DCI America

By James Mills, President, Creating Stronger Nations

As someone who travels to many reservations year round, I am always curious about the level of customer service that is offered at tribally owned casinos. So when I am on the road, I make it a point to check them out. At a recent stop at a major casino, I had the following experience:

I walked over to two casino employees to ask a question. They were talking to each other about something which had nothing to do with work; just casual conversation. I must have waited close to two minutes before they took a moment out to acknowledge that I was there and finally faced me. I asked a simple question about the location of a restaurant in the complex, and neither of them knew exactly how I could get there.

There are two problems here. The first one is the "Ten-foot Rule" problem. Whenever a customer approaches one or more employees in any service or entertainment business, unless the employees are assisting another customer, the Ten-foot Rule tells them to stop what they are doing immediately, face the customer, smile and ask how they can help. I first experienced this at a tribally owned Casino and I was so impressed with how beautifully it worked, that I incorporated it into DCI's Customer Training classes, as I have done with many other "tips" I have garnered through the years.

The second problem is of course that the staff did not know the location of one of their many restaurants. Shouldn't the entire staff of an entertainment facility be well-trained enough to know where everything, that every customer needs to know, is? Is that not an essential part of Customer Service?

Also, getting to know your frequent and steady customers is critical. People love to be recognized and called by name. How many times have you gone to your favorite restaurant because the staff knows who you are and they seem genuinely happy to see you? That is great customer service! In fact, it doesn't get any better than that.

It is difficult to get a second chance at making a good first impression, but not impossible.