Steps You Should Follow When Offering a Ticket Refund
In these uncertain times, you may have made the tough decision to cancel your event. While this is unfortunate, you know that you’re acting in the best interests of your employees and your customers.
Check out these tips for offering your customers a refund and what to say to them.
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Postponing or rescheduling your event Within your Purplepass account, it's easy to
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Reaching out via Email
When you reach out to your customers to offer a refund for their ticket purchase, you have several options:
If you have the option to (2) host your event virtually, explain to guests whether you’ll be making the change. If your in-person event included a dinner or other physical aspect that can’t be provided virtually, you may want to give guests the option of a partial refund.
You might say something like, We’re committed to providing you with a top-notch virtual event experience. While we’ll still deliver the content we’ve promised, we recognize that your ticket included a five-star catered dinner. If you’d like to attend the virtual event, we’re happy to refund (dinner cost) while still providing a valuable online event experience.
(3) Fully explain the situation and let guests know that you have their best interests at heart. Show empathy. Say something like, We understand that you’re disappointed, and we want you to know that this cancellation is a disappointment for us too. The safety of our guests and employees is paramount, and we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel with your best interests in mind.
(4) Don’t ghost your guests. Give them ways to contact you if they have questions or concerns. You might say something like, If you have questions or would like to know more about why we’ve decided to cancel, please reach out to me personally at (phone number).
After offering the refund
Once your guests have had their money refunded, you’ll want to keep in regular contact with them to ensure that they continue to look forward to your future events.
This is especially important if your event has been postponed rather than cancelled. Follow these steps to keep your guests informed while creating loyal customers.
Provide regular updates
Be sure that no matter where your guests normally get their information from you, you’re providing regular updates. This means keeping your company’s social media, emails, and website up to date with the latest information. When you update one platform, be sure to update them all.
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Purplepass' SMS Marketing feature Stay connected with your guests through our
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One of the easiest ways for confusing mixed messaging to occur is for companies to fail to create a cohesive presence online.
When you provide updates, always include contact information so they can reach out with questions. While a 24-hour turnaround period is the industry standard for responding to messages, try to reply faster. You want to show your customers they’re still your number one priority.
Give resources
When you update your platforms or send out update emails, link to other company resources as well. You want your customers to know that you’re doing everything you can to keep them informed.
You’ll also want to link to the CDC or WHO website to provide your customers with more information on why you’ve had to cancel.
Make it clear that this wasn’t a decision you made on a whim. Give evidence of why you made the right decision every time you reach out to your customers.
Prepare for your future launch
It's hard to know exactly when your event is going to take place. Planning a few months ahead is a safe bet for being able to hold your event. Keep your plan tentative so you don’t have to go through the headache of another cancellation.
Keep your guests in the know of what you’re planning, even before things are set in stone. This allows your guests to see that you’re still hard at work providing them the event they’ve been promised.
