The rise of online bingo has been something of a double-edged sword for traditional bingo halls.
On the one hand, it has introduced new players to the game overall who then go on to try the real thing and may well come back regularly after experiencing how much more fun it is in person.
On the other hand, it has been argued that the online version could actually keep people from making the journey to their local bingo hall in the first place, since big prize pots can often be found simply by opening your phone.
We tend to think online bingo was a boon for the industry as a whole, but nevertheless, bingo halls have responded by upping their game and offering more to their customers.
Of course, each bingo hall is different, but for many players, their local bingo hall is something of a second home, and the staff who work there are a bit like family.
It’s familiar, it’s safe, and it’s welcoming.
Bingo halls are businesses that tend to go further than most others in terms of looking after their customers too, even spoiling them on special occasions.
That’s what we are looking at today; the lengths a bingo hall will go to in order to make their customers feel special.
Why Would a Bingo Hall Give Customers VIP Treatment?
Just before we jump in with exactly how bingo halls look after their customers, let’s quickly cover why they go that extra mile to make their players feel special.
There are two points of view here:
- Business reasons
- Personal reasons
Bingo companies aren’t daft. They understand their customers and they understand their business; they know why people come and play and so they know it makes good business sense to put in extra effort with their regulars to create the right sort of atmosphere that keeps people coming back.
So they will allow for all of the little extras we will be talking about shortly in their financial plans and budgets.
It feels like special treatment to the players, but from the point of view of the business it is just part of the service.
Moving onto the personal aspect then, and you have to remember that the people who work in bingo halls are human beings.
They get to know the people who come and play in their hall, and as we know from other articles on this site, for many people their local bingo hall is a social destination and a place to air their worries or concerns all rolled into one.
The staff tend to know more about the lives of their players than the staff in a casino or a bookmaker might, and they become quite fond of many of the regulars.
It makes sense then that they want to spoil them when there is a reason to do so, and since the business allows for it, they have the ability to.
With that hopefully making lots of sense, we can finally look at exactly how this is done.
Special Occasions
Everyone wants to feel special on their birthday, right?
Well, if your bingo hall knows you have a big day coming up there is every chance they will make a fuss of you.
We’re not just talking about shout outs over the microphone, but birthday presents, flowers, free bubbly, getting the whole bingo hall to sing happy birthday until you’re red with embarrassment.
The same sort of thing goes for engagements, anniversaries or any other important life event.
As a general rule, bingo halls love to make a fuss of their customers when there is a reason to do so, and especially if it concerns one of their regulars or a well known character.
This special treatment even extends to very sad occasions.
Although bingo is no longer the preserve of the older generations, it remains a very popular activity for those who have qualified for their state pension, and that inevitably means that bingo halls are not unaccustomed to receiving sad news about their regulars.
Did you know that bingo hall managers, callers and staff often attend the funerals of their customers?
While it can hardly be classed in the same category as extra special treatment on your birthday, it shows a commitment to customers that few if any other industries can claim. It’s genuine too – there’s no financial benefit to attending a funeral since that person isn’t going to be spending money anywhere anymore, so the gesture is heartfelt.
How comforting for someone who is in their twilight years, to know that when their time comes, their bingo family will be there to see them off.
Seasonal Holidays
Whether it’s Christmas, Easter, Halloween, or any other big calendar event you can think of, you can bet that your local bingo hall will be celebrating it.
What this usually means, is extra giveaways and special efforts being made.
When the Queen (God bless her soul) celebrated her jubilee, our local bingo hall laid on a cream tea in the entrance hall; there were free footy themed cupcakes during the World Cup too, and don’t even get us started on Christmas time – the amount of stocking fillers being dished out would have made Santa Claus blush.
It’s not just the giveaways though, it’s the effort the clubs go to to dress the place up and decorate prominent areas, or the effort they go to to dress themselves up – it’s not uncommon for staff to end up walking around in elf outfits, or as witches, or for the Easter bunny to make an appearance.
Bingo halls love a theme and they will run wild with it.
These sorts of things make everyone feel good, because while no single person is being given the VIP treatment, the whole club is putting in the effort to make the sessions special for everyone who turns up.
Heck, sometimes they do it for no reason at all.
We don’t want to harp on about our local for the whole article (Cosmo in Stalybridge if you were wondering), but they periodically lay out a continental breakfast for no good reason, just to give their regulars a good experience.
Cosmo won’t be the only ones either.
Extra Prizes
To keep things fun and perhaps even to relieve tension if there have been lots of shared claims, or even maybe disputes, many bingo halls keep a stash of big chocolate bars on hand, or Easter Eggs if it’s that time of year, and other such goodies.
These can be dished out by the caller whenever they think someone deserves one, or can be used as a silly little prize to a competition they run themselves, like a guessing game or a mini quiz or whatever their imaginations can come up with.
It costs the bingo hall next to nothing but it makes the session more enjoyable, and keeps customers feeling valued, plus, as we have discovered in the past, the feeling of winning something is actually more important to us than what we win – this is why small wins are enjoyed just as much as big ones.
These sorts of prizes are always dished out at the club’s discretion, and that usually means at the bingo caller’s discretion, since they are running each session and have the most interaction with the customers.
Do Bingo Hall Chains Spoil their Customers Too?
Smaller bingo companies have more incentive to keep their customers loyal and regular, because as a company, they can’t rely on income from all the other halls they own to prop up those that are maybe not doing so well.
However, that does not mean the big brands like Club300, Buzz and Mecca don’t spoil their regulars just as much as the independents.
All bingo halls are different, but what makes them that way is the people who work there and the relationship with the players.
So the generosity or sense of fun at one place won’t necessarily be the same at another, even if it falls under the same brand.
What we are trying to say here, is that while Buzz bingo in Liverpool might be constantly dishing out goodies to make their customers feel special, Buzz bingo on the Wirral might be much more reserved.
We should be clear that we have no idea what either of these clubs is like in reality, we just used them as an example – they could both be brilliant and we are sure they are!
The people create the personality of a place, not the company that owns the club. The top brass at Mecca don’t decide whether or not to give Ethel a bunch of flowers and a teddy bear on her 85th birthday, the club manager and bingo callers do. They come up with the idea to dress up as Tom Jones and play Sexbomb when Ethel walks in, because they know Ethel loves the tiger, and they understand what will make her laugh.
So as far as the personal touches go, there is no reason to avoid a big brand bingo hall in favour of a smaller one, unless there is some other reason you don’t like it. In terms of the way they look after their customers though, that will be a case of suck it and see.