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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are instructed to limit our commute unless it’s something necessary and urgent such as going to work, grocery shopping, or hospital-related business.

We would also think less commute means less queuing. Is that true? Well, it should be that way. But, reality begs to differ.

Source: Lisanto 李奕良 via Unsplash

Looking at the picture above, we’re aware even in the middle of pandemic, public places are still crowded with people, thus queuing is also highly inevitable. If that’s the case, then what can be done to help keep the positive cases of COVID-19 to a minimum?

We know that the country’s medical regulator has approved the implementation of COVID-19 vaccine while some restrictions are continuously being implemented. However, service providers still need to remain cautious when reopening their premises as well as delivering their services, because our fight with COVID-19 is not over yet.

Following the regulation from the government would not be sufficient if you want to keep a healthy and safety environment for your staff and customers during this pandemic.

So, what’s one of the most essential solutions to this problem?

Virtual Queueing System

You see, the future of queuing is making things a lot easier and more comfortable―and virtual queuing could be the right solution for your business in the pandemic situation, if not the best.

Why is that?

With virtual queue management system, your customers can wait in a virtual waiting line, in which they don’t have to be present and physically wait to get a service.

You can also avoid congestion, which will keep close interactions to a minimum, run errands, or do some other important business whilst waiting for your turn.

Knowing how crucial it is to start incorporating this system into your business, SMARTQUEUE^® queue management system that has been around for years is always ready to help businesses to streamline their business operation.

Under virtual queuing, SMARTQUEUE^® can send SMS notifications to your customer when their turn is almost due.

Therefore, your customer can wait off your premises and they can immediately return to your premises to be served without worries of missing their turn.

Especially in this current critical situation, its supportive mission remains the same. Thus, it has adapted and transformed with new features to be able to help businesses not only to manage queues but also maintain a healthy and safe environment at their premises.

On top of that, SMARTQUEUE^® is not only acting as a perfect customer flow management for banking or financial industries. This system can be easily adopted by many business sectors such as hotels, hospitals, cinemas, restaurants, etc.

However, apart from maintaining healthy & safety environment, what other important factors you need to note in virtual queuing?

Take extra measures to keep the highest rate of customer experience!

For companies, organisations, institutions, or other public places—queuing has been a classic problem in the field of customer experience.

Essentially, a queuing problem implies that the number of dissatisfied customers is higher than the number of satisfied customers due to a series of factors of waiting experience.

To solve this issue, you need to improve your customers’ waiting experience. You know, waiting can be hard and uncomfortable. Your customers deserve the best waiting experience. They don’t want their time wasted just to get a service or discounted product.

So, here’s a few things that can surely help them:

• Incorporate entertainment

Research found that people who have nothing to do consider wait times to be longer than those who are distracted by reading materials, televisions or conversation.

Relevant distractions can improve the customer’s waiting experience. Therefore, you could try placing entertainment media in the waiting area thus transforming passive waiting into an active waiting.

• Be clear and informative

Customers who are less informed are the ones who will more likely press the button-down option when they’re asked to give feedback. Thus, make sure you’re creating easy access as to where customers have to go, to wait, and how long the expected waiting times are.

You can also use monitors and digital screens to provide this information. Believe it, your customers will be thankful for all your good services and they’ll be satisfied with their experience.

• Showcase your products

When customers are waiting, you could use your digital signage as an advertiser tool. This is actually a great opportunity in which you can promote new or on-demand products as well as services. By enlightening the customer on your offering, you could subconsciously target them for cross-selling or up-selling.

Now, you have learned how to improve customer’s waiting experience. But, there’s definitely more than what meets the eye. If you really want to exclusively solve a queuing problem, you need to step up your improvement to the next level by learning basic understanding of queue management systems since “A long and unpleasant wait can damage a customer’s view of a brand and indirectly ask them not to come back ever again.”

Implement SMARTQUEUE^® now and help your business ready for the post-COVID-19 era. Get in touch with our consultants for more information regarding our solution and all of its innovative features.