How to Build a High-Performing Casino VIP Team

This is an interesting topic and one that I think a lot of operators get wrong!

When talking about a high performing VIP team, most people would start with the numbers. They automatically mention revenue, deposits, turnover, the number of active players, retention and bonus spend amongst others.

All of these things matter. VIP is a commercial function and there’s no way of ignoring that.

In my experience, one thing became pretty clear to me over time. Strong numbers don’t automatically mean you have a strong VIP team! You could be hitting targets but that could be because bonus spend is doing most of the work and the actual player relationships are becoming weaker.

What’s wrong with that you might ask! Well, nothing, until the numbers start dropping off and then it doesn’t look quite so good.

For me a genuinely high performing team needs to be able to do both. It needs to deliver commercially (of course) but it also needs to build relationships that players actually value.

Operators need to ask themselves whether they want Hosts or do they want sales people to manage their VIP portfolios? Of course there needs to be commercial results through well thought out targets, but there also needs to be accountability.

The problem comes in where every conversation with the team is about deposits, turnover, reactivation and who hasn’t played this week, then that’s where the attention is naturally going to go. Management talks about relationships, but the team knows that what really gets noticed is the number at the end of the month.

This is when behaviour changes. A player goes quiet and the first reaction is an offer or what bonus might get them back. The conversation then starts becoming commercially driven and the host has stopped thinking about the player, and things start becoming transactional. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases that’s how the business has taught them to think.

Strong numbers don’t automatically mean you have a strong VIP team.

You still need the right people

Often operators recruit VIP Hosts for the wrong reasons. They’ll focus on whether they can sell; Are they confident; Do they understand CRM; Can they work under pressure; Can they cope with target?

These are all important attributes, but I would also want to know whether the person actually likes dealing with people. Can they deal with difficult & demanding personalities? Do they listen effectively? Are they curious? Do they remember details? Can they build a rapport with people who are very different to who they are? Can they say no in such a way that doesn’t turn a conversation into an argument? Can they be trusted with a relationship that might be worth a great deal to the business?

The loudest or most confident person in the room isn’t always your best host. Some people are naturally outgoing and brilliant with people. Others are quieter, perhaps a little more reserved, but they can listen better and they can remember what’s been said and they can follow through. Both can be very effective.

What I would want is a team of people who can display honesty, who have ownership, can show empathy, who have good judgement, who are curious and who are reliable. There are many things you can teach about systems etc but to teach someone to genuinely care about people is a lot more challenging.

Set standards — but let your team be themselves

I’m a big believer in standards like good communication; Follow Up; Honesty & ownership when things go wrong. What is key however is consistency. That doesn’t mean everybody needs to sound the same but don’t create over-scripted environments – it’s easy to pick up as it sounds forced or it sounds like they’re working through a checklist. Once this happens, you start removing the most valuable thing the Host can bring to the relationship and that’s their natural personality.

Avoid running the team from a spreadsheet

This is another area that operators get wrong. Numbers are obviously important but they aren’t the whole story. A host can have a brilliant month because of one or two big players but then have a rotten month despite displaying great relationship skills. If you only look at the top line, you can miss out quite a lot. The host needs to know what’s happening underneath. Is the portfolio dependent on one or two big players? What’s happening with bonus spend? How are inactive or declining players being handled? Are hosts following up and how are complaints being managed? Is the communication actually relevant or is there just a lot of it? Do the hosts know anything meaningful about the people they’re responsible for? These are just some of the things that are much harder to measure than deposits or turnover.

Coaching and QA are critical

A training course isn’t going to suddenly turn someone into a better host. It helps but most of the development happens afterwards. You need to refer to real situations; a difficult player call, a complaint or a player who’s gone quiet; an interaction that could have been handled differently or a Host who started relying too heavily on bonuses. Those are REAL situations. Start asking why, how, what. Did you actually listen? Those are better conversations and starts getting your Hosts to start thinking about the role differently. QA is a great way to help improve.

How you approach QA is very important! It shouldn’t feel like someone waiting to catch somebody doing something wrong and to penalise them. That just causes people to become defensive.

Used properly, QA can be very useful. Managers will need to listen to calls and read chats. Look at how difficult situations were handled. Check whether the Host really listened or were they waiting for a chance to push out an offer? Was there any follow up and did they manage the expectations properly?

Once you’ve done the above – the next step is to talk about it. Don’t only focus on the mistakes. Introduce situations that were handled really well. If a host finds a good way of recognising a player without throwing more bonus money at them, talk about that – teams can learn a lot from each other. Let them lead the chat and allow them to express themselves openly.

Workload — where personalisation breaks

Workload – this is another area where operators often get it wrong.

Of course you want personalisation, you want meaningful relationships and proactive contact. You also expect detailed notes to be captured and proper follow up to happen. But what happens is the host keeps getting new players and eventually they can’t keep their head above water. There comes a point where something has to give! Messages get shorter, follow-ups slip and notes become slack. The host reverts to campaign contact because it’s easier and quicker so they can get through their workload. What starts happening is rather than having personalised hosting you get volume management.

I don’t think there’s one perfect portfolio size per host as everyone is different. This is where technology can help by using CRM properly, make use of automation where relevant, make use of relevant data but the main purpose should be to give the hosts sufficient time for the human part of the job and not to bury them in yet another system.

Management tone shapes the team

Management Tone. Such an important component of an effective VIP Team!

If the first question every morning is about how much your players deposited – that sends out quite a clear message. But – if you include what difficult conversation did you have this week or which player relationships are you worried about – then that sends out a completely different message.

Avoid giving recognition only to whoever generated the biggest number – the rest of the team will then learn that the numbers are all that really matter. Make sure you also recognise someone who managed to recover a difficult situation or who handled a complaint properly. Someone who showed good judgement or who made a sound responsible gambling decision. This way starts shaping a very different type of team and that develops a healthy culture.

If the first question every morning is about how much your players deposited — that sends out quite a clear message.

Don’t ignore the commercial focus

VIP Teams still need targets. Hosts still need to understand player activity, turnover, bonus spend and all the other metrics that allow them to understand what’s happening in their portfolios.

What I would suggest is that they need to look at and understand how those results are being achieved.

This is where REAL plays a part.

• Are players genuinely being RECOGNISED or are they simply just an account in a segment?
• Is there real ENGAGEMENT or are we just generating more contact to tick a box?
• Are Hosts building AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIPS where TRUST actually exists?
• And over time, are those relationships helping create stronger conditions for LASTING LOYALTY?

So what does a high performing VIP team look like?

I don’t think it’s complicated. A Host must know the numbers but they mustn’t treat the player like a number. They must understand the commercial side of the job, BUT they also need to understand people. They need to listen effectively and follow through. They need to be able to handle difficult conversations and they need to understand timing and to know when an offer makes sense and when it doesn’t. They need to take ownership and also be open and receptive to learning from each other. There must be a management culture that focuses on coaching and developing rather than chasing!

Here’s a question that needs asking before focusing on the monthly report and stats.

Are your VIP Hosts performing well because you’ve built a genuinely strong team, or are the numbers simply “good” at the moment?

These two things might look very similar for a while.

Look carefully – they’re not always the same!