Inside Asian Gaming

FEB 2019 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 55 A ll things considered, 2018 was a good year for Macau gaming operators. Casino revenues rose to US$37.6 billion, a 14% increase over the previous year. However, analysts warn that the industry could be facing strong headwinds for 2019 and beyond. Increasing regional competition, uncertainty over license renewal, unresolved US-China trade tensions and President Xi’s periodic moves to reign in corruption are some of the factors that could adversely impact gaming revenues in Macau. There is but one certainty – we will not witness the remarkable revenue growth in the coming decade that we saw in the decade immediately after Macau opened its doors to foreign operators. With the revenue tide ebbing, the six concessionaries in Macau will have to carve out a strong consumer franchise if they are to survive and prosper. All operators have already cut costs significantly and the only way to shore up the balance sheet in future will be to increase revenues. The two segments that are prime candidates for revenue enhancement are the Mass and Premium Mass segments. The way to attract and retain these two groups of customers is by offering them a distinctive customer experience (CX). OFFERING SUPERIOR CX While over 90% of all businesses claim to compete primarily on the basis of CX, the percentage of consumers who feel that their providers offer an outstanding customer experience is in single digits. This disconnect conveys two shortcomings on the part of providers – one, businesses are unable to translate their objective of providing a superior CX into reality, and two, businesses are not gauging the voice of their customers (VoC). Designing a superior CX should start with a map of the current experience offered to key customer segments. Sometimes, this process is referred to as service blueprinting or customer journey mapping. A service blueprint could be described as a service roadmap