VIP Customer Retention

Don't let your best customers
walk out the door!

NIGA Convention • April 2019

Andy Goldberg

VIPs drive casino success

  • Tell me something I don't know 🙄
  • In many businesses, "80/20 Rule" is applicable
  • However, casino revenue distribution is more skewed, and VIPs are more important

80/? and 90/?

Contribution by player decile

Responsibility

  • The continued success of your casino is reliant on consistent, repeat, loyal patronage by these VIPs
  • You're now responsible for maintaining these relationships and growing the pool of VIP players
  • When aggregate VIP stats are consistent or growing, it means my VIP players are generally reliable, loyal and stable. Right?

Stability is an illusion

  • Few players are stable or constant over extended periods, especially VIPs
  • Most VIP activity is volatile, growing or shrinking
  • There is always a percentage of VIP players whose contributions are declining significantly

Individual volatility

  • Among the top 10% in one year, in the next year:
    •
    38%
    fell out of the top 10%
    over
    half
    reduced by
    at least
    25%
    40%
    dropped by half
    or more
      

Top 1% by visits and ADT

Top 1% → the next year

Example in dollars

  • $100 million casino revenue last year
    •
  • VIPs: 85% or $85 million
    •
  • 40% of those players will decline by 40% or more
    •
  • $85M x 40% x 40% = min. $13.6M of lost revenue
    • Realistically, $22-26 million in play

The opportunity is clear

  • Reduce the number of ex-VIP decliners, inactives and defectors → recover a huge amount of play
  • These are players who are already visiting you, have relationships with your employees, (mostly) have had good experiences at your casino
    • Contrast this with the costs of finding, recruiting, and marketing to new customers
  • OK, but how... ?

5 steps to success

  • 1. Find the players (early)
    • Dedicated analytics searching entire player database
    • Avg daily? Focus on changes in avg monthly theo/worth
    • Like a doctor: early intervention → best chance to cure
  • 2. Observe the players
    • Graphical view of recent, and entire, gaming history
    • Check actual win/loss, not just theo
    • Correlate with marketing offers redeemed or skipped
    • Likely to be moving play to competitor?

5 steps to success

  • 3. Deploy host to (re-)build relationship
    • Goal is to pinpoint area of dissatisfaction, if any
    • Requires proactive mindset, may require training
  • 4. Craft personal marketing package
    • Few enough players, individual plans are feasible
    • Accept stretching of pre-set rules/standards (reinv. rate, etc)
  • 5. Keep at it
    • Takes patience, focus and dedication
    • Challenging but worth it

5+ steps to success

    0. Predict and prevent before a decline
    1. Find the players (early)
    2. Observe the players
    3. Deploy host to (re-)build relationship
    4. Craft personal marketing package
    5. Keep at it

Wrap up

  • Ex- and declining VIPs are a huge opportunity for revenue growth, without requiring up-front capital investment, yet it is often overlooked
    •
  • Early intervention, deploying hosts to the most receptive prospects, and personalized marketing plans, are keys to regaining player loyalty and recovering revenue that would otherwise be lost, probably to competitors
    •

Thank you!

please visit Booth 1012

Andy Goldberg

📧 andy @ keepmyvips.com