How do you find the right balance between human-driven service and the benefits of technology?
Hoteliers have long worried that advancing technology would eliminate customer service that feels like true “customer service.” And in some ways, perhaps we have. We’ve all been a part of a customer service experience that involved waiting on hold, pressing various numbers to get to the right department, repeating your name and credentials repeatedly, and (perhaps at least for me) inevitably shouting “speak to agent!” until an actual person is on the other end of the line. Moments like these certainly make it seem as though we’re a long way from technology co-existing with humans in an indistinguishable manner, leaving many to view human vs. machine as an either-or proposition to contemplate.
Guest-facing employees, whether it be call center representatives, casino hosts or front desk managers are constantly performing manual and repetitive tasks to support their interactions with guests. These can include maneuvering in and out of multiple systems to check rates and availability, verifying promotion details, reserving rooms, and looking up player profile information. Casino hosts and support coordinators are frequently responsible for responding to requests that are emailed, texted, and yes, sometimes even still, faxed. This manual, repetitive work takes them away from guest interactions, and, importantly, can create burn out or fatigue, impacting their performance when they are able to return to guest-facing activities.
With casino revenues surpassing 2019 figures and steady and dependable staffing still being hard to come by, how can technologies of the (future) now revolutionize the way hotels and casinos operate?
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY TUCKER SHOLTES IN THE 2023 SPRING EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.