Player Development by the very definition is the sales function designed to develop players. In a casino environment, hosts are the sales force. Like any sales team, hosts need to be focused on selling and conversions. Hosts also need to be nurturing accounts toward loyalty. Hosts face a daily quandary regarding how to divide their time between responding to guests who are on-property face-to-face, and reaching out to valuable high-worth players who have not been playing. Hosts play a crucial role in providing over-the-top service for the very best players when they are on-property. While reacting to players is an important function, it is not the revenue driver, but instead the loyalty driver.
The more valuable strategies are pro-active strategies that will attract and retain new high-value players, grow existing players and re-activate players who have gone dormant or are showing decline. Hosts need to call those players to learn what is happening in their personal lives. Have they moved or been sick? Is the player having financial problems? Have they had a bad experience at your casino? Are they going to a competitor? Hosts know they need to be proactive, but they cannot reach out and call dormant players while working the gaming floor.
The Player Development leader must help the host allocate their time. Time needs to be scheduled for both on the gaming floor and off the gaming floor for contact management. This is best done through goal setting. Goals are created so hosts are clear on their priorities, and also help them allocate their time based on inroads toward goal achievement. Goals help provide a guideline on the amount of time spent with outbound phone calls, text messaging and letter writing, versus working the casino floor. Goal setting includes new player goals that focus on high theo new players. With this goal, the hosts have a predetermined time to get the player back on property and build a pattern of play. The goal might be 45, 60 or 90 days.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY HEIDI HAMERS IN THE 2022 SPRING EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.