Tag Archives: Continual improvement process

Casino Host Culture, Casino Host Evaluation

Why do casinos need player development?

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I’ll bet your property sends out a lot of mail. Tons of it.  Right? I remember when I was on the seed list at my last property, and it seemed like I got a LOT of mail…and that was just the stuff from my own property!  The mailers I got from checking out the competition weren’t as numerous, since I wasn’t a high roller, but I got a pretty fair number of those, too.

There is a lot of e-mail communication, too. I get something at least once a month, even from properties I haven’t visited in some time. So I know casinos are reaching out and doing database marketing; in fact, I believe casinos do this better than many other businesses today. There’s certainly room for improvement, particularly in terms of “if this, then that” marketing, but that’s another blog post…

Casinos do a lot of things to bring players through their doors.  They post giant luxury cars onto multiple billboards, radio ads let patrons know who is going to be in the showroom soon (and more billboards sport the same message), postcards alert tier card holders there’s a continuity gift program for the upcoming holiday, and reservations agents are scheduled overtime to book the hotel once the coupons arrive in mailboxes market-wide. There’s clearly a lot going on to provide incentives for players to visit a particular casino.

Events are held, show tickets are handed out, food is served, prizes are awarded, and guests show up. So, why do casinos need player development?

Casinos need a true-to-life player development department because it can generate revenue the programs and activities above don’t get for them.  Sure, a player who has had a “pretty alright” experience at your property in the past may come in if you dangle the right prize or giveaway or food coupons at them. But to get the right ones to come in more often, there’s nothing like the personal touch.

A host can make it easier and more inviting for a player to return to a particular property than any other service you can offer.  A host can simply provide the final push a patron needs to commit to the trip your coupons got them to consider.  A host can find out whether a particular guest enjoys tournaments and invite them. A host can let them know when it looks like their favorite progressive is about to hit. A host can get them to share the tale of their bad experience and convince them to give your property another chance to get it right.

There are any number of ways to get a player to come to your casino for a visit, but there is nothing quite as effective as a casino host when it comes to bringing back players or potential worth.  These players expect more than coupons and promotions as a “reward” for their patronage.  Many of them know they are worth a lot to you and expect to be treated as such. Targeting new players who aren’t yet loyal, finding players who are at risk of defection, and reaching out to those you have already lost are cost-effective ways to boost revenue, and there’s no one better than a host to bring them back to you. A well-trained and equipped host team can drive revenue that will have a significant effect on your property’s bottom line.

If you aren’t sure where to start, or if your team needs additional tools or resources, find a PD partner who can show you how to refocus your host team and target the right potential players in your database.  You’ll be pleased with the results.

 

This post is brought to you by Harvest Trends. We specialize in Player Development (PD). Please take a look at PowerHost, a comprehensive way to drive revenue from your team of Casino Hosts and Player Development Executives. Or contact Paul Cutler at 561.860.2621 or pcutler@harvesttrends.com.  Paul will overnight you an informative package along with pricing.

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Are your hosts really hosts?

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Are they?  Really?  One of our most popular blog posts is “6 Tasks You Shouldn’t Find in a Casino Host Job Description.”  It is popular because hosts being hosts doesn’t happen as often as you’d think.  How do I know?  I’ve lived it.

When I got my first casino job, as a host, I was often very busy, but not driving revenue for the property.  That wasn’t the role of a host in those days (in many regional markets, anyway).  I was what my boss at the time called “Mr. Mikey,” meaning I drew names and announced promotional winners as often as every hour some days.  I handed out paper drawing entries.  I worked at the Plateau Players Club.  I ran slot tournaments and paid the winners.  I ferried comp slips around and I chatted with people at slot machines.  I didn’t do a lot to drive revenue in the sense you think of today.

Years later, when I became responsible for a host team of my own, the scope of their responsibilities began to shift to what you expect is the norm.  Instead of sitting at a table handling Blackjack tournament registrations, the hosts were being asked to drive  revenue in conjunction with the marketing machine, utilizing the personal touch.  It was difficult to prioritize the activities of the team to enable them to be successful in this new role without finding a way to shift some responsibilities elsewhere.  Ultimately, it took two additional people to do the promotions and events tasks that the hosts had been handling, but the revenue the team drove more than made up for the extra labor cost.

Interestingly, balancing a host’s priorities is a more common challenge in 2014 than you might expect.   Today, there are hosts who sit at a desk and return “Why didn’t I get coupons?” calls or enter hotel reservations into the computer system.  Hosts give away cars and do jackpot announcements.  Hosts get called to resolve service issues for players who aren’t likely to ever be hosted.  They “pit clerk” so they can make an informed comp decision.  But they’re not driving revenue.  Not like they should. Your hosts should have a fairly narrow focus.

Even if there are extraneous tasks that the property really needs them to handle, anything that keeps the hosts from connecting with (and driving more play from) your best players should be kept to a minimum.  If you are short-staffed at the Players Club, talk to your counterparts about cross-training some of their part-timers as back-up club reps instead of using a host.   If you don’t have a dedicated promotions team, rotate marketing staff to minimize the impact of drawings and giveaways when it’s likely to be prime casino floor hunting time. If those aren’t viable options, talk to HR for help with a long-term solution instead of relying on the hosts to do tasks that really don’t help them achieve their revenue-driving potential.

