January 2023 - RSI Concepts - Top IT Solution Provider Company in Dubai, UAE

January 25, 2023January 25, 2023

The Benefits of Electronic Queuing System

For all customer facing environments the long waiting lines, crowd formation, and unexpected workload could be a great problem. Think of a customer, who visited a business, bank or a public office to avail an important service, there are long waiting lines, the customer will get confused about which line they should be in or whether their queue is moving or not and on top of that they have no clue of how long it could take them to reach to the service counter, even if there is a waiting area, that might be full too, and mostly during the peak hours some people might not find an appropriate space to sit comfortably, how frustrating it could be for a customer? The customers are always impatient, that doesn’t mean you should take this problem lightly, but the question is how much resources a business can spare for the queuing process. Surely appointing more employee for the task will help, but what about the cost? Obviously if you will hire more staff for the queuing the cost will rise. Apart from the cost, the quality is the most important aspect of the queuing process. The quality here means the customer experience and customer satisfaction. Adding more staff wouldn’t have huge impact on waiting time neither it could improve the customer experience much. That is why businesses need an electronic queuing system.

What is an Electronic Queuing System?

An electronic queuing system is a digital tool that is used to improve the queue management process. The queue management system or electronic queuing system is a technological solution based on hardware and software components. These components work together to provide a highly structure and very efficient framework for the queuing process. Businesses can have many different software and hardware components to meet their needs, however in a most basic queuing system these are the essential components:

Electronic Queuing System – Hardware

Ticket Dispensing Machine or Interactive Self-Service Ticket Dispensing Kiosk
Counter Plates where the counter numbers and the ticket number is displayed
Digital Signage Screens where the live queuing information are displayed
Audio Announcement System for customer calling (usually it is multilingual)

Electronic Queuing System – Software

Core Server Side Application which is hosted on a server or cloud
Agent Dashboard where the agents manage queues and customer calling
Administrative Dashboard where the management can access the backend of the system
Customer UI (user interface) where customers interact with the system for signup

These are the basic components that are essential to setup an electronic queuing system. However, there are penalty of more software and hardware add-on which can be used to offer more innovative features and help businesses to further improve the efficiency and efficacy of the queuing process.

What are the Benefits of an Electronic Queuing System?

A good quality high-performance electronic queuing system is a great tool to maximize the efficiency, performance and productivity of the customer facing environments which can significantly improve customer experience and help businesses attaining higher customer satisfaction. The electronic queuing system doesn’t only improve customer flow and organize your queues but it can offer a penalty of other benefits which are mostly less obvious. In this blog we will list the key benefits of electronic queuing system which can greatly help businesses improve their customer facing environments.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 1. Reduce Wait Time

The customer wait time is a serious issue in queuing process. This is one of the most impactful factor which negatively impact your customer experience. Long waiting time cause frustration, stress and unhappiness. When a customer reached to a counter unhappy and stressed, it become significantly harder for the service agents to satisfy them. An electronic queuing system help reducing the customer wait time by improving the customer flow, organizing the queues, and improving the service agent’s performance. It completely automated the process, since customers knows that everything is computer-controlled they don’t have any doubts or concerns, they also get regular updates on the digital signage and via announcement system hence they know the queues are moving. Furthermore the electronic queuing system can also provide an estimated wait time on the bases of historic data and real-time inputs from the system. This also help reducing the stress and improve customer experience. The reduction in customer wait time also have huge impact on all other aspects of queuing process which also help maximizing customer satisfaction.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 2. Offer Virtual Queuing

The virtual queuing is not a new phenomenon, however, the modern electronic queuing system offers a tons of features which can greatly improve customer experience and also the efficiency of the process. The virtual queuing allow customers to sign-up for the virtual queues remotely. This means that the electronic queuing system integrates multiple digital channels which allow customer and visitors to interact with the system such as Email, SMS, Online Customer Portals, Corporate Website, WhatsApp, Queue Management System Mobile Applications, QR Code, etc. These features will allow customers and visitors to sign-up for the queue without being physically present at the business premises. Furthermore the customers are also provided with an estimated wait time, which is usually 96% accurate and calculated by the AI (artificial intelligence) based smart algorithms on the bases of historic data, current customer flow and employee efficiency.Moreover the system also keep updating customers and sending to them alerts and notifications. This help reducing the wait time to literally none and raise customer satisfaction.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 3. Improve Service Quality

There are multiple factor that are improved by an electronic queuing system which help improving the service quality. For example, the employee who don’t have to worry about customer queries, complaints or visibly large number of people in waiting line, are tend to perform better. As they can focus on the primary tasks without any worry or interruption. Furthermore when the customers are provided with excellent waiting experience and short waiting time they tend to arrive at counters in a more calm mental state which help both employees and customers to quickly resolve issues and it also raise the tolerance and understanding of the customers and help improving their experience, consequently the service quality get improved. A good customer-agent interaction also help improving the service quality and customer satisfaction. An electronic queuing system can also collect important information about the customers and provide it to the agents even before they arrive at the counter, which also help service agents to deliver a bit more personalized customer experience. All such factors help improving the service quality and customer satisfaction.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 4. Higher Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction plays a crucial role in service quality and customer happiness. Happy and satisfied employees tend to perform well and deliver quality work. No employee will be happy to deal with frustrated, anxious and annoyed customers, this will decrease their morale which will eventually reduce their productivity and efficiency. An electronic queuing system help solving this problem, it enhances customer experience at all touch points, reduce customer wait time, and with the virtual queuing it offers a highly satisfactory customer experience. Furthermore the employees start getting tired and stressed under heavy workload. Especially in manual queuing environment the employees with have to deal with several other problems which are not part of their job, thence their focus on primary tasks reduced. However, the electronic queuing system help eliminating all those problems and factors that distract employees and it also help reducing employee workload by automatically routing customers to other counters with shorter queues to balance the workload which can significantly improve employee happiness and satisfaction.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 5. Attain Customer Loyalty

The customer wait time and experience are the two main reasons of higher customer churn which means the customer who enter to your premises but left without making a transaction. The customer churn is almost opposite to customer loyalty. Reducing the customer wait time might look just a small thing, but it has significant impact on everything. Reducing the customer time to a few minutes could have huge impact on customer happiness. Studies have revealed that on an average a customer can wait for up to 9 minutes, after that every second will add to their unhappiness and frustration. This time differs from industry to industry but reducing just a few minutes in wait time could make a huge difference. The virtual queuing is a great tool to drastically reduce the wait time. Furthermore the automation, welcoming interaction with the self-service kiosk, the information displaying on the digital signage, the audio announcements, the mobile notification and quicker service delivery all contribute to customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers are tend to be more loyal to the brand. The customer loyalty is considered to be the foundation of growth, development and progress. That is why it is important to increase customer loyalty but offering them best experience and high quality service.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 6. Improve Employee Performance

Performance management is strategically very important business function. Businesses are proactively monitoring, measuring and improving their performance. For that they have adopted various methods and practices. Most of the modern performance management methods are heavily relying on collecting in-depth performance data and developing highly accurate monitoring mechanisms. An electronic queuing system is a highly efficient digital tool which is built on smart software engine and autonomous algorithms to drive efficiency and productivity. It can provide a wealth of business intelligence data, the employee performance management data is one of the key component of its data collection function. It can provide various employee KPIs which can directly be fed to a third-party performance management system or managers can utilize the in-built analytical tools to evaluate the performance of individual employee, teams and the entire branch. It can accurately calculate the average number of customers served in a single shift, the average service delivery time for each individual service, the active and inactive time, the time spend on pre and post service tasks, etc. and much more which help management evaluate the employee performance and take informed decision related to HR, employee development and training, etc. This performance data help management to improve employee performance in long term.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 7. Collect Business Intelligence Data

The modern day businesses heavily rely on IT (information technology) and the data is the lifeblood of the digital technologies. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have transformed the marketplace by implementing high-tech solutions and utilizing digital platforms. Studies have revealed the businesses who based their strategies and planning upon real data instead of speculation and guess work are tend to be more productive and successful. That is why it is crucial to collect business intelligence data. The electronic queuing system can collect a variety of statistical and system usage data along with employee performance data. It also help management understand various trends and customer behavior which help them make informed decision. The management can also perform various analysis using in-built analytical tools to produce actionable reports which can be used in decision making and strategy building processes. It will also help management to evaluate their strategies and polices on the bases of the data and provide them features to compare the performance of different branches. This data help management understand customers, flaws in their process, and it highlight the areas of improvement. That is why the business intelligence data is crucial for a business.

Benefits of Electronic Queuing System: 8. Reduce the Operational Cost

The electronic queuing system is not only effective in enhancing the customer experience and raising their satisfaction but it can significantly reduce the operation cost of a service center. The manual queue management is very inefficient, it require businesses to put a lot of resources which is expensive, it is not only appoint employees, it is the hiring cost, the continuous salaries, and other employee retention expenses and on top of that despite investing huge financial and human resources the manual queuing process still remains inefficient and ineffective. That is why businesses are rapidly adopting to electronic queuing systems. An electronic queuing system can reduce the need of human resources, as the entire customer journey is managed fully autonomously. It is this automation and ability to monitor performance and evaluate the key factors of the process which makes electronic queuing systems the best companion of modern businesses and a best tool to branch digitalization. In small and medium sized customer service centers an electronic queuing system can reduce the need of employee to up to 60%, which is huge, and in larger service centers it can even reduce it further. Above all the electronic queuing system is a one-time investment there is no reoccurring cost and its maintenance requirements are near to none with a longer lifecycle which significantly increase its ROI and help reducing the operational cost.

See More: How to Avoid Long Queues at Your Events

Conclusion

The least thing a customer want when they visit a public office, customer service center or a business is the long queues and crowded waiting areas. No one likes waiting, everyone wants to get everything done quickly so they can move to the next thing. Whether it is a visit to a service center, or a bank or a public office, it is always out of routine, people have to stuff it into their daily schedules that is why everyone wants to get it done very quickly. The waiting is one aspect of customer experience there are several other things that impact customer happiness. Every business wants its customers to be happy and satisfied, because the satisfied customers are tend to be more loyal and the customer loyalty is the foundation of long-term success. An electronic queuing system not only help reducing the customer wait time, but it also help improving their waiting experience, communication and it increases their engagement. Furthermore it also help improving employee satisfaction and their performance which results in better customer experience and high-quality services. The service quality and customer experience will determine the level of their happiness. An electronic queuing system is very cost-efficient solution and it also help significantly reduce the operation cost of the service center.

