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Readers Choice Awards
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Best Poker Customer Service: Bodog
Keith McDonnell, Managing Director, Bodog Europe
What sets Bodog apart from the competition?
In some ways I think this award gives you your answer. Gambling operators are service businesses and a “brand” is nothing more than the sum total of the experiences of its customers. We spend an enormous amount of time making the site intuitive and compelling, but we spend just as much time thinking about the customer’s all-round experience.
Whether it’s a first-time player or our largest casino VIP, we treat them as we’d want to be treated – it’s as simple as that. The benefit of millions of pounds of investment into the latest web technology and product development can evaporate in an instant with a single negative customer experience – and we never forget that.
What has been the company's biggest breakthrough in 2009?
Bodog Europe is only one of the Bodog brand licensees and the others have hit some tremendous milestones this year – we’ve had the brand’s 15th year anniversary, the three millionth sign-up, remarkable growth in Asia and Patrik Selin licensing the brand to build a global, Bodog poker network. From Bodog Europe’s perspective, 2009 was a tipping-point year. My team has worked tirelessly to distinguish Bodog Europe in an extremely competitive market and I cringe to think of the amount of Red Bull consumed these last twelve months!
What has been the biggest hurdle you've had to overcome?
In the UK, the competitive landscape can be daunting for a new entrant because there are some behemoth brands out there with loyal customer bases. Bodog Europe has the benefit of an absolutely remarkable team, but in many ways we are still a scrappy start-up with a passion for the industry and our customers... but that's how we like it!
Product and customer experience enhancement is an ongoing commitment, but our “biggest hurdle” was simply to make our voice heard over the market clamour. I can say unequivocally that we’ve succeeded and our research suggests that Bodog’s market recognition is snowballing. The business results speak for themselves.
As much as you can disclose, what milestones are you striving for in 2010?
Our goal is to continue to build on the traction and momentum gained in 2009. Brand prominence and business development in the UK are an absolute priority, so you’ll see much more of a marketing footprint – our sponsorship relationship with Fulham FC was just the beginning.
As an extension of that, Patrik Selin will be launching the Bodog Poker Network in late 2010 and Bodog Europe will be one of its first network partners. There are tremendous plans for the product experience and the network and it could well be game-changing in the poker network space.
With the company having expanded significantly in 2009, how has Bodog managed to maintain such a dedicated level of personalised customer support?
As many more operators are learning, you simply cannot think of customer service as a channel for your customers to complain. Operators that consider CS a venting point or a means to simply mollify dissatisfied customers are completely missing the point. CS is one of your most valuable means of engaging your customers in conversations.
In an industry where one of the most valuable currencies is trust, you have to provide an opportunity for your customers to communicate openly with you, even if the truth hurts. When someone calls CS, they’re giving us an opportunity to make them happy. We should be grateful for that.
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