Long story short, the hosts ought to be spending the vast majority of their time focused on communicating with and driving visits from your best players.  Identify the players, whether at risk, new with potential, or recently lost. Produce a snapshot of their worth, then show your boss the number.  Let him know how much higher that number can be if the hosts can be protected from distractions.  Work together with your boss and team leaders in other operational departments to establish some boundaries to enable the hosts to focus on their work.  Set the goals, monitor them relentlessly, keep the team on track, and move the needle.

More than ever, your Player Development team can have an impact on your property’s bottom line.  It’s not necessary to increase your reinvestment (in many cases) to retain most of your very best players.  It is, however, necessary to differentiate yourself from your competitors in some way to give you the edge when your guests are deciding where to wind down next time they want to play.  It’s Player Development’s role to provide your best guests with a resource to clear the way to an enjoyable and rewarding casino experience.  Doing this well with as many of your best players as possible is beneficial to the bottom line.

Your hosts need to be free to provide their personalized service to as many of your players of highest worth as possible.  In order to make it happen, you have to get everyone on board with the notion that they are hosts.  They’re not Managers on Duty, not Customer Service ambassadors, not promotion attendants or pit clerks.  Hosts.  On the floor.  On the phone.   Driving revenue.

Then they can move the needle.

 

This post is brought to you by Harvest Trends. We specialize in Player Development (PD). Please take a look at PowerHost, a comprehensive way to drive revenue from your team of Casino Hosts and Player Development Executives. Or contact Paul Cutler at 561.860.2621 or pcutler@harvesttrends.com.  Paul will overnight you an informative package along with pricing.

Casino Host Culture, Casino Host Evaluation

What do I do about the underperforming hosts on my team?

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When looking at your host team’s performance, no matter how often, you are looking at the same kinds of things, such as theo generated, player recency, frequency, incline or decline of play, reinvestment, exceptional comps, profitability, contacts, and events support. Hopefully you and your team can see these numbers on a regular basis so you always know how you’re doing. (You can certainly use monthly numbers to tell how well your team and the individuals on it are performing. More often is better.)

Often, the results are sort of a mixed bag. Some are ahead of pace for theoretical, but behind in reactivation or acquisition goals. Others are bringing people in, but those folks aren’t playing as expected, so the host is behind in generation of theoretical revenue. This can even happen while the property itself is performing well, depending in large part on the level of the host’s efforts.

So what can you do about it? First, check your program for opportunities to underperform. Most important of all, please give your hosts measurable goals. (It doesn’t have to be complicated, though it certainly can be.) Start with contact goals: make XX phone calls, mail XX letters, speak on the gaming floor with XX players every week. This single objective set means your expectations have been outlined and can be measured, so your hosts will know what you have assigned to them to do each day. You can, of course, give each host or the team a theoretical revenue target to reach, and/or you can set achievement numbers around separate functions such as new player acquisition, list growth, maintenance and reactivation. Setting measurable and achievable goals sends a message to the hosts to tell them how to be successful in their jobs. (This works best if you’ve aligned your team’s targets with the overall trajectory of your property’s marketing programs.)

Once you’ve set and communicated goals to the hosts, you have to measure the results in order to provide them feedback for improvement. Document everything. Have them sign the goals when they are communicated, and regularly share results in team or one-on-one meetings. Schedule these sharing sessions for two days after you receive results, whenever that is. This keeps you accountable. In the meetings, provide suggestions for ways to build relationships and follow up on opportunities, ensure they understand the guidelines and tools provided to them, and hold them accountable for their performance. This includes both praise for pacing well, achieving goals, and exceeding expectations as well as proper coaching and discipline in accordance with your property’s rules when they don’t do as well as they should.sittogether

If you’ve looked at your program and found other opportunities for your hosts to underperform, make a list and determine how you will turn things around. Do you have hosts who love to hug the usual suspects but don’t make a lot of phone calls? Communicate a specific number of hours each shift you expect them to actively make outgoing phone calls, then hold them to it. Are there hosts who spend all day on the phone but never hit the gaming floor and talk with patrons? Set a specific number of interactions to be reported to you along with the location on the gaming floor where they spoke with that guest. Do you have someone who seems as though his or heart just isn’t in it anymore? Have a frank conversation about why they have this job and come up with a plan to help them re-engage, or find a way for them to gracefully move on to greener pastures. Alternatively, you could even follow up with guests to verify that they are talking with and satisfied with their host.

Do all of you have all the tools you need to set, measure, communicate, and target goals? If not, resources are available in many forms. A number of technology partners can slice and dice the data for you and help you find the opportunities already in your database. (This is true of the entire database, not just those patrons whose play warrants a host’s attention, by the way.) Use a CRM to provide continuity of contacts, preferences and play history in an ever-changing world. Use analytics to target the right patrons, and you might even use your Casino Management System to code and track play from hosted payers. You’ll also need reporting to show how many contacts have been made, which players have been in, who redeemed what, and what that all means for your host team and your property. Mostly, you have to ensure a steady stream of information about what your hosts and their players are doing in order to keep things on track and make changes when they’re not.

What are some of the specific things you can do to help an underperforming host do a better job? The first thing to do is ensure understanding of the tasks and responsibilities of the role. Start on the same page and check in regularly to stay there. Then, once a week or more, make quick notes about the hosts’ performance. It only needs to be a couple of sentences, but note things like whether you saw her going over and above, if his milestones are consistently being reached or not, and add your thoughts on the numbers in the goal period to date. This is also a good place to compile tardiness, absences or extra work hours, patron feedback you’ve received, time management concerns, strengths or weaknesses (and how they’ve progressed or not), and other measurable data specific to that host’s performance. Then once a month, sit down with each host and share your thoughts on the work history you’ve now compiled over the course of the last few weeks. Doing this ensures you are looking at the data and providing the hosts with the necessary feedback, coaching and support they need to be more successful.

