INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION

We Will…

• Provide a range of booklets, fliers and information leaflets about the services we deliver
• Produce A Monthly E-Newsletter Outlining The Programme Of Events
• Ensure information is clear and easy to understand
• Provide accurate and up to date information
• Use our website as an information and communication tool that is updated regularly
• Use our social media channels to provide up to date information

CONSULTING AND INVOLVING YOU

We will…

• Actively invite you to participate in our Customer Service process and setting of standards via regular surveys, focus groups, through our website and in our venue.
• We will publish performance data on our website so that you have the opportunity to participate and engage with us
• Carry out satisfaction surveys on a regular basis with customers and via Mystery Shopping along with the pro-active circulation and analysis of customer comment cards

VISITING OUR PREMISES

We will…

• Be Polite & Helpful At All Times And Measure This via comment cards and Mystery Shopping visits
• Present a clean, warm and tidy venue and measure this
• Provide access and provision for people with disabilities including spaces for ten wheelchairs, lifts to all levels of the building, low level access at box office and an infra-red system for patrons with hearing difficulties.
• We will also provide a BSL Signed Performance and Captioned Performance for our annual Pantomime.
• Display and publish clear signage information
• Respect your privacy at box office with dedicated workstations for customers.
• You will be dealt with immediately when you arrive in the venue and if our box office staff are on a call they will acknowledge your arrival and deal with your enquiry as soon as the call is finished. Our target is 90% of callers seen within target times and results will be published here.

CONTACTING US BY PHONE

• We aim to answer your call within six rings. You will be advised of the name of the staff member dealing with your enquiry and which department you are through to.
• We have upgraded our telephone booking system. If our staff are busy on another call you can choose to either hold for the next available staff member or leave a message and we will return your call. We aim to return all calls within one hour and we will measure this and publish the results here.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

• We aim to provide a website that is accessible and easy to navigate and provide information on it which is useful, accurate and up to date
• We have a facebook page and twitter account where up to date and accurate information is provided. Facebook page here and twitter account here

MAKING A COMMENT, COMPLIMENT OR COMPLAINT

• We record, monitor and measure complaints and compliments and will publish the results via the website.
• We aim to acknowledge and deal with complaints as quickly as possible.
• We will acknowledge all complaints within 72 hours and aim to deal with all complaints within 10 working days.
• We aim to resolve 90% of all complaints within 10 working days and will monitor and publish the results of these here.
• We will ensure that you have clear information on how to make a comment, compliment or complaint and will use information from comments, compliments and and complaints to improve our services

CUSTOMER CONSULTATION | INVOLVEMENT

• We will consult and involve our customers using a wide range of methods and review our approaches annualy. Results and improvement actions from our consultations will be communicated via our website
• We also aim to achieve 98% ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ comments from returned comment cards

DIPS IN PERFORMANCE

Whilst we take great care to ensure that we provide all our services to a high standard, we accept that from time to time problems will arise or your expectations may not be met. This may result in a dip in performance against our customer service standards.

If customer expectations are not met we will inform you of this and outline the reasons why and more importantly what action we are taking to put things right and prevent it happening in the future.

We assess performance and any dips through feedback comment cards, mystery shopping visits, customer surveys, evaluation of complaints and comments, and focus groups to monitor our standards.

FOCUS GROUPS [2015]

Recent focus groups with different groups of customers provided us with feedback, useful insights, and areas where we can improve:

• ISSUE: Phone rings out when box office line is busy | ACTION TAKEN: Customers can leave a message and call is returned or they can hold for next available operator
• ISSUE: Interval too brief | ACTION TO BE TAKEN: Extend interval to allow for a more relaxed experience with drinks etc
• ISSUE: Receive too many mailings | ACTION TO BE TAKEN: Focus on e-communications
• ISSUE: No loyalty scheme in place for regular customers | ACTION TO BE TAKEN: Theatre to introduce loyalty scheme

FOCUS GROUPS [2016]

