Bookies: Understanding Clients Needs
Let’s talk about how to get clients, as a bookie, but first, let’s focus on how to keep the clients you already have. Take numbers out of your head for a moment. We know there’s money in numbers and we all want a gazillion clients, but just for a moment, take the numbers out of your head. Some of you bookies reading this may have three clients or you may have 150 and even more. There are obvious and mandatory ways to gain clients, but you must focus on keeping the clients you already have for two big reasons. 1. You need all of the income that you can find. 2. You need the “word of mouth”. What are the key factors that contribute to client loyalty?
24/7: Are you available 24/7? If you are not, that’s ok, because there are a hundred other bookies that are and it’s a guarantee that your client knows who they are and can find them and have a deposit made within 10-minutes.
It’s impossible for you to be available 24/7. Your clients want to bet on their own time and they will find someone that is available to take their betting action when you are not available. This is the last thing you need! You must be available 24/7 and you can be with the use of a PayPerHead service. The PPH provider allows you an online presence with a real-time sportsbook, racebook, and casino. As a matter of fact, they can have you operational within a day and they custom-build your online site. You have to do nothing. No site-building, no programming, no coding – nothing. The PPH does everything for you and they only charge a weekly PerHead fee on every betting client.
You pay a one-time fee of around $7 per week, per betting player. The player may place as many bets as they wish at no additional charge to you. Once they have played once for the week, you are charged, they may then place as many wagers as they choose.
Do you offer the best lines and odds? You must be on your game. You must offer competitive lines, or this is another guaranteed failure. Your players are on an ego trip, they think that “sink ships”. They sink nothing other than a lot of their hard-earned cash right into your pocket. You must feed their ego in order to keep them away from the competition. The PPH sets the daily events as well as all of the lines and odds for you. You may change any of them at any time, for any reason but you no longer have this headache on your plate every day.
Bet Slips: Who grades them? Well, you do of course! Do you enjoy grading bet slips? Probably not. The PPH grades all bet slips within minutes of the game/events ending. The software automatically updates the player's account and make the money adjustment. If your client wins, you owe your player and you can either settle with them or allow them the win credit so they may continue playing without interruption. If they lose, the money is in the house and your bottom line is credited along with their account being adjusted to reflect the loss.
One of the biggest complaints that bookies receive is wagers not being graded in a timely manner. These people want their money back and you want them thinking they can get it back, but their account must be credited close to immediately.
Betting options with an easy-to-use, user interface. Sports gamblers will gamble on anything of value to them, especially desperate gamblers that are “chasing”. Offering plenty of options with a large wagering menu along with all of the possible ways in which to bet those events – is a must for every bookie.
The above ways in which you maintain and attract clients is certainly not the “be all to end all” list. There are many more great ways. You must market on some level and marketing is expensive and a very lengthy conversation. What you must focus on now, is finding the right PPH and landing yourself online.
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