No, I’m not asking for your phone number.  I’m asking if you know what your target market for PD really is?  When’s the last time you ran the numbers to see where your sweet spot is in terms of opportunity to drive additional revenue with some effective host telemarketing and service?

If you know the sweet spot, do you know how many players you have who could easily be reactivated and made more loyal by “siccing” a host on them to drive another trip per month (or more)?

Got that one too?  Okay, how much additional revenue will they potentially bring to the bottom line?  What’s your profitability on them? What are you spending to drive those players back in?  Direct mail offers, points, promotions, events, giveaways, plus host comps? 15%, 20%, or more?

If the answer to any of those questions was an honest, “I don’t know” or even an “I think so,” you have left money on the table.

Here’s another way to look at it:  Let’s say your property’s average ADT is $75.  That includes the people who come regularly and play a little, the folks who come in rarely and play a lot, and everyone in between.  But you know most of your revenue comes from players whose daily worth is, let’s say, $300 or more.  How many of those players are already receiving offers from you but don’t come in more than once per month?  If there are thousands of these guests in your database (…and let’s be honest; there probably are), why wouldn’t you want to know who they are and set someone on the task of making contact to bring them back to your property for an incremental visit?  At $300 a pop, you’d have a minimum of $30,000 in increased topline revenue by bringing back only 100 of them.  Easy money.

You’ll want to structure this program so you can measure it, of course.  Identify the players who have the most potential to put some dollars into play, determine to whom you will assign them for contact, how long you’ll maintain a higher level of contact, and what must be achieved for the host to have “activated” that player.  Set targets based on what you expect the hosts to accomplish, then track progress regularly to keep the hosts pacing for achievement and everyone else in the loop.

Even if you have to spend a little money to motivate either the hosts or the players, it’s money well spent as long as you keep an eye to profitability.   Include your targets for guest activation/reactivation in a bonus plan so the hosts can earn a little more by driving revenue.  To keep your reinvestment in line, make sure the hosts understand what offers the guest already has before adding cost-intensive incentives on top of everything else. Obviously there will be times a guest’s play warrants a little something more…and good hosts will know the difference and when the offer is appropriate.  Setting the bonus plan up to be based on net revenue (whether theo or actual) is another good safeguard.

In many cases, simply making contact with the guest will get them to make a trip.  Part of the reason host service is a coveted benefit is due to their ability to make arrangements on behalf of the guest and save them time and effort in the process.  Think about it: wouldn’t you rather do business with an establishment who had provided you with a concierge to anticipate your needs and set everything up for you whenever you were coming in?  You’d know even before you got there that someone will be happy to see you.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

Knowing your numbers will enable you to spend the necessary time coaching your hosts to more effectively drive revenue without spending unnecessary reinvestment dollars on your behalf.  Phone calls are the most effective method of reaching and motivating players, so you’ll need time to observe their telemarketing efforts and provide feedback for refinement. Having an understanding of the numbers related to the team’s pacing toward goal achievement on a regular basis will allow you to provide specific direction, training, and praise to keep them on track.

You’ll need to continue asking questions about the numbers, even after you’ve got a handle on all the ones I asked you about at the beginning of this post.  I’m (obviously) a proponent of daily feedback, because it allows you to make changes in real time based on what just happened.  This is an elite group of guests (if not in their behavior) and they are exceptional at least in their potential to the success of your PD team and your property.   Use the analysis to tell you where to focus. Use the time you save by targeting to make sure your team is doing the job well.  Use the numbers to determine the trajectory and demonstrate the success of the PD team.