Untapped resources – Would you realign your pbx and reservation teams to drive incremental revenue?
During a recent project with my five boys (yes, I did say five boys), I quickly learned how making a few tweaks to my youthful team made a huge improvement to something that started off looking like a really bad and inefficient idea.
I was asked by a family member to help reconstruct the deck on the back of her home. The teardown was just like you would expect, hammers and nails flying everywhere, boards being tossed to and fro, and several boys fighting over who is going to do what. After about an hour or two of this, I quickly realized that this project was going to take forever if I didn’t come up with a better solution, and fast.
I rallied the troops and began my “dad speech” of teamwork, helping each other and getting the job done in a timely manner. I noticed that three of the boys worked great with each other but the 5-year-old thought he was bigger and stronger than he really was. The team assignments were made, the 5-year-old was assigned as Dad’s personal helper, along with the 2-year-old. The older of the two held the hammer and the younger held the nails or whatever else he found along the way. My 13-year-old could manage the weight of most of the boards while the 10 and 7-year-old teamed-up to carry the heavy pieces. What started as construction chaos quickly turned to an efficient little construction crew. We had most of the 8’ x 32’ deck removed and loaded on the trailer the first day. That was a proud Dad moment for me; each boy took turns doing their part and ultimately contributed to the greater good of the project.
This family project got me to think about how we were able to untap efficient resources within our small construction crew. Left alone, they were like a group of beavers fighting over a pile of wood, which can be entertaining but not productive. The minor adjustments that were made to our team improved not only our efficiencies but also the attitude of our team.
When I’m not managing this young group of carpenters, my other job is helping casinos drive revenue and results through phone-based marketing.
We all have several “teams” working at our casinos – and I can tell you that at most properties, your PBX and Reservation Teams are untapped resources. Specifically, these teams can be a great way to connect with your mid to lower tier players. How so?
Here are three ways you could realign your PBX and Reservation Teams in order to maximize your efficiencies:
- Make outbound calls to target mid to lower tier players. One of the most untapped strategies in every casino property we meet with is aligning inbound calling services with outbound sales calls to target your mid to lower tier players. Inbound calls are traditionally guest service related, but outbound calls allow you to target specific areas within your database and for specific purposes (filling rooms, following up on invites to slot tournaments and concerts, using soon to expire points). When you realign your internal resources to do both of these, you maximize your efficiencies which lowers your cost, all while driving increased trip frequency, which translates into incremental revenue.
- Create customized scripts and training programs. Further increase your team’s efficiencies and professionalism through customized scripts and training programs. A customized script for inbound and outbound calls helps your staff sound comfortable and natural while on the call, as well as decreases the amount of wasted time on a call. On-going training regarding Objections and Phone Presence will help your team sound more professional and well versed on your property, current promotions and offers. It ultimately will create a better guest experience.
- Implement basic compliance protocol. With all of the regulations around the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), empower specific team members to help protect your property from unnecessary violations. Most casino properties don’t realize the complex regulations that exist to protect consumers (i.e. your Guests). Here are two major areas to be aware of:
- What are the Federal and State regulations regarding TCPA and how do these regulations affect your casino?
- What are the Federal and State Regulations regarding Do Not Call (DNC) Lists and how do these regulations affect your casino?
Properties should be aware that certain types of software and automated programs put the casino property at more risk. Some of these include automatic and predictive auto-dialers which prevent you from calling a cell phone and can put your property at significant financial risk for violation of the TCPA and DNC laws. Here are some key points to consider if you choose to use Robocalls/ Autodialers as well as a link to the FCC website
Like my team of young carpenters, I bet you have a talented PBX or reservations team that, with a little restructuring and training, can start driving more incremental revenue to your property. Our programs average a 13% response rate compared to 1-3% of other direct marketing efforts.
