Inside Asian Gaming

AUGUST 2018 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 39 COLUMNISTS CX comprises the interactions between brand and customer. These interactions occur across several platforms – the web, telephone, advertising, direct mail, e-mail, staying at the hotel or visits to the gaming facility, to name but a few. Customer experience in the gaming industry involves significant “co- creation” between the operator and the customer. Co-creation is the process by which products, services and experiences are jointly developed by the operator, its partners and the final consumer, leading to a new space where the value created is shared. The extent of value perceived by the customer during the co-creation will determine the quality of the delivered customer experience. Most organizations fail to realize that it is the customer’s perception that finally determines CX value, not Forbes Travel Guide ratings or mystery shop results. An effective CX program must get five main ingredients right: culture, employee engagement, employee reframing, customer insights and customer journey mapping. Should you miss out on any of these ingredients, your chances of succeeding with the CX initiative will be greatly diminished. CULTURE Tony Hsieh, the legendary founder of Zappos, once famously said, “For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.” To craft a compelling customer experience, companies need to inculcate a customer-centric culture, with an unwavering commitment to provide targeted customers with the best possible guest experience. The first vital step in this direction is to measure the existing culture across all levels of the organization. Accurate measurement of organizational culture is necessary before any attempts are made to change it. The pervasive culture within an organization is very much a reflection of the behavior of senior management. If senior management is perceived as taking the customer for granted, it is hard to drill customer-centricity in the rank and file. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT In the 1990s and early 2000s, an intriguing concept revolutionized the way companies thought about their most important asset – their employees. Called “employee engagement,” it was loosely defined as the “capture of discretionary effort” on the part of employees. Discretionary effort means going above and beyond at one’s job; putting in additional effort simply because one wants to do so. While some companies in jurisdictions such as Macau try hard to retain their employees by offering regular salary increases, paternity leave andmaternity leave – with regular bonuses awarded irrespective of performance – these moves accomplish little in increasing employee engagement. Customer experience in the gaming industry involves significant “co- creation” between the operator and the customer. Five ingredients for a successful CX program Customer Experience Employee Engagement Employee Reframing Culture Customer Insights Journey Mapping