When you’ve done all this and the host just isn’t achieving all he should, it’s time to have another frank conversation about the host’s future. It’s critical, especially at this stage and in this situation, that you document everything. Have the host sign documentation related to your expectations, any special arrangements you have agreed upon, milestones and dates for follow-up, and all the steps that have been taken by both of you to rectify the situation to date. Then keep detailed notes along the way. If expectations aren’t being met after all this, it is probably time to make a change.

It’s never easy to let someone go, but when it opens the door for another person who really wants to do the job, it is likely to make the team stronger in the long run. The effects of having a coworker who isn’t pulling his weight can be devastating to your team. Resentment, rumors, and a general malaise can set in and undermine everything you need your host team to be: courteous to a fault, responsive, and cooperative. Hosts who are frustrated with a co-worker are stuck in what they see as a no-win situation. It’s tough to stay motivated and present a happy face to your guests when you’re feelings about work are uncharitable. Whatever the specific issue, the hosts who are performing will appreciate that you held an underperformer accountable and those who are on the fence will understand that you expect performance at a higher level.

Casino Host Culture

The Importance of Internal Relationships

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During my casino years, I saw all kinds of relationships in various stages. We regularly had new players who were just meeting the people who worked at our property, so relationships began with the host assigned to follow up to retain the loyalty of those patrons. Other patron-employee relationships had been solidified for years; many of these have continued beyond the confines of the casino’s walls. Among the casino’s associates, there were romantic relationships, work-spouses, friendships, mentoring pairs, and (of course) difficult relationships among all sorts of people. This is to be expected, because the reality is that in any service industry, relationships are the driving force behind the business’s success (or lack thereof).

In Casino Player Development, one must obviously build effective two-way relationships with casino guests. (We discuss how in Relationships 101.)  That’s the biggest part of the job. With this in mind, It’s surprising how many hosts don’t intuitively begin building relationships with co-workers as well. These relationships enable a host to be as successful as possible. Imagine trying to get steakhouse or hotel reservations made and confirmed without the assistance of a co-worker…particularly when fulfilling those ever-present last-minute requests from a big player. Or think about how difficult it could be to enhance a patron’s visit when you plan to surprise her with a spa treatment, but they tell you they’re all booked up and can’t accommodate you. While it is certainly paramount to develop strong working relationships with patrons, the relationships built among co-workers are arguably more important, and are likely to last a lot longer, too. I am still in contact with several former co-workers and know I can count on them even today if I or someone important to me needs their help.sidebyside

Casino guests rely on a number of employees to make their visits go the way they expect, and when hosts can work together with those other employees, everybody wins. In many situations, guest satisfaction can only be achieved through teamwork. That teamwork must, like any other collaborative relationship, be built on a solid base of understanding and communication. 

In the post “A Highroller Told Me,” we learned that a good host works together with both the VIP patron and the associates in the departments the patron utilizes in order to provide the experience that player is hoping to have. This player’s host not only makes appropriate reservations to prepare for his visits, but she coordinates with fellow employees to give them a heads-up that he is coming in and remind everyone about his (and his wife’s) expectations. This host reminds and encourages her co-workers to provide the best possible service to their shared and very valuable guests.

How can you build this sort of relationship with the people who work with you? It’s really not that different than the way host/player relationships are built. Show your appreciation for their efforts. Thank them honestly and effusively, share appropriate gifts and perks, and tell your guests which of your co-workers contributed to their positive experiences. Learn something about them and use that information to refine your efforts to continue growing your relationship. Remember that in order to have a friend, one must be a friend. Find ways to help your co-workers’ jobs easier, make sure their supervisor(s) know how much you appreciate their assistance, and remember that you’re all working toward a common goal: return visits from satisfied, loyal patrons.

Relationship building is certainly important from both an internal perspective as well as from a guest-facing one. Make sure that all the relationships you build are solid. Show how much they mean to you in small ways and make that a habit if it isn’t already one you have. Praise and positivity are always welcome. Use them freely. Everyone will benefit, both in-house and those who visit you.

Amy Hudson

Link in with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonamy/

Casino Host Culture

Snail Mail 101 for Casino Hosts

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Many years ago, in a casino industry vastly different from the one we live in today, hosts usually didn’t send much snail mail to their players. Player tracking was relatively new, so the marketing department did the lion’s share of the work in sending out mailed player communications. Much like today’s core mail pieces, they were often newsletter-y and mostly advertised the upcoming mass promotions, plus they offered free buffets and room rates to known patrons of worth. Hosts mostly glandhanded players on the slot floor and high-fived the familiar faces in the pit. They wrote comps and issued tiered cards to the property’s favorite frequent visitors. Sign-ups were the order of the day: get cards into player’s hands.

Hosts sometimes mailed those tier cards, or made phone calls to support the direct mail campaign for an upcoming tournament, but very rarely did anyone but the “old school” crew take the time to hand write more than a greeting card or thank you note to a player. It wasn’t the priority; relationships were built face-to-face while folks were playing or at VIP events. Loyalty was a lot easier to come by in those olden days. There wasn’t another casino just across the state line or even several from which to choose in the nearest big city, so there wasn’t a real need to send a piece of mail to each and every player the host took care of.

