Any professional environment which faces customers needs to have a good Queue Management System in place. An effective Queuing System has quite a few obvious benefits and qualities. Let us have a look at what makes a successful Q management system –
The wait times are properly managed – A waiting line involves just that – ‘waiting”. Customers are most of the time willing to wait for certain things. While for other things they are not. A good queue management system has proper built-in management. Whether you use a manual counting process or whether you use an analytics technology related to footfall that monitors the customer wait and arrival times; a good queuing system would very rarely let a wait time go out of the acceptable range.
How the Queue Management System improves customer experience?
Customer experience is always most important – We all hate waiting even though it is very much part and parcel of our lives. Though come to think of it, more than the waiting, it is the experience while you wait that makes for a positive or negative experience. Hence a good queue management design is one which puts the customer’s experience first. It plays a very important part in the psychological workings of queuing. A good system in place would have the quality to address whatever issue matters to customers while they are taking time out and waiting.
Being fair – It is quite obvious and natural that long waits can cause a person to be irritated and annoyed. Hence, a good queue management system will follow the golden rule of fairness. This being said, there could be exceptions. Like in a doctor’s clinic, depending on emergencies or different treatment conditions, a particular patient might be seen while others have been waiting already. However, the reason for serving another customer needs to be communicated to the others clearly. In some places, where multiple lines are meant for same kind of services; a single queue might solve client frustrations as they know it is a purely first come and first serve policy in place.
Strong foundation – In a good Q management system the formation and structure of the queue in itself is well structured and planned and thus can hold the flow and ebb of customers. This means that the Queue management system design considers every little detail – like how wide should the line be so that shopping carts can be accommodated, how short or long are the lines during various times of the day, is the entrance and exit convenient, is it an easy system to follow and so on.
Transparent information – Whether it is for customers, or for the staff, the wait time is informative and transparent. When the customers are already aware of how long they would be required to wait, they would be less irritated or anxious about it. In the similar manner when the staff and management are aware of the wait times, they are able to meet the problem ahead of time and can solve it before the long wait spoils the customer’s experience.
Hence it can be said that it is waiting lines that can make a business successful or break it. A good queue management system pays attention to this problem and is designed in such a way that it keeps the timing to a minimum.
Checkout: Can a Queue Management System Improve Customer Experience?