A multimillion-dollar transformation is helping safeguard the future of the club formerly known as Kogarah RSL, while disrupting Australia’s traditional club scene, as MAX discovers.
Continue readingKogarah’s phoenix moment
Engaging with family and friends over a meal the key as NSW venues re-open.
As pubs and clubs in New South Wales have begun their measured recommencement of operations, MAX’s customer insights capability has helped to understand the motivations of returning patrons.
Approximately 67% of customers have already visited their local and 69% of these have visited more than once according to a recent survey run at a number of NSW venues within the MAX network.
The main reason for visiting included having a meal out (73%) which shows customers want to get out and about again in their local communities. Engaging with friends and family (57%) also topped the list highlighting the desire for social interaction now that restrictions have started to ease.
Customers are happy with the way venues are managing social distancing and hygiene requirements at these venues giving them a level of comfort as they move around in their local area.
Adam Floyd, Head of Performance Solutions said: “Many of our venue partners have embraced the COVID-Safe guidelines during their reopening phase and have introduced creative ways to engage their customers throughout the lockdown. As restrictions have lifted, its warming to see local communities continue to support their local establishments by organising social outings with loved ones, while still maintaining social distancing requirements when in venue. Our venue partners are relishing the opportunity to re-connect with their members and customers in person again and being able to provide a safe environment for social experiences which are such a big part of our way of life.”
Email us at max@tabcorp.com.au to learn more about how our NEXT STEP initiative can help you discover insights to understand how you can meet your own customers’ expectations when returning to your venue.
Gifts that keep on giving
As the COVID-19 shutdown restrictions slowly begin to ease and the roadmap to venues reopening starts to take shape, it is critical that you keep communicating with your customers to keep them updated with what it all means for them and your venue.
MAX will regularly share tips on how you can keep your customers informed, plus things you can be doing to engage with your members in positive, interactive and reassuring ways during this COVID-19 shutdown.
Today’s Tip:
Birthdays and anniversaries should still be celebrated, albeit a little differently this year. Continue to send automated emails to your members, however instead of giving away a venue voucher, consider uploading bonus points to their account which can be used once your venue reopens fully.
Update the copy within your email so it is relevant to the current situation, keeping the message light-hearted and positive.
If you are currently providing takeaway service, use the birthday occasion as an opportunity to promote your menu. As an added element of surprise and delight for your valued members, offer a discount on their birthday meal delivery.
If you would like assistance with suggested copy for your emails, please email us at max@tabcorp.com.au
Take care, stay safe – and be ready.
Getting to the Point
At MAX, we understand the importance of staying connected with your customers during these challenging times. We want your patrons to continue seeing your venue as a community partner and understand that, while not physically for now, hospitality venues can provide an important sense of support and togetherness.
MAX will regularly share tips on how you can keep your customers informed, plus things you can be doing to engage with your members in positive, interactive and reassuring ways during this COVID-19 shutdown.
Today’s Tip:
To help show your members they are valued, we suggest turning off points expiry during the closure and reinstating any expired points upon reopening.
Additionally, consider extending the expiry date on already issued venue vouchers so that any expired vouchers can be used once your venue is up and running again.
It’s important that once these changes are implemented, you communicate them to your members. MAX can provide you with copy guidelines, which you can personalise with your venue details and send out through your CRM platform.
For those customers currently operating a loyalty system with us, if you need assistance actioning the points expiry, please email us at max@tabcorp.com.au
Take care, stay safe – and be ready.
Go virtual this Mother’s Day
At MAX, we understand the importance of staying connected with your customers during these challenging times. We want your patrons to continue seeing your venue as a community partner and understand that, while not physically for now, hospitality venues can provide an important sense of support and togetherness.
MAX will regularly share tips on how you can keep your customers informed, plus things you can be doing to engage with your members in positive, interactive and reassuring ways during this COVID-19 shutdown.
Today’s Tip:
Connect with your customers virtually during key occasions and give them ways to make the occasion special at home. With Mother’s Day approaching, use this as an opportunity to surprise and delight your members.
Run an online competition asking members to write in and share memories of their favourite Mother’s Day lunch. Pick 5 entries to win a hamper delivered to their homes, contact free.
If you are currently providing takeaway service, this is the perfect opportunity to promote a Mother’s Day lunch or dinner delivery to allow your members to keep enjoying your menu at home, whilst spoiling Mum in the process.
If you’d like more information on how MAX can help keep you front of mind with your customers, email us at max@tabcorp.com.au
Take care, stay safe – and be ready.
State of Play Issue 7 now available
If you hadn’t already received your copy in the mail, MAX is proud to announce that the seventh edition of State of Play is now also available to be viewed online.
Continue reading2020 MAX AHG Expo – Announcement
As the major sponsor of the 2020 Australasian Hospitality and Gaming Expo, we are sharing the news that this year’s event has been cancelled due to heightened concerns and risks posed by COVID-19.
We fully support this decision, as the health, safety and welfare of all involved in this event and the broader community takes precedence.
