The industry buzz about the new generation of analytical tools from vendors like Quick Custom Intelligence (QCI) is often centered on technology and software. Features like artificial intelligence, statistical clustering, probabilistic data matching, auto-regressive integrated moving averages and quartal super graphics sound impressive. And they are.
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But in the real world, these techno terms simply translate to some down-to-earth casino marketing improvements: they save time, are easy to use, and make things work better.
Danielle Chapel is the director of marketing at Black Oak Casino Resort in Tuolumne, CA which is close to the west edge of Yosemite. She says that compared to using their standard slot system, QCI is amazing. “We don’t have to go and pull data from different places and put things together for ourselves. When we started using QCI’s ‘Offer Loader’, it was nice because before, we had to build all these text files for all the different free play offers. And then you built all the different groups and all the different sub-Free Play offers. One admin would spend four days just making all these things and then uploading them into the system. Now, with ‘Offer Loader,’ it does its own upload. You save days.”
And she said with the new QCI tools, she can target the exact players they want with a lot less effort. “As an example, we have this end-of-the-year party that’s a sit-down dinner. Now, we can be very, very specific about what we want and who to invite. I think we targeted a minimum of $800 ADT (Average Daily Theo), or $5,000 AMT (monthly). Then, QCI just pulls the list for me. It tells me exactly how many people are in every demographic. I don’t have to go in and do all that work myself.”
Despite the fact that the casino is relatively small on a national scale, she has found that QCI is still extremely responsive. When our General Manager asked if they could add a new metric for “Theo Less Free Play,” they were able include it in their new release within less than two months.
Chapel said, “With most companies, we’ll put in a suggestion and maybe in five years, if you’re lucky, you’ll see some results. QCI is a lot more responsive, and they take your feedback more than I’ve seen with other companies.”
Rather than writing custom features for individual casinos, QCI includes worthwhile suggestions in their frequent upgrade packages. Importantly, new software versions are easy to install nationwide with few, if any, disruptions. That’s good news to those in IT and others who have horror stories of upgrades that introduce more problems than they fix.
The secret is QCI’s innovative database design and its commitment to keeping all of its customers on the latest version. It makes upgrades a seamless and easy process with no unexpected surprises.
While QCI is an acknowledged leader in visual database products with graphical heat maps and other display tools, they are also gaining high marks for their newer Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and “Host” modules.
Chapel says the Host program has changed how they do business at Black Oak. “It’s much easier for our hosts to keep track of players that are inclining and/or declining, new players, players that are on the floor that you know are of value, but that we don’t know about. It’s been very impactful for the hosts to keep track of things, instead of having to do everything manually.”
She adds, “when you have measurable things for the hosts, their boss can meet with them and let them know where each host stands at any given time: ‘This is where you need to be.’ It’s just a lot clearer. That’s important because hosting can be a very hard job, and anything that makes it easier and more efficient is really impactful.”
Black Oak began its relationship with QCI with a basic analytical package of Slot, Table Game, and Marketing features. They’ve since added a Power Pack and Events modules, along with the CRM and Hosting programs mentioned above.
Black Oak Casino Resort recently completed work on a new, all-ages 20,000 sq.ft. indoor action park called “Elevate.” It features multiple trampolines, golf simulators and more. Phase Two of this expansion calls for remodeling their existing pool into a major outdoor “Water” park expected to be complete by July.
The casino features 1,174 slots and 22 table games. They have five different food & beverage outlets, two bars and a hotel featuring 148 rooms.
