The Power of Planning and Building

Royal Caribbean has videos about the planning and building of their ships. Watching the latest ship on TV, I stated to my wife, “It’s amazing how they seem to do everything correct. How do you plan ship building 6 to 12 years ahead of time?” You would think they have little in common with an Internet business where items are lucky to be decided 6 to 12 months ahead of time. Great businesses share a lot more in common no matter what their industry.
Royal Caribbean Mission Statement
1)     We always provide service with a friendly greeting and a smile.
2)      We anticipate the needs of our customers.
3)      We make all efforts to exceed our customers’ expectations.
4)     We take ownership of any problem that is brought to our attention.
5)     We engage in conduct that enhances our corporate reputation and employee morale.
6)      We are committed to act in the highest ethical manner and respect the rights and dignity of others.
7)     We are loyal to Royal Caribbean and strive for continuous improvement in everything we do.
Bullet #1 goes without saying for any online business. Customer Service is your front line and may be your only person to person experience your customer will have with your brand. Treating your customers correctly will have a lasting effect on your business.
Two, be ready for what your customer needs. If your site is awarding travel packages, you need to be the expert on that location.  Be the expert on whatever your customer needs.
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Three, surprise the customer with the extras. It could be a simple room upgrade; it may be rushing them a check. Go the extra mile so they realize their business matters to your site.
Four, every company is going to have problems. How you handle the problem is going to be remembered by the customer. It’s okay to make mistakes but you must learn from them. Get everyone involved with discussing mistakes made in the past and how were they handled. How can your site do a better job the next time one pops up?
Five and six, be a leader in your industry. Pick a single aspect of your business you want your site to be thought of as the best. Gaining and keeping the respect of your customers will add to your bottom line.
Seven.  If you are not improving, you are losing. You must be better than the others to survive in every industry and the others are improving. A brick and mortar business can survive years longer than they should have because of location. You don’t have that luxury with the internet.
The Royal Caribbean video must have cost them more than $1 million to produce. I doubt they have a good guess how much it has returned to their brand. When I decide to take another cruise, it will be on Royal Caribbean and I’m sure millions of others feel the same way. The video worked.
About the Author
Scott Yeates is the head of Poker Consulting Services with Hybrid Interaction Ltd., also known as the legendary “ScottY” from his former position as the VIP Manager for PokerStars.  Following a successful career as a world class online poker player, he decided to “switch sides” and now he advice leading iGaming brands on best practices for Rewards Programs Development.