The monitoring isn’t just for security, or even for operations – although casinos are very efficient at that. Facial recognition spots important guests as well as known card counters. RFID in chips not only prevents theft and counterfeiting. It also means you can see exactly how much money is on the tables and what the flow of bets looks like. Instrumented slot machines report back when they need emptying or refilling with coins. Tracking systems help casinos determine how often players are winning.
What the casino industry has pioneered is data modeling and predictive analytics, as an extreme form of CRM. It doesn’t just end with getting visitors to put the geo-fenced casino app on their phones. A tactic you can leverage to send them a text message or push notification with a special offer. It also means you can find out more about their preferences. They keep track of their playing history – and send that information to nearby employees so they can offer the best customer service.
Building a model that lets casinos spot exactly which gamblers are on the verge of losing the bet would make you money. It would also mean you could lose them as a customer. When the danger is that they’ll walk away and may never come back, you want to intervene and manage the relationship in real-time.
Player tracking systems record every detail about every bet – how much it’s for, what the odds are, and how long the player has been at the table. Using data modeling, casinos create player profiles that help them assess the risks for each player – and manage that. Usually, you want to keep people on the gaming floor, so sending over a drink or even ‘comping’ their hotel room keeps them feeling good. But it’s also important to know when getting them away from the table for a break is the best way to keep them as a customer.
Harrah’s pioneered this approach with its Total Rewards loyalty program. He faced other casinos spending billions to build ever-fancier spectacles to pull in the gamblers. Harrah’s managed to double the response rate to its customer offers. He improves customer retention by several million dollars. He increased the number of customers who play at more than one Harrah’s casino by 72% – by tracking and modeling those customers better.
The data warehouse with all details covers all 40 Harrah’s properties, so they can track customers who visit multiple locations. It’s used by all staff. His marketing team sends millions of custom offers a year based on customer scoring and market segmentation analysis.