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In the current landscape, where a casino could lose a patron to a competitor at almost any time, those relationships are more important than ever. Making patrons comfortable in your casino is certainly the responsibility of every person who works there, but casino hosts are tasked specifically with securing the patronage of those guests from whom the property has the most to gain. It can be both tedious and time-consuming, particularly for a host who is attempting to do it right. And doing it right means you communicate with your players in multiple ways, using their preferences as a guide.

Here are some pitfalls to avoid when sending out snail (or even e-) mail communications to your hosted players. Obviously hosts need to build positive relationships with these folks to provide them an incentive to return to your casino… so the relationship-building can continue in person while that player is enjoying a visit with you. Doing these things may harm your chances to have that face-to-face opportunity again.

  • Failing to proofread thoroughly can cause serious headaches. How do I know this? Once, an Executive Host was going to send out a letter to his patrons, and I quickly read over it, then approved its release after suggesting a couple of minor changes. I assumed that the host had verified the property’s toll-free reservations number…and long story short, he had not. A string of angry voice mails greeted me the following week, because the prefix (888, 866, 877) in the phone number was wrong and had led the callers to a charge-by-the-minute porn line.  Does anything more need to be said here? Double-check everything for accuracy.
  • Addressing the mail to “Dear Sir or Madam” or anything like it is insulting to your high-worth and high-potential players. Use mail merge to personalize each piece of mail. Also, be sure to correct misspellings of recipients’ names and FIX ALL CAPS before merging the file. If correspondence is coming from a player’s casino host, it ought to be more personal than mail addressed to “…or Current Occupant.”
  • One-size fits all letters are for the Direct Mail team to send out. If you are writing a letter to your entire coded player list, please use mail merge and/or variable fields to include information that is pertinent to the individual who will be reading the letter. Don’t send a summary of every single event going on in the next few weeks. Track preferences among your players and use that to determine which upcoming calendar items will be of interest to which players, and create several versions of the letter to address common interests.
  • Always relying on a printer means your patrons won’t ever receive a handwritten mailer from a host, and that is a mistake. Think about how you feel when you receive a greeting card from your grandmother or favorite aunt. When you see the cursive script on the address panel, you know someone took the time to choose a card and handwrite a message to you. Doesn’t it give you warm fuzzies? You can send the same warm fuzzies to a casino player by handwriting a letter, greeting card, or other note and dropping it into a mailbox. Take the time. The positive impression you’ll make is totally worth it.  
  • Never sending snail mail to your players is a failure as a host, in my opinion. To make the relationships you share with your customers feel more real, you need to communicate with them in a variety of ways, including sending appropriate snail mail. Do you have a player who has been sick? Send a greeting card. Are there players you haven’t seen in a while and you aren’t sure why? Write a letter specific to that issue and send it to the players to say you’ve missed them and invite them back. At the very least, you’ll get some calls and learn why those players haven’t visited recently. Even better, some of them will return because of your letter.

Long story short, hosts should send personalized snail mail communications to their players every once in a while. A host who is responsible for 300 players should send at least 30 pieces of mail each week, meaning they’ll send each patron at least one mailer per quarter and additional cards and letters as appropriate for birthdays, anniversaries, tier card upgrades, illness, new member introductions, or for reactivation purposes.  Broken down this way, a host only needs to generate half a dozen pieces of mail each shift, which should take no more than an hour. That hour (or less) will result in return visits, incoming guest calls, reservations, answers, and increased revenue.

Trust me or test it. That’s my challenge to you. See how much revenue a structured host mail program can generate. Tell us in the comments how it worked for you!

Casino Host Culture

A High Roller Told Me

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What things do casinos do that make their high rollers crazy?

I had the opportunity recently to become re-acquainted with a gentleman I’d met some months ago. His wife is my friend’s sister, and my friend kept telling me that her brother-in-law and I needed to have a chat about his casino experiences so that I could gain a deeper insight into the player’s mind. As a Casino Player Development pro, this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

This gentleman is the sort of blackjack player most any casino would be happy to have. He’s worth millions in gaming revenue each year, and he is fully aware of the fact that the odds are in the house’s favor. He’s a methodical player who is willing to play a higher minimum per hand in order to keep less experienced players off his table. Let’s put it this way: if he loses, it might mean that table games hits their number for the day, but if he wins it won’t tank the day’s drop. He is looking for the gambling plus a high roller experience that he can share with people who are important to him. If the value is there, he doesn’t so much mind leaving some of his hard-earned dollars behind at the end of his visit.

We sat down in his suite at a Mississippi Gulf Coast casino last week, and after I’d given him a quick breakdown of my experience and my current role, I asked him what casinos do that makes him crazy. This man delighted me by answering that question and then following up with examples of things they do right. I was delighted because many of the things he says are done right are all foundational concepts in casino player development. Basically, this high roller confirmed what I believed to be true about how a strong PD team can contribute to a property’s bottom line.

Since this was where we started the conversation, it’s where I’ll start:

What’s Wrong?

