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Press Releases & Articles
December 2007
Casino CEOs, GMs Love Their Research, but What Is the Real Score?
by Martin R. Baird
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It happens to many casino chief executive officers and general
managers. They project their property’s future success on the
outcome of customer satisfaction surveys. They look at the survey
scores, which may be high, and gain comfort in knowing that
satisfied guests will continue to play at their casino.
But what do those scores really tell them? In my opinion, the scores
are worthless. They give a false sense of security. And they
certainly don’t help CEOs and GMs determine how many guest advocates
their property has. Guest advocates are the people who will
definitely play at their favorite casino again and again and
recommend the casino to friends and associates. That translates into
repeat and new business.
Satisfaction survey scores also are a distraction for casino
departments that should be working together to turn guests into
advocates.
Harvard University research shows that the average U.S. business has
approximately a net 11 percent of their customers that would
recommend them to other people. That is amazing! Last night, a
television newscast reported that the U.S. Congress has a 13 percent
approval rating. Could that mean that your casino has a lower
approval rating than Congress?
I know some of you are puffing out your chest at this very moment
and saying that your latest guest satisfaction survey showed a top
box score of 78. For those of you who are not research geeks, the
top box score represents survey responses that usually fall only
into the “excellent” category. Some casinos look at the top two
scores, often the 4 and 5, for their so-called top box.
Here is the challenge. That score of 78 doesn’t mean that 78 percent
of your guests will come back. Being satisfied and actually
returning to play again are two different worlds. A guest could be
satisfied with the gaming experience at your casino, but if your
competitor offers double points or better parking, that same guest
could switch without looking back.
Do you really know what your score is and what it means? The point
is that you need to know what you are measuring and, more
importantly, what it means for your long-term success. Here are some
real-world examples.
The other day, I purchased a couple of items in Sears. Truth be
told, I hadn’t been in Sears in a couple of years for anything other
than to cut through the store to get to the movie theater. I found
the items and took them to a register. I wasn’t in a good place to
wait long in line because I was with my sons. But I was the second
person at the check-out, so I figured I would be finished with my
transaction quickly.
Then I heard the women in front of me talking and one said, “Now I
see why people just dump a pile of stuff and walk out.” That was not
a good sign from my perspective. I waited a little longer and
decided there must be more registers in the store. As I walked
around, I found a young woman in the jewelry section and she had no
one waiting. I asked if she could ring up my non-jewelry items. Her
reply was a nod with a hint of a shrug. As I waited, I couldn’t get
over how slowly a person could scan three items. She never spoke or
smiled. After I paid, she told me I could get $10 off my next
purchase if I called the number on the receipt and took a survey
about the service she provided. I was shocked. First, if I had told
her how miserable her service was, would she have given me the
information about making the call? Second, did she really think she
was providing good or great service?
For those of you who think your top box score is 78, you need to
realize that the guests who fall in the middle of the survey won’t
take the time to call in. You need to know your net number. You must
subtract the people that are giving you low scores because they
truly count against you in the long run. They are important!
Let’s move on to the question of whether I was satisfied with the
products I bought at Sears. I would say yes and probably give them a
5 (on a scale of 0 to 5 with 5 being high). It’s critical that you
understand this question. I was satisfied with the products. So if
Sears had surveyed me on product quality satisfaction, some big dogs
at the company would be sitting around saying how great they are. In
reality, I’ll only go back if I need those particular items. Even
more important, if a friend asked me where to get 90 percent of the
things you can buy at Sears, I would recommend an alternate
retailer. Other than a few tools, Sears has very little that can be
purchased only at its stores.
So what is the Sears score? Some people would take my 5 (excellent)
for the products and be delighted with that. But what is the real
score from either of these experiences? I have no idea and neither
would Sears.
Here’s another survey situation to ponder. I recently received a
call from a research company that wanted to ask me questions about
the service I receive from my insurance agent. As they asked each
question, I shared my honest feelings. They often asked me to give
my answer a score on a scale of 1 to 10 and all of them were low. I
have been with my agent for three years and he has never talked to
me. We even have lunch at the same place sometimes and he has never
said hello because I don’t think he knows who I am.
At the end of the survey, I was asked if I would like my agent to
call me about my scores. I said no, if he hasn’t called me in three
years, why should he call me now? When the survey ended, I laughed.
I knew I would get a call from corporate because they would see from
the data that I’d be off that boat faster than a rat on a sinking
ship. It’s been almost three weeks as I write this column and I’ve
had no calls or letters from corporate or the agent. They know that
not only am I dissatisfied, I’m also not an advocate of the company
because of the agent.
So what was the agent’s score? Who knows, maybe I’m the one person
in his entire book of business that never gets a call. Maybe he is
happy with 50 percent of his clients giving him 5 or higher. After
all, that is much better than the way Americans feel about Congress.
Or is it?
Casinos routinely do research on how happy or unhappy their guests
are. But all that hard work is pointless if you are measuring the
wrong thing. If you’re not on the right track, the data is useless
as you apply it to the future.
There’s another lesson in the examples I shared. In addition to
doing the correct research, you also need to have a system in place
that will help you understand the data, use it for improvement and
determine the return on investment. After all, research just gives
you a number, a score. Measuring the right thing is an important
first step, but you’ll make little progress if you stop before you
create improvements for your guests that drive your score ever
higher.
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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