According to Paris Smith, CEO pinnacle, The ever-evolving nature of the sports betting industry could come full circle as the sector once again adopts a customer-centric approach.
V conversation with Kelly Ken , director of international relations SBC , in the seventh part of the SBC Leaders podcast Smith shared nearly 15 years of experience with the sports betting operator and the trends she has observed while at Pinnacle.
“One of the most exciting transitions in the industry, of course, has been the transition of telephone to online betting,” she said. “I think that was the first big milestone.
And that’s when the industry really transitioned from betting to tech companies. Now it's back to really being more customer-focused and less tech--it should be technology, but really focusing on the customer and people."
As Ken pointed out, Pinnacle, an esports betting company since 2010, introduced the product as a customer acquisition tool and was one of the first operators to do so.
When asked how the company continues to innovate in betting and "set the pace" for the market, Smith was somewhat modest in praising the Pinnacle team.
She added: “For me, as a leader, it's about stepping back, listening and letting my people do what they feel needs to be done. They are truly passionate about esports and are leaders, so these innovations can come here. It's definitely not from me, to put it mildly.
“He constantly brings in new people and keeps his finger on the pulse of the industry.
“Sometimes it’s subtle things – it’s not really a new look that actually comes out – but sometimes it’s more about the product and the offering that we have with the quality of the product. What we can do better is constantly evolving and changing.”
In particular, Smith praised Marco Bloom as the cream of the crop in esports betting, remembering when Pinnacle's CMO first pitched the idea of introducing esports betting.
“I remember it well,” she said. "It was Marco Blum who just said, 'I think we should try something different.' And that was to bring in the traders that we had because they are really passionate about it. We started with a max bet of $25 and it kept going up.
“There was so much confidence in his abilities. He also grew other products in his organization that he wasn't as passionate about and he still did a phenomenal job, so we just let him take the reins."
The post "SBC Leaders: The Betting Industry Returns to a Customer-Focused Approach" first appeared on GamblingTV.com.
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