by facelessness.
“The slowdown has been all year long,” said Tom Stevenson, founder and president of US Ticket Search. “It started with the baseball season in the spring and is showing signs of continuing into tennis. Broadway”™s also been very off.” The football season ”“ “about to start soon” ”“ then hockey and basketball are likewise looking lean.
Stevenson, a 15-year veteran of the industry and former banker (for 20 years), said he”™s encouraged by the fact that people are still calling.
“We”™re continuing to pick up new clients every day,” said Stevenson. “Our industry is clearly one that is discretionary so our job right now is to survive. There”™s no question that business is off, but it has been gradual. Last year was the best year we”™ve ever had, in spite of the economy. The nature of our business is different; it took a while for my clients who were still working through their budgets for the last year to react.
“Of course this year everybody”™s budgets are different and they”™re cutting back,” he said. “Our challenge is to show people how they can use our service to economize. People make assumptions that tickets are expensive, that”™s not necessarily so.”
With the U.S. Tennis Open coming up, Stevenson has put together options he hopes will help people exchange their tickets if they can”™t use them or, for those who”™ve watched the stormy skies all summer, will offer them the opportunity to purchase rain insurance for their tennis package.
“What we tried to do when we started this business is build a following that”™s relationship based, as opposed to just being a service with a supply of tickets,” said Stevenson.
Service, Stevenson said, distinguishes his company from the big players in the industry.
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“We have big companies like StubHub and Ticket Master out there going up against us,” said Stevenson. “Ours is really more consultative with our clients. Typically, our target client is a business that uses the tickets for entertainment with their clients as part of the sale process.”
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According to Stevenson, his company has expanded to private ticket options as well, but remains majorly staked in the world of events as business entertainment.
Stevenson said the individuals his business serves tend to last with him for a longer period of time and have a greater degree of loyalty because of the consultative nature.
“The biggest change in the industry since we”™ve begun is the Internet,” said Stevenson. “It has changed things ”¦ a lot. In the beginning in the industry it was a lot about knowledge, knowing who to call in California if you need a ticket out there. Now, anyone with Internet access can figure out where to find things. The information age has come upon us in a big way.”
Stevenson said what happened is that planning events and getting them to happen smoothly have become the products of the smaller players.
“As the industry has changed we”™ve had to adapt, but our core value is still the same,” said Stevenson. “We”™re still providing the same service we did 15 years ago.”
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Stevenson caters to the New York City event scene, though he sets up tickets for clients across the country.
Stevenson said the approaching U.S. Open tennis championship is one of the largest events each year for his company because it”™s the only annual national event held in New York on a regular basis; the World Series has been iffy of late.
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He has found the best way to find longtime clients for his business is on a referral basis.
“I can put together a better plan for you for Yankees tickets than Yankee Stadium can,” said Stevenson. “Because we work in the marketplace we can literally buy and sell tickets at below face value.”
One of Stevenson”™s new features based on service is the ability to offer an exchange policy. “One thing that”™s a mantra in the industry is once you”™ve bought a ticket there”™s no refunds,” said Stevenson. “That”™s only on package arrangements, but it comes out as a big benefit. These are investments and we give them the opportunity to insure that investment.”
Stevenson said that being able to offer personalized service has been his business”™ saving grace in this economy.