Focus Group meeting carried out with different customers who were randomly selected to give us additional feedback, opinions and recommendations for improvement. Areas to be followed up include:

• ISSUE: Squeaky seats in North and South Galleries | ACTION TO BE TAKEN: All seating to be tested and fixed as required.
• ISSUE: Seat selection not available on mobile sites | ACTION TO BE TAKEN: To investigate possibility of providing seat selection with ticketing provider.
• ISSUE: Saturday matinee performances of adult targeted shows would be appreciated | ACTION TO BE TAKEN: To look into the viability of such programming.
• ISSUE: Front cover of current brochure doesn’t convey The Market Place Theatre’s name strongly enough | ACTION TO BE TAKEN: Future covers to be reviewed for strength of brand.

COMPLAINTS

If the service you received at The Market Place Theatre was less than satisfactory or you felt that it was not of a high enough standard please let us know. You can download our complaints form here

PROCEDURE

THE MARKET PLACE THEATRE & ARTS CENTRE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

The Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre aims:

• To provide the theatre’s customers with the best possible service;
• To resolve complaints immediately;
• To provide the theatre’s customers with an effective and efficient means of resolving dissatisfaction with the services provided;
• To provide a clear procedure with complaints;
• To communicate effectively with a complainant throughout the complaints procedure;
• To review complaints procedures with a view to learning from our mistakes and ascertaining ways to improve our services to meet the needs of the customers;
• To provide a way of rectifying injustice whenever possible.

HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT

Customers / individuals may submit a complaint in person to any member of staff present at the time, by phone, in writing or through Armagh City and District Council. A simple form is available here

The Market Place has a specific procedure to deal with customer complaints and as part of that procedure it is noted that The Market Place will acknowledge the receipt of complaints within 72 hours and respond to the complaint in full within 10 working days. Where it will not be possible to respond in full within this period, due to the need to conduct internal enquiries, the complainant will be informed of this situation within 72 hours. The complainant will be kept informed after this period at regular intervals.

In addition, The Market Place aims to resolve 90% of all complaints received within 10 working days.

• We record, monitor and measure complaints and will publish the results via the website
• We aim to acknowledge and deal with complaints as quickly as possible.
• We will acknowledge all complaints within 72 hours and aim to deal with all complaints within 10 working days.
• We aim to resolve 90% of all complaints within 10 working days and will monitor and publish the results of these.

HAVE YOU BEEN TREATED FAIRLY?

We are committed to treating all our customers and customer groups fairly and equally. We assess and measure this in questionnaires to various customer groups.

If you feel you have not been treated fairly, please do not hesitate to get in touch. E-mail kmullan@marketplacearmagh.com

HELP US TO IMPROVE OUR SERVICE

If you would like to make a suggestion about how we can improve our service we welcome feedback from our customers. You can e-mail us at kmullan@marketplacearmagh.com. We will acknowledge your e-mail and suggestions and try to implement it where possible, feasible and reasonable and let you know the outcome

OUR CURRENT ACHIEVEMENT AGAINST TARGETS

1. Mystery Shopping – Mystery customers make a booking at our venue and attend a show to assess our customer service levels

2016

To date – Overall Average Combined Score 92% [+2% Service Improvement]. Our target is 97% and we are striving to attain this very high standard by continually reviewing our service

2. Comment Card Scores – Comment cards are circulated to audiences at most of our shows, assessing quality, friendliness, value for money, overall experience, cleanliness and food & drink. Our target is 95% overall percentage and we are already exceeding this high level.

2016

3. OTHER TARGETS

KPI’S

DIPS IN PERFORMANCE EXPLAINED

1. Participant Numbers – Feedback from customers and ticketing analysis flags up that a number of workshops have been repeated. Many workshop attenders have already completed those on offer. ACTION TAKEN: Programming meeting and marketing analysis indicates need for Advanced Skills for some workshops and sourcing of new tutors and workshop genres for Spring 2017. Workshop programme to be added to Focus Group agenda.