The electronic queuing system can provide a great wealth or valuable business intelligence data which help businesses improve employee performance and service quality, it also help them identify the areas of improvement and help them to gradually improve their policies, strategies and processes. In this blog we have covered the key advantages of deploying an electronic queue management system in your customer facing environment. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design a tailor-made electronic queuing system exclusively for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this: How Customer Experience Help Boosting Website Conversions?

January 24, 2023

How Customer Experience Help Boosting Website Conversions?

The customer experience is the perception a customer made of your brand as a whole on the bases of their interactions at different stages of customer journey, including pre-purchase, purchasing process and post-purchase interactions. The customer experience is also referred to as CX and usually businesses have a dedicated CX manager who is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the customer experience across all customer facing channels. When it comes to the business website the customer experience become even more important, as in case of a website-based interaction there is no sales staff or any other employee to advocate about your brand, products, services or such stuff. In fact your website is the only tool that you can use to address all problems and fulfill all needs of the customers in order to encourage them to take whatever action you want them to take and convert. A website conversion is a specific and most beneficial action that you want your customers to take when they land on your website, it is usually making an online purchase or filling in a contact form which is also known as a lead form. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE focus a lot on their corporate websites and their online brand image. As the majority of the customers tend to look up in the internet about the product/service or business before making a decision, this makes your corporate website even more important.

A great and satisfactory customer experience help you converting more visitors into customers or leads. Whereas a poor or below average customer experience will not only reduce your sales but it will also negatively impact your brand image and brand reputation. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the competition is very high, a customer can find hundreds of businesses by a few taps on their smartphone, it is extremely important to stand out of the crowd and build a strong online presence. Where businesses invest heavily in customer experience and customer satisfaction solutions, they often doesn’t pay much attention to their corporate websites unless you are selling online via e-Commerce. In reality these day’s most of the customers search in Google to find out about a brand or product/service before contacting the sales rep. So, for most of your potential customers your website would be the first touch point. That is why it will help you set up your business’s first impression. As the saying goes ‘first impression is the last impression’ it is pretty much true, the first impression has huge influence on customer’s perception, and it is extremely difficult to revert its impact. That is why you must have to have a positive first impression. The websites who succeed in making delivering satisfactory experience are tend to have more sales and conversions. In this blog we will discuss how customer experience can help boosting your website conversions and setting up a positive first impression.

Good Customer Experience: Engaging Content

A good customer experience ensures the customers and visitors can have easy access to the information on the website. However, will be landing on your website must be seeking some information. No one will search for something, click on a link in the search and directly make a purchase or fill in the form. The customers need to consume some information and then they will make up their mind. That is why easy access to information is crucial for customer experience and if your website is providing quick and easy access to the information your conversion rate will rise. Businesses often made a very common mistake, which is to publish a lot of content, images, videos and graphics, however, in reality if a page is too dense most people will get confused or get bored. So, your website should be able to communicate the brand message, the value proposition and the important key points that are necessary to take a decision. Avoid describing everything in details and writing long essays, in fact the bullet points are more effective than a three or four paragraph essay. That is why it is crucial to provide to the point, easy-to-understand and short content on your website along with graphics, visuals, picture and videos to maximize the customer engagements. Offering engaging content is the best way to boost your website conversions.

Good Customer Experience: Accessibility and Intuitive UI

A good customer experience starts with easy accessibility and intuitive UI (user interface). In fact the UI and UX (user experience)/CX (customer experience) are closely related to each other. Most of the websites lack sufficient accessibility features. The prime goal of accessibility is to make your website and content accessible for all types of users, this is not only limited to the most common accessibility options, such as screen readers, font size adjusting, magnifiers, color scheme selector and responsiveness. But it also expands to the content and media you are publishing on your website and how easy and accessible that content is. Furthermore the accessibility also includes the information structure the navigation and accessing to the features that your website is offering. This all has to be designed by keeping the customer in mind. When we talk about customers there are different types of customers, different types of products/services a business is offering and different demographics and much more. Businesses utilize this data to define different customer personas. Any customer persona consists of the customers or groups of customers who tend to behave in a same manners and have almost similar needs. Different customers have different level of understanding, some can easily consume technical content and some might be unable to grasp it.

Similarly your website navigation, UI, features and all other details would be perceived differently, that is why when designing all these things, you must consider the minimum difficulty level, you must consider the customer persona with minimum understanding, and prepare content and web design for them. The easy accessibility and intuitive UI significantly improve the customer experience all allow them to absorb your content/information and navigate easily at your website which can significantly increase the chances of conversion. It is important to understand that whoever will be landing on your website will be seeking information initially, later on they might want to purchase your product or fill in the lead form to share their contact details. All these steps should be easy-to-access and the web design and other elements of the web page should guide your user to the next step of the customer journey. Because too long or too complex customer journey will increase customer churn rate. The customer churn is the customers who have a desire to purchase or convert but leave half-way through because of any inconvenient. This inconvenient could be due to complex UI, difficult content, complex navigation or too much distractions on the web page. Hence the customer journey should be short and easy which will help you boosting your website conversions.

Good Customer Experience: Trust Markers

For any website, the trust markers are very important. A business website is a doorway for most of your audience. For most of the customers your website would be the first interaction with your brand. That is why it is extremely crucial to gain their trust. According to several studies, 40% to 50% of the customers judge a business’s credibility on the bases of its website. If they found your website good they will immediately form a positive brand image and vice versa. There are several factors that contributes to make a business website trust worthy, however, the trust markers are considered to be the most important. Because these trust markers will be viewed and considered the most by the majority of your website visitors. There are a tons of trust markers and signals that our human brain consider either consciously or subconsciously, such as:

The page load speed, domain name, SLS Certificate, etc.
The professional web design and aesthetics
Page navigation, content and media
Information about the brand and the product/service
Contact details, address and location, etc.
Client Testimonials, Ratings, Social Proofs
Case Studies, Press Releases, Blogs, etc.
Client, Partners and Supplier’s Logos
Portfolio and Sample of Work
Product Rating, Purchase Stats, Views, etc.
Industry Association, Awards, Certificates, etc.
Dedicated Policy, Terms & Conditions, FAQs Pages, etc.
Trust Seals, Security Badges and Privacy Protection Icons, etc.
Google Business and Google Maps Listing
Social Media Accounts’ Links/Icons
Customer Help Center, Call Center, Live Chat, etc.

There are still penalty of others. These trust markers are very important in building trust which improves customer experience. Most of the time customers look up for these indicators. The trust markers, trust signals or trust badges/seals can greatly inspire confidence and help businesses gain trust. The trust markers also give your website a professional look and feel and help increasing conversion rate. People tent to incline towards website with trust markers even if they unable to understand some information they will prefer a website with trust marker over a website without trust markers at which they have understood everything. That is why the trust markers are very important for customer experience which help businesses boost website conversions and generate more leads.

Good Customer Experience: Customer Service

The customer service is one of the most important aspect of customer experience. A good customer service and support will always result in more conversions. When a customer lands on your website, they consume information, then they move on to the next step or making a purchase of filling in a contact form. However, most of the customers have queries and concerns which they want to address before moving on to the next step. For that they usually look up for the contact details or customer service center details. Most of the time people tend to avoid calling customer service as they usually have to wait for a long time to get to a sales rep. According to several studies more than 55% of the customers will convert if the business could answer to their queries within one minute. That is why integrating a live chat within your website can be extremely helpful in enhancing customer experience and boosting your website conversions. When you are available to respond to your customers when they needed you the most can help you gain their trust. The live chat is not as that difficult, even startups, small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) can also utilize it. It will help you assist your customers and website visitors in real-time. Obviously in Dubai and everywhere in UAE the most of such enquiries are made during the working hours, especially for B2B businesses all such enquiries are made during the working hours, it is easier for small and medium size businesses to spare a staff for the live chat.

The live chat not only improve customer experience but it can also significantly improve the customer happiness and customer satisfaction. According to several studies, businesses who have implement a live chat at their corporate website witness up to 30% growth in their customer happiness and almost half of the cost reduction in their customer care expenses. Quickly answering to customers’ concerns and questions not only increase conversion rate but also help improving brand image and reputation. The customer engagement and good experience help increasing customer loyalty and help increasing their lifetime value (CLTV). The higher customer lifetime value (CLTV) is a great indicator for long-term growth and success. Furthermore the websites with live chat also witness higher customer return rate. Apart from live chat you can also integrate chat bots. The chat bots are excellent for the customer support and help businesses reach out to a wider audience. It is when your customer service or sale staff is engaged already, or it is off hours, or peak hours, and a customer needs a support. The chat bots are very capable tools, they can answer most of the simple queries and usually there are certain queries which are more common than the others, these simple queries can be pre-configured in your chat bots, however, for more complex queries you can divert them to your customer service center. Hence a combination of live chat with chat bots could be great to enhance your customer experience and to boost your website conversions.

Good Customer Experience: Responsive Website

The mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily lives, no matter what you do or where you live in the country, everyone has a mobile phone, according to data almost 99% of UAE population owns mobile phone and almost similar percentage of population is also connected with the internet. Globally the mobile phones are responsible for 56% of the all internet traffic and in UAE it is slightly more at 60%. This made mobile phone extremely important for your marketing strategy. Obviously most of the businesses these days prefer to have a responsive website. However, a majority of businesses are not aware that the having a responsive web design or a mobile-friendly website is not just enough. There are a lot many things that you should consider while making your website response. First and foremost it is the compatibility with different smartphones, operating systems, web browsers and screen sizes. There are so many different types and sizes of smartphone, thankfully we have only two major platform to deal with which are Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, almost 98% of smartphones are built on these two platforms. Secondly it is the customer experience and consistency in both desktop and mobile versions. The mobile version should also give the look and feel of the desktop version, all the content, buttons and any other details should be the same. Furthermore the user navigation and reachability during one-hand operation is important. That is why just making your website able to rearrange itself according to the screen size is not enough, you will have to offer a satisfactory and consistent customer experience which will help you boosting your conversions.

