What makes a good phone service?

[sportshobby]

There's always talk about which books have the really great phone play service (Sports-Market, WWTS, etc) and the ones that don't (long list here). But I don't see much description of what constitutes a great phone service. I'll bet many books don't really even comprehend what it should/could be and, if they did, could better implement it.

So in the interest of improving the overall quality of sportsbook phone play service, I'd like to start the discussion with a few of my own inputs, and gather others from the forum.

(1) Answer the phone. It may sound like a no-brainer, but lines are busy or answered by a recording a lot of times.

(2) Speak clearly. Keep in mind that people from America, Australia, and Britain may all speak the same "language" but there are a lot of different accents.

(3) Be pleasant and courteous. It's a stressful environment, the players are all stressed, but the operators aren't allow to sound frustrated.

(4) Don't put the caller on hold. Unless he's asking for an unusually high bet amount or something crazy/exotic, there's no good reason to have to get something approved by higher authority. This is a really big pet peeve of mine, as it wastes time and is unncecessary. If the player is big or sharp, take the approach that some other books like SOS and Olympic take: set up a separate number for these players to call in directly to a line manager or supervisor or whatever.

(5) Be quick. Top sportsbook phone services can get you on and off the phone with a single confirmed wager in less than 20 seconds. Any more than that is a waste of the book's long distance charges.

(6) Honor the line you quote. This should be a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised.

(7) Have preset limits that the player can reasonably expect to get on any game, except for specifically designated "circled" games. Getting more is of course subject to approval on a case by case basis.

- - looking forward to inputs from others



[This message has been edited by sportshobby (edited 12-07-2000).]

[A-Train]

i agree abput the getting approval being a waste of time unless its a huge bet. The one complaint I have with the shop I use is for anythihing 3 dimes or more they put me on hold.

[Socceroo]

Nice topic Sportshobby, you could also add:

1. Employ knowledgeable operators that are clued up on all the different types of sports, teams, bets, company rules etc…..

2. Train operators to take calls efficiently and not to be intimidated by impatient customers that want everything to be done yesterday, and then call to complain when they have rushed the operator into a decision.

3. Have a strong customer service department that is capable of making good decisions but will not take any cr*p from scammers.

A lot of your points and some of mine require operators to be trained to a much higher standard. Because a lot of books are now located in non-English speaking countries this task becomes even more difficult than usual. Although not impossible, I feel that a lot of companies are not investing in this aspect of their business to a level that will satisfy your criteria. If you were calling your bank or your stockbroker, no way would you accept the level of service you put up with from your book. We are still dealing with similar amounts of money in some cases.

Add to this the competitive nature of the modern gaming world; which leads to books being overly cautious and concentrating more on the bottom line, and you do not have the ideal environment to foster your ideal phone service. Some books I know for a fact are dealing at least 2 lines, they are actively discouraging any winners what so ever, using very cynical tactics, which border on the damn right rude in some cases. These will all show up as examples of bad telephone service, when it is not the fault of the operator but of the book’s management.

Long term I think this situation will be rectified and at some stage in the future you will have your dream service. Many books will merge together as the smaller less professional shops get squeezed out. It is already happening, the books are located close to one another; which makes this process easier. Then we can look to some form of self-regulation, where the industry is accountable, licensed and openly accepted throughout the world. These things are going to take time and effort and the more people that contribute to this particular thread, the better.

[All World Sports]

Sports hobby,
This is a real good subject, but I would just like to give you guys a little insight as to what we go through as operators of these businesses. We are all mostly located in what you guys describe as third world countries, at least from the stand point of technologies. We are required by our licenses to hire local help, just stop and think about it, why would a government of any country want to give licenses to anyone that wasn’t going to provide jobs to local people. Although we all have our own telecommunications satellites, we still have to use the local telephone companies for the telephone lines. We as operators of these businesses would do everything possible to better serve our clients but there is allot of these problems beyond our control. I personally screen every employee that we hire, and I do my very best to hire only top-level English speaking employees, but the old saying of you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink holds true here also. We take 2,3,4,or 5 weeks to train employees, our main criteria is they speak good English and then they are trainable after that, when I say trainable I mean you can teach them to punch in the tickets and punch them in right, but you can't hold a gun to their heads and make them fast or make them learn teams and nicknames of teams. Believe me I have tried everything, I have been out of the states and working on different islands and in different countries for over 15 years, and its the same on each and every one of them. The people are there to get a pay check they are not there to care about your business, that’s exactly why guys like me spend 16 to 18 hours a day in the office, and to be perfectly honest with all of you, if we were allowed to bring in more Americans it is really not cost effective for us to do it. When you bring Americans down to these countries or islands you have to pay them between 50k and 100k a year plus provide them a place to live, provide them with transportation, pay for insurance for them, they all want a piece of the pie, and tickets back and forth to the states, so how many of these people could a company financially afford. I hope this helps you guys understand that its not that we don't want to get you on and off of the phone in 10 seconds or its not that we don't want our clerks to be able to answer any questions that you might have, and its not that we don't want our people to know the teams and their nicknames when you call, but its more that they are not sports oriented, and we are working from a very small pool of people who can speak the English language well enough to communicate with the players.
We feel its more important to have good English speaking people who can get your wagers punched in correctly, rather than have fast so-so English speaking people who make mistakes trying to get you on and off the phone in 10 seconds. I don't mind paying for the extra phone time for the players to get the wagers they ask for. If there is any way I can help or try to clarify anything regarding these issues, please don't hesitate to call me at 1-800-922-2201.
Thanks and good luck.

The Management
All World Sports

[sportshobby]

AllWorld, thanks for the input. My experience with your website so far has been so good that I have not had the chance yet to try your phone wagering. But I appreciate what you are saying about the difficulty in getting qualified operators.

Actually, I exercise a lot of patience with operators and really don't mind too much when one is trying.

What really frosts me at other places are the things that are management and policy driven, like books that ALWAYS have to put me on hold in order to give me the line. I mean, isn't the line posted on the screen in front of the clerk? And once I ask for my wager, why do I have to be put on hold again while the clerk asks for permission for me to place the wager?

But I hope this thread isn't all about me; I hope others post their goods and bads of the phone wagering process.

[All World Sports]

Sportshobby,

Lets face it what you are going to play alotta of people don't want and i don't blame them. I just look up at the screen after you play just to see where it moved to, not if it moved, i already know that it is going to or did when i see you played. I just happen to be one of the stupid bookmakers who says to himself, if you did'nt want to take a play at that number, then why did you open it up at that number, why did'nt i open at another number. Don't get me wrong i like to take a dime or two at the number i have and then i will move it, so it does'nt bother me when you play and i know it is going to move or it has moved already, at least you prepare me for what is to come. I'm no hero because i don't want to take big pops from talent, i am happy to take my dime or two just to get where i am supposed to be, and then i don't feel so silly when they put out one of their o-so famous false sides.
Thanks and good luck.
R---