No business can thrive without customers. It is a fact that every business leader must know ─ if they have not already. That being the case, it is important for businesses to provide a positive customer experience in order to make their customers feel satisfied. One factor that affects whether or not customers have a positive experience is customer wait times.
Managing customer wait times are proven to be quite challenging for many businesses. Most of the time, wait times end up being unpleasant for customers. Arranging for customers to have pleasant wait times may sound like an elusive objective; however, it is quite attainable when business leaders use the right strategies.
Here are 3 strategies that business leaders can try in order to give customers more pleasant wait times:
1. Offer virtual queueing
Some people prefer the conventional type of queueing ─ whether it is waiting in physical queues or waiting in the waiting room ─ but nowadays, many others prefer to use virtual queueing. This is because virtual queueing makes everything simpler and more convenient. With virtual queues, customers do not need to be physically present at the location to wait for their turn. Instead, they can opt to wait wherever they want and do whatever they want while waiting. Hence, their wait times can feel less dull and rather be more enjoyable.
2. Provide the estimated waiting time
Although sounds petty, providing the estimated waiting time can make a huge difference for customers. Here is the bottom line: uncertainty makes everything worse. This applies to waiting, as well. When one is waiting without knowing how long they will be waiting, the perceived waiting time will be much longer than the actual waiting time. On the contrary, when one is given the information about the expected waiting time, they will gain a sense of certainty, and waiting will feel shorter. Giving the estimated waiting time to the customers ─ whether it is through digital signage placed in the waiting room or virtually through a mobile app or the net ─ will put their minds more at ease and make wait times more pleasant.
3. Notify the customers
Even with the conventional type of queueing, there are always possibilities of customers missing their turn. However, giving the flexibility to wait elsewhere, virtual queueing increases those possibilities. Despite that one downside, there is a simple way to rectify it: notify the customers when it is almost their turn. This is a good way to remind the customers, which will give them plenty of time to get back to the premise in time for their turn. That way, customers do not have to worry about missing their turn while waiting elsewhere, which would make the wait times untroubled. Sending notifications to the customers is also a good way to communicate with them, which is a much-appreciated gesture in the eyes of the customers. What makes it even better is that with today’s technology that a proper queue management system possesses, the reminders can be sent automatically.
A proper queue management system can help businesses put those 3 strategies into practice without a hitch.
Looking for a Powerful Queue Management System? Check Out SMARTQUEUE®
SMARTQUEUE® is a queue management system from Business Smart Solutions (BSS) that aims to help businesses deliver an outstanding customer experience through various beneficial features. Designed with cutting-edge technology, SMARTQUEUE® will give your customers not only a seamless experience but also more convenient wait times.
As a queue management system, SMARTQUEUE® provides Omni-channel service delivery, one of which is virtual queueing. As had been mentioned, virtual queueing enables customers to wait elsewhere until it is their turn. SMARTQUEUE®’s virtual queue system is no exception for this advantage. In fact, SMARTQUEUE® provides informative details, which can be accessed by customers on their mobile devices once checked in. Those informative details include their queue status, how many people are ahead of them in line, and the estimated waiting time. Most importantly, SMARTQUEUE® has a notification feature that will inform your customers automatically when their turn is almost due. The notifications will be sent to your customers via SMS. This notification feature is advantageous not only for the customers but also for your business because it is able to reduce the no-show rate significantly.
With so many rewarding features, SMARTQUEUE® has what it takes to turn wait times into a more pleasant experience for your customers.
Reach us at info@bss.com.au to learn more details about SMARTQUEUE® and how it can help your business thrive.
