WhiteSand Custom Book - (Page 7) OPERATIONS Class III, casino-style devices) was hindering access and actually hurting revenues. Neither the customers nor the food and beverage carts could maneuver the aisles. “We increased access and provided more popular machines,” Basara said. “We provided a product more suitable to the customer we wanted coming in there and revenues rose accordingly.” A well-appointed high-limit gaming area was quickly implemented. It was so successful that the six-figure investment was recovered in less than a week and plans were begun for an expanded and more elegant area. “We had special hostess/servers for the customers in the new area,” Basara said. “That was one of the things we did immediately to try and send a message to the market that Morongo is a premium property. This goes back to where we started. We had a property with the fit and finish of high end that was not performing to its high end potential and we were doing a lot of things to make that happen. “We accepted all customers, but we wanted to provide a premium product regardless of who came in. As a result we were able to attract a premium customer and retain the customer we already had coming in.” The reconfigured slot floor and improved machines and service along with targeted marketing and bus programs to get more lucrative mid-week visitors from the Los Angeles area quickly began generating results. The casino’s internal controls and regulation by the tribal gaming commission “were excellent,” Basara. “We had excellent rapport and cooperation from the tribal gaming commission.” Detecting revenue drop he resort’s accounting system and method of reporting gaming and non-gaming results was providing accurate snapshots of financial performance. “But the ability to trend the data was weak and had failed to detect a gradual drop in revenue dating back almost a year,” Basara said. “We had to develop tools that would display the financial trends so we and the tribe could see the gradual slide.” WhiteSand worked to create these tools with the limited software that was immediately available, while at the same time creating a plan to acquire and implement a software application that would accomplish this more readily. The amount of effort to collect, compile, and report on the resort data was monumental, but the WhiteSand team worked to overcome this and provide crucial information to tribal council. This information confirmed suspicions about a gradual decrease in revenues that had been occurring over time, and highlighted the fact that much of the decline was directly related to a reduction in spending throughout the resort. WhiteSand was able to quickly identify areas that needed additional investment in order to compete with other casino resorts in the area and provide a much better overall experience for the guests. Partners in Progress They did an excellent job We had recently opened our new property and the management we had didn’t seem capable of adjusting to the expectations we had for the facility. They wanted to continue to run it as a hometown casino. We wanted to operate a resort similar to what you would find in Las Vegas or Laughlin. We wanted to take it to another level. We had to make a change. We needed a transition team while we looked for a new general manager. We know people in the business so we started making calls. Sal (Saverio Scheri) and Joe Basara interviewed and we liked what they had to say. We narrowed the list to half a dozen. Then we had a short list of two or three. We finally choose WhiteSand. People we talked to in Vegas spoke well of them. They had an impressive list of clients. They fit what we were looking for. They Robert Martin agreed to come in during this transition and operate the resort for six months to a year, whatever it took for us to find another general manager. Of those we interviewed, WhiteSand had the best understanding of tribal governments. They had worked with other tribes. There’s a big difference between tribal and corporate gaming. Sal and his team were understanding and respectful of tribal governance and tribal culture. It was a tough time. Things weren’t going as we would have liked. Sal and his team came in and picked right up. We didn’t miss a beat. WhiteSand took over operation of the casino, the hotel, the restaurants, IT: everything. They did a great job for us. They were problem solvers. There were employee problems. They handled those. They redesigned our casino floor. They brought in different machines. The upgraded the technology. Employee morale improved. Customer service improved. Food and beverage service improved. They had a big, big task and they did an excellent job. They did exactly what they were asked and required to do. They upgraded the facility and took us to another level. I would use them again if we ran up against a similar situation. No question. I would. — Hon. Robert Martin, chairman, Morongo Band of Mission Indians “ T 7
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