Bingo Caller Training Workbook

Bingo Caller Training WorkbookThis training document has been created by Littlefield Charitable Bingo

Management Consulting Inc, a wholly owned corporate subsidiary of Littlefield Corporation.

Littlefield Charitable Bingo Management Consulting, Inc --- among its many other pursuits --- identifies the Best Practices of successful bingo halls, reduces them to a “process”, documents them and produces training programs to ensure their dissemination across the industry.

Littlefield Corporation is the largest owner of charitable bingo halls in the United States with 40 bingo halls in Texas, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida. Through that ownership, it has encountered many of the Best Practices of charitable bingo.

This training workbook --- and your hard work ---will produce better bingo callers. Better bingo callers will create customer loyalty. Customer loyalty will increase profits.

In the operation of any bingo hall the bingo caller is the “voice” of the bingo hall and is responsible for controlling the tempo of play. This is true whether the bingo hall is a South Carolina “B” bingo hall playing for $8,000 in prizes nightly or a South Carolina “C” bingo hall playing over 200 games per day for $20 prizes and 6 $150 jackpot games.

Big or small, the role of the bingo caller is an incredibly important element in the success of any bingo hall.

Like any skill, it can be learned, mastered and improved upon constantly. If you will diligently work through this workbook, you will become a better bingo caller and your customers will appreciate it and the bingo hall will operate on a more professional plane.

What are the objectives of this training program?

Create a more professional and enjoyable environment in our bingo halls for our customers in order to maximize their ability to accomplish their objectives of relaxing and reducing stress

Improve the quality of the customer experience in our bingo halls by making the playing of bingo less stressful for our customers

Lower the potential frustration level of our customers caused by miscommunication or confusion

To attract and retain new customers because of the ease with which they can learn to play bingo

Educate new customers in a subtle and supportive manner

Inject a friendly and happy voice, a voice with a smile in it, into the bingo hall

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Why do our customers come to our bingo halls and play bingo?

Each year we conduct focus groups at all of our bingo halls.

A focus group is a guided conversation with a cross section of customers in which the customers provide input on a myriad of topics.

In this way we are able to learn why our customers come to our bingo halls to play bingo.

The Bingo Goddess knows the answer to that question.

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To relax

To reduce stress

To have fun

To socialize

To win money

Who is the audience for this training and why?

The primary audience for this training is the bingo callers.

In our bingo halls, this is the majority of folks who work as cashiers and runners and take turns as callers. That is you!

In addition, the Bingo Hall Managers will be trained so that they may provide training in the future to new employees, refresher training to the existing staff as needed and twice annually recurrent training for all bingo callers.

The Bingo Hall Managers will ultimately provide this training and thus we are “training the trainers”.

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What training materials will we be using?

We will be using the following materials for training:

This training workbook which you will keep and in which you should keep your notes in class

A bound Power Point presentation which will be part of the classroom instruction and which you may receive, if you so desire

Each bingo hall will have a combined set of the training workbook and Power Point presentation for its reference use

A set of flip charts which will be used as part of the classroom instruction

A set of flashcards which will be found on Quizlet.com. These flashcards will provide you with a great study guide for learning the subject and for test preparation. You will like this website. Yes, there will be a test!

All of the training materials will be filed on Issuu.com and accessible at any time remotely by using the appropriate user name and password

A test will be administered at the end of the training program

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What are the principles of successful, skillful and professional bingo calling?

The successful bingo caller is the voice of the bingo hall in much the same way that a radio announcer is the voice of the radio station.

A skillful bingo caller is an actor who projects the pleasant personality of the bingo hall through the clever use of his or her voice.

The professional bingo caller has a smile in his or her voice and injects a friendly and happy tone into the life of the bingo hall.

A professional bingo caller controls the tempo of play in the bingo hall.

The successful bingo caller establishes a rapport with the bingo customer who knows that the bingo caller will help them win at bingo by providing a fair and consistent calling of the balls at a comfortable pace.

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The Bingo Goddess knows that a good bingo caller must ---

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Articulate

Enunciate

Projection

Inflection

Educate

Inform

Assist

Communicate

What does it mean to articulate?

