TRIO360 is heavily impacting Casino VIP Bookings in a great way. In this recent interview with Viejas Casino and Resort’s Casino Host, Suzanne Ferreri, we discuss what has changed since TRIO360 was installed and how TRIO360 has made day to day workflow much more efficient and productive.
Topics discussed include:
- What has changed since TRIO was installed
- Selling efficiency increased through TRIO
- Messaging capabilities simplified
- TRIO improves host work/ life balance simultaneously while improving customer accessibility
- Team trust and adaptability improved
- Customer response to TRIO
- How Trio keeps customers from falling through the cracks
- Day to day workflow and real-time reporting.
TRIO CEO, Craig Shacklett interviews Viejas Casino and Resort’s Casino Host, Suzanne Ferreri, to discuss what has changed since TRIO was installed and how TRIO has made day to day workflow much more efficient and productive.
Full Transcript Below
(0:00-0:21) Craig Shacklett: Hi Everybody, Craig Shacklett here with URComped talking about TRIO CRM. And we have a special guest today, Suzanne Ferreri Casino Host with Viejas Casino Resort near San Diego. Suzanne, thank you so much for being here.
(0:21-0:23) Suzanne Ferreri: You’re welcome. Thank you.
(0:23-0:36) CS: So you’ve been using TRIO for around two months now, maybe not quite two months, but I know it’s changed a lot already. So tell us what changed for you since TRIO was installed at Viejas.
(0:36-1:22) SF: TRIO has made our jobs so much more efficient. For example, instead of having to send an email to the hotel, and then get on your phone, and text the guests, and then go back to the hotel, and then go back to the guest. And you’re doing all these steps, to book a trip out for a guest. It’s all in one place. And it just makes life so much easier because you can book the trip, talk to the guests, talk to the hotel to follow up. All in one spot and you don’t have to leave that screen on your phone. So it just frees you up to do so many other things. It’s amazing.
(1:22-1:43) CS: So before TRIO, and I know I’ve seen a lot of CRM’s, and a lot of different Casinos. So before you’d be communicating with the player with your work cellphone. And then you’d have to either switch applications in your phone, or getting from your laptop, and send an email to the hotel, and you waiting for… So you’re saying, you’re using multiple devices. And now it’s all on one screen?
(1:43-1:59) SF: One screen. Super easy, very… Computer, simple for people who maybe they are not into all the technology. It’s very easy to use and it’s just bam! All on one screen.
(1:59-2:16) CS: I love hearing that. And it sounds like, just serving inbound requests. This has made it so much easier to book. Now, tell me more about how selling an event has changed? If you got tournament, or you just got rooms need to fill. What was like before? And what’s it like since with TRIO?
(2:16-3:05) SF: So before, it would be… We would have to individually contact every single person that was on a list. And go through text. Not that we couldn’t copy and paste a text. But it’s just such a pain to do that. To send and then change, “Hi, Mr. Smith” to “Hi, Mr. Jones” Whatever. Send everything through this, because there is the ability to have templates. You could send like, Here’s all the people from my event. It fills in all the information that you needed to do. I don’t have to sit there and edit every single thing. And it’s just like bam again. It’s so quick. And I could spend double the amount of invites that I would normally have time to do.
(3:05-3:31) CS: And just to be clear. Because I think a lot of people may get a misconception. Because there are a lot of casinos have text messaging software. And it comes from like a five-digit number. It’s obvious when you get it. It’s a generic text. And most people just delete it. Where is this… Like, tell us how it comes across? I mean, you can make it personalized and done every… Even though you’re using a template. It’s not all cookie cutter. You can edit it on the fly, right?
(3:31-3:59) SF: Correct, yeah. No, you can still edit it. And I think like, my guest think. Even though, I’m kind of sending the same thing that out to everyone. But because maybe I know that this certain person, just had a birthday too. I might throw that in there as well. So it’s not like… You don’t have to do just like, one size fits our all you can edit it. But even so, it’s so much easier because it just everything’s in one place.
(3:59-4:06) CS: It makes total sense. Now you’re able to reach out to more customers do you feel like it’s helped you booked more business?
(4:06-4:20) SF: Oh, yeah. I mean, Our events the last few Month’s we’ve had… Are really really good. And I really attribute it to TRIO. Because like I said, you can get so much more done, faster.
