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Casino Improvement Index
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Seven Keys to Boosting Casino Guest Service
And Improving Your Property’s Performance
By Martin R. Baird
I can’t walk into a casino without encountering a stream of
management questions related to guest service.
How do we improve our guest service? How do we make our guest
service training work? How can we build a long-term customer service
solution? We can’t outspend the competition, so how do we outservice
them?
These are smart questions. If a casino wants to make internal
improvements to boost performance, quality guest service is
certainly a critical part of the equation.
Casino executives who ask these questions are on to something. They
know that no matter what else is going on in the world, their guests
always want one thing: a great gaming experience. Guests want an
experience that is so wonderful and memorable that it keeps them
coming back even if they have less money in their pockets when they
leave.
Guess what? Good customer service and the outstanding guest
experience that comes from that also have an effect on your bottom
line. Guests who enjoy themselves will come back and play again.
Having said that, I want to pass along seven keys to improving
customer service that I’ve learned from years of helping the gaming
industry. These seven keys will set you on the right path to
creating a customer service culture at your property and reaping the
rewards.
Key #1: Change is Difficult
For some reason, people in the gaming industry lose sight of the
fact that change is difficult. When I ask executives about getting
players to try new games, they tell me how hard that is to do. They
give examples of how slowly players get around to doing something
new.
Players and employees are the same when it comes to change. Human
beings do not quickly accept change unless they experience a major
event or have some other good reason to change. Therefore, when
you’re trying to develop a guest service culture among your
employees, you’ll find it won’t happen quickly or easily.
Some casinos think they can “change” their people by marching them
through a three-hour orientation or training session. Wrong! Change
takes a high level of repetition and it needs to be of interest to
those on the receiving end. You must identify what will motivate
your people to perform the desired behaviors you’re looking for.
Yes, a very small percentage of your staff members will change just
because you ask them to. The challenge is getting a critical mass of
employees to see that this change, this guest service culture, is in
their best interest. If it’s not important to them, most will not
invest the effort needed to change.
Developing a guest service culture is an evolutionary process.
Key # 2: It Starts With Hiring, But That Is Not Enough
All casinos work hard to hire the very best candidates to fill job
openings at their property. Unfortunately, that’s just the
beginning. Hiring the very best is a great place to start, but it
simply isn’t enough. If hiring the “right” person was all it took,
there would not be a multibillion-dollar training industry. A
company invests in training because it needs and wants more out of
its people.
All of us face budget crunches on an ongoing basis, but what is your
budget’s alternative to training? If you’re like most properties,
you don’t have a choice. You find and hire the best of the best and
they still need improvement.
Just for fun, take a day and look at the amount of time and energy
you spend hiring people. Now look at what it would take to turn your
employees into truly great guest service ambassadors. It’s much
better to invest in training than it is to throw money out the
window hiring people and then firing them for not providing the
level of guest service that will allow you to compete.
Key #3: All Training Is Not Created Equal
Isn’t it odd that people will spend $30,000 for a specific
automobile because they recognize the quality of the brand but when
it comes to investing in the growth of their employees through
training, they shop it based on price alone?
Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with going to a discount store
and buying paper towels and napkins. That, to me, is good business
sense. But I would not buy something as critical to my overall
success as the guest experience and purchase it on price alone.
Automobiles are not created equal and the same goes for training.
I’ve attended training sessions that did not use the principles of
accelerated learning and within 10 minutes I was looking for the
escape hatch. I couldn’t stand it. It was boring and slow and those
were the good points.
Learning 101 dictates that people learn when they say it and do it.
Unless you’re trying to teach your employees how to sleep, the
training needs to have more interest. People retain new information
the least when all they do is listen to a lecture.
You need to invest in training that makes the experience fun, that
encourages participation. The trainers also need to know the
industry. They should understand that most gaming employees only
make money when they offer their guests a great experience. I’ve
heard hundreds of stories about casino employees getting tokes from
people who were losing money. Employees know that they will not
always be compensated for their efforts. But they know they will win
over time if they put in a consistent effort. Good training gives
them the skills they need to make that effort.
After all, this is the entertainment business and if your employees
are not part of the entertainment, your guests will make the choice
to spend their dollars elsewhere.
You should also hire a company that specializes in customer service
training for the gaming industry. Some casinos say they have one of
their other vendors provide guest service training. That’s shocking
because these are the same people who would never consider opening a
window with a brick.
Companies that don’t specialize in customer service training can
help you reach an outcome. It may not be the exact outcome you
desire but they will help you to a point.
The problem is they don’t always leave things in the best condition. A
brick will open a window. The cleanup may not make it worthwhile,
but the window will now be open.
So why would you trust your guest service needs to a company that
doesn’t specialize in guest service consulting for the gaming
industry? If you need to improve guest service, don’t grab the
closest tool or hire the most available company. Invest a little
time auditioning to make sure you find the best solution for your
guest service needs.
Key # 4: The Fun Factor
In Key No. 3, I mentioned that you are in the entertainment
business. It’s important to realize that your guest service training
needs to be entertaining, too. Most people think training is a form
of torture. It doesn’t have to be that way. If people are not having
fun, it’s very difficult to get them to listen and pay attention.