  • Casinos send offers in the mail that aren’t remotely of interest to the player. This player only plays blackjack, but more than one casino sends him slot free play every month. He’s not a tournament player, but his ADT is high enough that he receives multiple invitations to blackjack tournaments. He’d love it if you’d send him something that is meaningful to him instead, and he knows the information necessary to make that happen is in your system somewhere, if you’d only leverage it.
  • Rewards programs veiled in smoke and mirrors. As a player who keeps track of his spend, this gentleman already has a good idea what he’s worth to the casino, and he expects that his rewards will be in alignment with his worth.  It should be easy to tell a patron how many points he needs to earn to advance to a higher tier, whether or not he can receive a comp based on his play, and what his average bet and time played are in the system. If it’s too complicated for your employees to explain, it’s probably too complicated.
  • Being made to haggle over comps. To his point, this guest understands how the system works. He told me about an experience at another South Mississippi casino where he had to make a case for getting a pack of cigarettes comped. He was frustrated by this because he’d just dropped roughly $15,000 at a single blackjack table in a few hours and felt like he was being made to beg for a comp he had surely earned. FYI: He doesn’t go to that casino any more.
  • Employees who don’t have access to pertinent player information. When this guy asks for anything, he anticipates that he has earned it and that his request will be granted. He expects that when a host approaches him, that host will know who he is, how much he’s played, and what rewards are available to him because of that information. He even suggested that hosts should have a smartphone app which would enable them to quickly access such information wherever they are in order to provide the best possible personalized service.
  • Casinos who forget who pays their bills. The casino this patron frequents near his home has recently made some changes that make him feel as though his long-term (and significant) patronage is no longer appreciated. He went from having an executive host who anticipated his needs to having a junior host who will have to call him back when he wants a room or show tickets. Remember, this patron is worth literally millions in gaming spend. But this property is apparently trying to attract even bigger players, and in the process is likely to lose many like this man, who would help to balance the scales when a bigger player wins.
  • Failing to get the details right. When I talked with this player, we were sitting at the dining room table in his suite, smoking cigarettes while we talked. He was staying in a non-smoking suite despite the fact that he’s a smoker…whose cigaretters are sometimes comped by the property. While the casino hotel operator in me cringed, I thought, if you know he’s a smoker and you put him in a non-smoking suite, shouldn’t you expect him to smoke in it?
  • Sharing the high roller experience with players of opportunity. He related a story from his “home” casino where he headed to the pool only to find it closed for a private party being held for a lower card tier than his. It was exclusive to those patrons who had that level of player’s card. He thought this was a good idea, because he saw the promise of aspirational play from those patrons who attended the party. He wasn’t even annoyed that he couldn’t use the pool because he understood the business reasons for having the party.
  • Hosts who understand and anticipate his needs. His wife isn’t a gambler, but she is definitely interested in the pool, the spa, some of the shows, and the restaurants at the casinos they visit. His host here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast does a pretty good job of keeping track of the things this player will want during a weeklong trip, and she even goes so far as to alert associates in other departments when he (or his wife) is going to be utilizing their services. The special personal touches this property provides mean this player will return again and introduce people in his life to the benefits his play earns. He may take 4 extra people to the steakhouse or ask to exceed the usual number of cabana guests, but his play warrants that and his host doesn’t make him ask: she offers what she knows he will want.
  • Protecting the player’s benefits from unauthorized use. On the flip side of the coin, the casino in question always asks for ID or a room key before anyone redeems or room charges anything. His wife kept her maiden name, so she is sometimes asked to provide identification to ensure that she is who she says she is. While I was with them, the service was exceptional and included accommodation when she didn’t have her driver’s license readily available. She told me about her first visit to the spa where a new employee didn’t recognize her. After a quick call to the player’s host to verify his wife’s bona fides, her request was handled efficiently and professionally, and she appreciated the extra effort required to ensure that her husband’s (and, by extension, her) benefits were being protected.

All in all, I’d say the casino where I talked with this patron gets about an 8.5 out of 10 for their handling of this high roller and his expectations. He agreed that they get it right more often than many of the other casinos he’s visited. That tendency to get it right more often than not has earned that property this high roller’s loyalty and repeat business.

Amy Hudson

Link in with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonamy/

Casino Host Culture

Learn What Your Customers Want

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My mom worked in a casino for a number of years, all in table games. She started as a dealer, but loves the challenge of a good math problem…so she ended up being a Pit Manager for a while before she retired. Craps was her favorite. When we spoke last, she told me the story of a patron she enjoyed seeing, while everyone else rolled their eyes when they saw him coming.

The patron, who we’ll call Tom, usually played about $250 per roll on the layout, and he bet a variety of hardways, so doing the math quickly was a little bit of a challenge. Tom made it tougher, though, because he wanted his bets to stay up (something that was perfectly alright to do), so when he won or lost anything, the dealer(s) had to figure out how to pay him or how much to collect to leave his bets on the table for the next roll. My mom enjoyed the mathematics challenge, and Tom liked playing when she was at the table in any capacity because the game moved faster when she was doing the math. He didn’t have to keep leaning across the table; he could collect his winnings and/or toss in what he needed to replace lost bets. Because of this, he would occasionally get in a groove and place a quarter bet for the dealers, also on a hard win so they did pretty well whenever he did. Win/Win, right?

Any person who works with the public should pretty quickly see the lesson in this anecdote: Utilize the strengths of the associates on your team to cater to your customers’ quirks whenever it’s possible and within the guidelines of the associate’s role. If the patron requires a little bit of extra work, and his spend is profitable, it’s worth the effort to make him happy and keep him spending his hard-earned dollars with you rather than have him shopping around.

