Tammy Farley's first job out of the University of Michigan was selling telephone systems to businesses in Detroit.

It wasn't glamorous going door to door in office parks. But it didn't take her long to find a sweet spot — companies that had old-fashioned phone systems with red lights that flashed when a call was on hold. Sales commissions started flowing, and she never looked back at original plans for law school.

Sean Drakes/Special (ENLARGE)

Tammy Farley, here in the lobby of the Omni Hotel, says what she values most is relationships. 'Material things come and go, but relationships survive.'

THE TAMMY FARLEY FILE • Family: Husband, Doug Farley; daughter, Grace, 13. • Last book: "Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions," by Ben Mezrich. "Culturally, it's interesting," Farley said. • College job: Watering plants at a Waverly Hotel. "I got to see and learn the back of the house," Farley said. • College: University of Michigan, bachelor of arts in political science. BUSINESS Latest Headlines: Georgia banks on brink of collapse? Not quite  Survey: Employees will jet when job market rebounds  One consolation for Atlanta: jobless woes worse elsewhere  Restaurants offering summer freebies  Weather Channel changing up 'On the 8s' tunes  • More business news • Business photo galleries

That was almost 20 years ago.

Now she drives a Masaratti and sells revenue management software to developers of casinos and resorts. Her territory stretches from Atlanta to the Bahamas to the gaming hotbed of Macau.

Farley, 40, and partner Bruce Barfield are co-founders of the decade-old Rainmaker Group. The privately held company in Alpharetta has 34 employees. Casino operators hire Rainmaker to increase revenue by securing the most profitable mix of business.

Rainmaker does this by calculating each customer's total value at the gaming tables, spas and restaurants, not just the hotel room. The goal is to increase revenues by ensuring that high-value customers get priority for hotel rooms based on their spending history.

Q: Give non-gamblers an example of how a revenue management system works.

A: Think of grocery stores. They could raise their prices at 5 p.m., when a lot of people shop on the way home from work. That would keep some people away, but others would be willing to pay a premium to shop in a less-crowded store. Revenue management works in any perishable market.

Q: How does the system work in a casino?

A: When you play in a casino, they give you a player card. When you stick it in the slot machine, it tracks the player as long as the card is in the machine. If you're at the table, you give it to the pit boss. Casinos keep count of play. The word for it in the business is your theoretical worth — what is your worth to them every day. It helps the companies understand who their best customers are.

Q: Does that mean rooms and perks are reserved for higher-stake gamblers and customers who spend larger sums?

A: It's a caste system. A lower player may get a great comp on Tuesday, but on Friday might have to pay something for the room. At the Cherokee, N.C., Harrah's, if you tried to book for a weekend — even three months from now — the odds are you won't get a room if you're not a $1,500 a day player.

Q: How does this differ from a traditional system of managing hotel rooms?

A: We don't want to help run a hotel as a stand-alone business. We want to fill it every night with people who will contribute to the gaming room floor ... even though they may be the last to book.

We talk about a customer's total value. In the hotel world, they know only the rate paid for the room. In the casino world, there is no perceived value in the room because the guest is worth so much more on the gambling floor, in the spa, in the restaurant.

Q: Why do casino and resort developers use a revenue management system?

A: It means that for their best customers, there will always be a room available. It's not about discount pricing, it's about access for the customer.

Q: Does Rainmaker attract potential investors?

A: They keep knocking at the door and we say, "You're crazy." They only want to give you money when you don't need it. We're a privately held company with no outside capital. We're all organically grown.

Q: Why is Rainmaker in Alpharetta?

A: We see this location as where business is growing. So we bought this building. We weren't certain we'd need all this space, and it's the only forecast we ever missed.