Think for a moment about children and their ability to watch
cartoons for hours. They smile and laugh. They’re riveted to the TV.
If you asked them to tell you about the cartoons, they would
remember them in vivid detail.
The reason these children remember is because of the fun factor.
Several years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a
gentleman who had invested a good part of his life helping the
people who produce the Sesame Street children’s show. He showed them
how to develop lessons and taught them about the child’s learning
process. He focused on accelerated learning, a technique that makes
training so interesting and fun that people can’t help but learn.
Learning IS fun and if you start customer service training with that
premise, you will increase both retention and application. If you
learn only one thing from reading this column, make it this – add
more fun to your training.
Key #5: It’s An Investment
I know training can cost a significant amount of money. It can be
the equivalent of several salaries. But you need to view training as
an investment. With training, you’re investing in your people and in
the opportunity to generate more revenue for your property. If you
invest in your people, it helps both them and you.
Studies show that most employees want to be recognized and
appreciated and that they rank these two items much higher than pay.
By investing in your employees with training, you’re recognizing
them and showing appreciation. You’re telling them and showing them
that they are important to your success and that you want to enhance
their value. If done correctly, you’re also giving them tools they
can use to make more money the next time they start their shift.
There’s another investment to consider, the fact that improved
service and a better guest experience can increase your property’s
play and, ultimately, its profits because those factors encourage
guests to come back. It can be eight to 10 times more expensive to
get a guest to visit once than it is to get them to return. Many
properties use frequent player cards because they know they’re
building a habit for some of their customers. The sooner that
happens, the sooner they can save a little on marketing and increase
profits.
I hate to say this, but all the wonderful marketing in the world
will not and cannot make up for poor guest service. People have too
many entertainment choices. They don’t need to come to your
property. Even if you’re the only game in town, people now have the
choice of online gaming. They don’t even have to leave the comforts
of home.
If you could improve your guest service and get 10 percent of your
visitors to play one hour longer, how much would that contribute to
your bottom line? If you could invest $100 and generate $200, would
you do it?
Improving your people and improving your guest experience is a
simple investment. You add hotel rooms or restaurants so guests will
stay and play longer. That is the same as a wise investment in great
training.
Key #6: You Need to Start With An Accurate Perspective
I’m disappointed by the number of gaming venues that really don’t
know what their guests want. Management will tell you they
understand their guests, but all their information is second-hand or
biased by their experiences. For example, some people in management
think employees always smile. Of course they smile when a boss walks
by. Or they see only the negative because that’s what they hear from
guests. They get feedback from guests who are upset and hear nothing
from those who have a great time.
Creating a guest service culture at your casino involves change and
in order to start that very challenging process of change, you need
to have an accurate, unbiased view of where you are today. You need
to know what your guests really see and think. An insider’s point of
view is not nearly enough. Do a 360-degree evaluation so you see
things from the guest’s perspective, from management’s viewpoint and
from the employees’ standpoint. When you do this, you have a clear
view of what is really happening.
If you don’t start with this perspective, you are doing training or
trying to improve service based on fiction. If I were going to
invest a significant portion of my budget on improving service, I
would want to base my investment on honest, unbiased observations.
Key # 7: People Are Not Born With the Guest Service Gene
Wouldn’t it be great if you could do a simple test to find out if
the person you’re about to hire has a great guest service gene? It
could save all of us some big hassles.
Unfortunately, there is no such gene. Good customer service is not
born, it’s built over time with great training.
The few people who do it naturally simply see how great service
works, and they like the way it makes them feel when they help a
guest. But most people are not so blessed.
Most people don’t see how service affects them. They don’t see that they
can keep their job and make more money if they provide better
service. I’m surprised at the number of gaming staff members who
don’t understand that they’re commission-based employees. They live
for tokes and the higher the level of service they provide, the
better the chances they have of getting great tips.
So if they’re not born with the gene, you need to provide training
that’s fun and interactive. You need to offer training that shows
them that they and your company will be rewarded if they adopt these
new, better behaviors. I’m talking about learned skills that are an
investment in your employees’ future.
Now you have the seven keys to improving customer service. Guest
service is an unending battle that your property faces every day.
There will always be a newer, bigger gaming venue, so how will you
compete? Will you try to fight the never-ending battle of
outspending your competition or will you outservice them and win
customers that way?
Martin R. Baird is author of “Advocate Index™: An Operational Tool”
and chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a
customer service consulting firm for the gaming industry. Robinson &
Associates helps casinos determine their Advocate Index, a number
that indicates the extent to which properties have guests who are
willing to be advocates, and then implements its Advocate
Development System to help casinos create more guest advocates. The
Advocate Development System uses the proven methodology of Advocate
Index in combination with best business practices to chart a course
for growth and profitability. More information about the Advocate
Development System and Robinson and Associates is available at the
company’s Web sites at www.advocatedevelopmentsystem.com and
www.casinocustomerservice.com. A copy of “Advocate Index: An
Operational Tool” may be obtained by calling 206-774-8856. Robinson
& Associates may be reached by phone at 480-991-6420 or by e-mail at
mbaird@casinocustomerservice.com. Based in Annapolis, Maryland,
Robinson & Associates is a member of the Casino Management
Association and an associate member of the National Indian Gaming
Association. |
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