How Scheduling Software Can Help Your Online Casino Get Through Covid
The casino industry has taken a beating. Probably the worst in history. You’ve probably had to lay off a lot of valuable, proven, loyal, and expert employees because of the response to the covid-19 pandemic. And if you haven’t done so already, you’re probably looking at online gambling as a way to keep your casino afloat until this crazy time finally ends.
Other casinos have already made the switch, and now generate large portions of their revenue from online gambling. And unlike pure online casinos, you don’t intend to stay here forever. Your in-person gaming, hotel, and food and drink service will return.
But what about your employees?
How are they getting through this time, and how will you bring back everyone else when normal life finally resumes? (A bit later, we’ll show you how the Resorts casino in Atlantic City recalled over 300 employees in a matter of hours.)
When it comes to scheduling, managing a team of employees to facilitate mostly online gambling is quite a different task than managing scheduling for all the departments it takes to operate a real casino.
Here are five ways scheduling software can get your online casino through this pandemic:
1. Simplify the Schedule Creation Process
With an online casino, most of the customer service is done virtually. This means it can be done from home, and in theory, anywhere in the world. So whether you’ve hired people from other countries or have scheduled your regular employees so you can serve online customers 24 hours a day, you need to always be sure your online casino is fully staffed to answer questions and serve customers.
There are a ton of online casinos people can choose from.
If they get bad service and slow responses from your team, they’ll just go find another online gambling site.
It is therefore absolutely imperative to always have your customer service team fully staffed and ready to go.
With casino scheduling software, you can map out your schedule weeks or even months in advance. You can be sure all 24 hours of employee shifts are covered every day, and that there is always an ‘expert’ support person working in case a situation becomes too complicated for your front-line service reps.
2. Always Have Staff on Hand to Serve VIP Customers Even in Online Casino Scheduling
With the right casino scheduling software, you will always know which VIP caretaker will be on duty to make sure your high rollers receive the extra attention they expect.
In an online casino, you simply can’t afford to miss opportunities due to unavailable staff. It can cost you a customer – for life.
High rollers spend far more than average customers ever will. Imagine one of these high-value gamblers having a question and not getting an answer for several minutes, whether from a live chat window or a phone call. Depending on the situation, they might give up and leave the site.
You don’t have any food and beverage revenue to fall back on right now. Lose that customer, and all their money is lost with them.
Scheduling software will assure you that your VIP staffing needs are secured, weeks in advance. No last minute panicking.
3. Respond to Schedule Change Requests and Surprises via Mobile Device
Imagine one of your best VIP caretakers gets forced to self-quarantine, which often happens with no advance warning.
You need a system that can quickly rework that person’s schedule and shift the other employees around so your casino service continues uninterrupted.
Whether it’s a VIP caretaker, a regular customer service rep, or an administrator, changes and switches will happen. You’ll get vacation and holiday requests. EO requests. Family and medical leave requests. You need a system that can quickly adapt to changing realities.
And even more, you need a system you AND your employees can engage with entirely online through their mobile devices.
So, not only can you rework the schedule of specific employees at a moment’s notice, but your employees can submit their own requests for changes. And you can approve or deny them, all online, all remotely.
Suppose an employee requests a shift swap with another rep. You can quickly look at each person and see if the change will cause any problems on your end, like bumping someone into overtime. Then, you can approve or reject the change.
Employees love this system because it gives them ownership of their schedule. They can see all their shifts. They can see their data like accrued vacation time. They can communicate with you and quickly get answers – all remotely. Scheduling software will keep your employees happy and your online casino running smoothly.
4. Prioritize Your Team so the Best Employees Serve the Best Customers
Suppose you have 8 VIP caretakers on your online casino staff. Which of those 8 are your best people? Which ones would you want serving the wealthiest or most famous clients who might show up at your online casino?
You need a system that does more than just schedule weeks in advance. Pretty much any scheduling software can do that (though not all can do it easily and as flexibly as some). But you also need a system that ranks your employees based on their skill levels so you can differentiate the best of the best, on down to the newest person.
You probably have a good idea of when your most valuable customers show up, even in an online setting. With Assignment-Based Scheduling, you will always have the most highly skilled reps available when your most valuable clients are online.
Match up your best with your most valuable customers.
Only scheduling software built for casinos enables you to do this. Casino Schedule Ease is the only software that can do all five tasks on this list, because it’s the only one built specifically for the casino industry – including online casinos.
5. Automate Everything!
Lastly, you’re going to have a tough time learning and keeping up with all the new tasks required of online casinos. It’s not the same as before.
With a schedule that gets created automatically, only requiring a quick look from you and perhaps some minor adjustments, you will save invaluable time and be able to work harder at keeping your casino business afloat.
Casino Schedule Ease is designed so that, once you have your schedule routine in place, you can create new schedules with the click of a button.
When other customers see how easy and effortless our system is to use, they never want to leave. See what some of our customers have said.
After the initial Covid lockdowns ended, Barbara Hulsizer from Resorts in Atlantic City suddenly had to recall over 300 employees all at once. Here’s how she describes it:
We were faced with recalling over 300 employees at one time after Covid, and wondered if there was a way we could do this with Schedule Ease. With their assistance, we were able to recall over 300 employees within a matter of hours. It was shocking. Once we saw that, we realized this is how we need to do business going forward.
Want to see how Casino Schedule Ease will help your online casino?
We have greatly expanded the flexibility of our pricing to work with any and all sized casinos through this pandemic.