Millennials, move over. Casinos will soon need to start adapting for an even bigger new generation that will again upend how businesses operate.
The rise of Generation Z, roughly consisting of those born between 1997 and 2016, will require casinos to be even more reliant on technology, pay closer attention to how they are reviewed on social media, and deliver all services seamlessly, said Robin Bernhard, senior manager of marketing and education for BMM Testlabs, an independent gaming certification lab with 13 global locations.
Bernhard and entrepreneur/author Don Williams, CEO of Don Williams Global, took part in a small panel discussion Tuesday, “Customer Experience is Not One Size Fits All: Delivering Exceptional and Customized Service to WOW All Customers” at the Global Gaming Expo. Michael Hochman, vice president of casino operations at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., moderated.
Generation Z makes up 25.9 percent of the U.S. population, compared with Millennials’ 24.5 percent share, according to the Pew Research Center.
Although the oldest of Generation Z are just turning 21, “it doesn’t take an economics expert to point out that this represents a demographic tsunami” distinct from the Millennial generation, Bernhard said.
Williams, the author of Romancing Your Customer, said casinos need to talk with their customers about their experiences.
“Until you ask a customer what they want, you never know,” he said.
Bernhard said research shows that companies generally don’t plan for customer experience, instead cobbling it together as issues arise. “Very rarely do they walk in the front door and … see what really happens, what a person, touches, feels, experiences.” He suggested that executives go through the process of signing up for a players’ club card or checking in at the hotel.
Williams outlined a three-step process for assessing customer service:
- Take an honest look at your operations. In other words: Start naked and see what you have to work with.
- Tell customers “thank you” and then ask “What else can I do for you?”
- Have the courage to make big changes to improve service.
Bernhard outlined some ways that members of Gen Z differ significantly from the millennials that casinos have been worried about attracting for many years:
- Generation Z has never known a world without cell phones, the Internet and mobile devices. They expect quick, efficient, and seamless service, such as registering for a hotel and receiving a digital key while riding in an Uber.
- They were affected early by the Great Recession, terrorism, and globalization.
- Before buying a product, more than 85 percent of those over 15 research it online.
- The typical member of Generation Z has an attention span of eight seconds but is adept at sorting and assessing data. So those eight seconds are more a filter than an attention problem. “If you can’t get your message into eight seconds, think of breaking the information you’re trying to convey into smaller bits.”
Online user reviews are becoming more important to all consumers, and this trend of “social proof” – buying items and pursuing activities based on what others say and do – will speed up as Generation Z matures, Bernhard said.
As social proof supplants traditional marketing, casino operators need to monitor how they’re portrayed on social media because “it will define you,” Bernhard said. He advised casinos to get into the habit of responding to criticism, as well as good reviews. That holds true not only for customer reviews, he said, but also for reviews by current and former employees on sites such as glassdoor.com.
“The more your business is reviewed,” he explained, “the likelier you are to receive higher ratings, and the less likely you are to see more unfavorable reviews because people don’t want to go against the social proof of your positive reviews.”
Bernhard cited a hotel study that found that operations with fewer 20 online reviews had an average score of 3.5 out of five stars, while those with more than 100 reviews averaged 3.9 stars.
Williams said customers who experience a problem that a business has corrected generally think more highly of the business than customers who never had a problem.
Bernhard also emphasized readiness, saying that, while members of Generation Z are just entering the job market, the casino industry needs to start preparing now, Bernhard said.
“With that big number, 26 percent, coming into the market, companies need to think constructively about how they’re going to attract and keep them as customers,” Bernhard said. “And in this economy, they’re going to have think about how to attract them as employees, as well.
He said some analysts predict Generation Z will make up 40 percent of American consumers, possibly as soon as 2020.
“Winners and losers across the casino industry will be determined by who recognizes this population and pivots to engage them.”
