There has to be a better way when it comes to keeping people waiting.
The one thing we all hate is standing in a line and waiting to be served. The longer the wait, the more grumpy we tend to become, especially if there are fifty customers and one person serving.
Time is a commodity that is in short supply and it can be very frustrating to have our time wasted due to poor customer processing techniques. From my experience with customer service surveys, long delays significantly impact on the overall level of customer satisfaction and in many cases it’s the number one reason for customers choosing to shop elsewhere.
Often, customer processing procedures have evolved over time. They may have worked in the past, but as the business has grown the old system no longer copes with the increased number of customers that the business may now be serving. Or, the business owner has never stood in their own line and had to wait – if they did they would realise just how frustrating and boring it can be.
I suggest that you spend some time looking at your customer processing area. Smart businesses will get much better at speeding up the service but also making the wait more enjoyable as time goes on.
The following suggestions could possibly be incorporated into your business.
1. Traffic control
Is it clear where your customers should go for service and how they should queue? There is nothing worse than a mass of people jostling to be served and no real idea of who is next or what they should do next. As consumers we like clear pathways and clear instructions.
2. Express service
Are there lots of people waiting for simple services that will take only a few seconds? If so, you may need an express service lane, similar to those found in larger supermarkets. Banks now offer express payment boxes for automatic deposits and bill payments. There are many businesses that could offer similar express payment options.
3. The waiting area
Is the waiting area inviting and friendly, or are your customers forced to fall over other customers entering or leaving the business? Do you need to provide seats? How about some decent reading material? Water? Comfortable seats?
4. Distract your customers
Can you make the wait more interesting? I went into an insurance company recently to pay a premium renewal and they had a video playing with a well-known comedian telling jokes. It was fun and relaxing, and it made a five-minute wait pass very quickly. Best of all, I arrived at the counter with a smile on my face. Some businesses insist on having big clocks at the front of the queue so that you can watch every excruciating second pass as you continue to wait in line. I don’t suggest this.
5. Review your signage
Look at your signage—just because you have a sign telling customers where to go and what to do, it doesn’t mean that everyone will see it or understand it. Some of your customers may have reading difficulties or a language problem, or they may simply be distracted and not really observant at the time.
6. Talk to people who are waiting
When the queue is long, go out and talk to your waiting customers. Apologise for the delay and let them know that it won’t be long. You might consider handing out a treat of some sort. You can win a lot of friends with a few Fredo frogs. Simply acknowledging people waiting in a line will go a long way to easing the pain of the wait.
7. Cater for children waiting in lines
Children having to wait in queues can easily become distracted and bored. If your business has a lot of families coming in with children, look for ways to keep them entertained, such as a children’s video showing in the background, a small playground, or some other distraction such as a fish tank (fenced off so that the children can’t bash on the glass and send the fish into cardiac arrest).
There are many other areas that can be addressed that may be relevant to your particular business. The main aim of this tip is to encourage you to look at ways of speeding up the service that you offer and making any delays more enjoyable (or at least less miserable).
8. Never forget that a queue is an opportunity.
We don’t like being bombarded with messages in an intrusive way when we are waiting in line, but we fine with some more subtle forms of advertising and promotion of services. If you have a captive audience surely this is an opportunity to let people know about new products and services – but make sure there is a great offer that gets them excited enough to ask. Standard, dull, boring “buy, buy, buy” messages tend to add to the frustration of the wait.
9. Do whatever you can to put a smile on the face of the people waiting
Make people smile and you are half way to winning them. How can you put a smile on the face of people who are waiting in queues in your office? I know a certain chiropractor who has enlisted the aid of a very cute dog, La La the poodle, who comes out and meets and greets her patients when they arrive. They love her, she loves them and I suspect that a lot of patients come to play with La La more than they come to get an adjustment.
Any business that has to manage customers waiting in line can come up with smart ways to make the wait easier and even to make it enjoyable.
Until next time,
Andrew
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