Guide: How to get started with Duty of Care calls

Jakob Jonsson, a licensed psychologist at Sustainable Interaction, is giving his best advice to gambling operators who want to get started with Duty of Care calls. With numerous published scientific studies on the subject, Jakob also oversees our team of care communicators.

How do you get started with Duty of Care calls?
You need to think through the purpose of the calls. Then of course: Who is going to carry out the calls? A good idea is to use staff that are already used to talking to customers. You also need to have an overall structure in place: What do you do if you can't reach a customer? What do you do if the call doesn’t have the desired effect? And as always, you need to evaluate on an ongoing basis.

What do you need to have in place before you start calling customers?
Trained staff who receive support and supervision, a conversation template, an overall structure of the entire process and a plan for evaluating efforts. You’ll also need some sort of CRM system for administering the calls, adding notes and labels. For those few calls that become very difficult you need to have a crisis plan in place.

Who is suited to carry out these kinds of calls? Does it require training?
Staff who are already accustomed to interacting with gambling customers would be the best choice here. They will require additional training in techniques for handling Duty of Care calls and dealing with customers with various levels of gambling problems.

Could you give us your three best tips from research and experience?
Make sure you have a well-thought-out strategy, provide staff with ongoing training and evaluate your efforts.

From your experience, what are the most common measures that a Duty of Care call results in?
The most common is probably that customers agree to adjust their limits. Some choose to self exclude from gambling or from certain game types. Few indicate that they are in need of treatment.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?
When performed well, Duty of Care calls have an effect, and we know that most customers appreciate being contacted. In many cases, the call can serve as a starting point for a positive change for the customer.

Feel free to reach out to us if you want to know more about Duty of Care calls. We can help you with advice on strategy or provide training to your team. We also offer Duty of Care calls as a service where at-risk players are forwarded to our support line.