Melissa Ragsdale
Being a theatre box office manager is an exciting opportunity. You’ll work with people, solve problems, and play a key role in bringing the arts to life.
Here at Spektrix, we work closely with box office managers every day – in fact, many of us have worked in the box office ourselves. We’re in your corner, in your current position and in future roles to come, wanting to see you succeed every step of the way.
So, we’re here to help you feel confident in your next interview, too. Whether you’re interviewing for this type of position for the first time or moving laterally to a new organization, let’s dive into some actionable tips to help shine the spotlight on all that makes you a great fit for the role.
Understand the role
What does a box office manager do in theatre?
A theatre box office manager leads the box office team in ticket sales, customer service, and operations.
Typical accountabilities include:
- Setting up new events, offers, and incentives in your ticketing software and website, then putting them on sale
- Scheduling and delegating tasks to box office associates - full-time, part-time, and/or volunteer
- Training new box office associates
- Pulling reports on ticket sales and other key metrics
- Overseeing daily payment processes and reconciliation of the register
- Taking lead on handling customer service escalations
- Representing the theater to the public as a main point-of-contact
- Working closely with the marketing, production, and finance teams to ensure a successful sales cycle
- Strategizing on how to streamline operations and improve the customer experience
The scope of a box office manager’s role can vary depending on the size and structure of the theater. In some cases, your box office may be a team of one or two, while elsewhere you might have a large staff. Especially at a smaller organization, you’re likely to wear many hats in this role.
Research the theater
The more you know about the theater you’re interviewing for, the better you can speak to their exact needs. Even more importantly, you can get the information you need in order to know if this job will be right for you.
Go into the interview knowing these key points:
- Are they a presenting theater, producing theater, or both? A presenting theater provides the physical space for creators, companies, touring groups, and other events in their area. A producing theater directly produces their own programming. This is a key indicator of what the operations of the theater will look like.
- What is their capacity? Knowing the size of the theater can give you an idea of what your day-to-day will look like.
- How many stages/venues do they have? Sometimes theatre box office managers are in charge of multiple sites or productions at once.
- When is their season? While some theaters put on productions year round, others split up the calendar. Producing theaters, for instance, typically work in seasons.
- How many shows do they have a week? This would likely determine what your own personal scheduling needs would be.
- Do they have any additional events, such as festivals or galas? Sometimes these are handled by the marketing and fundraising teams, but you may be responsible for helping to sell tickets.
- What is their funding model? This might not be something you can easily Google, but see if you can get a sense as to how much they rely on ticket sales versus donations versus memberships and other similar programs for their funding. In most cases, it will be a mix.
- Do they offer memberships, subscriptions, or loyalty programs? The box office will need to know how to help customers with these – and as the box office manager you’d likely want to start thinking about how to maximize their benefits.
- Do they have a volunteer program? If so, leading volunteers could be a big part of your responsibilities.
If you can’t find any of this information online, make a note. It could lead to a good question to ask about in the interview.
Demonstrate your impact
One of the most effective ways to sell yourself in a job interview is to bring real, tangible data into the picture. Let’s think about how to do this in the context of the box office.
Quantitative data speaks volumes
Which sounds more impressive to you? “I’ve sold a lot of tickets to customers over the years.” versus “In my current role, we typically sell 3,000 tickets per week and over the course of the past three years, we’ve seen a 5% increase in ticket sales.”
Using actual numbers in your job interview (as well as your resume) makes a huge splash. It demonstrates that you have a proven track record, shows that you think strategically about measurable outcomes, and encourages employers to see you as an asset. The more specific you can get in how you talk about your work, the more it will resonate.
Whenever possible, bring along quantitative data that shows the impact you’ve made in your current organization or in previous experience. This is where your arts management software comes in – in fact, the metrics that you’re currently tracking in your regular reports are a great place to start.
Some ideas for data points to use include:
- How many ticket sales per week you or your team typically handle
- Increases in ticket sales revenue that you’ve contributed to
- Increases in returning visitors over the course of your work
- Increases in first-time visitors over the course of your work
- Staff turnover rate among your team
Of course, be mindful of confidentiality best practices within your current organization, and don’t share anything that would be considered private. If you focus on numbers that relate to you and your work this should come naturally.
Qualitative data brings your story to life
It’s not all about hard numbers. As a theatre box office manager, a lot of the value you’ll bring is in the “soft skills” and other attributes that can’t always be easily quantified. But you can still collect qualitative data on these as you prepare.
During your prep, brainstorm experiences or accomplishments from previous roles that you want to talk about.
This could include times when you’ve:
- Successfully helped a customer or a team member
- Problem-solved to untangle a tricky situation
- Worked cross-functionally between multiple departments
- Trained people on using software, printers, or other box office tools
- Implemented or improved a key process
This exercise will especially come in handy when an interviewer says something like, “Tell me about a time when…” but you can also apply your examples to more generalized questions.
As with any performance, rehearsal can really pay off. Practice telling these stories out loud to yourself before the interview so you can come off super confident in the room, even with your nerves abuzz.
Ask the right questions
“Okay, so do you have any questions for us?”
Don’t ignore this portion of your theatre box office manager interview – it’s a golden opportunity to shine. Good questions will show the interviewer that you care about the work and that you are ready to dig into it.
Moreover, the interview goes both ways – you want to learn if the theater meets your criteria for your next career move. You are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.
Here are some examples of good questions to ask:
- What are your goals for the upcoming season?
- Which box office software and online ticketing solutions do you use? And are there any other software or tools that will be key to this role?
- How does your organization integrate donation asks and upsells within your ticket sales?
- How do you envision this role collaborating with other teams, such as marketing or fundraising?
Have a few questions prepared, but also don’t be afraid to ask questions that come up throughout your discussion.
Ready to become a theatre box office manager?
Box office managers have a thrilling and fulfilling job, playing a critical role in the theater’s operations. If you embrace data right from the start (even before day one), you’ll be able to demonstrate the kind of strategic thinking that enables box office managers to succeed.
By reading this post, you’ve already taken the first step in gathering the information you need to go into your interview feeling prepared and confident. Break a leg, and we look forward to seeing where your career goes.
Melissa Ragsdale (she/her) is a Marketing Content Producer at Spektrix.