Conclusion

Your corporate website is not just an online company profile or brochure but it is the foundation of your online and digital marketing efforts to expand and grow your business. Your corporate website will enhance your online presence and will help you establish a brand identity in the online world. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the internet penetration is at 99%, which is significant. The easy access to internet, technological advancement of smartphone and rise of social media have changed several market trends. One of the most important market trend for businesses is the changed user behavior, now a days an average customer will first search about the products/services or business they need, and then they will decide to get in touch with the brand. In most of the cases your corporate website would be the very first interaction of your customers with your brand. Hence it is crucial to set up a great first impression and give them what they want to build the relationship with them. The website conversions can generate a significant amount of revenue for the business. According to several global studies an average customer is willing to pay extra if they will get a better experience. Obviously different industries have different stats but in general almost 86% of the customers showed willingness to pay extra if they will be getting a good customer experience. That is what make customer experience most important.

There are many things that you can do to improve customer experience, the most important thing is to think from your customer’s perspective. Do some research, divide your customers in different personas and then identify the most important personas for your business, these should be the one who are generating most of the business. Then align your content, pictures, videos, multimedia and even the design according to your targeted audience. There are a few basic things that you must consider, such as simplicity is always the best policy, not always in the design, but in the content it is always the best way to maximize customer engagement. Moreover you can improve your website’s navigation, UI, and visuals. Adding trust markers, customer endorsements, and customer service details will be great idea. Furthermore making your website responsive is essential to maximize the customer satisfaction. Happy and satisfied customers are more likely to convert. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to revamp your website to make it more customer-friendly and high-converting, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this: 5 Performance Management Problems and How to Solve Them

January 23, 2023January 23, 2023

How to Avoid Long Queues at Your Events

Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a very vibrant and dynamic marketplace. The country is a center of all business activities in the region. Businesses and organizations are organizing several events, exhibitions, seminars and gatherings for networking, promotional and awareness purposes. It is very common to see long waiting lines outside these event venues, no attendee want to spend most of their time waiting in the long queues. This will ruin their experience, it will make them unhappy, and it will cause frustration. This led to unhappiness and also increase churn rate, which means that the longer the waiting time is more customers will abandoned the queues and will leave without attending the event. It also have other repercussions, such as it will annoy your visitors and customers, they will fail to participate or focus on the event at least for the first few minutes, in the worst case they will give you negative rating by any channel which is easily accessible to them. If you are collecting post-event feedback, you will get more negative comments and rating. Furthermore the unhappy visitors can also publish something over their social media and they can cause negative or bad publicity for you which could repel more people in attending your events in future and so on.

The negative impact of long waiting on customer experience is long lasting, it not only make your customers unhappy, but it will also impact your reputation and brand image. The first impression is always important, and if it is waiting for long time in crowded areas with very little or no clear indication of how long your customers and visitors might have to wait, is not a good first impression. Businesses often spend huge resources and money on many facilities they are offering but do very little about managing the queues. In this blog we will discuss how a fairly smaller investment in a modern queue management system can completely eliminate this problem.

Queue Management System for Events

A queue management system is a technological solution for a business’s queuing needs. There are a variety of different queue management systems available in the market, the best approach is to acquire a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, such as RSI Concepts and ask them to customize a queue management system according to your needs. There are ready-made solutions too, but they offer limited features and limited customization. Basically a queue management system is a combination of software and hardware components. The software is server side application with multiple clients who can interact with the system through intuitive UIs (user interfaces) and the hardware components vary from case to case. Different businesses have different requirement, for example if you are hosting an event for the first time, you might be needing self-service event registration kiosks, ticket/pass dispensing self-service interactive kiosks, digital signage, etc. If you already have self-service even registration kiosks, you might need only a few more or you can integrate your existing kiosks with the system. That is the beauty of the customized software and applications, they are very flexible to integrate with other technologies which save a lot of efforts and time too. These components will form a queue management system. In this blog we will discuss the key advantages and features of a queue management system that will help you managing your waiting lines for your events.

Improve Customer Flow Through Event Registration Process

The biggest problem at an event’s entrance is the crowd formation and the major causes of crowd formation are poor queuing management and delays at registration counters. Usually all event organizers encourage their customers to register prior to the event via online or email/call, etc. Which could prevent them of spending time at registration counters. However, the registration counters are always present because they are needed. A majority of the visitors would definitely failed to complete the registration beforehand, hence they would be needing registration counter. The manual registration counters are slower and cause several problems that is why most of the event organizers use interactive self-service registration kiosks. The self-service kiosks make the process quicker, eliminate the chances of errors, and improve customer experience. However, large footfall can cause congestion at those counters which passed on to the entrances and cause more queuing problems. A queue management system helps improving the registration process, you can directly integrate the registration forms within the queue management system or you can integrate a third-party registration management system with the queue management system.

Usually the registration area is also the same area where the entrances are, hence it could cause double problem, people can get lost or confused, the queues can tangled with each other and make situation more chaotic. A queue management system on the other hand can streamline customer flow by allowing customers and visitors to sign-up for the queue first, then they can register and then using the same ticket number they can enter the venue, the ticket number can be assigned with a QR code or Barcode which can automate the customer flow. Furthermore the digital signage help customers and visitors to keep track of their turn in the queues and guide them through the entire process. All this can be done fully autonomously without any help from the staff. This not only make process very efficient but it also help reducing the resource consumption of the process. The queue management system can automatically route the customers with integrated customer calling mechanisms through the digital signage and audio announcements. Each time a customer’s turn came they can go to the registration kiosk, scan their ticket and then fill in the form. The same ticket can be scanned on next steps to enter into the venue. This makes the process simple, automated and it significantly improve the customer flow.

Integrate Virtual Queuing Features to Improve Customer Experience

The virtual queuing is one of the most modern form of digital queue management systems. It offers multiple remote channels to sign-up for the queues, enable businesses to minimize the customer wait time which help improving customer experience. There are many way to offer virtual queuing features, mostly the virtual queuing involves the online and digital channels. The business can integrate the customer portals, mobile phone application, exclusive registration pages, and many more digital channels to offer more convenience and ease. The customers can sign-up easily from any of the available option. When they will sing-up for the queue and do the registration process, they will be issued a ticket number or token number. This e-ticket will contain the customers’/visitor’s number in the queue, and it will also provide a unique barcode or QR code which later serve as a gate pass for various steps.This also allow the visitors to utilize their smartphones or mobile devices to sign-up and register instead of waiting for the self-registration kiosks. The virtual queuing can be a great tool to minimize the wait time and manage the large influx at the entrances. Furthermore it can also help businesses to assign groups to different customers and visitors and let them enter as a group, in fact the entry could be individual but the customer call will call a range of the ticket numbers, which can also help speed up the process and reduce customer efforts and wait time.

Easily Manage Disruptions and Increase Customer Happiness

Interruptions, blockage or halted customer flow is a common thing in events with large venues. Especially when there is a sitting arrangements, the staff is deployed inside the venues to guide everyone to their seats and so on. All this requires time, in order to prevent congestion inside, sometimes the staff stop the visitors at the entrances, there could be other problems too, such as a dispute or disagreement, most of the time people lost their passes and they stuck at the security, sometimes the security searches cause disruptions, in short there could be so many things that can cause unexpected disruptions or delay in the customer flow. The queue management system have capabilities to prevent crowd by announcing messages, to inform people about the situation. The queue management system can also communicate with the customers and visitors who have used digital channels to sign-up for the queue. It is important to be transparent with your customers and visitors. Telling them the expected time to wait is not bad, it help them understand what is to be expected and prepare them for wait. However, the impact of these disruption can be reduced by rerouting customers to other entry points. The queue management system can do that automatically. The queue management system collects data form all touch points, it has AI (artificial intelligence) based smart algorithms which are capable to taking decisions in real time which can significantly reduce the impact of disruptions and help improving customer experience by rerouting them and providing them live updates at their most convenient communication channel.

Queue Management System Provides Business Intelligence Data which Improve Planning and Management

The queue management system provides in-depth business intelligence data. The data is collected from all touchpoints and also record historical system usage data which help the event organizing team to understand the customer behavior and flow and help them based their strategies upon concrete information and not on guessing work. The queue management system collects and store historical data from each and every touch point and throughout the customer journey. This data can help management understand the expected customer footfall and help them prepare themselves beforehand by allocating adequate resources and making plans for the registration and entrance areas which is the major cause of congestion and longer wait time. The queue management system provides in-built data analytical and processing tools which can help management identify the trends and predict accurately the number of expected attendees. Obviously as all other registration channels are integrated with the queue management system so it can also provide the number of people who have already been registered and by comparing this data with the historical data, it is easier to estimate the total number of expected customers and visitors at any event.

Furthermore there are always different types of customers and visitors, some are VIP or Premium Visitors, some are People with Special Needs, and some are different in many other ways, which require a different treatment and protocol.The managers can easily understand which type of user-group will show-up at what time with what numbers, and so on. This comparison will help management make a better policy and plan of actions for the event. In case of any interruption or delay the management can also view the live queuing data which can help them understand where and why the interruption happened, and help them resolving the problem more quickly. It also help them understand how many people are in queue, and how to divert them to other moving queues to minimize the impact of the interruption. The management can also alert people who are on their way or are present at the reception area with multiple communication tools and channels. Which help them improving the customer experience as well as reducing the frustration caused by such unplanned interruptions and delays.

Conclusion

Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are well aware of the importance of communication and engagement with their customers. Organizing and hosting events, exhibits, seminars, conferences and large meetings is a common theme for any business in the country. These events are used to promote brand and attract more customers. Whether you are B2B or a B2C business these events are vital for growth and brand image building. Apart from the benefits of hosting an event, the event organization and management is a double-edged sword for the organizing team. If anything goes wrong it could seriously damage the brand image and will hurt the reputation. There are several things and several moving parts which need highly proactive team to manage everything. The biggest challenge is always to handle the crowd and manage the queues. Every business tries to register attendees beforehand however, there would always be a large number of attendees who will register through on-site registration counters or interactive self-service registration kiosks. Furthermore usually as the start time comes closer the footfall start rising very quickly.

Therefore a proper digital queue management system is required to help the staff in managing the large footfall and solving the queuing problems. In this blog we have discussed how a smart digital queue management system can be used to improve your customer experience at events. If you want to know more about the subject or if you want our help to provide you with a highly cost-effective queue management system and self-registration solutions, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this: Must have features of Queue Management System

January 20, 2023

A Complete Guide to High-Converting Web Development

Almost every business from every industry in Dubai or anywhere in UAE is having their corporate websites. The corporate website have transformed greatly over the time, earlier a business website was just an online brochure with basic information and company profile, etc. However, now a days’ the corporate websites have become a very capable communication tool. The digital marketing have already surpassed the conventional marketing and businesses are leveraging digital marketing tools to generate a huge part of their sales. In fact some businesses majorly rely on their digital marketing channels, especially the small and medium sized businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE heavily rely on digital marketing instead of utilizing the traditional marketing channels. This is what makes digital marketing more important and for any digital marketing campaign your corporate website is the center-point, it is where all of your prospects from various different channels will converge and convert into a legit lead or a sale. With the rise of smartphones, social media, and intense integration of the technology in our daily lives, the growth in the digital channels is natural. Most of the consumers got influenced by the social media advertisements, the content marketing is considered to be the most effective approach for the B2B businesses and so on.

