The 5 queue management facts outlined below have one major thing in common: They all focus on reducing perceived and actual waits and improving the customer experience. Every queue, no matter what business you’re in, can benefit from the following information.
1. Sometimes it pays to make them wait.
“If you give people exactly what they want at the moment they want it, they might want it less.” What does this tidbit have to do with queue management? Simple – it’s OK to make people wait, a little bit. Just make sure you’re building some excitement into the waiting process without making them feel like they’re on the receiving end of bad service. Electronic queuing techniques like digital displays and in-line merchandising can encourage people to buy more, and wait patiently and happily to purchase the items already in their hands.
2. Speed of delivery is king.
A recent study, as reported by Forbes, discovers that the real reason folks spend their dollars through e-commerce is because of the speed of delivery. Queue management is about time management – and about respecting the time of your customers. Your customer will appreciate a virtual queue because they are busier, more mobile, and have more options than ever. Implementing a virtual queue accompanied by mobile methods automatically frees people from the physical line to spend their waiting time as they please. Brick-and-mortar establishments should automatically have the upper hand where this statistic is concerned, right? After all, you can’t dispute that going into a store and buying an item right then and there is much faster than waiting for the UPS guy. But what’s the one thing that stands between purchase and ownership? The waiting line. Speed up the queue with electronic queuing that uses texting and pre-scheduled arrivals, virtual queuing, and queue monitoring.
3. It’s about the customer AND the service.
A new report from Motorola finds that real omni-channel strategy is about the customer and service. According to the report, “It’s about serving customers better, not about selling them harder.” To further support this idea, Harris Interactive research discovered 68 percent of customers leave because they think you don’t care about them. It doesn’t matter how great a customer’s experience was before they reached the checkout line.
That wait is enough to solidify a good or bad opinion. Customer satisfaction is greatly influenced by wait times. Ask yourself, how likely would your customers be to promote your business based on the amount of time they spend standing in line? The implementation of a savvy queue management system – particularly virtual queuing which eliminates the line completely – offers an excellent opportunity to keep your customers happy and promoting your business.
Strategies such as people counting, queue monitoring, service monitoring, and proactive queue management are smarter ways to manage queues and keep customers happy. Virtual queuing that utilizes mobile apps, interactive kiosks, and the internet can also help by eliminating the physical waiting line all together.
4. They’ll ditch you for shorter checkout queues.
A 1992 study (Romsey) found that a majority (80-90 percent) of customers would change to another retailer just to experience shorter checkout queues. Combine this with another study by Keurig and Brew Over Ice that found 65 percent of Americans are not able to make time for themselves at least once a day, and you begin to realize the impact of making people wait.
The psychological effect of waiting in line is very real, and one unpleasant or lengthy wait can often prompt people to develop a negative reaction to the business. Benefit both business and customer by addressing both the perceived and actual waits through information-rich queue management systems and the implementation of digital signage and virtual queuing methods.
5. Technology makes waiting more efficient.
Queue management technology can deliver an average increase of 35 percent in service efficiency. The world is operating at mach speed, and businesses need to keep up, especially when it comes to queue management. Queue management technology can increase service efficiency, decrease actual and perceived wait times, and increase impulse purchases.
Adding to this idea, the Pew Research Center found that 56 percent of Americans now own a smartphone, and 91 percent of the adult population owns some kind of cell phone. Peoples’ lives operate on a mobile scale: “Can I do XYZ with my phone? Will my smartphone make ABC easier or faster?” Virtual queuing systems can be set up to allow customers the ability to register for their place in line through a mobile device, communicate directly with service agents, and even delay their turn in line.
Eliminating the waiting line may feel like you’re disconnecting with customers, but adding the mobile element means you’re actually connecting with customers in more ways than you ever could have in the past. How will you use these facts to your advantage when planning your queue?
