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When you hear about “Las Vegas,” words like booze, girls, and gambling come into mind. What you probably don’t realize is that you can actually learn a lot from Las Vegas…especially the casinos. Here are the business tactics that I learned from my Vegas trip:
- Time does not have to exist – When you walk into a casino you will notice that there are no windows or clocks. They do this so you cannot tell what time it is. This is a smart business move; it doesn’t occur to customers that they are spending too much of their time in your business. So if you have a storefront, be sure to not include any clocks. Or if you are in a sales meeting, try to hold it in a conference room with no clocks and windows.
- Sex sells – Not only are casinos decorated to look beautiful, but the female co-workers inside them are usually attractive. Who doesn’t want to walk into a room filled with attractive people? So, if you use pictures of people on your website, make sure they are attractive. And if you have a storefront, try to hire decent looking employees.
- Don’t be too organized – It is really easy to walk onto a casino floor, but it is even harder to walk out! Machines are always around, which is smart for the casino because it increases their odds of taking your money. So with your business you want to entice people when they check out. Make sure you are up-selling more products.
- Make it easy to spend money, and harder to collect – Gambling is really easy; all you have to do is give the dealer or machine your cash. But if you want to cash out to get your money back you’ll have to find the cashier. In the Internet world it is already difficult to get refunds; but you still want to make sure your check out process or shopping cart is easy to use.
- Never say no – You can’t take customer service for granted because it can make or break your business. Try to provide whatever the customer wants in reason. Be sure to make it easy, just like how casinos offer free drinks in the midst of gambling.
- Encourage repeat business – If you gamble at a casino on a regular basis you end up with freebies such as a 3-night stay. Do promotions with your customers to encourage them to shop with you again.
- Appeal to the five senses – Everyone has emotions, so why not appeal to them? With the design of your website, building, or even casino you can create a good energy that will make people want to be there. When designing your business keep in mind the basic design elements, such as color, because they can affect a person’s mood.
Do you have any Las Vegas business tips to share?
What I don’t understand is…why is it that Vegas is always crowded with people, yet I’ve been hearing that Vegas is hurting for business.
The reason I think they are hurting is because people have less money to gamble. Plus many of the casinos built condos to sell to the public and real estate prices have drastically dropped.
#8 Appeal to the Elite.
Vegas is all about the VIP appeal…like getting a cabana at Rehab or bottle service at Tryst. Allow existing or previous customers to feel special by giving them exclusive offers.
Yes, that definitely works.
There were times when I went to Vegas just for their promotional offers, such as free rooms & free slot play.
If you ever play slots go for the loose ones.
Part of the VIP thing is personalized service as best as you can do it, which is helped by those player cards. Play a lot of three card poker? Then offer up some three card poker promos.
In business, it’s crucial to understand what people want and to constantly appeal to that.
I totally agree. Offering slot promos to people who play poker isn’t too effective.
Nice one! Everyone wants special treatment.
Neil you bring out some good points, but don’t forget to mention, that Vegas also has some of THE best restaurants around, but what you failed to mention that is the huge thing to me about Vegas, is that every business, casino, shopping mall, and Night Club is that they are all networked together to provide you, the customer the best experience possible from your stay. I wonder how different we would be as business owners if we really did take this motto to heart and not only have the best to offer, but had a network of that which is great too. Good point.
You are right. I think this is possible with Vegas because a few companies own the majority of the real estate on the strip.
No, that’s not why (it is also not really true. Land changes hands all the time, and if you have the money, you can always buy in and start competing. This is why the Strip keeps getting longer.). There are plenty of non-casino and non-BigCo businesses that participate in the network, but it is definitely a ‘pay to play’ community.
Thanks for the insight. I guess with real estate, no one person owns a piece of land forever.
Yep.
Example: When Steve Wynn was kicked out of the Mirage management and it was sold to MGM in 2000, he took the money, found a few new investors, went up the strip, bought the Desert Inn, and eventually imploded it and built the new Wynn casino.
He was rich before, but became a billionaire in 2004.
As corrupt as Las Vegas is, *anyone* with money can get a seat at the table and become part of the clique.
I am not sure about anyone… Donald Trump had a lot of resistance in building a casino in Vegas. He does have a condo tower in Vegas, but it is far from a casino.
Neil, I don’t exactly move in those circles, but the way I heard it Trump was trying to throw his weight around and avoid jumping through the same hoops everyone else has to with the Gaming Control Board, on the strength of his properties in Atlantic City (which aren’t very impressive, by Vegas standards).
Trump had trouble accepting that in Las Vegas, he wasn’t a big fish in a small pond. You don’t get that kind of respect in Vegas until you already *have* your casino on the Strip and are pulling in profits (ideally, record-breaking profits). Until then you’re just a wannabe.
But no-one will actually try to stop you from making the attempt. A lot of what makes Vegas go is the construction industry after all, and there are also second-tier corporations that can pick up the pieces of failed attempts.