The consumers look up in the internet to find the best possible solution for their needs, and according to several studies a majority of the business-to-business customers have already completed their research before getting in touch with a sales rep, and most of that research is done via online means.All these indicators are highlighting the importance of a business website. When it comes to development of a corporate website, businesses often overlooked the fact that their corporate website can generate a huge number of sales and leads for them. Another common mistake that most of the businesses and marketers made is to put their different marketing tools and channels in silos, keep them isolated or establish very little connection between them. However, your corporate website sits at the bottom of your digital marketing funnel, as it provides the content targeted towards your audience who is in decision making stage, hence your website will be able to communicate the value proposition and brand message effectively you will get more sales and conversions, else you will end up losing your customer to a competitor. That is what made your corporate website the most valuable and important asset in your digital marketing tool kit. The sale funnel consists of three parts the top, the middle and the bottom, and your website can effectively support you in all three stages along with other relevant tools. In this blog we will discuss how a business can develop a high-converting website and how they can transform their existing corporate websites into a high-converting websites.

High Converting Web Development: Apply Hick’s Law

The Hick’s law is named after a psychologist from Britain, Mr. William Edmund Hick, and the law states that the time that is taken by someone to make a decision is directly proportion to the number of options that are available to them at that moment. The Hick’s law is utilized by different businesses and individuals differently however, it is followed by the leading web development agencies all around the world. The main takeaway is that if you will provide more options to your visitors, then they will take more time to convert, and it will reduce their chances of conversion. There is another similar study conducted by the two leading psychologists, Mr. Mark Lepper and Ms. Sheena Iyengar. The study concluded that when customers are provided with 24 varieties of product the interest was low, but when there were only 6 varieties were offered the interest was much higher so much so that the smaller varieties have 10 times higher purchase rate than the larger varieties racks. The same principles are totally applicable when we deal with a corporate website. If you bombarded your visitors with tens of different options and a lot many links to click on they will eventually end up confused and entangled which will result in poor conversion and very low sales. However, if you limit the options for visitors to drift here and there, they will remain focus, and are more likely to follow the clues to take a desired customer journey and will more likely to convert into a legit lead or a sale.

A website consists of different pages where each page serves a different purpose. The homepage is the main page of a website, it contains pretty much everything that can tell your audience what you do, who you are and what value you can offer to them and so on. That is why the optimization of the homepage and internal pages is slightly different from one another. The very first thing that you can do to reduce the number of options for your visitors is to keep your menu items less, too many options in the main menu will distract your customer and they will eventually lose the interest. The Hick’s law doesn’t only applied to the main navigation, in fact it has to be followed throughout the entire web development, whether it is the rest of the homepage, internal pages, and even blogs or other pages. The best way is to make your homepage more engaging, let say by using the full-screen welcome message with only one or two CTA (call to action) will help you encourage your visitors to scroll down the page to see more options. Similarly in products or services pages, you should focus the entire page on one subject and use only one CTA which will help your audience to take a quick decision and so on. The only thing that you should consider is to prioritize the actions that you want your visitors to perform on a web page and every page should be assigned with at least one primary objective and then it should be developed in a way to focus on that alone. This will help you simplify the user journey and it will also improve their experience.

High Converting Web Development: Apply the Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a very popular photography theory, it means that dividing a photograph in thirds both vertically and horizontally and the four middle intersection points are of the highest strategic importance and can gain the maximum interest of the viewer. The rule of third is very popular among the web development experts in Dubai and all around the UAE in fact this principle is followed all around the world. According to the rule of thirds a web page should be visually divided into third (both vertically and horizontally) and the middle intersection points (four) are where you should place the strategically most important elements of the web page. However, usually we noticed that important elements, whether content or graphics are not aligned with the center area. These center points are the major points of interest, whatever you will place in those places will get more attention from users. For conversion it is very important that you get attention and increase engagement, because when users will be focus on the important things, they will most likely absorb your content or message better and their chances of conversion will increase. You can place your hero image or call to action button on these intersections to increase user engagement. Usually the upper left intersection is used to place heading or tagline, and the bottom left is used to place the CTA (call to action) and the right side is occupied by the hero image. That is one of the best strategy to maximize user’s interest.

High Converting Web Development: Utilize Negative Space

When it comes to the web development the negative space on a web page is the space which doesn’t have any content, it is also referred to as white space. Whereas the positive space is the space where you put content and all other elements of the web page. Mostly the negative space or white space on a web page is taken as a problem, and often businesses thinks that it is a waste of precious real estate on a web page. However, that is not the case, if you utilize negative space intelligently you can significantly improve the customer experience and engagements. The negative space is essential for any web page, without it you can’t maintain the structure of a web page, although too much or too little negative space could be problematic. The negative space is technical term it not only refers the space between larger design elements, but all the unused space is negative space such as space between smaller elements, space between the two paragraphs, and even the space between the letters is all taken as negative space, that is why it is essential for a web page. However, when we put too much space between the heading and the paragraph then it could look disconnected from the heading, and in that case it is truly a waste of precious real estate on the web page. However, the space that is required to form the structure of the content and design elements is necessary.

The negative space is used to focus on the important content or call to action buttons, it is used to distinguish different sections of the web page and different design elements also require negative space between them. There are tons of different uses of the negative space in web development however, the best use is to make your web page more readable, and organized so the readers can easily scan the page and pay attention to the content or sections you want them to focus on. That is how the negative space can significantly improve the customer experience and customer journey which surely lead to higher conversions and sales. Your background of the page or the section, your font type and size and even the font color all should be considered while putting negative space between them. For example, smaller fonts need more space between letters to make it more readable, and they need more line heights to looks better and smooth to our eyes. Larger fonts doesn’t require much inner-letter space or line height. So different design elements require different negative spaces that is why the negative spaces should be used intelligently to make your web page more readable and easy on eyes. Similarly the menus, content widgets, links, paragraphs, images and videos need proper spacing, padding and margins in order to improve the aesthetics of your web page. That is the reason the negative space is very important for web development if you want to improve your conversion rate.

High Converting Web Development: Follow the 8-Seconds Rule

Most of us don’t know that on an average the human attention span is just 8-seconds which is even less than the goldfish. It means that you should be able to capture your visitors’ attention before that time else you will lose them. The 8-second rule dictates that your web page must be able to engage a visitor within the 8 seconds else the chances are they will never engage and leave without converting. Thanks to the modern web development techniques you can easily engage your visitor within 8 second if you follow basic web development best practices. Using a large tagline which offers value and solution of the problem can be a great start however, if you follow the Hick’s rule in placing that tagline and consider negative spacing rules, you can easily attract your visitors to your page. If they liked the heading, which is highly visible and readable, they will most likely to scroll down to absorb more content. Similarly the multi-media content or images can be placed strategically to focus on your CTA (call to action) to encourage your visitors to click on it and perform the action you want them to perform. The micro interaction which can be added by using simple web development techniques can do wonder. More responsive and interactive web pages always gets higher engagement and conversions. The placement of the buttons, the hoover effects, the message on the buttons and using lead magnets will greatly help you to engage your customers and get their attention within 8-seconds. You can always have a look at your web pages from a customer’s prospective to improve engagements which will help you generate more leads and sales.

High Converting Web Development: Implement Gestalt Principle

The Gestalt Principles are developed by a well-reputed and respected psychologist, he not only developed these principles but he also done great work in providing the understanding of human brain’s perception of visual elements and impact of different objects on our perception. The Gestalt principle can be summarized as ‘the perception of a whole is different than the perception of its individual parts’. It is not only that, it also states that we human being perceived visual objects with similar characteristics differently when they are placed closer to each other. The importance of Gestalt principle is crucial in web development, as when we place similar objects and elements that communicate similar message then they should also look similar or at least they should share some characteristics that made them look similar. This will help web developers to highlight certain sections of a web page that communicate a similar message and it also help them separate different sections from one another. Implementing the Gestalt principle at homepage is extremely important, and it is also very helpful in the inner pages. When we place similar object closer to each other and present them is a somewhat similar fashion our brain automatically reduce the white noise of the environment or background and start focusing on these objects which help increasing customer engagements and also result in better conversion rates.

High Converting Web Development: Follow SEO Rules

The SEO or search engine optimization is extremely important for high-converting websites. The SEO friendly web development is a web development process that accounts all major SEO guidelines and standards. Basically there are no sets of rules for the SEO, it is just the guidelines, standards and best practices and usually we refer them to as SEO rules. The search engine optimization or SEO is a technique to align your website with the sets of instructions, requirements, limitations and standards of the search engine. Here in Dubai and anywhere else in UAE the most popular search engine is Google, according to several studies, the Google is the most dominate search engine of the country with having around 96% of the search market share. All other search engines such as Yahoo, MSN, or any other follows the same instructions, standards or criterions. The web development methods, techniques and programing languages that are used to build a website are crucial for its SEO-friendliness. Usually an ordinary corporate website can generate up to 70% of its traffic from the search engines without spending a dime. This is called organic traffic, when someone searched about a product/service, problem, solutions, company, business, etc. the Google or any other search engine show them the relevant websites to their query on the search engine result page (SERP). In order to appear on the top links in that page you should make your website aligned with search engine standards and guidelines. There are certain web development techniques that prevent search engine from reading the website content, hence these should be avoided at all cost. Furthermore there are some additional source codes that can be added on the website to make it more visible and readable for the search engine which help you gain higher ranks in the SERP page. High ranking websites in search engine tend to get more traffic which means you have more opportunities to increase your conversions and sales.