Tom enjoyed playing his favorite game even more when he didn’t have to work so hard at it himself. The house and the other players benefited, too, because the game moved faster; and when Tom bet for the dealers, other players would too, sometimes. Tom would stay and play longer, the shift moved along faster, toke rates were good, and my mom’s brain enjoyed its math exercise.

How can you benefit from learning about your customers’ quirks and catering to them? Well, in most cases, very little separates one brick-and-mortar establishment from another. Stores have displays with merchandise, restaurants have food and a “system” for getting it to you, hotels have rooms in which you can rest; even online experiences are pretty much the same…you see where this is going, right? What makes one better or more special to a valuable customer are the little things your place does better for them than anyone else.

Personally, there is a local restaurant that I truly enjoy going to. There is outdoor seating, right next to the water, so the view is fantastic with a lovely breeze even on the warmest evenings. That alone is a pretty compelling reason for me to go there, but they also have great food and the staff is really friendly. We’ve had some hits and misses in terms of the skill of our server from time to time, but since everyone in our house who is old enough to have a job has waited tables at one time or another, we get that it can be a tough job to do well. We assume they’re new and cut them a little slack, because the food is really good, and there are little surprises from time to time. Simple things, like logo sunglasses from one of the beers they were featuring, the birthday girl’s name written in caramel sauce on the plate containing her free brownie a la mode, a visit from the chef (who came bearing balloons for all the kids).  All these things made up for the waiter who didn’t know what draft beers were available or the lack of a certain menu item that day.

Learn what your customers appreciate, however you need to make that happen. Interact with them. Try things to delight them and measure the response. Set up a tracking system so you know what they like and what they don’t. Play different music on different days, toss a free sample into a shopping bag, give a discount to people whose driver’s license number ends in 9, whatever. Heck, you could even send your customers a survey and ASK them what they like or wish you did to show your appreciation for their patronage.

Doing so might be the difference between you getting their available spend or having them shop around to find a new place to spend it.

Casino Host Culture

Communications in Casino Player Development

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Casino hosts have a responsibility to develop working relationships with their players. In addition to this, they are often tasked with identifying worthy patrons who would benefit from a host’s service and beginning to build relationships with these folks, too. Then there’s the inevitable situation where a host has to mollify an upset guest…and all of these important host roles require effective communication.

To put this into perspective, imagine that you have moved to a new town or city. You don’t know many (if any) people there, and you need to start building a local support network. You are introduced to new faces and have to find some common ground in order to begin getting to know them and determine what place they may have in your “new” life. It works much the same way when you are a host, except you have to do this with literally hundreds of new people.

Getting to know you…

Learning about a person you don’t know is simple: ask questions and remember what you discover. Offer information about yourself that is relevant and will allow him to determine what place you may have in his or her life. Sharing anecdotes, discovering common interests, and listening to learn (rather than listening to respond) all indicate that you are investing something of yourself to build something of benefit to you both. This takes only a short time if you hit it off right away, but it might take longer if you don’t have a lot in common in the beginning.

Expressing an  ongoing interest…

By asking questions, you allow your new acquaintance to tell you all about his favorite subject: himself. When it’s your turn to reply, indicate your understanding by repeating what you’ve just learned in your own words, then inquire further to either gain more understanding or clarify that you truly “get” what that patron has shared with you. Then, in subsequent communications, confirm your interest by sharing only what is of interest to that individual.

In Casino Player Development specifically, that means not inviting a slot player to a blackjack tournament. Don’t send a mass e-mail to all your players with a listing of every single event that’s coming up. Instead, write a handful of variations that focus on topics of interest to a subset of your patrons. When you send out greeting cards or notes to your guests, be sure to include something that ensures the recipient will understand that you see her as an individual.

Take notes and reference them

One of the most legendary hosts I ever heard of was a gentlemen who had left my first property before I was hired. He was legendary because he remembered things about his players that most people wouldn’t. The story that I was told first about him has stuck with me for many years: he had a guest whose dog, Jake, had suffered a broken leg which had to be put in a cast for several weeks. This host sent the guest a handwritten card to wish Jake a speedy recovery and to express his dismay over Jake’s injury. Rumor has it that the patron refused to go to another casino as long as this gentleman was his host because he’d taken the time to send well wishes to the guest’s dog, who was the man’s four-legged child in a sense.

Since most of us aren’t equipped to remember this level of detail about several hundred people (and those who are important to them), it’s critical to keep track of the information you gather about your players. Whether you write it down, enter it into your CRM or CMS, create your own “database,” or do something else, this effort will endear you to your players because they will know you’ve paid attention to their priorities.

Always follow up

This may seem like a  no brainer, but it needs to be stated clearly: don’t drop the ball! (And when you do, own it and fix it as quickly and painlessly as possible. It will happen. Be an adult about it.) Whether it’s a reservation confirmation, the answer to an inquiry, or simply a reply to a guest communication, make your responses timely and accurate. Don’t leave your players waiting or guessing. Instill confidence in your service by being on top of the details and communicating them to the pertinent patron. Being dependable is one of your biggest assets.

Remember the basis for your relationship

Many hosts with whom I’ve worked have some players with whom they are close on a more personal level. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it can go too far. Sharing things of a very personal nature is potentially problematic, as it changes the dynamic of your relationship. Spending time with a player outside the casino’s walls is sometimes a part of the job, though there are instances where a host can find himself “owing” a guest for the experiences shared elsewhere. Instead of having the patron see you as their personal casino “concierge,” they may begin to see you as a friend, and they’ll expect your relationship to feel like an ordinary friendship, even though there are some boundaries you might soon find yourself banging your head against (or breaking).