2. Mystery Shopping Average Score – A number of elements have contributed including waiting times for drinks at the bars and presentation of the outside of building. Action taken includes Franchisee ensuring extra staff are on for busy nights, more regular meetings with franchisee to raise issues, regular feedback to cleaning company and daily checks outside the building

3. Delivery Of Exhibitions – Fewer exhibitions were delivered than planned as main gallery space closed for remedial works

4. Users – Numbers are collated at end of March 2017

A] Returning Calls –

• We aim to answer your call within six rings. You will be advised of the name of the staff member dealing with your enquiry and which department you are through to.
• We have upgraded our telephone booking system. If our staff are busy on another call you can choose to either hold for the next available staff member or leave a message and we will return your call. We aim to return 95% of calls within one hour and we will measure this and publish the results.

B] Dealing With Complaints

• We aim to acknowledge and deal with complaints as quickly as possible.
• We will acknowledge all complaints within 72 hours and aim to deal with all complaints within 10 working days.
• We aim to resolve 90% of all complaints within 10 working days and will monitor and publish the results of these.
• We will ensure that you have clear information on how to make a comment, compliment or complaint and will use information from comments, compliments and and complaints to improve our services

C] Processing Tickets / Bookings

Ticket bookings [online, telephone and at the counter] will be dealt with immediately. Tickets will be posted out that day if requested

D] Conference Enquiries

Respond to conference enquiries with 24 hours or 72 hours [weekend or bank holiday enquiries]. 2015/16 results: 89% achieved

WE WOULD ALSO APPRECIATE YOUR VIEWS ON OUR SETTING OF TARGETS. YOU CAN CONTACT US kmullan@marketplacearmagh.com

4. ACTION TAKEN TO IMPROVE SERVICES

Following consultation with our customers, and in an effort to address prevalent customer concerns, the following alterations have been made to improve our services:

A] Gallery Signage improved throughout the building, and lightboxes installed to further publicise Gallery Exhibitions

B] FOH staff fully trained in audience monitoring to alleviate ongoing problem with disruption during performances

C] FOH announcements re-recorded to address issue of photography during performances.

1. Views & Feedback

We would be delighted to hear your views and feedback on the accuracy of the information we provide to you our customers. We currently measure this via customer surveys and through focus groups. If you have any views on the quality of information you receive from The Market Place we would be delighted to hear them, whether positive or negative. Please contact us – kmullan@marketplacearmagh.com

2. Service Standards For Responding To Customer Enquiries

We Will…

• Provide a range of booklets, fliers and information leaflets about the services we deliver
• Produce A Monthly E-Newsletter Outlining The Programme Of Events
• Ensure information is clear and easy to understand
• Provide accurate and up to date information
• Use our website as an information and communication tool that is updated regularly
• Use our social media channels to provide up to date information

CONTACTING US BY PHONE

• We aim to answer your call within six rings. You will be advised of the name of the staff member dealing with your enquiry and which department you are through to.
• We have upgraded our telephone booking system. If our staff are busy on another call you can choose to either hold for the next available staff member or leave a message and we will return your call. We aim to return all calls within one hour and we will measure this and publish the results.

CONTACTING US BY E-MAIL

• Our website contact page here outlines who you should contact by e-mail depending on the type of query you have.
• We will endeavour to resolve e-mail enquiries immediately and acknowledge e-mails within 24 hours. Where this is not possible [for example when we are not open or in the late evening/Sundays] your e-mail enquiry reply will not exceed 72 hours.

CONTACTING US BY LETTER

• We aim to acknowledge all correspondence within 5 working days. Our target is 90% of letters responded to within 5 working days. For complaints please refer to our complaints procedure here.

BROCHURE REQUESTS

• Brochure and flier requests will be dealt with immediately and you will receive the information no more than 48 hours later

Our customer service aim is to be up there with the ‘best in class’ and to be able to assess how we are doing we benchmark our performance against external organisations and venues of a similar nature.