(4:20-4:55) CS: And I think, I don’t do the best job marketing TRIO. Because I emphasize a lot about the text messaging. Because I think that most players nowadays want to communicate by text. I mean, it’s just kind of what we’ve seen. But it does… But you are able to call as well, right? How has your way you communicate with players changed since putting in TRIO? Are you finding you’re talking on the phone more or less? You text them more, you email more like, what has anything changed like how you communicate?
(4:55-5:35) SF: For me, I was always a big email and texter. I was never a big phone call person. Just because… 9 chances out of 10 they didn’t answer the phone. When they see a number, they didn’t answer the phone. I actually do more text than I even did before. And probably less emails. And I think, I’m just a texter. And I think that’s the way like you said, People in this… That’s how they wanted to communicate. That way, they can answer you when they want. If they’re busy they don’t have to answer right away. They don’t have to get a voicemail. Emails end up in spam, whatever. To me, it’s just so much easier that way.
(5:53-5:41) CS: So what has changed about your days off since TRIO’s been installed?
(5:41-6:55) SF: You can actually have days off which is nice. Someone like me who’s very accessible to my guests. And I want to be accessible to my guest, but there are times where… For example like, I went out last night and I was like, “I’m out.” It was great because normally when we go out, I’m looking at the phone like once an hour to make sure no one needs me. I could actually have like a three-hour dinner. And not have to think about, “Oh my gosh, who is texting me?” Because I know it was taken care of everybody, by the other hosts. And they’re great at it. They’re absolutely fantastic at taking care of my guests when I’m not there. And then, if there is an instance like, an emergency or whatever I can get it. but I don’t have that like, “Oh, my gosh in the middle of dinner and I have to add free play.” You really do have… Because the last night was the first time I really have been out. Since we’ve been using TRIO. And it was so different. It was like a weight off your shoulders. Honestly, you actually have a life.
(6:55-7:01) CS: I love that. That is… We may use that as a slogan for TRIO like, “Give your host a life outside of work.”
(7:01-7:05) SF: Your host will have a life, I promise you.”
(7:05-7:33) CS: How is that… been obviously… I think one of the things that people worry about when TRIO comes in is maybe letting go of trusting other hosts on the team to do a good job servicing your players. Because obviously someone like you, hold yourself to a higher standard. So tell us about that. How is that transition been to going from like you’re the only one to trusting your teammates?
(7:33-8:44) SF: It’s a little bit tough at first. Because you are so used to how. We’re all so personalized how we give our service to our guests. And there’s those certain guests that you take care of a certain way. But with TRIO having everything tracked, with the emails being tracked, and the text being tracked. I know when I jump on someone else’s conversation, I could see how they do things. “Okay, I see how they always booked this person in this type of hotel or whatever it is.” And I can adapt myself to the way they do things. We have a standard across the board of course. But those kind of little personal touches you can see. And of course, they’re going to tell your guests. “Hey, she’s not here. I’m here to help you.” The guest response is fantastic because they’re just like, “Oh good. I don’t have to wait two hours till she gets in the office to get an answer on my free play right now.” Or whatever it is. So it’s extremely adaptable. And it really does help you trust your teammates even more than we did. Because you see, “Oh my gosh. They really are doing the best they can and taking care of my guests.” And I think its posture a better team atmosphere with us.
(8:44– 9:14) CS: That is awesome to hear. Good questions, good ideas, don’t come in very often. So I need to grab them and soon as they pass by. I think some people may be hesitant or worried about TRIO like, “It’s gonna freak out my player that somebody else is replying to them.” But I know we’ve seen, and it sounds like you’ve seen that isn’t the case. So what has been your experience with players when either you’re filling in for another host or another host kind of covering you? What’s been the general response you’ve gotten from players?
(9:14-10:11) SF: We’ve got a really good response. And I think when we first sent out the new number and let everyone we were going to have… Let the guests know we were going to have a TRIO. And we explained, “This is a new system. If I’m not here somebody else can pick up the call. So you don’t have to worry, you don’t have to wait.” And I never heard a bad response. They want an answer. You know what I mean? And of course, there’s personal things they want to tell us. Let them know that, “Will get to those things as soon as we get in.” When we do send the text, or the emails, or whatever back and say, “Hey, I’m so-and-so your host isn’t in. Here’s what I can do for you.” It’s not like, “Where’s my host? It’s okay. Thanks. Thanks for helping.” I think that is a little bit unfounded of a… I understand that is a concern but you don’t have to be concerned.