Always remember that the player’s first loyalty should be to the casino you represent and not to you personally. Keep in mind that you know this person because you are supposed to provide caring and consistent service to them. Don’t let a too-personal connection get you into trouble either personally or professionally. As in any relationship, things will go awry at some point and the host will be at a disadvantage when a team leader inevitably has to step in.

Keep it real

Another no-brainer, but I’ve seen it often enough to include it here: don’t make stuff up and don’t tell lies. The truth will come out eventually, and trust broken is extremely difficult to regain. If you don’t know the answer to a guest’s question, say so and pledge to find out and follow up with them (see that point above). Instead of speculating or guessing, demonstrate to the guest that you want to know the answer, too.

Patrons talk with one another and sometimes they know more than the hosts think they do…so always be honest. This doesn’t mean that giving someone proprietary information is okay, either; use professionalism and discretion to determine how to respond accurately and diplomatically at the same time.

For example, if a host is handling communication with a patron who is upset at her failure to receive an invitation to an ADT-based event, the best recourse is to explain that her play during the qualifying period wasn’t quite what it needed to be and give her a basic guideline for qualifying for future events in which she’s interested. Don’t tell her the ADT number; instead, tell her how many points she needs to earn in future visits to make it onto the list. This tactic works for those who are upset about card tier status, mail offers, and promotions as well.

Communicate based on the patrons’ preferences, not your own

So you don’t really text very well, or maybe you don’t like to talk on the phone. That’s something a host needs to put aside because the best way to communicate with a guest is the way the guest prefers you to. If I’m your player and I tell you I’d rather you text me, then text me. I’m going to be annoyed if you insist on making a phone call or if you send me an e-mail when you have something to share with me. When one form of communication goes unanswered, choose another method to inquire as to the most convenient way to get information to that patron.

If you take away only one thing from this post, it should be this:

It’s not all about you

Keep this key concept in mind, and remember to communicate with patrons based on their preferences and interests. (Reading that sentence, it seems this post could have been a LOT shorter, because that sums it right up.

Casino Host Culture

War Stories: Cautionary Tales from ‘The Trenches’

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Many years ago, I had primary responsibility for a big casino promotion. My bosses were at the big gaming show in Vegas (before it was called G2E; it was a loooong time ago) and I was launching a big 6-week extravaganza without them for the very first time. We had floor sweeps to hand out scratch-off tickets, offering a variety of prizes for matching symbols. Every ticket had the potential to be a winner, but the odds suggested we’d have only one or two “big” winners (of $1000, if I recall correctly) for the entire 6 weeks.   Non-winning tickets could be dropped into a big drawing drum for the grand finale: a pickup truck to be given away on the last night of the promotion. When the second and third “big” prize winners showed up within hours of the first floor sweep, I knew we had a problem. Someone had figured out how to cheat the scratch-off…and I was sure of it when the fourth winner of the night was the same person who had turned in the first winning ticket.

The GM and I wrote an announcement that I would read over the PA to suspend the scratch-off portion of the promotion, and we quickly printed out truck giveaway entries to be handed out until we could sort out the issue with the game tickets. It was with trepidation that I began reading our announcement, but security and a handful of sympathetic guests (regulars, but the good kind) were nearby to offer moral support. Only twice since have I been in front of a crowd so hostile. As I clicked off the microphone and took a step to leave, a handful of them surged toward me, blocking my exit route to complain about the provision that we would not accept any more “winning” tickets. A few of these had multiple tickets in hand, suggesting that they had picked up tickets others had left behind…it was a mess.

From this promotional War Story, I learned many things.

  • Have scratch tickets printed by someone who has lots of experience with them so it’s impossible for players to cheat.
  • Involve the Security Manager and Compliance department when doing promotional planning to help ferret out vulnerabilities in the conceptual stages.
  • Don’t be afraid to do what’s right for the honest guests, even in the face of some who are angry that they can’t take advantage of a vulnerability they found.
  • The NGCB had our back. Our rules were clear and enforceable, and they stayed in the loop with us as we navigated those uncharted (for us) waters.
  • The loudest voices you hear aren’t always the ones you should pay the most attention to. My GM was cool, calm, and collected as we worked through our short-term plan. Loud, angry voices had no place in that discussion, though we obviously thought through the effect we’d have on our guests.

Everyone who has worked with the public at all probably has some pretty good stories to tell; it’s likely they’ve got some that will curl your hair. Thinking about them for this post actually had me chuckling earlier:

  • The club rep who figured out how to cash out points belonging to inactive guests, but didn’t notice the transactions on a detail report the same rep ran each night for the manager’s review.
  • The angry patron who grabbed a supervisor’s tie to pull him over the counter and almost found himself prone when the (former military) associate instinctively drew back a fist. Fortunately, no one was harmed during this little episode.
  • The promotional attendant who set up a promotion to run with pre-determined winners…and didn’t see any problem with that.
  • The guest who called the company headquarters to complain that he’d been told his patronage wasn’t important…since the casino wouldn’t increase his offers just because he thought they weren’t sufficient.
  • The high roller who hung up on his host because the host uttered the word, “No” during a brief phone call. (The host called right back and said “It seems we were disconnected before I had a chance to tell you what I CAN do.” The guest was all ears.)
  • The small gang who gathered at the promotions desk to write down the winner’s names at nearly every drawing because they were convinced the giveaway was rigged against them.