Articulate means to speak clearly and to utter words with distinct syllables.

Articulation also suggests that words are expressed with precision and distinction.

Good articulation means that the words used create an effective and clear message and communication.

Take your time and slowly say the following phrase with an emphasis on each and every syllable:

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain!

Can you hear every syllable? Can you feel each syllable roll off your tongue?

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What does it mean to enunciate?

Enunciation is very similar to articulation but where articulation focuses on the individual syllables, enunciation is focused on the words which are composed of these syllables

Enunciate means to pronounce words in a clear and distinct manner to create an effective and clear message and communication

Take your time and slowly say the following phrase with emphasis on each and every word:

She sells seashells down by the seashore!

Can you hear each and every word? Can you feel the spaces between the words? Can you feel each word roll off your tongue?

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What does it mean to project?

Projection is the use of one’s voice in a forceful manner to be heard at a distance.

Projection --- in conjunction with articulation and enunciation --- allows the caller’s voice to be heard at a distance and to provide a clear, efficient and distinct message to the bingo customers.

Projection is critical even when audio enhancement is being used.

Sit or stand up straight and slowly say this phrase while articulating, enunciating and projecting your voice:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

Can you hear every syllable? Can you hear each and every word? Can you feel the spaces between the words? Can the audience hear the words in the back of the room?

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Voice mechanics

The combination of articulation, enunciation and projection will provide for a clearer and more efficient message for the bingo customer.

Using these new skills, practice calling balls from B1 to O75.

B1………………………………..O75!

Can you tell the difference? If not, go back through the exercises until you can tell and feel the difference in your own personal voice mechanics.

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How does inflection impact bingo calling?

Inflection is the modulation or tone of one’s voice to create a particular mood or perception.

You can make your voice sound worried or angry or sad or happy.

A successful bingo caller is going to have a “smile” in their voice --- a happy voice

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Use your happy voice!

The voice with the

smile in it.

The successful bingo caller must educate, inform, assist and communicate effectively

The bingo caller is the voice of the bingo hall. Thus far we have focused on voice mechanics making the bingo caller’s voice clear and efficient in conveying information to the bingo customer.

Now we change our focus to the content of that information.

What are we saying to the bingo customer?

In that regard, we are focusing on the bingo caller’s responsibility to educate, inform, assist and communicate to the bingo customer.

Each is related to the other but some are different from the others.

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Who is the target audience?

Not every bingo player is going to directly and substantially benefit from your new found articulation, enunciation, projection, inflection and education, information, assistance and communication --- they can understand you perfectly right now.

The target audience is the “new” bingo player, the inexperienced bingo player, the “tryer” who is in the bingo hall for the first or second time.

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Speak to the new

customer, the tryer, the inexperience

d player.

How do we educate our customers?

Our customers are in the bingo hall to relax, reduce stress, have fun, socialize and win money.

The actual playing of bingo is all about winning money.

The customers need to know what games are being offered at the bingo hall that day or night.

They need to know the big picture.

Periodic and frequent announcements must be made to provide a general frame of reference for the bingo customer.

The attention of the customer during bingo provides an enormous opportunity to provide clear messaging and to impart the messages we want our customers to carry away each and every day

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How do we inform our customers?

The customer needs to know some basic information to be able to win money:

what type of paper is being used including the color of the paper;

is this paper for a fun game or floor special or is it “in the pack” --- the main program or an early bird program or an intermission program;

the prize to be paid;

the winning configuration or pattern being sought; and,

any wild numbers or configurations.

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“You should be on the green paper. This is a special game and is not in the pack. The prize is $20. The winning pattern is an Indian Princess and your wild numbers are 1 and 9. Mark all numbers ending in 1 or 9 on your green paper --- looking for an Indian Princess. The first ball is

How do we assist our customers?