High Converting Web Development: Make it Responsive

The responsive means mobile compatibility or mobile-friendliness. A website is called responsive when it has capabilities to offer similar experience on different devices and platforms. There are multiple layers of compatibility such as different operating systems process website code differently, similarly different web browsers respond to different codes differently and most of the time a same browser on different operating system can behave differently. There are different platform such as Windows, MAC and Linux, then there is a wide range of web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla, Opera, etc. Apart from there the website also have to be able to adjust itself as per different screen sizes. The regular desktop and laptops have limited number of screen sizes and resolutions which makes it easier to achieve responsiveness on them. However, the smartphones are a little bit tricky. There are two major mobile phone platforms, Android and the Apple iOS. Then again the mobile users use different browsers, and above all there are tons of different screen sizes and resolutions that make responsiveness more complex. There are certain web development platforms that will allow easy integration of the features and programing algorithms in your website which are essential for a responsive website. These platforms will also allow you to achieve seamless compatibilities with almost all of the above mentioned variations of platforms and web browsers. The websites which offer consistent experience on all compatible devices from where the user is accessing them, the chances of conversion increase. Moreover in Dubai and all around the UAE people tend to use smartphone for internet surfing, in fact the smartphone searches have already surpassed the regular desktop/laptop searches which is why if you will develop responsive website you have will get more opportunities and traffic to your website, hence the chances of conversion also increase and you will get more conversions and sales.

Conclusion

The corporate websites have become essential for a modern business. The corporate website is not just your online profile, but it is the foundation of your online identity and image. It is a very capable marketing tool which can help businesses in boosting their sales and conversions. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE realized that very well, however, not every business website is producing the expected or desired results for the businesses. This is due to the lack of understanding of the web development process and best practices. In order to build a high-converting website, you need to focus on many things. There are several factors which are important to transform an ordinary website into a highly-converting website. In this blog we have listed some of the most important, effective and market proven methods which will help you maximize your website’s potential and make it a high-converting website. The web development is a technical work, most of the time the business owners or management is not familiar with these concepts. That is why we tried to explain them in simple and plain language. If you will implement these rules and guidelines to your website you can maximize your online conversions and sales. Your corporate website also plays a crucial role in establishing your online presence and brand identity in the online world. That is why it is extremely important to have an excellent website. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build you a high-converting business website, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this: Must have features of Queue Management System

January 18, 2023

5 Performance Management Problems and How to Solve Them

The businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are facing many challenges, especially when it comes to talent acquisition and retention. The HR is not only responsible for hiring skilled staff but they will also have to establish a system where they can nurture the relationship between the employees and the business. This system should be able to help HR and management to foster the hidden talent of their employees. This system will have to provide a framework which help businesses to laydown excellent training and development program which up lift their employees and help them identify the future leaders. This system is called performance management system. The performance management process is becoming more complicated day by day. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the high employee turnover rate is a very common problem. There are many factors that can contribute to that problem which is what makes its solution more complex. That is why the HR leaders always emphasize on the use of a modern digital performance management system which help them laydown excellent plans, enable them to collect valuable performance data, improve the employee assessment practices, and help them build impactful training and development plans.

No matter how excellent your performance management process is or how great your plans are, you could still run into some really challenging situation, it is your response and capabilities to handle those challenges which will determine the success of your performance management program. A modern digital performance management system is a very capable and powerful tool which is used by the businesses and organizations to boost their employees’ performance, improve and groom their talent, increase their retention and engagement and maximize their outcome to succeed in achieving high-level goals and objectives. However, when businesses and organizations failed to use this tool correctly they face a lot of problem, the problems which could complete derail their performance management efforts and could inflict significant damage to the growth and progress. The work environments, employees’ mindset, and business practices differs from country to country, here in Dubai and anywhere else in UAE the markets are very dynamic, the HR manager and business leaders need to be more active to increase employee engagements and productivity. In this blog we will highlight the 5 most common performance management problems businesses are facing in Dubai and all around the UAE and we will also discuss how you can solve them with a modern performance management system.

Performance Management Problems: 1. Failure to Set and Communicate Clear Goals

Setting up goals and objectives for a performance management cycle is essential and everyone does that. However, most of the HR managers or business leaders failed to clearly define goals and their strategic objectives which is the root cause of several problems. When the goals and objectives are not clear or not communicated properly the employee will lose focus, direction and motivation to achieve those goals. If you don’t clearly know what is to be expected from you, how could you do that? That is why most of the performance management failures are caused by unclear goals and lack of communication. It is extremely important to set clear, achievable and easy-to-understand goals and it is equally important to communicate them properly to your employees so they can have a clear sense of direction which will help them focus on their progress. Setting up clear goals and communicating them properly will help employee understand the expectations from them and will provide them a standard for the success hence they will know what the success will look like and what is the measure of the success and how their contribution will add up to the high-level organization goals and objectives.

A good performance management system offers a variety of in-built features along with customization abilities which enable businesses to easily set goals and communicate them with the individual employees. The performance management system also provide a clear understanding of the performance evaluation metrics and will help employees understand their progress in real-time. The success and performance metrics further simplify everything and set clear expectations which help employees align themselves with their goals and objectives. Any modern performance management system will offer OKRs (objectives and key results) and KPIs (key performance indicators) to set clear goals and also set metrics to measure the progress toward these goals. The SMART framework is ideal for setting up goals and performance metrics. The SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Attainable, Relevant/Results, and Time-bound. Every goal should be time-bound, without a measure of time there is no point in setting up a goal. The performance of each employee should be evaluated as per their progress during a specific time period. That time-period is usually called performance cycle, which will help employee understand what is to be expected from them and when so they can prepare themselves to achieve those specific tasks during the given time period. That is why a digital performance management system is a great solution to fix this problem.

Performance Management Problems:2. Poor Communication

The communication is considered to be the lifeblood of any corporate environment, whether it is performance management or any other process, the communication is an absolute essential for everything. Without good communication businesses can never utilize their resources at full potential, the performance management process in particular is designed to break down the silos and to encourage engagement between employees, different teams, departments and management as well. The poor communication can create a lot of problems and it can have huge negative impact on the overall performance of the business or organization. There could be many reasons of poor communication and many factors that can undermine your communication, here are some of the most common factors which have huge impact on your communication:

Poor communication network which is unable to deliver the required information to the relevant personals or team within time
Unproductive and unregulated meetings and discussion which ends-up going off-topic
Poor feedback framework which fails both managers and employees to deliver their concerns to one another or highlight the problems they are facing
Poor email communication which results in incorrect or lack of actions

The poor communication can have very negative impact on the employee performance, furthermore it also demoralize them, harm the relationship between employees and the managers, it hurt the trust and it gradually increase the employee turnover rate.

The poor communication is one of the most common cause of the poor performance, if this problem persists for a longer time, it could cause unrepairable harm to a business. That is why not only to achieve higher efficiency but in order to keep the operations running a business need to solve the poor communication problems. There are certain types of communication that are more important than the others. However, the management frequently utilized different channels to communicate with the employees on regular bases but certain communications are necessary to boost the performance, such as regular discussions, one-on-one meetings, regular bidirectional feedbacks, frequent performance reviews, and other such communication types which are associated with the performance management are a key to a successful performance management strategy. Implementation of a good performance strategy by deploying a modern digital performance management system and integration of a multi-channel communication framework within the work environment can solve almost all major communication problems. Furthermore the businesses can implement strategies to make sure the written and verbal communication is delivered and understood by concerning parties. Reaching out to the employees, even if they are off-campus is essential for employee engagement. Personalized communication is also very important. The performance management system provides a comprehensive communication strategy which help solving all communication related problems.

Performance Management Problems: 3. Lack of Transparency and Trust

Another most common cause of failure of a performance management strategy is the failure to satisfy employees with the sufficient steps to ensure transparency in the system which is essential to gain employees’ trust. Without trust on the system the employee can never get motivated. There has been several studies and worldwide researches which have suggested a positive relationship between the trust and the employee performance. The problem with the traditional performance management practices is that there is no framework to ensure fully transparent evaluation and reviews. Most of the time it the traditional performance management systems are designed for annual or biannual evaluation. This biggest problem with that system is that when the managers are evaluating an employee they might not be able to recall all of the events in the distant past, they might focus on the activities and achievements of the past few months. Furthermore the personal bias, favoritism and other factors also cause the lack of trust by the employees. If an employee doesn’t trust on the business and their manager, the leadership and mentorship efforts goes straight out of the window. A leader or a mentor can only be a leader or mentor if the people he/she is leading will trust them. That is why the lack of transparency and trust is one of the most common cause of poor performance.

The solution to that problem is to implement a modern and technology based performance management system which not only introduce transparency but also address the most common concerns of the employees and gain their trust. If the employee don’t trust of the system or if they are not aware of how the system is working and how they are being awarded or if the performance metrics are confusing the employee will lose the trust and they might not support the system. However, a performance management system which clarifies all these confusions and offers clarity and transparency in the system could help gaining employees trust. Furthermore the digital performance management system also remove the most common problems with the traditional performance management system such as lack of understanding, poor communication, biased opinions and reviews, lack of performance data and much more. This will help business leaders and HR to establish employee trust on the performance management system and process and encourage them to support it. The dedicated features of the performance management system also improve the employee reviews and appraisal processes and make them more transparent which further strengthen the relationship between the employee and the managers. The digital performance management system transform the process into a proactive process rather a reactive process which help quickly addressing employee problems and concerns and raise their satisfaction.

Performance Management Problems: 4. Too Much Relying on Technology

Another common reason to fail in performance management is the ability of managers and leaders to understand that the technology alone is not the solution. We have witnessed in Dubai and all around the UAE the business leaders and the HR managers implement advanced technologies and software based performance management system and then expect that everything will improve automatically. However, that is not true. The performance management system is not just implementing a highly advanced and popular performance management system and not focusing on the right areas. The lack of strategy or poor performance management strategy can also result the same. But most of the time is not the performance management software or tool that you have implemented but it is your inability to focus on the right areas and lack of integration of processes and technology in the organization’s work flows. The prime goal of the performance management is to ensure the growth and profitability however this can only be achieved by employees’ individual growth and development. The business leader most often doesn’t realize that the performance management system should be able to improve your workforce and help you identify the need for the new skills in future to get you prepared for coming challenges.

The technological advancements and innovation is definitely transforming the businesses and also the performance management systems. However, the technology is solely not the solution to your performance management problems. The HR managers and the business leaders should have to actively participate in the performance management process to ensure higher employee engagements and to lead employees to ensure higher success rate. The managers should understand that if they are failing to solve the problems or addressing the concerns that their sub-ordinates are reporting or having, then there is no point for these employees to help you out or to support you with higher goals. That is why an active involvement of the management is essential for the success of the performance management strategy. Another most important point to consider while utilizing a digital performance management system is to ensure the performance data and information are regularly shared with the stakeholders. For example, generally all performance management systems allow employees to see the performance of their peers and other employees to encourage them to outperform the others. Furthermore the self-assessment and your own performance data should be presented in an easy-to-understand format which will help you perform better in order to achieve your goals. Similarly there are tons of other features that a performance management system offers but it is the management who will determine if all those features are utilized to gain the benefits or not. So the technology alone is not the solution the performance management also needs full involvement of the management in the process.

