World Renowned Company Leaks Secret to Success:
Measure What Matters and Then Take Action
Imagine you have the key to your casino’s success and do nothing with it. More specifically, imagine you have an index number that can help you plan for and manage your property’s future growth and you don’t use it.
That is what’s happening at one of the world’s leading U.S.-based corporations. Nothing is being done with that index number because there is no system in place to make the most of it. And this is happening at a company that is highly successful. In fact, Fortune Magazine has named this corporation the No. 1 most globally admired company and America’s second most admired company. Business Week has named it the fourth most valuable brand worldwide. The company had $152 billion in revenue in 2004. It is a household name that offers everything from consumer products to financial services.
I’m introducing methodology in the gaming industry that’s similar to the index being tracked by this particular company and I recently learned from one of their division managers that the index number is just sitting there. This company is very successful but, amazingly, the index is not being used to generate even more growth because they don’t have a system in place to leverage it. They lack a driving force within the company to not only acquire the data but also to apply it.
The methodology used by this corporation is similar to my company’s Advocate Index™, a number that tells a casino the degree to which it has guests who would be willing to risk their reputation and act as advocates for that property by spreading positive word-of-mouth advertising of their own free will. But my company, Robinson & Associates, Inc., also has a new system that leverages Advocate Index with best business practices to provide a turnkey solution – Advocate Development System.
The methodology behind Advocate Index is the result of more than a decade of research in more than a dozen industries that involved surveys of thousands of customers. It was written up in Harvard Business Review and the article concluded that methodology behind Advocate Index has strong correlation to future growth. Surprisingly, the article also concluded there is no correlation between customer satisfaction and future performance of any business.
Even measuring customer loyalty is not good enough. Casinos need to know the degree to which they have guests who are willing to be advocates and Advocate Index, a management tool for predicting future growth, gives them that number. All they need is this one powerful number to chart their course for success.
The next step is our Advocate Development System, which uses Advocate Index methodology with best practices to create a casino’s success. Those practices include leadership, program management, goals and metrics, incentives, action planning, improvement and guest and employee closure.
Most casinos will be shocked at how low their Advocate Index score is. Studies show that world-class companies have a net score of 75 to 80 while the mean score for U.S. companies surveyed was 11. Advocate Development System helps casinos create more advocates, thus boosting their Advocate Index score ever higher. The higher the score, the more successful the casino will be because advocates are highly likely to return to play again and generate new business through the positive word they spread about the casino.
That famous and successful company has the key to its future in hand. If only it had a turnkey system for applying it. My company can help casinos generate the same kind of index and we offer a system that ensures they put it to use. By doing this, they can chart a course for future growth and success and then make it happen.
Martin R. Baird
Robinson & Associates, Inc.
480-991-6420
