No two hosts are exactly alike, and that’s a good thing. Variety among casino hosts means that any player can find a host with whom he or she can connect. It also means that each host is likely to have his or her own unique approach to working toward goal achievement.

Here is a generic approach that every host can follow to build momentum and keep the numbers growing instead of stagnating. (And if you are in Management, then you might want to introduce this approach to your team, and do some coaching.)

PRIORITIZE! Take an honest look at your goals and decide how hard they are:

• Which goals seem more like low-hanging fruit and can be achieved most readily? Set aside a couple of hours a week on these.
• Which goals will take the most work to achieve? Decide to spend a lot of time on these each week. An hour a day, every day, before you go out to meet guests?

Get started now on the hardest goals! A 12-week Quarter may seem like a long time but it will disappear in no time.

PLAN! Come up with an approach to each goal. This is where each Host will bring their unique ideas based on their experience and personality.

• Is a Goal to increase Theo from Active Players by 10% over last Quarter? Perhaps you decide (1) target the highest-ADT patrons who are off pace for their usual trip pattern, and (2) target the people who were new last Quarter and could probably play-up now they know the property.
• Is a Goal to re-activate 5 valuable Inactive players who haven’t played for six month? Maybe start by working the ones who live closest to the property? Maybe ask Direct Mail for the list of offers sent to Inactive guests and use that as the hook. Place a call and say “Hey, I’d hate for you to miss this Freeplay that you were sent. Let’s get you in to this Event next week and you can play on the House”.

If you are new to this approach, then ask your Manager and more experienced peers for some suggestions.

CLASSIFY! You’re going to be more successful if you focus on the right players at the right time. That’s easier to do if you know which of your players is the right one to call for each Goal. How do you do this?

• Break player lists down into smaller groups so you can work more methodically.
• Choose a set of criteria which matches your priorities. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Maybe you should work on “Players within 50 miles” or “Guests who haven’t been here in 31+ days” or “Ones I haven’t met yet.”
• If you don’t have a Host system, then put all the names into MS Excel and start to track when you last spoke to them. You can start by asking Database for a list of your players and their City/State, and when they last played.
• If you find you don’t know much about a particular bunch of patrons, put them in the category of ‘Don’t Know’ and start making calls to ask questions and fill in the blanks about those players.

DISCIPLINE! Create a plan and stick to as best you can. Perhaps this is your plan when you first come on shift: (1) Make a list of 5 Inactive players to call right now. (2) Make a list of 10 Active players to call during the shift. (3) Carry this list around with you and make phone-calls between dealing with guests, or while you are standing around waiting for the Entertainer to show up. Be prepared and then you can maximize your time.

MEASURE! Understanding progress is key to keeping yourself on track. If what you’re doing isn’t working, wouldn’t you rather know early on so you have time to change tactics before the goal period ends?

• Break your quarterly goal up into 12 weeks. If you have to re-activate 24 Inactive guests then you need 24/12 = 2 guests per week, coming back and playing. If you need to grow Theo by 240,000 per quarter then it needs to grow by 240,000/12 = 20,000 per week.
• Database might agree to pull a weekly or monthly list for you that shows who played and their Theo this quarter. If this is hard to get for yourself then give a specific example to the PD Manager of what would help the team, and ask them to approach Database.
• Some systems can tell you on a Daily basis whether your patrons played enough to keep your numbers on pace or whether an additional push might be necessary to achieve the goal for increasing Theo etc.

With this knowledge, you can make adjustments to call patterns, prospecting plans, or events bookings to bring the numbers back in line.

REFLECT! Whether a particular goal period was successful or not, you should take some time at the end of the Quarter, to think about what worked and what didn’t,

This is the time when all the variables need to be assessed:

• Was weather a factor? Then maybe do a snow day special that gives patrons a premium for coming in within 7 days of the crappy weather.
• Did a high number of valuable guests just not play? Maybe a personalized handwritten letter with a special offer is the way to go.
• Are you having trouble getting prospects coded? Perhaps it’s time to rethink how you choose prospects…or it’s time to talk to your team leader about how to qualify them for becoming coded players.

DON’T GIVE UP!!! Be honest with yourself about what you did and didn’t do well. Improve your plans, your lists, and your approach. Talk to others on your team and to Management. Perhaps reach out to someone you know at a different, non-competitor, property and brainstorm with them about different approaches for different groups of players and goals.

Remember that there is rarely a single factor that dictates success or failure. Once you have a plan, it is daily persistence that works. Good luck!

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