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Press Releases & Articles
Going Beyond Stellar Service in Uncertain Times
by
Martin R. Baird
(Print,
PDF)
As I was writing this column late last year, the United States was
grappling with a number of economic challenges, and I had no reason
to believe things would improve soon. Challenge is a nice way of
saying the U.S. has problems, and I wonder what they mean for
American casinos.
I’ll list the woes. We have a mortgage crisis in which people can’t
buy or sell houses and that, coupled with runaway foreclosures,
drives home prices down quickly. People are losing equity in what is
supposed to be their biggest investment. U.S. gasoline prices are
beyond ridiculous for what Americans are historically accustomed to
paying. I know $3.50 a gallon would be a bargain in Europe, but it
takes its toll on American drivers. Food prices are climbing.
Generally, there’s a pall of uncertainty hanging over the U.S.
economy.
So is good or improved casino guest service enough to overcome these
hurdles and keep the table games and slots busy? Will stellar
service be enough to defuse Americans’ gnawing economic worries and
keep your parking lots full? In a word, no. Casinos must do more.
First, I’ll build a case for why more is needed and then I’ll make
some suggestions.
I’ve read the research that says gaming is countercyclical, that
when the economy goes down, the amount of gaming play goes up. The
problem I have with this concept is that the gaming world has
changed dramatically in the last 10 years. I don’t think
countercyclical necessarily applies anymore. It would be foolish for
casinos to count on it.
Ten years ago, the majority of gaming was in Las Vegas, Reno and
Atlantic City. The world flocked to those markets to play. Thus, if
the U.S. economy was struggling and other countries’ economies were
strong, overseas players perceived America’s problem as their
opportunity. They read the weak U.S. economy as a signal to come and
play to their heart’s content.
But in today’s gaming environment, there are casinos in just about
every country on the planet. No matter where you live, the games
with the latest bells and whistles will soon be at a casino near
you, if they aren’t there already. Why fly halfway around the world
to the U.S. when you can hop in your car in Paris and drive half an
hour to a nice casino?
Countercyclical doesn’t even apply anymore to American players. In
previous economic downturns, Americans took their cash reserves to
places like Las Vegas with hopes of winning big so they could pay
their bills. With gaming’s amazing expansion, why would anyone in
Detroit go to the expense of traveling to Vegas when they can drop
by a local casino with the same hopes and dreams? Las Vegas, Reno
and Atlantic City shouldn’t expect countercyclical play on the home
front. On top of that, staying and playing in Detroit is not new
money for Michigan properties. Locals are already spending their
dollars at those casinos and, with the way the economy is going,
they just might spend less.
OK, enough said. If countercyclical is now a fond memory, what can
casinos do to keep their performance strong in a weakening American
economy? What should they avoid?
One step all casinos should take is a serious inventory of what they
do well. What do you do best that contributes to your success and
how can you make sure you continue to do those things at the highest
possible level? You may need to peer into the past. During times of
rapid growth and great success, it’s easy to drift away from those
things you do well. What was it that got you where you are today?
Did you lose your focus in flush times and simply forget about it?
Perhaps senior management ordered a deliberate strategic shift that
shoved those initial drivers of success aside. This happens when
people think they are smarter than the economy or local market. If
improvements are needed to ensure you continue to roll out those
best business practices, then so be it!
The next step is simple but not easy. You must move from a guest
service focus to an emphasis on the gaming experience. This is not
for all casinos. I still visit properties that need to work on their
service because they have none. They’re clueless about the most
basic elements of service, such as smiling and eye contact. But most
casinos have the basics well under control. The next step is to
develop your employees so they move to the level of creating a
wonderful guest experience. Customer service is a fundamental part
of what I’m suggesting and when you step it up a notch to mold an
experience, you move the guest to an even higher level. Most guests
will not tell their friends about service, unless it’s horrible. But
they will tell them about their amazing gaming experience.
Of course, you have a business to run in the midst of all this. So
the third and final step is making intelligent business decisions
during tough economic times while developing your people so they
understand the importance of creating an amazing quest experience.
It all has to makes cents as well as sense.
One course of action I certainly don’t recommend is cutting back on
spending. I know the numbers people like to stash the checkbook in a
secret vault during tough times. The problem is I have never seen a
company cut its way to growth. Granted, I’m not an accountant, but
when you cut budgets, you tend to slow or stop growth. Sure, cuts
are sometimes needed. If cash flow doesn’t support the current
business, something must give. But that is not a strategy for
growth. That is a short-term solution for survival, and casinos are
not struggling to stay alive.
With the years I have in and around the gaming industry, it’s
obvious to me that it’s easier to generate an additional dollar in
revenue than it is to cut that same dollar. Give your guests a
wonderful casino, outstanding service and tons of fun and they will
be more than willing to reward you with additional revenue. Notice I
said reward. You have no god-given right to your guests’ money. The
money they spend at your property is a reward for doing things
better than your competitors.
Gaming has changed dramatically since the last economic downturn.
Casinos must understand that they can’t rely on past player behavior
and the same old level of service. They must do more this time
around.
Martin R. Baird is chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates,
Inc., a customer service consulting firm that works with casinos
around the world. He is creator of the company’s Advocate
Development System, author of “Advocate Index™: An Operational Tool”
and may be reached via his Web sites at
www.advocatedevelopmentsystem.com and www.casinocustomerservice.com.
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