One record behind tickets and digital ID
A national science museum buying a CRM through government tender, its members held in the ticketing system and each scheme on its own list.
/work/science-membershipCame in under strain
- System
- CRM, members' portal, loyalty and feedback
- Ask
- A three-year CRM service through government tender
- Region
- Public sector, national
The piece Two tines on one shank: the pass and the programme on one record, the third collar on the pass glowing where it pays off.
- 200+usersall seven load-test goals passed
- 500000recordsdesigned capacity
- 31 Mar 2021commissioned
- 24hoursbefore an unpaid ticket is released
The ask
One record for visitors, members, travel agents, corporates and sponsors, with loyalty, feedback, a turnstile e-card and national digital ID login.
The real problem
Members sat in a ticketing system never built for membership and none of the museum's systems talked to each other.
Ticketing was moving to a new platform during the build, so the two systems had to agree who did what.
Many lists, one record
- Idle
- Live
- Strain
- Fail
BeforeA list per scheme, feedback on its own and a plastic card three to four weeks away.
AfterTicketing registers members. One customer record checks entitlement and holds tickets. Members sign in through the national digital ID for their e-cards.
What we built
The museum's CRM, configured on a platform run as a service and integrated with the new online ticketing and national digital ID login.
Members register in ticketing only, so there is one place to join. The CRM holds tickets while people pay and answers every entitlement check with a yes or no and the reason.
How we made it hold
It had to clear the government's own checks: a penetration test, static code scans and load tests. Four museum leads signed off commissioning on 31 March 2021.
Backstage The decisions behind the build, and the hardest problem
Decisions
One place to register members.
Members join in ticketing only, so there is a single source for who a member is.
Hold tickets while people pay.
The CRM locks the quantity when a form is sent, deducts it on payment and releases it on cancellation or after 24 hours unpaid.
Clear rules for households.
Children often share a parent's email or mobile, so four set patterns decide when the record merges holders and when it keeps them apart.
Ruled out
A plastic membership card.
It took three to four weeks to arrive, so each holder now gets an e-card with a QR code for the turnstile.
The hardest problem
Two systems sharing one member. Ticketing was moving to a new platform while the CRM was built, so in April 2020 we settled with the ticketing team which system does each step, from registration and entitlement to holds and releases.
The difference
- Visitors, members, travel agents, corporates, sponsors and feedback on one customer record.
- One place to register members, with tickets held and released by rule.
- The feedback desk stable at 100 staff at once and passing every test goal past 200.