We also seek to publish the results of this benchmarking here on our website.

AREAS WHERE WE NEED TO IMPROVE BENCHMARKED AGAINST SIMILAR VENUES

1. Monitor Performance Against Standards – The Market Place has recently introduced a full set of customer service standards which are published online. We intend to monitor our performance going forward against these standards

2. Undertake Regular Reviews Of Service – Our newly-established Customer Care Team [made up of representatives from our box office team, front-of-house team, duty officers and marketing team]

THEATRE PROGRAMME

The views expressed by artists presenting their work in the auditoria and exhibition areas are the artists views alone and do not represent the views of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council.

BOOK IN PERSON

Box Office Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday from 9.30am to 4.30pm. On performance evenings the Box Office will remain open until 7.00pm for all bookings and until the performance start-time for tickets for that night’s show only.

BOOK ONLINE

Tickets for most performances can be booked online at visitarmagh.com/marketplacetheatre

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A £1.00 PER TICKET

BOOKING FEE FOR TICKETS PURCHASED ONLINE.

BOOK BY TELEPHONE

Mon to Sat from 9.30am to 4.30pm. On performance evenings we take elephone bookings until 7.00pm. The easiest way to pay is by credit or debit card. Payment can also be made by cheque, payable to ‘Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council’.

SCHOOL BOOKINGS & INFO: 028 3752 1830

DISCOUNTS & SPECIAL OFFERS

Seats 2 & 3 in the Upper North and Upper South Galleries have a restricted view and are offered at a discounted ticket price. A number of seats will be available for Åí5.00 for people and families totally dependent on state benefit. Shows marked R in our brochure are included in this scheme.

Discounts for some performances are also offered to senior citizens, carers of disabled patrons, students and the unemployed [relevant proof of eligibility will be required]. Tickets for all the above must be paid for in person.

We reserve the right to make special offers on tickets throughout the season. Offers cannot be claimed retrospectively [under any circumstances] on tickets already purchased.

TICKETS CANNOT BE EXCHANGED OR REFUNDED

Once purchased, your ticket is your property. The Market Place Theatre ncannot refund its value to you, nor exchange it for any other ticket under nany circumstances. If you cannot attend the performance for any reason, you have the option of selling or giving your ticket to another person. Where a performance goes ahead we accept no responsibility for tickets that are unable to be used due to circumstances outside of our control, for example bad weather and transport difficulties.

LATECOMERS

Latecomers will only be admitted if there is a suitable break, which in some cases may be the interval. Where there is no interval or suitable break we reserve the right to refuse admission and no refund can be issued.

SUPPORT ACTS

For some performances, a support act will precede the headline act, particularly for popular music events and comedy. Whilst The Market Place endeavours to inform patrons about such support acts in advance, on some occasions this may not be possible.

CHILDREN

Children aged two and under may attend suitable performances for free but must be seated and must be in possession of a valid ticket.

SPECIAL ASSISTANCE

Our staff are delighted to provide special assistance, if required, to disabled and other theatregoers. Our facilities include spaces for ten wheelchairs, lifts to all levels of the building, low level access at the Box Office, and an infra-red system to assist patrons with hearing difficulties. Customers using wheelchairs or those who require special assistance attending an event should contact the Box Office in advance so that appropriate assistance can be arranged.

PARKING & DIRECTIONS

Detailed directions to the theatre and a map showing parking and directions can be viewed on our website visitarmagh.com/marketplacetheatre

PLEASE NOTE

Smoking, electronic cigarettes, the use of mobile phones, photography and video equipment and food and drinks are strictly prohibited in both auditoria. All details are correct at time of going to print. We reserve the right to alter the programme in the event of any unforeseen circumstances.

STROBE LIGHTING : FLASH LIGHTING

LIGHTING EFFECTS

During many performances at The Market Place Theatre, lighting effects are used, including strobe lighting.

Patrons who may experience difficulties with such effects should note that The Market Place Theatre will post notices around the venue to make you aware when strobe lighting will be used.