If you want to talk about guest service in casinos, you can start anywhere — smiles, speed, standards, training, culture. But lately, everybody wants to start with technology. Fair enough. Technology can be a game-changer. It can also be a brick wall with a shiny touchscreen.
And to be honest, the real answer to “Is technology improving or complicating the guest experience?” goes back to 1988.
I remember seeing one of the first player tracking systems — back when machines didn’t talk to each other, much less talk to you. We walked into a little booth, and there was a computer screen showing every machine on the floor: who was playing, what was happening, basic info we take for granted now. Then one machine flashed. The GM clicked it, and up came the player’s profile: name, address, play, history… and it even told us he had a dog named Buck.
So, she grabbed a bottle of champagne and a few goodies, did a classic cut-in: “Jim! Happy birthday!” The whole thing was personal, immediate, and smart. We stood there with our jaws on the carpet, thinking, “This is going to revolutionize guest service.”
And then… it didn’t.
Why? Because we decided we couldn’t trust frontline employees with the information. Hosts might get access, sure, but not the people who create the majority of touchpoints: slot attendants, bartenders, cocktail servers, dealers, and security. So, the technology that could’ve helped us build relationships across the property mostly became a back-office reporting engine and a marketing lever.
That’s why I say technology is the best thing that ever happened to guest service — and the worst thing that ever happened to guest service. It can break down walls and create touchpoints everywhere… or it can build walls, reduce humanity, and turn the place into a robot factory with better lighting.
The New Plague: “AI But Disease”
Let me give you a modern example. How many of you have experienced what I call “AI but disease”?
You call a company. The AI assistant is cheerful, polished, and efficient. Then you say, “I need a human.” And the AI says, “I’d be happy to connect you… but first, tell me what this is about.” Then it asks three more questions. Then it loops you. Then it basically dares you to hang up.
We had someone in the roundtable nail it: automation is fine — until the customer wants to stop. The moment a guest says, “I want a person,” the system should respect that. Otherwise, what message are you sending? “Please go online so you don’t have to bother us.” That’s not service. That’s a digital bouncer.
Technology Done Right: Make Me Feel Known
Now, here’s the flip side: technology used properly.
I was down at a property in Arizona doing a little “secret shopping.” I’m on video poker at the bar — because if you want to find service, you check the bar. A woman walks up and says, “Good evening, Steve. It’s good to see you.” I’m thinking, “Damn, I’ve been recognized.”
Then she asks the right questions, smiles, acts like she knows me, and finally says, “Would you mind if I turned off the service light on your machine?”
That’s when I noticed she had a tech bracelet on her wrist, and my service light had been bumped on by accident. She didn’t treat me like a task. She used the information to make it feel personal, then handled the issue cleanly.
That’s the point: don’t use technology to reduce service. Use it to free people up to create more touchpoints.
The Basics Still Win: Start With Goal and Strategy
A real guest service program doesn’t start with slogans, buttons, or a “big rollout.” It starts where business always starts:
Mission. Vision. Strategy. Objectives.
When I bought a small locals joint in Carson City — 200 slots, four tables, a small poker room, a bar, and a little restaurant with 14 stools (our guests called it the “squat and gobble”) — we knew service had to be the cornerstone. But we needed to define what we were actually trying to do.
So, I sat down not just with managers, but long-time team members, and asked one simple question:
“Why do people come here?”
We didn’t reinvent ourselves. We just named what was already true. And we landed on a clear goal:
“Create a warm, safe, caring environment for our customers to play in and our employees to work in.”
Then we created the strategy:
“Develop a one-on-one relationship with everyone who walks in the door.”
From there, every decision becomes easier: Does this choice support the strategy or not? If yes, good decision. If no, bad decision.
Don’t Build a Program to Employees — Build it With Them
One of the smartest points shared in the discussion was this: Teams don’t buy what they didn’t help build.
A lot of places create “service standards” in a conference room, print them beautifully, then hand them to employees like stone tablets. Better approach: Build the draft with supervisors, then bring it to the frontline and say:
“Rip it up. Fix it. Tell us what works.”
And here’s the other big one: Leaders need standards too. If employees get held accountable but management doesn’t, the program dies of hypocrisy. I’ve seen it.
One property had a simple program — Greet, Eye Contact, Thank. Sounds harmless, right? But employees hated it because 1) they weren’t involved, 2) managers had no consequences, and 3) leadership handed out buttons that said, “I get it,” and the cocktail servers got comments from guests that… let’s just say… were not family-friendly.
The standards weren’t the problem. The implementation was.
Keeping it Alive: Ask the Right Question
Everybody asks: “How do we keep guest service from dying on the vine?”
Wrong question.
The right question is: “Why did it improve in the first place?”
Whatever caused the lift — clarity, buy-in, leadership involvement, recognition, coaching — that’s what you reinforce. Then you wrap tactics around it: team meetings, role-playing, recognition, bulletin boards, service committees. All of it works if it ties back to the central goal and strategy.
And please — don’t forget the middle managers. Guest service lives or dies in that layer. You can’t just promote someone, teach them paperwork, and then wonder why they don’t lead. They need tools. They need coaching. They need to know how to have the “why” conversations, not just the “what” and “how” conversations.
Two Words That Fix a Lot
At the end of the day, if you want to improve service without buying a single piece of tech, remember two words:
Pay attention.
Pay attention to your guests. Pay attention to your team. If you do that consistently, most of the “guest service problems” fix themselves — because people stop feeling invisible.
And if you want a free “training program” that still holds up? Stream The Andy Griffith Show from the pilot forward. Eighty episodes later, you’ll be one of the nicest people in the building.
(This article is based on a guest service roundtable moderated by Liz Palar, featuring Steve Browne as topic expert, originally recorded during Raving NEXT.)