(10:11-10:57) CS: Yeah. It’s like you said, “It’s a natural concern.” But ultimately players, they just want to get what they need taken care of. And they love you and they want you to be their point person. But if you’re out, they also want their hosts to have a life. They don’t want to feel like they can never get away and recharge. So I think players actually appreciate that there’s somebody covering them. And letting you get some time off. Right, exactly. I don’t think I asked you this already. I love hearing about it. And I think most managers want their host to actually have time off. And enjoy their days off and come back recharge and refresh and ready to work, but they also want to know about the bottom line. Do you feel like TRIO has helped you book more business?
(10:57– 11:58) SF: Yes, I do. It’s so much easier to get… Because depending on how big your book is. There’s those people they just tend to fall through the cracks. They’re the quiet ones, they don’t ask for much. They don’t… And this is so easy to just… With those templates and the different things. It’s so easy to just go, “Oh, here’s all these people that maybe I don’t see that often.” Or like I said, they’re the quiet ones. So you could just send him a quick text. “Hey, I’m thinking about you. Do you need anything? Here’s my info.” And I find that they’re like, “Oh, yeah. You know what? I don’t normally talk to you, but now that I’m thinking about it. I want to a hotel stay It makes it easier to kind of reach those people. Because everything else you’re doing it becomes so efficient that you have the time now to hit those couple ones. So I think, bringing those people in that sort of fall through the cracks a little bit. Like I said, is helping for sure.
(11:58-12:08) CS: So you come in from a couple of days off. Or just… You’re coming in the morning or afternoon. What do you do? Like, how do you start your day? What’s your day… How is your day organized with TRIO?
(12:08-12:55) SF: So the first thing I do is get on and I check the chats. Just to see if I have anyone pending that’s mine. Answer those real quick if I need. And then what I do is I go into… There’s a great screen called, “Host Status” And you could kind of see like, “Oh, maybe I missed this one email or something.” And you’re like, “I could go in there.” And just make sure that I have everything caught up that I need to do. Zero all those out. And then go from there. And you can start like, “Okay, here’s my list of who I need to contact today. Find them in TRIO. Send out a quick text.” Boom, you’re done. You could get all that done in an hour. You’re like, “Now I’m free to walk the floor and I can go see people in person.” And I’m not feeling like I’m tied to the computer all night.
(12:55-13:23) CS: And so, you’re able to do all this activity. And one thing I’ve heard from a lot of hosts… About being a host, “You have to do all this stuff.” And then you have to go into your CRM and log that you did all this stuff. And that’s the last thing you want to do, after doing a lot of stuff. What is it like with TRIO with regards to making sure your management can see that you’re busy? How has that changed with TRIO?
(13:23-14:24) SF: Well, I don’t have to try to remember every single conversation I had. Or write it down every single person I contacted. I could load it in a system to say “I did it.” I do it in TRIO. They see it in real-time. They want to know if I’m busy. They could see that I’m busy. It’s right there. I don’t have to be like, “Oh shoot, I forgot about Mr. Jones the other day. And we had a five-hour conversation.” My VP can sit there and just… She sees everything I’m doing. What I’m saying. It’s also good because she can coach you to certain things. Like, “Hey, I saw you said this. Oh, don’t forget about this and that.” And it’s really good because we have each other’s back on that. It’s nice. It’s just nice. I love TRIO. And my friends are a host of different places. I’m like, “You guys, I got a new system.” Like, “You’re gonna be so jealous.” Like, “We hate you. This sounds awesome.” “Sorry, we’re cool. You’re not.”
(14:24-14:31) CS: I love hearing that. You just… You made the whole interview for me by saying that. So thank you…
(14:31-14:41) SF: I’m touting it for you. I’m like, “You guys got to get this. But I don’t want you to have what I have. Because what I have is best.” Now, I wish you guys success I do.
(14:41-15:01) CS: Well, I really appreciate it. And I can tell you’ve already had a ton of success with it. And we’re only a month and a half in. I’m looking forward to doing this again a few months and hearing just kind of what’s developed? How you’ve been using TRIO? And hear about some more successes. So thank you for your time today and hopefully, we can do it again in a few months.
(15:01-15:02) SF: Yeah, it sounds good.
(15:02– 15:05) CS: Alright. Well, thank you so much, Suzanne. You have a wonderful rest of your day.
(15:05-15:10) SF: Alright. See you, Crai
