Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2021. The statement that the film Molly’s Game is currently available on Netflix refers to February 2021; streaming availability changes.
Molly Bloom is known by several nicknames: the poker queen, the poker princess, the poker madam. She went from working as a waitress in a pub to organising the most exclusive underground poker games in the world. Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, among others, sat at her table, as did Wall Street tycoons. She became the queen of poker in a world dominated entirely by men. And she did it at the age of 26.
It’s a story of ambition and greed that ended with the mafia and the FBI entering the scene. Her life and story were told in the book Molly’s Game: The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World. Her life was later brought to the big screen as Molly’s Game, starring Jessica Chastain, currently available on Netflix.
What can you learn from Molly Bloom as an entrepreneur to help your business?
Molly Bloom’s secret, above all, was observation and research. She was starting from scratch in this world, so she knew nothing about poker or poker players. In fact, she says herself that she had to start by searching Google with questions like: “What do poker players like to eat?” and “What music do poker players listen to?”
Starting with zero years of experience didn’t stop her from building a multi-million-dollar business by turning her poker game into an unbeatable customer experience that was worth paying for.
When she started out in this world, she served drinks to the poker players in the basement of the club where she worked, while taking notes and absorbing all the information she needed to rule this industry.
Molly saw clearly that, apart from a few famous players, the game experience her boss offered could be found practically anywhere else.
Although she had never read a book about business and companies, Molly knew instinctively that she could attract players and keep them much longer, and attract better players who would leave much more money behind, if she managed to create an authentic and unique customer experience. Something that couldn’t be found anywhere else.
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What can you offer customers who already have everything?
Molly was clear that the men sitting at the poker table could buy whatever they wanted. She knew that poker at that level wasn’t about money. What could she offer them that they couldn’t get at any other poker game? A unique experience. And that’s where the game begins.
Molly Bloom’s game for creating a unique customer experience
Select clients: billionaires and men used to being able to buy anything. These were men who wanted to feel like James Bond on the nights they sat down at the poker table. Surrounded by beautiful women, drink in hand, and the risk of the game.
Molly began organising her games in penthouse-style suites with attractive serving staff and luxurious decor. A fantasy kingdom for exceptional players.
She made sure to satisfy her clients’ wishes down to the smallest detail: each one’s favourite drink, one client’s particular smartphone charger, their favourite songs, and even masseuses to ease the tension in their shoulders.
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Molly Bloom’s three golden rules for creating the best customer experience
Information and research
Molly left nothing to chance. Before each game, she knew who would be sitting at her table. And not only which person, but what type of person and how that person thought. She knew even the tiniest details of their tastes and favourite things.
She even imported a foreign liqueur because it was one of her players’ favourite drinks. She knew the group dynamics among the players, so she knew who shouldn’t sit next to whom and who would be better seated beside a particular player.
Her customer research was perfect. She left nothing to chance, so she was able to set the perfect stage for creating the best customer experience these exclusive players could receive.
Saying yes all the time
There wasn’t a single customer request she didn’t fulfil. Molly knew the customer is always right, especially when that customer is putting 4 million dollars on the table. Once clients sat down at the table, she did everything in her power to make them feel well looked after. She even gave clients extensions on their payments when they asked, sometimes using her own money.
Molly was clear that if a customer feels well looked after at all times, they become loyal.
Effortless fun
Molly spent a lot of time planning each game. As we said, she left nothing to chance, but she did all of this before the client walked through the door. That way, she made sure the game experience delivered instant gratification and satisfaction. In other words, she created this scene by doing the hard work before the game and planning everything perfectly so her clients didn’t have to worry about absolutely anything.
Her clients only had to think about enjoying the night. Fun without effort or worry.
If you have an exclusive product, be exclusive
Perhaps the key to Molly’s success lies in this point. There wasn’t a poker player who didn’t want a seat at that table.
This is where many other organisers of private poker games make the mistake of increasing the number of people who can sit at the table. Others add more tables or even rent a bigger space.
But why not earn much more with very little? Molly’s game was so exclusive that it could become even more exclusive. So she had no problem raising the price of a seat at her table. If you wanted to sit at that table, you had to pay a whopping 250,000 dollars. And best of all, even so, the demand was so high that interested people had to be turned away.
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Featured image: JohnDoe0007, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