As a result of this decision any associated activity planned around the AHG Expo will also be cancelled, including:
• Customer hospitality functions – Big Picture breakfast and Customer and Partner Event
• On-stand Expert Chats and Product Demonstrations
• Training Showcase
• Business Briefings – the MAX Upfronts
Those that have registered for these activities and events will be contacted directly.
We are currently considering the possibility of rescheduling some of these activities and events, including exploring the option to deliver them digitally. As further information becomes available they will be communicated accordingly.
MAX is proud to support a sustainable industry and we are committed to working closer than ever before with our customers and industry partners.
We thank you for understanding and continued support.
If you have any specific queries, please email max@tabcorp.com.au
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Continue readingDoes your gaming floor match up?
Have you ever wondered whether you’ve got the right mix of gaming machines or are investing enough in gaming staff to deliver a quality service? While the winning formula in each club is likely to be unique, it is beneficial to understand how you measure up to industry benchmarks – especially if you’re in New South Wales.
Daniel Mitchell
Chances are you’ve heard the terms ‘business intelligence’ and ‘big data’ being bandied about, and for good reason – there is a wealth of research that shows that data-driven decision-making improves business outcomes.
All the buzzwords and jargon thrown around by consultants may be intimidating, but there are simple approaches to data analysis that can often yield important insights.
The Astute Quarterly Industry Benchmarks report – based on the New South Wales (NSW) market – is a classic example of a simple but effective approach. It’s a relatively easy process to compare a venue’s performance with industry benchmarks to determine how it is tracking relative to its peers.
The APDM indicator
By far and away the most common benchmark used in gaming machine performance monitoring is average daily profit per machine (ADPM). The overall ADPM figure across all clubs was $155 for the last gaming machine tax year (the year ended 31 August 2017). A more in-depth dive shows significant variances across venues, with more than two-thirds making an average profit per machine of less than $100 per day.
Astute provides the ADPM figures on an aggregated basis across a range of categories including venue size and gaming machine manufacturer and denomination – allowing the venue to zero in on and identify specific areas of under or over performance on the gaming revenue front.
It’s important to remember that, despite the terminology, ADPM is really a revenue rather than a profit figure and therefore represents the contribution to the club’s bottom line. That’s why it is necessary to take benchmarking a step further and compare performance not just for revenue but also for the cost and profit domains.
Some costs need to be accounted for, not the least of which is gaming machine tax. Approximately, 20 percent of the ADPM goes straight into NSW Treasury’s coffers.
Why benchmarking matters
Clubs should also be benchmarking wages, promotional and other direct costs associated with generating gaming machine revenue. This is an area where the Astute Quarterly Industry Benchmarks report becomes an indispensable tool; it facilitates simple comparison across these metrics, which typically aren’t available elsewhere.
By subscribing to the Astute report, venues can determine not only how their gaming machines are performing in terms of the revenue they generate relative to their peers, but also how efficient the club is in converting that top line revenue into bottom line profit. An interesting fact is that within the Astute Benchmarking group the bottom 25 percent of clubs are marginally more efficient at doing this. This may strike as odd. It’s not that there aren’t economies of scale at the top end of town, but rather higher marginal tax rates quickly erode these advantages.
Regardless of size, venues can benefit from using benchmarks to ensure that they are running an efficient gaming operation that brings in more money to support the club’s core purpose: to invest in better community facilities or make donations to local charities and sporting groups.
Benchmarking can also assist in answering more detailed questions venue managers or directors may have about their gaming machine operations. The Astute report shows the distribution of gaming machines according to denomination. It may surprise some clubs to know that multi-denomination gaming machines are second only to the 1c gaming machine when it comes to their proliferation on gaming machine floors.
Benchmarking can also be used to work with gaming machine manufacturers to optimise performance. For example, the club may identify that a particular gaming machine manufacturer’s cabinets are performing below the industry average for that supplier, but that all other manufacturers are performing above average. The supplier can then determine a plan, such as game or denomination conversions, for boosting performance. This way the venue can ensure it is getting the most out of the floor space it dedicates to a particular brand.
In closing
Good employer/employee relationships also come about when employers ensure their staff have the right environment, knowledge, materials and equipment to perform the tasks expected of them, says Santolin.
Typically, once club boards and management get a taste for using data to drive their decision-making processes, they inevitably continue down that path and begin employing more sophisticated business intelligence practices. To avoid frustration down the track, it pays to invest in a product suite that can evolve with the club’s increasing demands.
There is nothing more aggravating than discovering a convoluted process to generate gaming statistics to compare them with the industry benchmark. To avoid that, look for alignment between the club’s benchmarking service and its gaming system.
It’s hard to overemphasise the importance of benchmarking. Having the appropriate tools and resources to know how your gaming measures up is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.
Daniel Mitchell is ClubsNSW Manager – Gaming Policy.
For more information or to request a demo, please email sales@ebetgroup.com.
The Ties That Bind
There is a myriad of ways employers can incentivise their staff, not all of which require dangling a financial carrot.
Continue reading