Harrahs Expects to Save $4.5 Million Annually

Increase Revenue From Your Existing Machines

Cashless and coinless operating systems, multiproperty player cards, multilevel games… there are lots of new and innovative products and systems on the market today. And they all have one thing in common - they are all designed to make slot play easier and more convenient for the customer, and to provide increased slot machine uptime for the casino. Some of these new products and systems require a substantial investment in both time and money, others can be implemented within your existing machines with great result.

Mark Pace, Corporate Director of Slot Development for Harrahs recently talked about some of the things they are doing on the slot floor to make their customer's visit a more enjoyable experience while, at the same time, increasing slot revenue. "At Harrahs, what we call Guest Service Initiatives - the things we do to provide better levels of customer service - are the most important things we do", says Pace. "We are always looking for ways to make our customers feel more comfortable at a Harrahs property".

A big challenge Pace faced was developing ways to reduce hopper fills that cut into machine uptime and frustrated customers that wanted to continue playing a machine that required a fill. After much study and consultation with other departments within the Harras organization, a number of new Guest Service Initiatives were developed and implemented that provided staggering results. Hopper fill time was cut to 7 minutes from an industry average of about 20 minutes. Hopper fill events were reduced by 25%. And, when fully implemented across the Harrahs brand, these new Initiatives will provide potential incremental revenue of over $4.5 million annually.

In addition to the potential revenue from increased slot machine uptime, reducing the number of hopper fills allowed Harrahs' Slot Hosts to spend more time with their customers. They didn't have to spend excessive time responding to a hopper fill event, filling out the required paper work, obtaining the appropriate number of fill bags, and refilling the machine. They were now able to spend more time celebrating jackpots with their customers, answering questions and getting to know them better on a personal basis.

The new Guest Service Initiatives that provided theses increased customer benefits focused on empowering the Slot Hosts with the ability to provide additional serviced directly at the customer site, and the installation of an auxiliary coin supply mounted inside the machine that replenishes the hopper before coins run out. Everything was accomplished utilizing existing machines and operating systems.

To reduce the time it takes to complete a hopper fill, Harrahs built secure fill bag compartments inside the base of all machines. Slot Hosts can fill a machine directly from this compartment and get the machine back into action without wasting time going back and forth to the cashiers cage. Fill bags can then be replaced in the compartment when the machine is idle. Slot Hosts also now carry a money envelope and are permitted to make "Pouch Pays" directly to customers. For smaller payouts, this system makes the process much faster and allows for more customer interaction.

While the empowerment of Slots Hosts helped reduce hopper fill time, the biggest savings came from the installation of an auxiliary coin supply inside the machine. Called The Glenview Attendant, the device automatically monitors the main hopper coin level and takes action to replenish the hopper before the coins run out. The entire payout is completed without interruption or machine shutdown, and the player can keep on playing without stopping to wait for a time consuming hopper fill. Hopper fills can be completed later when the machine is idle.

Following an extensive testing period where the Glenview Attendant was evaluated by many people from different departments throughout the organization, Harrahs began installing Attendants in IGT S+, Vision and WMS upright machines in July 2000. To date, over 5000 Attendants have been installed and, since the installation of the first Attendant, Harrahs continues to monitor and track the benefits of using the system.

According to Harrahs' Pace, "On a monthly basis we are now seeing a 25% reduction in hopper fill events. We believe that when the Glenview Attendants are fully installed across the entire Harrahs brand, we will see a reduction of over $1.5 million hopper fill event annually. Even though we have reduced our average hopper fill time to around 7 minutes each, if you calculate the savings based in an average of 7 handle pulls per minute, $1.00 average bet, and 6% average hold, this equates to more than $4.5 million in additional revenue annually. And, we didn't have to add any new machines or change our existing operating system," added Pace.

Creating more and better Guest Service Initiatives that provide increased levels of customer satisfaction is what Harrahs strives for. They continually look for new ways to please the player. Maybe that's part of the reason that Harrahs dominated the recent "Best of Gaming" Awards, winning 413 total awards and walking away with honors for Best Overall Service. They have a commitment to their customers that starts from top management and runs throughout the organization to everyone on the casino floor. And that commitment shows.