Communication Skills

Since Customer Service is such a large part of your job description, that means you must communicate with the players. Unlike some work environments, management actually encourages you to carry on a conversation with our guests. This leads me to step number 3 - Communication Skills. A unique opportunity exists for you to actually develop a solid rapport between yourself and the guest, which can be very profitable for you in the form of tokes.

Dealers and Floormen have initial, direct contact with a customer, which means you’re the first person the guest interacts with and how you treat them sets the tone for the guest’s entire stay. Your greeting will be the first thing the player hears, so be friendly, smile and allow your personality to show through. Customers should be treated with kindness, warmth, tolerance and understanding. Everyone should be welcomed. You want to create a positive and pleasant atmosphere in the casino.

So, you know you have to talk to the customers, but what do you say to them? What do you guys talk about? Do what feels most comfortable to you; tell stories or jokes, ask questions about their lives, get to know them, become buddies. If the guests like you, then they’ll stay at your table longer which means more tokes for you. Some other things you could ask the guests about where they’re from, what do the plan on doing while in your city, one of my fellow dealers love asking people trivia questions and riddles. Talk about what makes you happy or what interests you and you’ll find your group of people who’ll agree with you. Now, everyone uses different techniques when handling the players, so let’s take a minute to learn from each other. How do you guys interact with your customers?

But this doesn’t address what you should actually say to the guest, and if we’re going to have an entire step devoted to communication, then we should go over some words or phrases you could use while on the table.

• Greet the customer as they approach your table.
  • Good Morning, Good Evening
  • Hello, how are you?
  • It’s nice to see you again Mr. Johnson.
  • Welcome back Mr. Johnson.
  • Welcome to the table.
  • It’s so good to see you again.
  • Remember to smile and use their name if you know it.
    • It’s always good to ask the player for their Player’s Card when they approach the table. After they hand it to you, look at their name. Now you know what to call them.
  • Do you have your Player’s Card?
  • If you have a full table and can’t say hello, eye contact with a smile and a nod of acknowledgement works just as well.
• During the Game
  • How are you enjoying your stay?
  • When a player buys into your game, finished shuffling and before you start a new game, wish the table “Good Luck”.
  • Remember to always use the guest’s name.
• Professionally Polite Phrases
  • May I help you? / How can I help you?
  • I appreciate that, thank you.
  • “Please”, “Thank you”, “Excuse me”, “Yes, ma’am”, “No sir”

Saying “Thank You”, smiling, making eye contact and using the guest’s name are all valuable tools that can be used to make the guest feel warm and welcomed, so they want to stay on your table longer and come back to the casino sooner. Be sincere when you do this. Don’t force it or make it sound as though you’ve said it 1,000 times. Any greeting or acknowledgement can’t be effective if it might be perceived as negative in any way. These positive statements must be said with sincerity.

I’ve worked at plenty of casinos where it was mandatory for the outgoing dealer to introduce the relief dealer before going on break. We’d say, “I’m going on break, I’ll be back in 20 mins. Josh will be your dealer now, good luck.” If the outgoing dealer forgot to say that, then the incoming dealer needed to pick up the slack and introduce themselves. “Hi I’m Heather and I’ll be your dealer for the next 20 mins. Have fun and good luck.”

Keep in mind that customers make your job possible. If there are no customers, then there’s no need to have dealers. Now that we’ve gone over some things you should say, let’s go over some of the things you shouldn’t say. Remember, we want to keep the players on the table, not drive them away.

• Don’t display negative body language.
  • Letting out a big sigh
  • Don’t cross your arms
  • Looking or acting disinterested
  • Acting exasperated or annoyed
• Don’t gang up on players.
  • Don’t agree with players who are criticizing fellow guests.
• Don’t say “Sorry”
  • The casino never wants you to apologize to the player for a losing hand. When the dealer says “Sorry” they’re admitting that they, hence the casino, is at fault. And that gives mischievous players a hook to start trouble.
• Phrases The Drive Guests Away
  • “I don’t have anything to do with your problem. You’ll have to get help somewhere else.”
  • “I don’t know. We’ve always done it that way.”
  • “That’s not the way we do it here.”
  • “I can’t help you with that. You’ll have to go back to the pit where you were playing.”
  • “We can’t comp that for you. You don’t play enough money.”
  • “There’s nothing I can do about it – that’s company policy.”

A frequent excuse I hear from dealers is, “How can I act happy when the players are losing?” or “I usually don’t talk to the player if they’re losing.” This isn’t a good strategy because silence just makes the player focus on losing even more. Tell the player a story or ask about their lives. Players want to be distracted if they’re losing. Here are some other things that dealers can do if their players are losing.

• Try to stay positive
• Empathize with the player’s problems.
• Generally agree with their concerns and try to see it from their perspective.
• Provide hope and encouragement to the player.

Treat every guest with care, don’t wait until after they tip, treat everyone the same and then you’ll notice more people tipping. I know I say “They” a lot, but there is no They, “We Are The They” We’re all in this casino together. Try not to insult the guest or argue with them. Don’t pick a fight and if you’re not sure if it will offend someone; then keep it to yourself and just stay silent.

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and to remove all doubt.”
— Abraham Lincoln

I know I just spent a lot of time telling you to have conversations with your guests, but I also need to warn you not to go overboard. You’re still in charge of your game and you have to protect it. Make sure you don’t get so involved with a conversation that you stop thinking about game security. Take note when someone is too talkative or if they’re trying to distract you. If this happens, then their partner might be waiting for an opening to take advantage of you. And not only do you have to keep game protection in mind while having a conversation, but you have to keep your hands per hour up as well. The game must keep moving.

The last thing we have to talk about on the subject of Communication is what to do if there’s a problem on your table and you have to call over the Floor. Relay all of the information to your Floor in a clear and concise manner. Keep it simple, always be honest and leave nothing to doubt. Clearly and briefly describe to the Floor what’s going on, don’t go on and on with details nobody cares about.