Here’s the best part about these War Stories: every single one of them teaches us something. The club rep learned that there are checks and balances to prevent theft and that a few hundred bucks was all it took to lose a promising career in gaming. The patron learned that he would be asked to leave private property after assaulting an associate, with a minimum 12-month exclusion to boot. All of us who have worked with casino promotions have learned that people feel entitled to win and will always suggest that someone is cheating them if they don’t. The high roller learned that sometimes it’s better to be quiet and listen to the rest of the story before shutting someone down (particularly if it’s someone who can help you). The gang learned more than they ever cared to know about how electronic drawings work, as the executive responsible for promotions gathered them close and did a mini-workshop on the software’s capabilities.

So, tell us in the comments below: what are your favorite War Stories, and what did you learn from them? Any lesson is a good one, though the ones learned “the hard way” tend to stick with us. Those where we learn what NOT to do are even better, because we may not have to live through the awkwardness and difficulties ourselves (or only tangentially).

Share with us the stories that came to mind as you read some of mine. We can’t wait to learn from your experiences!

Casino Host Culture

7 Habits That Help Hosts Succeed

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In a world of increasing digital contact and fewer human interactions, Player Development still has a focus on personalized contact, whether by phone, email, snail mail or in person.There are techniques that successful Casino hosts employ to build relationships with valuable players and secure their loyalty.

These the 7 Habits that we’ve observed in successful casino hosts:

  1. Successful hosts are detail-oriented.  When you’re responsible for hundreds of valuable casino patrons (and their spouses, at least by proxy), it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. Remembering a guest’s children’s and grandchildren’s names is just the beginning. Does she smoke cigarettes? Which brand? What kind of room does he prefer, and does he have a favorite in your hotel? Will he want to go to the steakhouse right after he checks in, or will you need to go and pull him off the tables so he won’t lose his reservation? This kind of attention to the details about his or her players allows a casino host to provide personalized service that hardly exists anywhere these days. It sets them apart.
  2. Understanding profitability is key.  The details a good host remembers about his players aren’t limited to preferences and habits. He needs to understand the profitability profile of each player and his associates in order to proactively motivate them to make visits to the property without overspending the casino’s assets. Here’s a good rule of thumb for tough comp decisions: If you wouldn’t foot the bill yourself, why would you expect the casino to do so? Look at play patterns, redemption patterns, and associated play in aggregate before making a comp decision. It is entirely possible to motivate a player without spending money on supplemental offers.
  3. Good hosts don’t let good players languish. Does Susie usually make at least one trip per week? Have you seen her lately? If not, you should give her a call. Did you hear that Ron was upset about not getting tickets to last weekend’s Beatles tribute show? You should look into what happened and check in with him. While it’s sometimes appropriate to allow an angry guest some time to cool off before making contact, it’s better to reach out soon and re-establish communications before they try a competitor and decide they’re treated better someplace else.
  4. Information is king. Sharing it is key. Whether overheard on the gaming floor or learned in a training session, like any good employee, a good casino host will look for ways to incorporate things they learn into doing a better job taking care of their players. This includes learning what not to do! A great PD team leader will encourage hosts to share what they’ve learned, particularly about promising players or competitor activities, so they can work together to be proactive against any threats or looming disappointments which might be mitigated.
  5. Balance the wants of the guest with the needs of the business.  It’s often a precarious position to be in: your players want what they want and your company says it’s a “no go.” There are a myriad of ways to make everyone happy, and a good host will navigate through the possibilities until finding just the right one. From making an alternative offer, meeting the player halfway, presenting a case to the leadership in advocacy for the guest, or coming up with a brilliant out-of-the-box idea, hosts whose heads AND hearts are in the game will find a solution that keeps the players and the bosses happy.
  6. Remember to take “me” time…but not too much!  While it’s true that working in a 24-hour business with some of its most demanding patrons is almost assuredly a recipe for burnout, most of the PD pros we’ve met love their jobs so much they don’t ever want to do anything else for a living. In order to keep themselves on an even keel, dedicated casino hosts have to take a breather now and then to keep from going into overload. Leaving their players in the hands of their co-workers may be nerve-wracking, but the time away from the constant demands of  the job is essential to long-term well-being and success. Aside from weeks-long vacations, there are ways to regroup and refresh during the work week as well. Enjoy a hobby, take a walk around the neighborhood, meditate, go to the gym, read an engaging novel. Finding a way to disconnect from the world for a few short hours and recharge one’s batteries can make all the difference.
  7. When all else fails, host pros ask for help. It’s not easy to admit it when we need assistance. Whether it’s with a computer program, finding time to accomplish everything on the day’s to-do list, or handling a sticky guest situation, there’s nothing like another perspective to help a host move past a roadblock and keep things moving. There’s no reason a host who needs a hand shouldn’t ask for the assist. Studies have shown that people who do favors for others tend to regard the recipients in a more favorable light, because who wants to help out someone who isn’t deserving? This happy side effect can help to bring a host team closer together while solving the issue at hand. Nice, huh!?

There are a lot of moving parts in a casino host’s set of responsibilities. These 7 attributes can indeed make a good casino host better. Think about it: If you’re refreshed and fulfilled, have the tools you need to execute what’s best for both the guest and the business, and you proactively seek solutions to the day-to-day demands of your players, you can’t lose.

This article is brought to you from casinoplayerdevelopment.wordpress.com, sharing Helpful Ideas on Player Development.