Harness: Customers come first in the pecking order

“The customer is always right” is a phrase that has become cliché in our society. I’ll be honest, I actually think the phrase does a disservice to business. I think it denigrates the value of customer service representatives and other employees to feel that they are in a position where regardless of what is said or done, the customer is always right. Even those businesses who preach this mantra, don’t really believe it. If they did, customers would never be asked to leave or be banned from a certain establishment.

I do believe the customer is always first and the customer is always valid.

There has been a lot of discussion in harness racing social media in which people have attempted to “rank” the contributors and players within the industry by level of importance. Beyond the bettors, included in this discussion are the horses themselves, drivers, trainers, owners and breeders. In this discussion this is where I say, the customer is always first.

In no industry is it believed that the owner, developer, customer service representative, or any other position comes before the customer. This isn’t viewed as taboo. It isn’t a hot topic. It’s not even something that is up for debate. Yet for some reason in harness racing, it is debated quite a bit. In fact, some people take it quite personally. For the life of me, I don’t understand why.

It isn’t a slight to the horses, owners or breeders when people take the position that the bettor is the most important group of people in harness racing. The bettors are racing’s customers. They have to come first. If a car company develops a new model vehicle that nobody buys, who is more important, the developer of the model or the customer? If a fashion designer puts out a new line of clothing that nobody likes, who is more important, the designer or the customer? If a contractor builds a block of new houses that nobody wants to live in, who is more important, the contractor or the customer? So why is it that the debate exists in harness racing?

I have been witness to arguments where breeders state, “if we don’t breed the horses, there is no industry.” I have seen owners say, “if there are no owners, there is no industry.” Of course, all of this is true. If there was nobody that wanted to build a fuel system, the car industry wouldn’t exist. If no one wanted to stitch or sew, the clothing industry wouldn’t exist. If there were no plumbers, homes couldn’t be built. They are all important parts of their respective industry. However, in every instance, it is the customer who is the most important factor. The customer drives the supply of products with their demand, not the other way around.

There isn’t a single person in the harness racing industry that should feel devalued by this notion. In fact, they should feel an obligation to work collectively to do what is best for their customers, the bettors. There are countless examples of this simply not being the case.

1. Takeout rates are exorbitant and stymie any potential for the bettor (the customer) to see a profit over the long term.
2. Too many instances of “no-try” events with horses. We can sit here and pretend that this isn’t true, and every horse is positioned in every race, giving 100% to win. We have seen far too many examples of this not being the case. Whether it be the horse’s first race back, the horse having a more lucrative race forthcoming, or any other reason. If your response to this is “caveat emptor,” then you are devaluing the customer even more.
3. Pricing of data in the form of past performances or being able to access information on horses, trainers, drivers online.
4. Jackpot bets that capture the money of their customers, holding it for days, weeks, months and distributing it to a select few, or sometimes one person.

I can write a book filled with these examples, but you get the point.

No other business operates like this. If they did, they would be out of business. Casinos treat their customers better. Sure, it’s tough to beat the house, but in a casino, players are not betting into a 20-percent rake. They are also given perks like comped meals and rooms and you don’t have to be a six-figure player to receive that kind of treatment.

The Sports betting industry treats their customers better. Their pricing on games is 400% cheaper than that of racing. They also provide perks like the casino industry.

For a long time racing had a monopoly on gaming. Maybe because of that monopoly the industry got into some bad habits and became complacent. It is feasible to think that the pricing structure didn’t matter because there simply was no alternative. The problem is, now there is. Over a long history of bad practices, harness racing has devalued its bettors and still to this day, there are those who don’t understand that the bettor is the most important person in this game.

In harness racing, it is up to all of the cogs of the industry, from the breeders all the way to the mutuel tellers, to put forth the best product possible. But the customer decides if that product is worth their time and money. While the industry may be a business or a career for those involved, it is not for the customer. The customer is spending their hard-earned dollars on the business. If the customer walks away, the business doesn’t exist. The customer holds the keys, they always have and they always will.