MRI Casino Marketing Blog
It's Time to Revisit Your Casino’s CRM Solution

Maybe your casino CRM software was state-of-the-art when you signed on the dotted line, but times have changed. Or maybe it’s never lived up to your expectations to begin with. Either way, casinos vie for market share in an extremely dynamic environment, and a CRM tool that isn’t pulling its proverbial weight is tantamount to using white belt karate moves in a championship MMA bout. In other words, it’s probably not going to end well.

Just like any other technology you use in your operations -- a labor management system, budgeting and forecasting software, an online gaming platform, or your machines themselves -- a CRM solution that doesn’t evolve with player expectations and attributes immediately puts you behind the competitive eight-ball. For that reason, revisiting your casino’s CRM solution every few years is one of the best decisions you can make to ensure long-term success.

The Only Constant Is Change
Customer Relationship Management. You needn’t look any further than the title alone to see how vital CRM is to your casino operations. Just like any industry, your players are your lifeblood, but casinos have a uniquely intimate relationship with their customer base. A successful casino thrives on emotion -- the excitement innate to a lively floor, the thrill of a win, the anticipation of Lady Luck smiling kindly on any given night -- and that breeds an inherently personal connection between a player and casino along with a sense of trust.

Developing and building on that relationship requires a casino to understand their players, what they expect from the gambling experience, and how those expectations evolve over time. That evolution is a constant factor, meaning a casino operator must employ relationship management solutions that are flexible enough to adapt with the times.

The last few years alone have introduced a new era in online gaming, social media marketing, mobile apps, players’ clubs, and countless other innovations to the industry that have all quickly become must-haves rather than mere perks from the gambler’s perspective. A CRM solution stuck in its ways renders a casino defenseless against competitors that can seamlessly identify, understand, and integrate new player expectations into their operations. As time passes, that need for agile CRM will only grow in impact, separating successful casinos from everyone else.

Signs You Might Need a New CRM Solution
So what’s a casino operator to do if they find themselves unable to keep pace with the industry and player expectations? Or even worse, what happens when they no longer understand their customer base and the different affinities that help form those critical emotional bonds between a player and casino?

Thankfully, all hope is not lost, assuming the operator has both the ability and gumption to find new solutions that can re-establish that understanding, reinforce those emotional bonds, and allow a casino to appeal to those dynamic player affinities effectively. And since knowledge is power, identifying the signs of a fading CRM or, just as harmful, one that intrinsically lacks the functionality a casino needs, is a vital first step in gaining market share that becomes more difficult to attain by the day.

Lack of Customization
Many of the most popular CRM platforms claim significant customization capabilities, but reality begs to differ with those claims. Trying to fit a casino’s square peg into a CRM with patently round abilities will inevitably lead to inefficiencies. A CRM should mold itself around your operations, and anything less is a poor fit for you, your workforce, and gamblers.

Poor Mobility
Casinos are a fast-moving environment. Your decision-makers need real-time data at their fingertips at all times and from all locations. Cloud-based, mobile solutions free management to interact with staff and players, an absolute must for casinos. Cumbersome CRM platforms that tether your leaders to their desks do more harm than good.

Too Slow and Complex
Speaking of real-time data, a CRM should make direct communication with your players easier, eliminating the many hurdles that so many CRM platforms put between casinos and their player base. Intuitive player communications like email and push notifications not only add convenience, but also immediacy. Ideally, you want a conversation with your players, not a one-sided monologue that may or may not ever reach the target audience.

Imprecise Marketing
In the era of big data and algorithms, a CRM that doesn’t fully leverage the sweeping power of data analysis to drive your database marketing and player development is putting your operations at a significant disadvantage. Your CRM should be the convergence point of your marketing efforts, integrating immediate data down to the individual level to maximize your ROI for every player.

AIM® Is a CRM Specifically For Casinos

If your CRM fails on any of those counts, or simply doesn’t deliver the results you expected, it might be a good time to see what other solutions are available in today’s vibrant marketplace. While we are undoubtedly biased in our opinion on the best CRM solution for casinos, that opinion is well-justified.

With MRI’s AIM® solution, casinos have the vital communication tool they need, sitting in the palm of their hand. While we could tout its advanced functions and speak of its technical prowess -- all of which AIM leverages for maximum effectiveness -- every CRM makes those claims.

What makes AIM® so unique is its intuitiveness and targeted abilities. It's a CRM solution made specifically for casino operators, the result of over a decade of market research and dialogue with casinos. In other words, we don't just claim to listen to the needs of operators, but actually do something about it. The particular demands that separate the casino industry from others is exactly what AIM® is built upon, and it will only continue to evolve along with the industry itself.

That intuitive player communication that other CRMs lack serves as the beating heart of AIM®. Our app fosters a real-time conversation between your casino's marketing team and your players, down to the individual level. For instance, maybe you identify a regular player segment that hasn't been to your casino in months. With AIM®, you can identify that group and send out a specialized offer, maybe for a player appreciation dinner, using creative that's already built into the platform.

Use AIM® to send out offers to specific players to help fill seats at a show or special event, a function that a more cumbersome and complex CRM would struggle with. When AIM® is coupled with our “Ovations App”, your players can respond to you with the push of a button, ask questions to your team, and converse in a way that only reinforces the bond between you and your player base.

Marketing Results' AIM® CRM is fluid and instinctive, making that type of targeted communication simple yet powerful. In fact, AIM® is so easy to use, it's rare that a casino needs more than our complimentary three-day, on-site training program. Of course, if more training is needed, that's never a problem, but AIM®'s convenience and intuitive functions make it an entirely unique CRM solution for casinos. It's streamlined and simple without sacrificing function, a notion that other CRMs cannot genuinely claim in the casino industry.

AIM® is a difference maker for operators trying to harness the power of a rapidly evolving customer base to gain a competitive edge. Get to know every player, understand their needs, and maximize your return as a result. Schedule a demo today and see for yourself why AIM® is a better way to run your campaigns. Both your players and bottom line will appreciate the difference.