Thanks for clarifying the Donald Trump situation. I don’t know too much about it, but what you said makes sense.
Looking forward to studying these business tips while in Vegas this week.
LOL, I heard you Vegas goal was to get me drunk. Lets see if you can make that happen tomorrow.
You are right…. sex does sell I wrote a post on my blog about how to spice up and engage readers to your posts…if anyone shows a picture like I did…you’re bound to attract attention. Goes with anything.
Linked it in my url. Check it out.
LOL, all I could look at was the picture of the chick. I wasn’t able to read the blog post.
hahah, ok so good example of how not to create something tooooo attractive or it will just absorb your audience and the main purpose won’t be served.
Yea, the picture was a great example. Most people would probably read the text after seeing that picture.
There was a blog post mixed in there? I got stuck on “Apple” then “iPod” and felt completely fulfilled with the reading after those two words.
haha, I bet you did.
MAC OS X and iPod were a bit too big. If those two words were smaller I think the picture would be a bit more popular.
LOL, I would have to definitely agree
Yeah nice pic, I’d have to agree, who really care what you are talking about with a photo like that, really?
A person that would believe to find great goodness out of reading my post, that’s who
I think the picture makes people want to know more about what you are talking about.
Hopefully my business ventures are much better than my Vegas trips where I usually lose everything.
You can win in Vegas, you just have to play games with decent odds. I came up 4 grand last week.
That’s why you make the big bucks.
I wish I make the big bucks. I am far from it.
I live in state that has over 90 casinos statewide. Yet, few seem to take the Vegas lessons to heart. I am sure there are Vegas veterans in managerial positions, yet I cannot think of one casino that executes all of Neil’s points. Like comp incentives to come back, I have never heard of anyone being comped so much as a buffet here. Yet, in Vegas even a low limit player (I set my alarm for 4AM to play dime roulette) like me gets comps.
What state do you live in? 90 casinos is a lot.
Oklahoma, we have 39 Native tribes (Oklahoma was formerly Indian Territory until statehood). Many tribes have more than one casino.
Thanks for the heads up.
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Time does not have to exist….
this is something interesting and really work for such business. Initially it looks very small things but it affect a lot for such business..
all other tips are also good and interesting..
thanks neil for sharing
jigs
It is all the little things that add up and can make a big impact for a business.
Las Vegas has a unique business meaning of “Wonder”, the wow factor, the awe in the presence of Las Vegas. The customer experience starts right when you land on the strip and they work on everything from lights outside to the extravagant shows. Once I was waking on the strip and noticed that the Palm trees outside had speakers mounted on them playing sounds of chirping birds. That’s the level of detail Vegas takes into consideration when crafting the experience of their business.
Even the airport in Vegas is a bit flashy. There are bright lights by the slots and there are many extremely large and bright advertisements.
Hi,
I really appreciate your articles! I am looking forward to read next one.
Best wishes.
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I will write another blog post soon.
I haven’t yet visited LV so far, but i can feel your strategies and points you made to boost business and customer relationships.
You should consider making a trip. It is well worth the trip from India.
Free Booze. If you’re hosting a gathering at a conference, your attendance improves significantly if you have a hosted bar.
The problem is, the audience may not soak up everything you are talking about if they are drunk.
That’s not a problem. As long as they “remember” having a great time with you, it’s much easier to get business from them later.
The problem is if they get drunk they may not even remember you.
I’m glad that you are learning about business from observing your Las Vegas environment. We’re glad you stopped by our booth today at PubCon. Make sure to stop by again so you can try out The Cashinator!
Thanks! I love your booth because you guys give away free money.
Neil must be boozed up. He hasn’t responded in 2 days.
lol, I was thinking the same thing, we’ve lost him to Sin City.
It was for a good reason though. I was drunk gambling and I got up 4k. I continued the next day and was up a total of 9k. The next day I lost a bit of money and went back to being 4k up.
Neil,
Did you come back home with $4K? If so, good job. If not, what happened?
I came back with more. I took back 4k plus the money I came to Vegas with.
Yea, I was a bit hammered in Vegas.
I like the tip “easier to spend - harder to collect”.It seems to be working quite well with gambling.So, if you have your own internet marketing products better make them so fantastic that everyone wants to buy them and not ask for refunds.
Tom,
It’d be nice if we could ask for refund at the casinos.
Yes, I´d like that.
Vegas wouldn’t be around if casinos gave refunds.
Vegas is smart enough to avoid having bright lights at the cashier, which always make it difficult to find.
Great post as always Neil. After seeing the link and follow up comment that you couldn’t stop looking at the chicks, I had to go and see the Sex Sells link. You’re right…
…but the ad I that had me cracking up was the Volvo one with the emergency brake. lol.
But this is a great post and I like how you tied everything together.
I never saw the Volvo commercial. Anyone have a link?
Hey Neil, here’s proof that you have great business tips… did you see your ranking over at the new Internet Marketing Tops Blogs at Winning the Web?
