“We plan to increase our presence in Latin America as a whole”

What is your opinion about SAGSE 2012? How did you see the show?
We noticed a lower quantity of visitors as compared to the prior year, but we were pleased with the quality of visitors and thought the show was a success overall. We had many pre-arranged booth tours with customers and these proved to be very successful. We had specific goals to achieve with regards to product placements and we were successful in meeting those goals. 

How do you evaluate the quality of the visitors? What do the operators came from?
High quality customers attended from the entire region. We showcased our complete product offerings (except for iGaming) to visitors from Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia. Because our CEO, Gavin Isaacs, attended the show, these customers had the opportunity to discuss the direction of SHFL and how we can provide solutions to their needs.  Visitors showed great interest in our products, especially card shufflers, chippers, and electronic gaming machines (EGM).  The interest stems from what we do best and that’s providing innovative solutions and services for today’s busy casino environment.
Carlos Alejo Mautone Hernandez was recently designed to manage all sales activity in South America. How has responded the industry to this appointment?
Alejo has a great reputation in the industry and some customers came to our booth specifically to speak with him. Alejo has been actively re-engaging with customers throughout South America and as a result, we have seen an increase in interest in our products. Our engagement with Alejo provides confidence and trust in SHFL to our Latin American customers.

What is your opinion about the Argentinian industry?
The Argentinean market has great promise, but the current political and economic environment makes it somewhat more challenging to do business. Historically, we have utilized distributors to represent our line of table game products and had success in establishing a significant install base. Our Equinox slot product has successfully been introduced into Argentina and we’re currently exploring options that will allow us to better serve our customers in Argentina and surrounding countries.

What are your main plans for next year?
We plan to increase our presence in Argentina and Latin America as a whole. We recently hired industry veteran Juan Pablo Irarrazaval as General Business Manager for Central and South America to oversee all business development and sales strategy in the area. Both he and Alejo are widely respected by our customers and partners and have built a solid reputation for developing and maintaining key relationships in this region. Together they will build a strong management team to expand our network across Latin America. We also hope to introduce Equinox to all Latin American countries and provide entertainment, security and productivity-enhancing solutions to customers with all of our many product offerings.