BROKEN ALL YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS?

Here’s One That’s Worth the Effort

By Martin R. Baird

We all started 2002 with the best of intentions.  Countless people vowed to quit smoking, to start exercising and, of course, to lose 15 to 20 pounds.  Some of you may have resolved to improve your casino’s guest service so your property can survive what will be a very competitive year.

Now that we’re into February, it’s likely most of these resolutions are long gone.  I can’t help you with the smoking or the weight loss, but I can show you how to stick to that promise of improved service.  If you follow the simple steps outlined in this article, I believe you will improve your guest service for all of 2002.  For those of you who are struggling with how to get started – or restarted – let me share some key points that can get you going.

The first area to focus on is your service standards.  Actually, to be more accurate, take a hard look at your guests’ standards.  For you to improve your customer service and your guest experience, you need know where you are today in this very important area and where your patrons want you to be.

Too often, companies set a service standard that’s unrealistic or based on something other than the guest’s desires.  Perhaps it was selected because someone in the management team thought it was a good idea.  Standards set in this manner miss the point.  They do nothing to help you become a guest-focused business.  Properties that successfully focus on meeting or exceeding the guest’s needs in these highly competitive times will be the ones that excel going forward.

Next is the management team.  Outstanding service rolls downhill.  In other words, it starts with management and spreads to all staff members.  This top-level commitment must be the life blood of your customer service program.  Management not only needs to endorse the concept, it must support it’s execution on a daily basis.

I’ve worked with casinos across the country and only once did this idea of management commitment to service fail to generate the outcome we expected.  What was the reason?  Management did not truly back the program.  When training sessions were held, none of the upper-level executives attended.  I don’t know if they felt they didn’t need the training or if they thought it was beneath them.  But they succeeded in sending a very clear message to the troops:  great guest service is not important!

Now that you’ve reviewed and perhaps revised your standards and created management support for a guest service program, you must give your staff the skills they need to make it all happen.  Not many people are born with the customer service gene.  Few people are naturals at providing stellar service.   Mot people need training!  It’s wrong to expect people to empirically know how to do something.  Would you think someone could fly an airplane just they’ve ridden in one?  Of course not!

The same is true for great guest service.  Just because your employees know how to deal cards, fill a slot machine or make an amazing dinner doesn’t mean they know how to treat a guest.  The way people learn new skills is through organized training.  When you develop this wonderful training, remember to add a double helping of fun.  If training isn’t fun and interesting, it feels like Medieval torture.  People should look forward to their training, not dread it.

Training should be seen as a reward.  Those on the receiving end should view training as a way to improve themselves, make more money and, by the way, help the guest have a great time.  You don’t need to tell them that this will also help your casino make more money.  Your employees care more about what goes into their pocket.  Your balance sheet is not uppermost in their minds.

Now the next step.  Once people have the necessary skills, they need a reason to use them.  That might be easy to achieve in today’s tight job market.  People are happy just to have a job.  Still, it’s always important to provide rewards when the newly learned skills are actually used.  Having a formal reward and incentive program that employees understand makes it easier for them to do what you expect.  And it makes it easier for you to do the right thing for your employees.

Too often, we focus on the negative and forget about the positive.  We make examples of the mistakes but miss the wonderful opportunities we have to celebrate outstanding service.  One of the most common complaints I hear in working with casinos is that no one ever tells the staff they’re doing a good job.  An effective reward and incentive program solves that problem

Finally, you must have an ongoing program to build a guest service culture.  If guest service is seen as the management idea de jour, then people simply will not buy into it.  They need to understand that this is not a one-day or one-month exercise.  They must understand that your customer service program will be the backbone of the company from that point on.

Changing a culture is not easy.  Neither is losing weight or stopping smoking.   But all good things have a beginning, those first steps.  If you get started on your guest service resolution today, you may just make a habit of it before the month is over.  And your good habit could turn into a corporate culture by the end of the year.

Martin R. Baird is president of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a customer service consulting firm based in Phoenix, Ariz., that provides specialty customer service training, management skills training, presentation skills training, team building programs and employee incentive and recognition programs for casinos.  Baird has a Web site, www.casinocustomerservice.com, that’s devoted to helping casinos improve their customer service so they can compete and increase revenues.  Robinson & Associates may be reached at 480-991-6421.

This article first appeared in the January 2002 edition of Indian Gaming Magazine.