Pretty good. I also rated you a 5 star. Hey everyone go and vote for Neil.
http://www.winningtheweb.com/im-top-blogs/
Thanks for voting! Winningtheweb.com is an awesome site.
I always say,
What Happens in Vegas,
Stays in Vegas,…
Unless it was Contagious.
Which event were you there for? Pubcon or the ppc/networking seminar?
Thanks and take care,
Bry
It was Pubcon.
Hey I went on over to that winning the web and besides giving 5 stars i couldn’t see any other way to vote neil up.
Impressive number of inbound links but Dean hunt is creeping up on you Neil. Your Blog is considerably more insightful and entertaining than Deanos so what can we do to bump it up around here?
I am putting Quicksprout in my blogroll at netmentor but that’s not gonna mean much. Thanks for the insight Neil.
Could you write more about some of the presenters lessons and insights gained through your networking in vegas? you know, dig Deeper? this post was kinda light and I’m sure you got MUCH more value from your trip than sex sells .. say yes customer service kinda stuff.
thanks and take care
Bry
I am not sure what much more you can do. Thanks for the kind words and helping out!
Some good lessons there.. I would certainly recommend that if you’re only hiring good looking people that you document and make sure you have the reason’s they’re the most qualified if someone comes back and files a suit.
We live in the litigation age, and it’s all about CYA (Cover your Ass), or PTR as I like to say.. (Protectum thy Rectum).
I think there is a loop hole in which if it is a modeling position or has something to do with modeling you can hire people based on their looks.
Great, post! two of the things you mentioned i learned while i was working in the adult market. The first yes sex does sell. Confusion, many adult membership sites make there websites confusing on purpose so there members find there content over time this increases the average months a member pays for there subscription.
Nice, maybe I should do a post about the adult industry and things you can learn from it.
Hi Neil,I’m glad that you are learning about business from observing your Las Vegas environment. I sent you an invite on linkedin.guess you haven’t checked it yet..
Yea I don’t log into Linkedin that often. Usually once a month.
Hopefully my business ventures are much better than my Vegas trips where I usually lose everything.
You just need some luck on your side.
So where are all the good looking girls on this website Neil?
There are none. Just a good looking guy named “Neil Patel”.
As someone that’s been to Vegas no less than 6 times this year alone, I’ll add one tip I’ve learned while staying at the MGM each time:
Partnerships are a double-edged sword — sometimes it helps to put things in writing, other times it’s better to just look the other way.
Hookers are everywhere in Vegas. (**Ahem**, I don’t know from experience — but that’s what my friends tell me.) Most Vegas hotels will run them off when they come through the front door alone, but they’ll welcome them with open arms when they’re keeping a gambler some company. Once it gets dark outside, the hookers start pouring through the doors — as long as the hookers *stay away* from the table games, the casino won’t bother them at all.
Don’t believe me? Walk into any Vegas hotel at 10pm and start looking around. The hookers that haven’t already snagged a gambler will be hanging around the slots machines — they’ll never, ever walk over to the table games on their own.
LOL, good point. In that case you wouldn’t want written proof you paid for sex.
Hookers: A compelling offer that would lend an upper hand to most any business!! LOL
I think many people get turned off by them. For examples many females hate the concept of having hookers.
True. Normal women are disgusted by them.
The Law of Large Numbers
I have studied the casino industry since I was a teenager. A perfect biz model for a hospitality. Here’s why…
People who spend one hundred to one thousand dollars (a huge chunk of business for casinos) usually don’t understand the odds.
Over time, casinos pay out 90+% of their earnings to players. More competition=higher payouts. As long as this is <100% (payout ratio) then they win.
So let’s say on a given day you have 500 people who gamble 100$ a piece (way different I’m sure but math is easy)…that is $50,000 in “action.” Those 500 people are staying in the hotel, eating in the hotel, drinking in the hotel, playing in the hotel, etc so they are spending WAY more on that (casinos make less than 50% of their revenue from gambling these days in Vegas)…
So you have 50k in action, a little less than that paid back plus all the ancillary sales. Multiply this by 365 and a much larger volume of people and you see why they are GUARANTEED to make money. Casinos ALWAYS win in the long run especially when you include their side business.
Their number one trick of all? Getting you to believe you will win. They have no business if you win…that little glossy fact is overlooked by their brilliant marketing.
A well-run casino is one of the best businesses for anyone to own since it’s guaranteed to print money on demand
Cheers on a great article!
Brad Spencer
90% seems high. I thought the ratio was the other way around… but if that was the case few people would probably gamble.
Most of the times the odds of slot machines are closer to 96-98%. It just depends on competition. By 90%, I mean that for every 1$ that goes into a slot machine, 90 cents comes out. They are guaranteed winners for the casino, fun for players, and that is why most casinos have devoted TONS of space to slot machines.
The casino biz is pretty cool imo…I loved this article!
Cheers,
Brad
Thanks for sharing the percentages. I may have to try playing slot machines… I just have to find someone who is on a losing streak and jump on that slot machine.