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7
Mistakes Casinos Make
When it Comes to Improving Their Guest Experience
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Confusing Advocate Index with market research
– Market research is designed to help you know more about what
your guests or potential new guests want. Would they like your
casino to have a new high-end steakhouse and, if so, how much
would they pay for a filet? This is very important information to
have and to know. The problem is that it has nothing to do with
your casino’s future success. The methodology that the Advocate
Index uses has been statistically proven to predict future
growth. It has been tested in a variety of industries and it
works. Please also note that adding a couple of questions to
your next research project is not a good solution.
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Not having a system in place to make it work!
– Our company had a great conversation with a casino executive
recently. We asked what they do with the customer research they
gather. (They do not use the Advocate Index and they are stuck in
the mud of generic research.) His answer could not have been more
telling…”if a customer is very upset, we have a person who follows
up with that guest.” When we asked what else is done, the answer
was - nothing! Many improvement programs fail because they
don’t have the people and processes in place to make them a
success. Doing the research is only the first step. The real
work starts when improvement and change occur. We use the Best
Practices to manage the process and create closure for our
clients.
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The silos of power
– Marketing wants its power. HR wants training. Training thinks
it’s doing a good job. The GM thinks he knows what’s going on.
Casinos will struggle to succeed as long as people think that they
need to win and have others lose. Our program is designed to help
all areas of the casino succeed because we know that guests do not
see the casino as different departments. They do not go home and
say, “I had great service in table games but the beverage servers
were slow.” They tell their friends the service was OK but they
couldn’t get a drink.
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Thinking that guest “satisfaction” is what they
should measure. – Please invest the time to read our
White
Paper
(PDF) it gives a very detailed breakdown
on why measuring “satisfaction” is a waste of time, energy and
money. Guests and employees are fickle and if all you are
measuring is satisfaction you will chase fickle answers.
Research shows that satisfaction does not correlate to future
growth!
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Giving employee improvement lip service.
– Every conference I speak at has a group of casinos that tells
everyone how “guest service” or “guest experience” is their No. 1
area of emphasis. But it doesn’t feel that way when you visit the
property. If you are going to make great service the way you
differentiate your property from the competition, that is great.
But it takes long-term commitment and significant resources. Just
talking about it or handing it off to the training department is
not enough!
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Not giving employees a clear and easy way to understand the
picture of what is expected.
– Most research is so complex it takes a PhD to figure it out. So
how do you share that with the average front-line employee? And
if you do, why should they care? For a guest service improvement
program to be a success, you need to make it easy to understand
and simple to communicate. How about using one number so people
can know on a monthly basis if they are moving up or down?
Advocate Index gives you the one number you need to know to grow
your casino.
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Minimum standards.
–
Olympians don’t strive to qualify…they go for the gold. It
saddens me that most casinos now work toward the minimum
standard. To create advocates,
you need to move your sights up to a much higher level than the
minimum. After all, if people are measured by the
minimum standard they will work, or not work, to accomplish it!
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