Auckland Philharmonia Hums to the Tune of a New Database

With limited government support, 66 full time musicians, a database of 16,000 supporters and a performance schedule that includes multiple venues within Auckland and around New Zealand, the small Auckland Philharmonia team has the very busy task of not only supporting an annual revenue budget of over NZ$5 million, but also providing customised ticketing, marketing information and financial support in a cost efficient manner.

Christine Young, Marketing Manager for the Auckland Philharmonia, explained the management team was well aware of the dire need for a database system that provided across the board administration support. "We needed a system that would offer financial reporting and customer tracking ability, and speed up the entire ticketing process," Young said.

The answer for the Auckland Philharmonia was to utilise the talents of Rob Russell of SumWare Consulting, a computer consultancy specialising in FileMaker solutions. Russell developed a customised FileMaker Pro database, at a fraction of the cost of any other solutions on offer. The Auckland Philharmonia now has several hundred linkable fields in operation and that number continues to grow

"A key feature of the new system was its customer based design," said Young. "Our database carries information that allows us to target a particular group or individual customer. This means we now have a vast array of information on a customer's preferences from what they have seen, and when, and we can even track seating preferences. Being able to link FileMaker Pro 'fields' gives us a distinct marketing advantage as well as providing our customers with excellent service.

"With FileMaker Pro we are much more efficient in terms of time, and in being able to provide good responses to customers, whenever they need to contact us with queries. Without it, I suspect ticketing and customer service areas, to say nothing of marketing, would require twice as many people, completing fewer functions. We have been delighted with the way we have been able to use and adapt FileMaker Pro to suit our increasingly sophisticated requirements and are confident that our current system will carry us forward for at least three more years," Young believes.