Our customers come to us with different levels of expertise, experience and knowledge of the play of bingo

The most important job of the bingo caller is to make the customer feel comfortable and at home

This can be done by accomplishing the objectives of this training program as it relates to the clarity of speech and the information conveyed

This can also be done by being attentive when customers are dabbing wild numbers to ensure that each customer is able to dab the wild numbers before they must become attentive to the play of bingo

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How do we communicate with our customers?The low hanging fruit in communicating with our customers is the making of periodic --- hourly seems about right --- announcements about basic information pertinent to the bingo hall.

Appropriate topics might be the schedule upon which the bingo hall is open, any upcoming specials, the next Milestone Party and cross selling of other related bingo halls.

The cross selling of other bingo halls is very important when we have a C and B bingo hall co-located but also in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville where we have several related bingo halls.

We should also be touting the player loyalty and rewards program.

The bingo hall manager should be an active participant by making some of these announcements and by providing scripted messages to the bingo callers.

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Verifying winnersRemember to place the same emphasis on articulation, enunciation and projection when verifying winners as you do when calling bingo balls.

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Game transition

The most important element of time management in a bingo hall may not be the speed with which individual bingo numbers are called

The most important element of time management in a bingo hall may be the manner in which the bingo caller transitions to the next game

This often takes the form of ensuring that the customer knows what next game the runners are selling while the current game is being played

This game transition is a critical element in smoothly managing the flow of the bingo games

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Let the games begin but make the transition

smooooooooth

Announcements

One of the critically lost opportunities in our bingo halls is the failure to make announcements on a periodic and regular basis.

This falls under the classification of COMMUNICATION.

Announcements should be scripted to ensure uniformity and should be made on the hour all day long.

Announcements should thank customers for patronizing the bingo hall, announce future promotions or specials and solicit participation in things such as the Players Club.

This is vitally important and something that much be changed immediately.

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Scripts

One of the most important skills of a successful bingo caller is the ability to provide a consistent and coherent message whether announcing a game, calling balls, transitioning to the next game, verifying a winner or making a general announcement.

Please write out a script for each of the following communications --- one that you can use and one which has your smile in its communication:

A game announcement --- program or special, color paper, winning configuration or pattern, prize, wild numbers and first ball.

A transition to the next game announcement indicating that runners are on the floor selling paper for the next game --- program or special, winning configuration, wild numbers and price.

A winning configuration verification.

A set of general announcements describing the bingo hall and its playing times and any impending specials or promotions.

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Bingo blower operations

We are not going to focus on bingo blower operations in this training program other than to say that the bingo blowers must be kept clean, the bingo balls must be cleaned and it is imperative that no smoking, eating or drinking be done in the vicinity of the bingo blower when calling.

Repeat --- NO FOOD, NO DRINKS, NO SMOKING when calling.

Report immediately any malfunctions of the bingo blower or flashboards.

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Flash cards

In preparation for the final exam, flash cards have been created and can be found on a website --- www.quizlet.com.

Go to this website and use the following information to access and use the flashcards. Quizlet will allow you to use the flashcards and to create practice tests as preparation for the final exam.

User name: BingoCaller

Password: Bingo

Additional password, if necessary: bingo

Go to Quizlet and work those flashcards.

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Future reference of training materials

All of the reference materials for this training program are safeguarded on a website --- www.Issuu.com

Go to this website for this training and from time to time to review, refresh your memory and to update your skills

User name:

Password:

Go to Issuu and use those materials. They will be safeguarded in a single folder marked: Bingo Caller Training.

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Recognition

Everyone who completes this workbook and this training course will be recognized in the following manner:

Each graduate who completes the course and scores at last 75% on the test will receive a pin to be worn on their bingo uniform.

Each graduate will receive a certificate of graduation and recognition upon attainment of a 75% score on the test.

Each graduate who makes an 85% or better on their first taking of the test will receive an immediate $0.25/hour increase in their compensation.

Each graduate who scores higher than 90% on their first taking of the test will receive a $100 bonus.

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Test

Bingo, like life, is a graded exercise. It is not a pass – fail exercise.

To receive the recognition noted earlier, you have to attain a 75% score on the test.

You may take the test as many times as you want but you can only receive the pay increase and $100 bonus based upon the first attempt.

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N O T E S

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