| Pzazz: A Safe Bet |
| Featured Spotlights | |
| Written by Ashley McGown | |
| Saturday, 01 November 2008 | |
 The key to this company's success lies in its unique array of offerings.  Rob Higgins, general manager “There is a significant distance between the two facilities, but they’re linked by a long, narrow building, so customers don’t have to go outside when traveling between the two,” said Rob Higgins, general manager. “We have separate hotels to accommodate guests at both parts of the resort.” The company was founded as a 140-room hotel nearly four decades ago, but the facility now includes a casino, two hotels, a water park, and a nightclub, among other things. The transformation began in 2002 when Randy Winegard, the owner at the time, decided the hotel needed to become more of a travel destination. Construction began on an entertainment area, which included a bowling facility, an arcade, a sports bar, and an indoor/outdoor water park. Renovations left the property unrecognizable—in a good way. Families reacted exceedingly well to the resort, surpassing the company’s expectations. Soon after, the owner of a nearby riverboat gambling company wanted to sell his business. Although land-based casinos were illegal in Iowa at the time, Winegard, one of the founders and majority shareholders, was interested in keeping the riverboat company local. He garnered a group of people and purchased the controlling rights. Not long after, a new law passed allowing land-based casinos, and Winegard moved the casino from the water to the Pzazz facility. To accommodate the influx of guests and their separate interests, he also added a 40-room hotel, an event center, a spa, and more restaurants. Join the club Because Pzazz offers a variety of entertainment options, the company has no direct competitors. According to Higgins, his team’s biggest concern in regard to competition lies with other casinos in the state. “We’re contending with other Iowa casinos, but none of them offer everything we do,” he said. “There are similar facilities out near Chicago, but that’s a significant distance away.” Despite this fact, the team at Pzazz has a strong focus on marketing, promoting the facility to locals, as well as travelers. “Local traffic is a vital part of business, especially when the economy is down and people are traveling less,” Higgins said. “Our human resources department puts ads in newspapers, on the Internet, and on local TV stations.” To retain customers, Pzazz started a player’s club, which allows visitors to earn rewards based on their spending. After witnessing its success, Higgins and his team developed a similar program for the family entertainment facility called the fun club. The program will be implemented in the near future. “We developed the fun club in a month,” Higgins said. “It didn’t take long because it’s modeled after the player’s club, and we are using the same software. We expect it to be popular among children. It will make them feel like they’re doing the same thing their parents are doing.” A phone call away Due to the size and breadth of operations, Pzazz runs through four IT systems. The casino and family entertainment resort both have their own operating systems, as does the bowling alley and the food and beverage department. To keep everyone on the same page, efficient communication is a must. A call center is scheduled to open next week, which will handle customer service inquiries and reservations. “The call center will improve our customer service,” Higgins said. “It will also improve communication between employees because it will provide some common ground.” To staff the call center, Pzazz hired from within. “We’ve been lucky,” Higgins said. “Retaining quality staff has not been an issue.” Although employees at Pzazz are dedicated to their work, some issues are unavoidable—like natural disasters. Recently, a flood hit Iowa and devastated many homes along the Mississippi River. The Pzazz facility, located less than two miles from the river, was not affected physically. However, a lot of the company’s employees live across the river in Illinois, and the main bridge was shut down for a month. “This posed a big problem for us,” Higgins said. “Employees had trouble getting to the facility, and our Illinois customer base was pretty much cut off. “The effect was temporary,” he continued. “We bounced back quick, and now we’re looking to the future.” Pzazz is currently renovating the hotel that was built in the late ’70s. “It’s the oldest part of our resort, and we want it to be up to par with the rest of the facility.” |
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