Cetraros offering 'Player Management System'
The newest gaming player rewards system to hit Montana was developed by location operators and so is said to intentionally and advantageously promote interaction between staff and customers, rather than reduce it through over-automation.
The Cetraro family operates eight licensed gaming locations in Helena, Butte, Bozeman and Billings. They developed the PMS system, which stands for Player Management System, and now have made it available to any operator on a retail basis. Six other independent licensees are now running the PMS system.
Dax Cetraro met with the Montana Tavern Times at the Grand Plaza Casino, a family operation, in Butte April 7 to explain the system's function and operation.
"We've trained our staff to introduce our customers to our players club, to become a member," he began. "We award players incentive points to get on our mail and e-mail lists. But its really all about encouraging interaction with customers, which is key in these times."
When a player signs up, they get a personal identification number (PIN). When they come in, staff logs the player into the system, then assigns the player to their machine of choice, Cetraro said. The player earns points determined by a proprietary formula based on daily average credits played in the establishment and calculated against the amount of time a player was logged onto the system, as well as other factors.
The points can be used for match play, cash rewards or other promotional purposes. In addition, players club members are eligible for certain drawings and other special promotions designed to work for an individual location.
All the calculations are worked out for a given establishment based on an "estimated flow of business," Cetraro said. The players clubs can be structured to provide customer incentives that can build business during relatively slack days or even specific times of day, or build play on an underutilized machine.
The size and type of incentive, and the timing of the awards, is all customizable, programmable, Cetraro explained. Rewards can be delivered with true randomness or be more targeted.
Non-member play also adds points to the club membership accounts, so members can accumulate rewards even when they aren't present, Cetraro said.
He said the system can store an abundance of customer information, determined by the location, such as names and addresses, favorite food and beverage, which machines they prefer, even their choice of chair – "all their particular preferences." He emphasizes the staff must enter all the data which forces them to learn about the customer and what makes them happy.
He said the PMS system has proven it generates more repeat customers through better service which, he said, also means better tips for attendants. "It gives staff opportunities to perform better and earn better," he said, and once they understand this, they are highly motivated to collect and utilize customer preference information.
Cetraro emphasized that customer information or earned points are never transferred to another location.
He said labor investment in operating the system is minimal, especially given the potential returns. "You set up the promotions you want and then they run," he said, although promotions should, and can be, routinely fine tuned.
The system has built in promotional events such as timed drawings awarded to players who are present or not. Cetraro said operators use the system promotions, but also add and subtract to create unique attractions to their establishment.
Cetraro said operator and staff training – "orientation" is the word Cetraro uses – is part of the package, but the system was designed, and has proven, to be "extremely user friendly. It takes maybe a couple of hours for everyone to get it down," he said. Even operators who aren't very computer savvy have picked it up very quickly, he said.
"We've done our job making it user friendly," Cetraro said, "but we'll spend as much time as a location wants."
The real job of floor staff is not so much learning to run the system, Cetraro said, as it is learning how to learn about customers – their name, their birthday and so on. "We give the staff the tools, but they have to use them. It teaches staff to be very observant of player behavior."
While the system can create significant labor savings (Cetraro says one attendant can handle a 20-machine floor depending on layout, number and frequency of promotions), more importantly it frees and encourages staff to invest more time in customer interaction. "Too much automation will take the customer interaction out of the equation," he said. "But we all have to reduce expenses while we drive revenues. We've got to be efficient."
He said in the "old days," some operations saw promotional costs of as much as 10 percent of revenue. Nowadays, Cetraro said most operators want to keep that cost to 3 or 3.5 percent. Using a player management system, that percentage figure can be known, monitored and adjusted on a daily or weekly basis if desired, he noted.
At the Grand Plaza, he said, promotional costs have been cut from 5.5 to 3 percent, "and the customers aren't complaining," he said.
"We're more competitive but we're not spending more to be so. The key to promotions is to get customers in – which the old 'match play' promotions did – but more importantly to get them to stick around and come back."
The hardware involved is simple: a standard PC with touch-screen monitor and a thermal printer. That's it. A Windows XP operating system typically handles running the software, Cetraro said, but a Macintosh or Linux based system can be used, too.
"It will run on anything."
He said the decision to implement a players club system can be difficult. "It reminds me of when we deliberated for two years about whether to use P.O.S. (point-of-sale) systems in our stores. Once we made the decision, they paid for themselves in six months. These player rewards systems can be like that.
"Our system was developed by location operators for location operators. It is ideal for mom 'n' pops. It gives anyone the ability to control and tailor promotions and their costs," he said.
The PMS system, which Cetraro said has been thoroughly tested in the family establishments, can be purchased for a flat $12,000 which includes hardware costs, training, technical support for 90 days and upgrades. There are no ongoing expenses, which also sets this system apart from others that are available.
Back up to a flash drive is quick and easy and data can then be safely stored off-premise. In the event of a catastrophic hardware failure, restoring the system with the backup should be "easy-peasey," he said.
He emphasized that all involved need to be dedicate to making the system work in order to maximize the potential benefits, and that means maximizing the opportunities to interact with customers and build personal relationships. "It's up to the operator how successful it will be."