Performance Management Problems: 5. Micromanagement

The micromanagement is one of the main concern of the modern workplaces. It is a culture that is being discouraged all around the world, but in reality every business or organization have to deal with it. The biggest problem with the micro-managers is that they firmly believe that they are doing the right thing for their employees, teams, and even the organization, however, in reality they are just harming the performance of the employees by demoralizing them and taking their confidence away. The micromanagement causes a lot of problems as the micro-managers usually don’t focus on the macro level in fact they are completely occupied by the minute details and focus only on the very small issues and problems. They want to control or inspire each and every tiny action of their sub-ordinates and they want to get everything done in their own way, which they think is the only way to do a certain thing. It is this belief that led to a lot of problems and cause frustration and hopelessness among their sub-ordinates. Furthermore when the employees are dealing with a micro-managers who doesn’t regard of their skills, experience and capabilities the feel worthless, they start suppressing their ideas which kills the innovation and creativity. They start focusing only on pleasing their manager no matter even if they will have to cheat the system or they will eventually rebel which result in higher turnover.

The problem with the micro-managers is that they think they are acting in the best interest of the organization, their this belief prevent them from trusting others as they always keep correcting others and start believing that no one else is loyal to the organization. This mindset can completely kill the relationship between the employee and the managers and it also harm employee loyalty. Another most common trait of a micro-manager is that they always need updates, they always try to check-in to know the progress and they always want to see the progress of the work. These all problems can be solved by implementing a digital performance management system which not only provide real-time performance data to the managers and employees but it also provide a complete communication framework which reduce the unplanned follow ups and communication. Hence the employee gets the space they need to breath. They don’t get interrupted too often, they remain focused and their performance and progress is shared with the managers automatically. Furthermore it will also help the micro-managers to focus only on the employees who are lacking or not doing so well. The fully structured and pre-planned performance discussions also prevent micro-managers to reduce interruption and let them focus on more important tasks. Furthermore the performance management system also help managers to understand the performance management process and improve their skills to conduct the regular performance management tasks and help improving the overall performance of both the employees and the managers.

Conclusion

Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are eagerly adopting to modern technologies and solutions to maximize their operational capabilities and to gain a competitive edge which will help them to attract more customers. No matter how much you have invested in technology or modern solutions, if your employees are not up-to-the-mark then everything will be in vain.Businesses need to integrate a technology based performance management system and the HR and the business leader should invest their time and efforts in the performance management process in order to achieve the full benefits of the system. In this blog we have addressed the 5 most common performance management problems and how you can solve them using a digital performance management system and a well-crafted performance strategy. The lack of trust and transparency, poor communication, unclear goals and objectives and difficult or confusing performance management processes will undermine your performance management efforts. That is why it important that the HR managers and the business leaders doesn’t only rely on the technology but also put sufficient efforts to it. Businesses who have properly implemented performance management systems have witnessed huge improvements in their outcomes, productivity, and profitability. A performance management is a long term success strategy, it help businesses retain the required talent and develop their employees and culture to unlock the true potential of their workforce and resources. RSI Concepts is a leading performance management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design a customized performance management system for your organization, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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January 17, 2023

Types of Cloud Computing Services

There would be only a few businesses that could survive without technology in the modern day and age. Here in Dubai or anywhere else in UAE even if you are a small grocery store you would still be needing a POS any business bigger than that can’t even perform their day-to-day operations without utilizing some kind of technology. For example, the modern retail industry, healthcare sector, education sector, manufacturing industries, financial institutions, private and public offices, government departments and any other business sector that one can think of is impossible without utilizing technology. The technology has become the foundation of a modern business, whether it is a simple digital/computerized sales system for a small grocery store or a sophisticated AI (artificial intelligence) based software solutions for the manufacturing industry, every business needs some kind of technology to operate effectively and efficiently. This is because the complete marketplaces have evolved, everything become quicker and the need of information and data has risen greatly. The digitalization and automation has become the backbone of the businesses and offers great advantages.

It is not that the demand and need of integration of the technology have increased but the technology have also evolved over the time. Earlier what was done using paper and pencils is now been done through computers, the bulky files and ledgers have been replaced by the computer files and online data networks. The time that was required to search from manual registers and files could be from a few minutes to a few hours, or even longer for large scale organizations. This time has now been reduced to a few seconds, the efforts that required to go through tons of paper files have been reduced to a few buttons on a keyboard and a few clicks. This is what motivated businesses to replace old paper-pen processes with digital and more convenient processes. Over the time the technology have evolved from an advantage to need and now it has become an essential for a business. Without implementing adequate technological solutions a business can’t sustain its operations anymore. The cloud computing is one of the most modern and highly efficient solution to the modern day’s needs and problems. In this blog we will discuss how it works and the different types of cloud computing to help our audience chose the right solution for their needs.

What is Cloud Computing?

A cloud computing is an on-demand based service that offers computing resources, storage capacity and databases and doesn’t require any direct user management. The on-demand availability also offers a pay-as-you-go business model which is very beneficial for the businesses hence they don’t have to deploy and manage physical data centers, servers or networks. Basically the cloud computing enables businesses to consume IT resources as a utility, hence they will only have to pay for what they are using without any worry about any limitations or technology barriers which are present in all other hosted services’ business models. The cloud computing allow the client devices to access the data center and all its resources such as computing power, storage or databases from a remote location while the physical data center is located at a different location. The cloud computing is used by individuals and businesses to store their data, or set a backup or disaster recovery, access computing resources, test and implement software and customer facing applications. In a nutshell the cloud computing allow you to access high-end computer resources and data centers which are not physically located at your location. Above all the cost of a cloud computing solution is far less than managing your own data centers and physical servers.

How Cloud Computing Works?

There are two parts of the cloud computing system, the frontend and the backend, the frontend is the client who use browsers, internet or other tools to access the backend which is the computer resources, network, storage and databases at a remotely located physical data center. Hence the backend not only serve as a storage that can be accessed by the client through frontend but the backend also provide additional features which allow the client to deploy different software and applications as per their needs. The communication between the backend and frontend is automatically managed by a mainframe or central physical computer server which is also located in the actual physical data center. This central server follows pre-set protocols, software and specialized tools to facilitate the data transfer between the client and the physical server. The cloud computing heavily rely on automation and virtualization which enables it to offer intuitive self-service features for the users. It is the automation and virtualization that make cloud computing the most convenient and appealing service model for all types and sizes of the businesses. The cloud computing also offer easy access to a large variety of technology and platform which is extremely expensive and nearly impossible in case of a traditional data-center environment.

Different Types of Cloud Computing Services

The cloud computing is a highly advanced technology and due to overwhelming global adaptation the research and development processes has greatly improved and now the cloud computing is becoming more reliable, improved, fast and convenient day-by-day. The rapid and large-scale adaptation also make the technology accessible for small and medium size businesses and in Dubai and all around the UAE the cloud computing is getting popular among all types and sizes of the businesses. The market signals are showing that this trend will continue for 2023 and even beyond. When it comes to the types of the cloud computing there are different aspects that differentiate one cloud computing platform from the other. There are two distinct classifications based on the deployment models and the service models. Here are different types of cloud computing based on these two classifications:

Types of Cloud Computing on the Bases of Deployment Models

The cloud deployment model is basically what defines the services you will be able to use and who should be responsible for managing them and it also dictates the terms for the relationship between the cloud architecture and the users. Most of the times when we think about cloud we think that it is about utilizing the computer resources, storage, databases and network which are managed by the service provider and the business who uses them has nothing to do with the management and responsibilities of the actual data center. However, that is just one type of the deployment model, there are several other types of cloud computing deployment models. Here are the most widely used cloud computing deployment models:

Cloud Computing Deployment Models: Public Cloud

The public cloud deployment method is one of the most widely used in Dubai and all around the UAE in fact all around the world, it is easiest to manage and it is also the most cost-efficient cloud computing deployment model. The public cloud deployment model means that you will be using all the computing resources that you need without managing the physical hardware, network or data centers and these will be managed solely by the service provider. The public clouds are available for general public, it means that anyone can use it and there will be other businesses who will also be using the same physical hardware and resources. That is why it is also referred to as multitenant or multitenancy model. The biggest advantages of a public cloud is its flexibility to resource utilization, efficiency and low cost. Usually businesses opt for a public cloud for their heavy-load applications and software. However, in any real scenario the peak load occurs only for a limited time during the day or any other time interval. In order to effectively deal with the peak load a business will have to equip its servers, networks, etc. with the capacity to bear the peak load. It also means that for most of the time your infrastructure and resources will be unutilized, and in order to handle the peak load effectively you will have to invest a lot in the infrastructure which can raise the cost to several time. However, the public cloud on the other hand will only cost you just a fraction of that and will effectively handle your peak load with ability to automatically scale up or down the resources you need.

Cloud Computing Deployment Models: Private Cloud

As the name suggests, the private cloud is totally different form the public cloud as in case of a private cloud only one organization or enterprise will be using a dedicated cloud computing environment and no hardware or resources will be shared with any other business or enterprise. It might looks like the private cloud is similar to the local/in-premises data center however, the key difference between a data center and a private cloud is the methods and technologies used for the management and resource provisioning. Furthermore the private cloud also offer high-level security as the only tenant of the environment will be your organization so the chances of exposing the sensitive data are slim to none. The private cloud also offer more control and authority over the environment and it is far more cost-efficient than the traditional in-premises data centers. Although the cost is higher comparing to a public cloud but the private cloud offers highest levels of security and data protection along with added benefits of a public cloud environment and easy access to resources for scalability and other needs. The private cloud will allow you to utilize resources like a public cloud, but it will offer exclusivity of tenancy, and dedicated hardware resources which are isolated from other tenants. Usually a public cloud provider can also offer you a private cloud service by isolating your hardware and resources from the rest of the cloud. The biggest advantage is that you don’t have to acquire any hardware and you don’t have to worry about the management of the hardware but you will still get the dedicated hardware for your needs.

