Mikael Hansson – Enteractive – Staying responsible when acquiring & retaining players

Mikael Hansson, CEO of Enteractive, on why a technological solution isn’t the only route for operators to take when implementing socially responsible tools in today’s iGaming/betting climate

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Social responsibility has found itself in the spotlight in recent times with several high-profile cases featuring companies who’ve been found to have overstepped the mark in complying with strict regulations.

With operators under increased pressure from lawmakers, the media, and regulators to be compliant, there is a greater emphasis than ever on implementing appropriate measures to tackle problem gambling and act responsibly.

Yet juggling that with a commercial imperative to acquire and retain players in a fiercely competitive market is far from easy.

There’s no doubt the industry is making a concerted effort to improve its image. Just last month, Sky Bet unveiled a new television campaign which placed the ‘When the Fun Stops, Stop’ slogan at the heart of its messaging. In addition, several others have invested in new tools designed to detect vulnerable players at a much earlier stage.

Technology is, of course, one of the major driving forces when it comes to improving social responsibility within our industry, with the data sets compiled providing operators with the additional knowledge required to know their customers’ behaviour better.

However, although technology is playing an increasingly more important role in the development of the iGaming industry, we shouldn’t devalue the most effective way of identifying vulnerable players – human interaction.

From our experience, there’s so much to be gained when talking to someone directly, whether it’s in person or in our case, over the phone. Not only can this approach help in the reactivation of churned players, but by speaking to individuals directly our teams are able to understand their gaming behaviour and concerns that they may have about their activity.

That’s because when you conduct a one-on-one conversation with someone over the phone, the first-hand data obtained is directly relevant to that individual, and is very effective when tackling social responsibility concerns.

Once you have that data at your disposal, operators can move to deal with those who have had previous gambling problems or lost large sums of money by introducing measures such as limiting losses and deposits to ensure a safer gaming experience.

Personal approach

Picking up the phone and talking to your customers has been common practice for years, but at present that’s limited to contact with VIP players.

But this approach needs revisiting. It’s our belief that every customer deserves a quality experience through a one-to-one conversion, regardless of spend. Such engagement creates a connection between the brand and consumer, which is invaluable in today’s competitive market.

As a result of the scalability of our services at Enteractive, we are able to provide operators with the ability to have quality, personal conversations with all its players to discuss new games and offers, plus assisting them on responsible measures. This way, we also ensure that brands and operators are creating and strengthening a loyal, personal relationship with each and every customer.

Operators may well be treading on eggshells when it comes to the acquisition and retention of players for the foreseeable future. But third-party services which hold socially responsible tools will hold the key for companies to continue with their CRM activities, confident they won’t fall foul of the rules.


Source: SBC News