By Martin R. Baird

There’s an old joke that says you hear a knock at the door and when you answer, the person at the door says, “I’m from the IRS and I’m here to help!” 

I don’t know many people who hope to start the New Year with an audit.  They’re missing out on something very important.  I’m thinking of an audit that may be a little different.  It’s not from the government, the state gaming authority, the NIGC or even your accounting firm.

This is a new audit that we think will be sweeping the gaming industry this year and for many years to come.  It’s a complete front-to-back, top-to-bottom guest service audit.  This is not some little mystery shopping program that determines if a few key areas are smiling or not.  This is a full-scale audit.

After all, what is more important to a property’s long-term success than the guest’s experience?  You can open a beautiful new building, but if guests don’t have a great time, they will not return.  This is more important than ever because of increased competition.

Now that some of the shock is wearing off, let’s look at what an audit really is.  The objective of an audit is to enable an independent guest service consulting firm to render an unbiased opinion on your property’s guest service experience, as well as the preparation that the property has taken to ensure guest service excellence.

So where will this audit start?

It should start from the guest’s perspective. It should look at ALL possible interactions a guest can have with your property.  This can begin with the telephone or even the Internet.  Many casinos are successfully using the Internet as a way to educate, inform and market to prospective guests.  A guest’s perception of the property and the service that they should expect can be affected by how and when their e-mails to the casino are answered.  Of course, the audit should include all the traditional gaming business units that a guest experiences:  table games, bingo, slots and food and beverage.

It’s important to note that the audit may not be limited to just the casino.  Many tribes have a variety of businesses that are all run under the tribal umbrella.  This means that the tribe will all be judged by the weakest guest service link.  Thus, an all inclusive audit is required.

Once a series of snapshots are taken of guest experiences, it’s time to turn that spotlight of the audit inside.  This phase looks at what is expected of employees and how those expectations are communicated.

For example, what information is presented and how is it presented to new hires during new employee orientation?  Is the property’s orientation 7 1/2 hours of rules, regulations and how to get fired, with the final 30 minutes about guest service?  Is the orientation presented in a way that’s conducive to learning and retention or is it more likely to cause insomniacs to doze off?

What about guest service training?  Does the property have it?  Do they do it in-house or do they use outside consultants?  Who attend the training?  Is training mandatory?  How is the information presented?  How often is guest service training held?  Do you use adult training systems to promote retention?  Do people have fun or do they get eight hours of medieval torture?

The training observations can be done with a questionnaire and either attending the presentation live or having the auditors observe video of the average session.

Now we move on to standards.  If you expect people to provide guest service at a specific level, it’s critical that they know what’s expected of them.  You need guest service standards.  Here’s one simple example:  what is the maximum number of rings allowed before the telephone is answered and, once answered, what should be said?  I this is left to chance, then chances are the phone will not be consistently answered.

FYI – inconsistent service is a red flag event found in many audits.  The usual culprits are ineffective training, not having clearly defined standards and excessive turnover.

Now that we know what’s expected and who gets training, it’s a good idea to shine that bright light on the executive team.  This can be a very telling process.  After all, some people know that guest service is critical, but do they really walk the walk or is it just good talk?  It’s amazing how different properties view specific departments’ roll in the guest experience.  For example, we see the valet and security department as two of the most critical but some executive teams see valet as nothing more than a necessary evil and security as being “guards,” not guest service providers.

Lastly, be prepared.  A variety of people or groups could ask for this audit.  They can range from tribal governing groups that want definitive information on guest service and how things are done to the Human Resources team so they have hard data to use for future training and growth.

A New Year that starts off with a highly detailed guest service audit could be just what your property needs to make sure you have many more happy and successful years to come.  Look at it this way.  If you aren’t giving your guests exceptional service, a competitor will be soon and no amount of money thrown at marketing will ever fix the problem.

Martin R. Baird is author of “Gaming Guest Service from A to Z,” a book that uses the alphabet to help gaming executives, managers and employees understand the importance of outstanding guest service and how to provide it.  He is president of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a guest service consulting firm based in Phoenix, Ariz., that provides specialty guest service training, management skills training, presentation skills training, team building programs and employee incentive and recognition programs for the gaming industry.  The company is owned by Lydia and Martin Baird.  The Bairds have a Web site, www.casinocustomerservice.com, that’s devoted to helping casinos improve their guest service so they can compete and increase revenues.  Robinson & Associates may be reached by contacting Martin at 480-991-6420 or at mbaird@casinocustomerservice.com.  The company is a member of the Casino Management Association and an associate member of the National Indian Gaming Association.