Cloud Computing Deployment Models: Hybrid Cloud

The hybrid cloud deployment is a combination of both public and private cloud models. As businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have already done considerable investments in their in-premises data centers, it is nearly impossible to discard all that immediately and move on to a purely cloud computing environment. Apart from the cost factor there are other limitation too, such as some businesses are using customized software and application which are not always compatible with the cloud computing environment, some businesses are still using outdated tools in their local networks, which might not be able to migrate to a cloud and so on. The hybrid cloud deployment model allow businesses to utilize a public cloud alongside with their in-premises hardware and establish a strong connection between their public cloud and in-premises data center so the both works as a single system. Businesses also adopt to a hybrid cloud model to slowly transition from the in-premises data center to a cloud computing environment. This transition can be slow and gradual and businesses can slowly move their entire environment over the years to cloud. Another very common reason to opt for a hybrid cloud computing environment is due to the security requirements, some businesses and organizations can never operate in public cloud due to their strict data protection needs and policies that is why they chose a hybrid cloud computing environment to leverage the benefits of the both cloud and the in-premises data centers.

Cloud Computing Deployment Models: Multi-Cloud

The multi-cloud deployment method is somewhat similar to the hybrid cloud deployment method. As the name suggests, the multi-cloud deployment means a business is using multiple cloud services from multiple vendors and there is an established connection between these cloud environments. Majorly there are only two reasons a business opts for a multi-cloud deployment, first is if they need one service from one cloud service provider and another service from another cloud service provider. Another reason to opt for a multi-cloud deployment method is to maximize the redundancy of the software and applications you are hosting in the cloud environment. In 2023 there has been several technological advancements and the cloud service providers have significantly improved the availability of their public clouds however, there are certain sensitive applications and software which require more redundancy and higher availability that is why the multi-cloud is a better option to maximize the redundancy of the hosted software or application. Furthermore different cloud computing platform have different pricing model and offer different cost-to-value ratios. For example, the Microsoft SQL server could be much more cost-efficient with the Microsoft Azure than with any other cloud service provider and so on. Similarly different cloud service providers offer different services which is why a business opts for multiple cloud service providers to optimize the cost and the benefits of their cloud environment.

Cloud Computing Deployment Models: Community Cloud

The community cloud is a slightly less common type of cloud computing deployment method. In community cloud there are multiple businesses who uses same cloud, but the number of users is limited. As there are multiple businesses who can use this cloud hence it is not a private cloud, but as it is not available for public but only for a limited number of businesses or organizations so it is not a public cloud either. The community cloud deployment is something in between public cloud and private cloud deployment methods. The community cloud deployment is used by the businesses with almost similar concerns and interests, all businesses who are member of the community follow same set of security protocols. The community cloud is usually owned and managed by a member of the community or multiple members of the community. It can also be owned and operated by a third-party or it can be managed and operated by a combination of both third-party and community members. The community cloud can be on-premises or at a remote location as well. The hardware and all resources are shared by the community members and the community cloud is set as per the requirements of the members, although in a realistic scenario there could be a few tradeoffs for the community member in order to optimize the environment’s features and cost. Some cloud service provider also utilize virtualization and automation to design a software-based communities by isolating certain hardware infrastructure and making it exclusive for the community members.

Types of Cloud Computing on the Bases ofService Models

The cloud deployment models are about the cloud architecture and resource management, regardless of what deployment method you opt for there are several cloud services that a business will be needing to utilize the cloud, these services are based on the needs and requirements. For example let say you need to use Apache and MySQL, you can acquire a cloud VM machine which will allow you to install both Apache and MySQL in the server, in that case you will be responsible for managing these two services, such as optimizing them, updating them and upgrading them, etc. However, you can also acquire a cloud where the Apache and MySQL are offered as services, in that case the cloud service provider will be responsible for optimizing, managing, updating or upgrading the Apache and MySQL for you. There are several other different methods of utilizing the cloud computing resources. Here are the most popular cloud service models:

Cloud Computing Service Models: Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS

The infrastructure as a service or IaaS is one of the most popular service model. As the name suggests you will acquire a cloud where all the hardware, servers, networks and storage is managed by the cloud service provider or vendor and you will have to do the rest. The infrastructure as a service or IaaS model will offer you full control even the ability to install the operating system of your choice on the servers and will allow you to manage each and every installation, software or services you want to implement on the servers without being worrying about managing the hardware, servers, networks or storage. If you need high-level access and full control to the servers and their operating system, then the infrastructure as a service or IaaS is much more cost-efficient comparing to having an in-premises data center. Under infrastructure as a service or IaaS service model the vendor or cloud service provider is responsible for managing the hardware and ensuring a high-availability infrastructure to the users/businesses who are opting for IaaS service model. All popular cloud service providers offers great tools to install any operating system of your choice within minutes and you can also have a VM up and running in minutes without worrying about additional resources or upfront cost for the machine. The infrastructure as a service or IaaS service models are ideal for deploying software and application that usually require an on-premises like control and configurations, as the IaaS will provide you full control over everything. The IaaS are also very popular for building high redundancy environment, setting up backup and recovery solutions or creating clone or test environments.

Cloud Computing Service Models: Platform as a Service or PaaS

The platform as a service or PaaS cloud service model is one of the most commonly used service model and is fairly popular among small and medium sized enterprises in Dubai and all around the UAE. The platform as a service or PaaS service model offer a cloud platform where the hardware, network, servers, storage, operating systems and the software installed on the servers are controlled, managed and maintained by the cloud service provider or vendor. The businesses can utilize the platform as a service with added advantages of the dynamic scaling at a low cost billing plans. The greatest strength of the platform as a service or PaaS is that it offer a highly efficient, optimized and well-managed platform however, the biggest drawback of the platform as a service or PaaS is that it limits you to one platform. However, you can install whatever you want to install in that platform or you can deploy you required software and applications that runs on that platform. The maintenance, updates, upgrades, hardware, network and even the security is managed by the cloud service provider which makes it much easier for smaller and medium sized enterprises to utilize a platform with seamless performance and highly flexible scalability features. The platform as a service or PaaS support only one development environment or programming method and offer great performance along with automated backup and recovery services. The platform as a service or PaaS is a highly cost-effective cloud computing service.

Cloud Computing Service Models: Software as a Service of SaaS

The software as a service or SaaS is a cloud service model with which all layers of the cloud are managed by the cloud service provider or the vendor, a business or user has to do nothing in order to make prepare, manage or control the environment, in fact they can use it right way without doing anything. All of the hardware infrastructure, networks, servers, storages, and everything is managed by the cloud service provider, they also manages the operating system and any other software that you might be needing to install on the servers. The backup, security patches, upgrades, updates, data protection, backups, redundancy, recovery, etc. everything is the cloud service provider’s responsibility. The biggest advantage of the software as a service or SaaS service model is that it completely set you free from any technical management task, everything is managed by the vendor itself. For example if you need a Microsoft SQL or MySQL server, all you need to acquire it, there is no need to setup, install or configure anything, you can start storing data right away. However, the biggest disadvantage of software as a service or SaaS is that it is difficult to migrate to other servers from one server or from one service provider to another service provider. The software as a service or SaaS offers high level of security and data protection, it offers more convenient experience and it is very easy to operate. Usually the cloud service providers use software as a service or SaaS to offer specific applications or software on subscription bases, which makes it cost-efficient but the scalability and upgrades depends on the service provider.

Cloud Computing Service Models: Function as a Service or FaaS

The function as a service or FaaS is also knows as server-less cloud computing service model. The function as a service or FaaS is usually utilized by the software and application development teams. It allow development teams to develop, test, run and manage software application in a cloud computing environment. The development team doesn’t have to worry about the minute details of the server management, or its operating system or anything else. The fully-managed cloud computing servers are provided hence the complexity associated to server logistics is eliminated from the software development, operation and management processes. The function as a service is a relatively newer cloud computing platform but it offers great value. It allow application developers and architects to deploy any individual function without getting involve into the server and network management tasks or anything of that sort. Hence the web servers, operating system, networks and all hardware is managed by the cloud computing service provider the software or app developers can focus on more important things that are needed for the development process.That is also why it is called Serverless cloud computing platform. The function as a service or FaaS also offer dynamic scaling and allow automatic upscale and downscale which means that the businesses will only have to pay for the resources which they used at one point or another.

Key Advantages of Cloud Computing Services

The cloud computing services have gain huge popularity in past decade in Dubai and all around the UAE. Businesses in the country are utilizing several modern technologies however, the hosting and cloud computing is something that was mostly not available in the country, however, now the cloud services are available within the UAE and the service providers also have data centers located within UAE. The modern cloud computing platforms are offering great advantages for local and multi-national businesses in the country. Here are some key advantages of the cloud computing:

The cloud computing services offer the software development teams to quickly test their innovative ideas and quickly market their products without being worried about the lengthy hardware procurement processes or time consuming tasks such as setting up the environment for their new applications.
Another great advantage of cloud computing is its flexible approach towards scalability, a business can easily upscale or downscale their resources, computing power, storage or network without worrying about the hardware management or any such problem.
The cloud computing services also offer high-level security and data protection and make your data available to you or your employees from anywhere in the world. The ability to offer almost all on-premises datacenter’s features via online can help businesses drive agility to their processes and methods.
The cloud computing services are much more cost-efficient than a local or in-premises data center. Above all the upgrades, server management, and the hardware management and maintenance, everything is taken care by the cloud service provider.
The cloud computing services offer advanced levels of security as they have access to the highly-skilled security staff, and they keep the hardware, software, operating systems, networks and everything in between up-to-date all the time.
The cloud computing services offers great data recovery, backup and disaster management policies and processes. The data is stored carefully on multiple locations, the recovery process is much faster and great features to deal with hardware failures to prevent data loss.
The cloud computing services can offer full control at your applications, sensitive data, hardware, operating system, security features and other relevant features. Above all it can also offer any level of control as per your needs and availability of the technical skills. If you don’t want to manage the infrastructure you can get fully-managed cloud computing environments.

Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE in 2023 will keep on adopting cloud computing solutions due to its excellent flexibility, management, control and highly cost-efficient payment plans.

Conclusion

The technology and IT solutions have become an essential part of a modern business’s operations. No business can properly function without aiding from digital and technological solutions. Every business needs a robust, reliable and cost-efficient IT infrastructure, however, building and maintain in-premises data centers is a very expensive and complex ordeal. The technology is rapidly advancing, the IT infrastructure also has to be updated and upgraded over the time. The cloud is one of the best solution for modern needs and fast-paced advancements in the IT industry. Furthermore it is very expensive to operate an in-premises data center, the online hosting platforms are inefficient and have certain limitations. However, the cloud is a highly user-friendly and most flexible platform, if you don’t want to get engaged in hardware, server, network and storage management, you will get it done by the cloud service provider, if you need only a software as a service, you can get it with cloud. If you want to gain control of the operating system of your server or any layer of the infrastructure, it can be done easily with the cloud-computing platforms.

