Building strong relationships with clients is a key driver to the growth of SOFTSWISS’ Game Aggregator, according to Deputy Team Lead for Account Managers Karina Burhun-Karmazina, who highlighted the decision to place customer service at the heart of the business.

Speaking to SBC, Burhun-Karmazina discussed the stand-out features of the SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator before dissecting some of the top trends she’s identified when working with clients.

SBC: Karina, tell us about your experience in the gambling industry? How did you join SOFTSWISS and what are your responsibilities as Deputy Team Lead Account Managers at SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator?

KBK: My career in the gambling industry started four years ago when I joined SOFTSWISS as an account manager of an expanding product – Game Aggregator. There were only four people in the team at the time and the product was not yet where it is today. When I started, day after day I realised that this was a dynamic industry where changes were happening on a daily basis, and time was of the essence. You either develop the product and try to improve, or stay where you are and lose your position. 

As a Deputy Team Lead in addition to the usual customer service, I’m engaged in developing our business partnerships with clients, working on prospects and evaluating future opportunities to improve our customer service and getting them more involved in Game Aggregator’s interactions.

SBC: How does the SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator connect game providers and those clients who would like to take advantage of your broad game portfolio?

KBK: Let’s imagine that with just one universal integration you can add over 100+ providers with their game content to your project. Isn’t it great? It simplifies the process as much as possible, reduces the financial costs and effectively optimises your time and resources, which can be used to develop related areas such as, marketing, player management, operation or risk management. These are the goals we set for our clients when they sign up for the SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator. 

In addition, once the contract is signed and the technical integration has been successfully completed, you will never be  alone with your questions and tasks. Each client gets a responsible account manager to help solve any Game Aggregator related queries, including those aimed at developing your project and business.

SBC: What makes the SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator different from a dozen other similar aggregators on the gambling market?

KBK: Our main highlight and success is our customer focus. We provide clients with a level of service where they can expect all their requests to be fulfilled. During work the Account Managers Team always places emphasis not only on a responsive approach to tasks, but also on providing high quality service. 

The client’s needs, goals, vision and expectation are always put first, on the basis of which we develop a plan for further interaction and communication with game providers. In addition, our team assesses the potential, the risks involved, and the development opportunities for their business, which subsequently leads to a coordinated cooperation and excellent results.

SBC: You mentioned that account managers help your clients develop their businesses? In what way? 

KBK: Besides the account manager’s daily communication with the client in a group chat, where all major issues and tasks are solved, our team shares its knowledge with operators to work effectively with their current target markets and enter new ones. We conduct research, such as competitive analysis and new market trends assessment. The iGaming business is a dynamic and highly competitive field. So we try not to just fixate on operational work, but to always work on the Game Aggregator. It helps us identify and create new features that will be most useful for our clients.

SBC: Have you had any interesting and remarkable cases that you have encountered while working?

KBK: Every day, we face many cases that directly affect and change the way we work. Each case is unique in its own way.

One prime example was a client integration as well as the connection and launch of all requested game providers on the same day. This was important in order to retain and further engage the existing audience and multiply the current results. And our team pulled it off! Needless to say that the client was satisfied. 

This is a great example to be proud of. In just 24 hours, our team was able to do the seemingly impossible: have all the integrations done and negotiate with the game providers for the operator to take part in all global promos and pre-releases.

Another situation related to determining the exact positioning on the Indian market that is huge, unspoilt with offers, but extremely complex in terms of player behaviour. Each region has its own set of laws and rules, its own traditions and notions, which over the years have imprinted on people’s behaviour. 

We worked together with the operator to come up with a huge amount of hypotheses to determine what kind of game content players are interested in and what features they would like to have in games. We conducted market research to build a user profile  with a picture of their expectations and motives. As a result, this market is now among the target markets. Moreover, it has taken a stable place in the top 5, generating significant revenue.

Another case I’d highlight is how we were able to take the operator to another level of profitability. Initially, the client came with a regular request to integrate with the Game Aggregator. However, during the integration process it became clear that the client was targeting specific markets and did not have a clear understanding of player management, loyalty, retention, etc. 

This was reflected in the traffic that came from affiliates. While carrying out research, in-depth interviews with VIP market players, collecting information about successful gambling operations on that market, we realised that the client had initially defined their target audience wrongly. There was a lot of player churn, especially from players who came from affiliates. To remedy the situation we offered to connect to the Affilka affiliate marketing platform, to optimise partner marketing spend. As soon as the client launched the affiliate program – the situation changed dramatically. The result exceeded the client’s expectations! 

During our research we also found out that without a sports betting solution, it would be difficult for the client to compete on the market. The importance of a comprehensive service including sports and casino was much higher in our client’s target region than in others. Therefore, in addition to the Game Aggregator and Affilka, the client also decided to connect another successful product, the SOFTSWISS Sportsbook.

SBC: How tightly are SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator clients involved in the workflow and development of their online projects?

KBK: We hold monthly calls with clients where we summarise the results of our joint work. This is important for the ongoing optimisation of working processes. What is worth paying more attention to? What can we do to improve our current results? We discuss all this at our meetings. 

With our expertise, in-depth experience, and the way we do business in general, we see the situation from one perspective, while our partners and clients may have a different view. An important skill that has been developed over the years in the Account Managers Team is the ability to listen to the client, understand their thoughts and arguments, recognise possible mistakes and find a way to address them. 

So we are always open to suggestions, recommendations and ideas that help to perfect the working processes and the product as a whole. When attending various iGaming events, we often hear not only from our clients, but also from leading gambling industry representatives about our achievements. And this is incredibly encouraging and motivates us to develop the Game Aggregator even further.

SBC: And finally, what are the most important trends in working with clients? What do you need to do to not only attract them, but also to retain them?

KBK: The online gambling industry is very dynamic, and time does not stand still. You have to constantly look ahead, not stop at what has been achieved, make forecasts for the future and develop your product and service so that there is nothing else like it on the market. What is popular now might not be relevant in a year or even tomorrow. Your business partner and client should realise and feel secure, knowing that their business is well-handled and the risk of losing or being liquidated is reduced to zero. This is what our Account Managers Team focuses on.