That’s right. It’s an age-old question, and one that might never be answered.
Which came first, the chicken (the guest) … or the egg (guest service)?
On the other hand, as long as you have both, I’m not sure it matters.
So, which came first in our amazing, ever-faster-growing hospitality industry… the guest?
Or guest service?
After all, just like the chicken and the egg, you need both the guest — if you are to survive and thrive as a gaming operation — and guest service, without which you really have no product to sell (other than the base act of making a wager). And I think after all these years of growing and refining our industry across the commercial, tribal, and governmental arenas, everyone can agree that guest service is the most important part of our product.
But what to do about it?
After all, no matter how good you get, you can always get better. And that is just what many organizations try so hard to do. Take, for instance, the case of Black Bear Casino Resort in upstate Minnesota. For years, they have developed a loyal following of local and regional players whom they have gotten to know and take care of. Good enough, you say?
Well, not good enough for them.
You see, they wanted to get better. So, they engaged in the effort to create a service program aimed not just at the external guest, but also the internal guest and the communities in which they operate. First and foremost, they engaged in a Year of Service guest service training project consisting of four unique training modules aimed at getting better.
First, a module designed to motivate and inspire the entire group towards the idea of getting better, of not just being good enough. Next, they focused on the basics of guest service, the fundamentals from which all success springs. Things like giving a proper hello or goodbye, personalizing with names, and offering service with that extra bit of effort — the “above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty” extra.
After that, it was on to more advanced subjects, including conflict management and guest recovery, and using service skills to sell the experience. Finally, to wrap it all up, they took a final exam to codify and emphasize all they had learned in the past several months.
Now, service training is all well and good, and it can be invaluable if followed up on and used to actually change and improve behavior in the workplace. But there is a lot more to it than just training, and Black Bear Casino Resort has committed to follow up with a plethora of different efforts to continue to improve their guest service.
As part of their new service program, they have initiated several new tactics and strategies to “keep it moving forward,” including:
- Weekly guest service reminders in their in-house newsletter, which is posted in each department.
- Service posters hung in the halls with additional reminders before team members head to their jobs out on the floor.
- Highlights of above-and-beyond recognition presented to team members and posted in the back-of-house for all to see.
- Additional features and articles in the in-house newspaper about guest service and hospitality trends within and outside the industry.
- Personalization tactics to promote family, such as their baby picture contest that includes baby pics of team members — they guess who it is, and if team members guess correctly, they get a prize. The following month, they conduct an interview with the baby pic employees to show a personal side of these team members to the organization.
- They have also established a guest service team that meets monthly.
Part of that team’s mission is to plan for more and future tactics to “keep it going.” Some of these include the following ideas, which may or may not make it out of the gate:
- Secret shoppers to test overall guest service within both casinos. (Did I mention they also have a small locals’ casino inside Duluth, Fond-du-Luth Casino, which is also heavily invested in the service training and program?)
- Recognition programs, such as an individual department being awarded Guest Service Employee of the Month.
- Creating ongoing training programs to be presented as many as two to three times a year.
- Working with HR to implement guest service training within the orientation of all new employees in order to standardize the service standards from their training program and create a consistent brand of service across all areas of the organization.
- Finally, continually vetting ideas with the goal of creating a harmonious environment within the casinos for the greatest guest experience.
Over my 45 years of being in this great gaming industry of ours, including 20-some years as an operator and over 20 years of consulting on guest service and player development, I have watched or helped many organizations travel down the path to superior guest service. And I can tell you from experience, it is not an easy path to travel, although it is well-worn. Many take the path. Some fail, some succeed, and most are still trying in one way or another to take the next step on that path.
But it is organizations like Black Bear Casino Resort and Fond-du-Luth that take a holistic approach to the effort — not just a training program here or there, or a few posters in the breakroom, but a concentrated effort across all the boundaries of their organization — that are most likely to succeeded in building a workplace predicated on service before self, service first, and service to others.
And in my mind, that is the greatest thing about our industry. From the gaming floor and the restaurants to the food courts and the spas to the hotel rooms and swimming pools and everything else we offer, that above all else is the greatest thing you can sell to another human being — a sense of service above self, a desire to please.
“Be our guest, be our guest
Put our service to the test
Life is so unnerving
For a servant who’s not serving
He’s not whole without a soul to wait upon
So be our guest, be our guest, be our guest…”
(with apologies to “Beauty and the Beast”)
I hope Black Bear Casino Resort’s efforts and experience can inspire more of you to do the same in your organizations. Guest service is not lip service; it is, as Black Bear Casino Resort and Fond-du-Luth have discovered, a part of everything you are and everything you do!
Congratulations to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the tribe that owns and operates the two properties, and good luck in all your future efforts as you travel down the path to service excellence. Until next time, Ravers, so long for now.
