Free Business Doctors - Management Consulting Gone Wild by Sameer Kamat Page A

clarified Joe. “Well, at least on some of our businesses, we do, ya know what I mean. And this is one of them.”
    In Las Vegas, Joe sounded a little more intelligent than he did back in Los Angeles. Maybe it was the persona of their boss that reduced them to bumbling buffoons. Maybe they were far more capable than the consultants had assumed.
    “We’ve got 'em all. Blackjack, Poker, Roulette. You can either play at that table over there for beginners or you can go into that glass partitioned space with no-limits,” Joe explained.
    Looking at Schneider and pointing in the direction of seemingly endless rows of electronic slot machines, he added “There’s the technology stuff you were talking about in the Dungeon, the other day. Modern day gizmos.”
    So Joe was paying attention to the discussions during the first meeting , thought Martin.
    “I prefer it old-fashioned though, man-to-man, ya know what I mean.”
    As Martin raised one curious eyebrow, Joe added. “A dealer, a real guy, dealing out the cards. Not a computer. I think video games are for kids.”
    Martin nodded and continued to look around. All the colorful lights and electronic sounds around made him feel like Super Mario, without the powers, and with a smaller moustache.
    “Considering it’s a small place compared to the big casinos that surround it, the gaming room appears packed to the brim. How do you get people to come into the place?” Schneider was curious.
    Dave, the gaming boss, who had accompanied Joe to show the consultants around grinned from ear to ear with the smile merging with his balding head on hearing Schneider’s question. It was an implicit acceptance of his fantastic marketing and advertising skills.
    “We send out mailers to our past customers and prospective ones,” explained Dave. “In magazines, newspapers, direct mailers with coupons, free games and stuff. Our room rents are cheaper as well. Casino hopping is pretty common here. Most of the guys you see playing here are familiar faces to us. They win sometimes, lose most of the times and are still with us after all these years. The power of addiction!” a knowledgeable Dave doled out the insights.
    Schneider was looking around him, at the ceilings and around the edges of the walls.
    “Most casinos have cameras placed all over, capturing every activity that takes place in gaming areas. I don’t see many around this place. I did see one at the entrance as we came in. But I’m guessing that’s for general security. What about this place? The main gaming area? Don’t you see the need to keep a tab on what’s happening at each table?”
    Schneider hadn’t actually studied gaming, but thought there was no harm in asking a few general questions. They were here on a study tour after all. Martin looked up at him reverentially and was again impressed by the way Schneider had not let the glitz take over unlike him.
    Nonchalantly, Dave responded, “Our operations are pretty small. We manage our security with real people, not cameras.”
    He pointed out to a few serious looking burly people standing around. They were all in regular clothes. Martin wondered how not being dressed in a uniform was really helping them. From their physique and the serious looks they were sporting, it was pretty obvious who they were and what they were doing there.
    “Like I said, most of the guys around here are our usual customers. We’ve never had any problem with them. Our employees also have been with us for years, are trust-worthy and know their jobs well.”
    Dave smiled contently, happy with his self-prescribed therapy for keeping problems away from his little den.
    “Besides we’ve never had too many incidents of customers making a huge killing at our tables for it to raise any red flags. It happens a lot at the other casinos. We realize that and we return the trust. We don’t play no dirty tricks with our customers like some of the other casinos.”
    Dave had been managing the show