The cloud computing platform also allow businesses to use IT resources as a utility and only pay for what you need and use. These benefits make it far more superior than traditional hosting and in-house data center management practices. The purpose of this blog was to help our audience understand the cloud computing platforms and difference between different types of cloud computing. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to support you in acquiring a cloud computing solution for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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January 13, 2023

Must have features of Queue Management System

Businesses who deals with daily footfall understand the importance of waiting line management. In any given day there would be a time when the footfall would be very high, this time period is also known as peak hours, which would indicate the maximum footfall. It is those peak hours when the influx is high the crowd forms. The crowd formation lead to a nightmarish situation for the staff and the management. Managing large influx could be a very challenging task. For that business hire new staff, allocate more resources and might also adopt technological solutions. This also makes queuing very expensive. However, a business must have a queuing process to manage the waiting line and to organize the customers and visitors. Managing waiting line will help businesses to improve customer flow and reduce customer wait time. The queue management is also essential for customer experience. The customer experience is the most important part of any business’s strategy. It is extremely important to ensure a happy and satisfactory customer experience. A satisfied customers turns into loyal one and customer loyalty is essential for long term sustainable growth and profitability.

When it comes to queue management, the earliest form of queue management systems were just making line which were usually served as first come first served bases. Later on the clipboard and pen method was introduced all around the world, in fact many businesses from all around the world are still using this method. However, it turns out to be very inefficient, especially for the modern digital world the manual waiting line management is too outdated. That is when the digital queue management systems were introduced. The digital queue management systems have also evolved a lot over the past two decades. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the markets are slightly different, it is actually due to rapid growth, tougher competition and savvy customers with sky-high demands and expectations. This encouraged both businesses and vendors to come up with more advanced, innovative and efficient queue management systems. When you seek to acquire a queue management system in Dubai or anywhere in UAE you will find tons of options. One can easily get overwhelmed with the sheer number of designs and models advertised all over the market. That is why in this blog we will list all essential and important features of a queue management system that you must consider while acquiring a new queuing solution.

Important Features of a Queue Management System

Before we discuss the important features of a queue management system it is important to understand what a basic digital queue management system is. A digital queue management system consists of two parts, one is the software and the other is the hardware. The queuing process starts with the customer or visitor signing up for the queue via ticket dispensing self-service interactive kiosk and they system issued them a ticket containing their position in the queue and the estimated time to their turn. The system also have audio-visual announcement module which makes announcements at each customer calling and also provide basic queuing details at a large signage screen. When the customer’s number is called they reach to the designated counter, get served and leave. Some queue management system also provide a customer feedback collection module which request customers to submit feedback before leaving. Furthermore the queue management system automates several steps of the customer journey and have ability to collect valuable business intelligence data which help management analyze and improve relevant processes and work flows.

When a business decides to acquire a modern digital queue management system they can easily get overwhelmed with the sheer number of options and vendors available in the UAE. This could be confusing and very challenging for the management, here are the key features that you should consider while selecting a queue management system for your business to ensure maximum performance and impact.

Features of Queue Management System: 1. Essential Hardware Components

The queue management system is built on very effective and efficient technology platforms. There is no maximum limit of hardware component but there is a minimum limit. The queue management system technology is widely available and utilized hence it makes it easier to find a tons of hardware accessories which enable businesses to offer more innovative and convenient features. Here is a list of basic hardware componentsthat are essential to operate a digital queue management system:

Ticket Dispensing Unit or Ticket Dispensing Interactive Self-Service Kiosk
Digital Signage Screens and Displays
Announcement System
Counter Plates or Counter Displays

The quantity of the hardware depends on the size of the service center and other details. Such as if the waiting area is small then only 1 digital signage is fine, it waiting area is larger than we might need 2, furthermore if the digital signage is not visible from every part of waiting area then we will also require to install 2 of them and so on. Similarly the interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk, counter plates and/or any other hardware quantity is determined.

Apart from essential hardware components there are several other factors that also cause businesses to have a different hardware configurations. There are several other hardware components and accessories that can also be installed. For example if you want to fetch the customer identification details at the sign-up process than you might require an Emirate ID Card Reader, an RFID or passport scanner, barcode reader, document scanner, etc. All those hardware accessories can be integrated with the interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk. Similarly business could have different needs and processes hence they might need different types of hardware which they can integrate in the system to maximize its usability and functionality. Business also frequently use customer feedback collection for that they can integrate separate hardware devices in the system such as touch screen tablets, interactive kiosks, etc. The touch screen and tablets are usually used at the counters or near the service counters, the kiosks are usually placed at the exits or in easy-to-reach place where most of the customers and visitors can see them. These hardware can also be integrated with the queue management system if needed.

Features of Queue Management System:2. Essential Software Components

The queue management system software is the core application which process all the data, take instructions and perform the queuing tasks. The queue management system software is a server-side application which contains all the source codes, algorithms and processes required for the system. The core application can be accessed by multiple interfaces which are exclusively designed for different user groups.

Customer UI
Service Agent Dashboard
Administrative Dashboard

The customer user interface (UI) is accessible from the interactive self-service kiosk which is used for sign-up process and it also dispense the tickets. Furthermore the customers can be provided with additional features via this UI which are available. The service agents also got their dedicated dashboard which is designed for them. The service agent dashboard offer several useful options via an intuitive UI. The service agent’s dashboard is designed to help and facilitate several agent’s tasks such as pre-sale, post-sale tasks, customer calling, queuing information, customer rerouting features, etc. Then there is an administrative dashboard which is the back office of the system and is designed for the IT and the management. The management can get live queuing data, historical data, performance data, analytical tools, and features to manage the content, configurations and processes of the queue management system. These all are basic software components but businesses can have more features as per their needs.

Features of Queue Management System:3. Automated Customer Flow Management

The biggest advantage of a digital queue management system is that it helps automating the customer flow and improve customer experience by reducing customer wait time and improving the efficiency of the employees. However, many businesses doesn’t realize that this automation can be extremely useful if it also allow them to customize the processes as per their needs or situation. Usually a digital queue management system have basic configuration which allow businesses to implement their queuing policy and the smart algorithms automates the entire process. A good queue management system will also provide you customization features which will enable you to configure a lot many details of the process. It also gives businesses more control over their queuing policies and make it easier to implement a customized queuing policy. This also involved special need scenarios, for example at an event or occasion when you are expecting massive footfall you can implement an entirely different queuing policy for a limited time period and later resume to regular procedures. Similarly the queue management system software is based on AI (artificial intelligence) and smart algorithms which enables it to analyze queuing data in real-time and take decisions in real-time to reroute customers to ensure maximum efficiency and to optimize the wait time and performance. All such features are an indicator of a good high-performance queue management system.

Features of Queue Management System:4. Virtual Queuing

The virtual queuing is one of the modern form of queue management process. The virtual queuing gain huge popularity in Dubai and all around the UAE in past few years. Businesses and customers both are admiring it because of its great benefits and excellent efficiency. The virtual queuing involves integrating digital channels and remote mediums which allow customers and visitors to interact with the queue management system without being physically present at the business premises. That is the major difference between the traditional queue management systems and virtual queue management systems. Customers and visitors are allowed to sign-up for virtual queues using remote channels such as website, QR code, customer portals, mobile phone applications, SMS, Email, Call, etc. The customers are issued an e-ticket which contains their position in the queue and estimated time to their turn. This means that a customer or visitor can sign-up for the queue while sitting at their home or office. Then they can plan their travel accordingly to spend least time at the waiting areas. That is why the waiting time for the virtual queue management system is very short and in fact in some cases it is literally none. There are several other benefits of virtual queuing such as live queuing updates via website, customer portals, SMS, WhatsApp, mobile apps, etc. Alerts and notifications are also very useful and the customers and agents can communicate as well. In general the virtual queuing offers an excellent customer experience and much higher customer satisfaction than any traditional digital queue management system.

Features of Queue Management System:5. Third-Party System Integration

Whenever a business acquires a new software based solution they always consider the capabilities and limitations of the third-party integration feature. Similarly when you are acquiring a digital queue management system you should also make sure that it will offer adequate support for third-party system integration. The third-party system integration is basically a technological solution to enable two separate and standalone systems to communicate with each other. Both systems can share data and synchronize instructions to maximize the efficiency, performance and capabilities of the systems. The third-party system integration depends on the technology, programing techniques and the structure of the software. Some closed-source software doesn’t allow integration outside of their ecosystem which can be a great problem for system integration. Some technologies fully support third-party integration but are not compatible with the other systems. Hence it is important to understand your existing IT infrastructure and digital environment before deciding which queue management system you want to implement. With the help of system integration you can maximize the efficiency of the system and relevant processes, you can minimize repeated work and efforts required to perform a task and you can save time and resources of data conversion and manual upload. For example the integration of the queue management system with the customer database allow it to identify the customer, if you are also collecting customer feedback and it is integrated with your queuing system you can improve the response rate and data quality and the third-party system integration also help you facilitate service agent and maximize their work quality and efficiency. That is why the third-party system integration is a must to have feature for a queuing system.

Features of Queue Management System:6. Centralized Administration

For service sector it is common to have multiple offices, branches and service centers. This means that most of the businesses have one central location or head office where the most senior management resides and then they have several branches or regional offices. A good queue management system provide you great features to support a centralized management structure. The administrative dashboard comes with ability to allow creating multiple user groups with different access and administration authority which should align with your internal hierarchal structure. Such features will help you to integrate your work flows and management practices within the queue management process. Furthermore it will also allow head office and senior management to monitor and manage each and every connected branch. The system allow appointing a branch manager at each location, even one manager can have multiple locations as well and then there could be several other access levels such as assistants, supervisors, etc. The agents could also have different access and administration levels such as ordinary service agent, team lead, supervisor, and manager, etc. All these features will help businesses manage and monitor their queuing processes from head office and also help supporting the on-site staff and management in their tasks and activities.

Features of Queue Management System:7. Maintenance, Scalability and Customization

Most of the time when businesses acquire a new software solution they usually don’t pay much attention to the future scalability, maintenance, customization, upgrades, etc. However it is crucial to understand and agree with the vendor on these points. Most of the queue management systems in the market offers great support in all these areas however, the trickier part is that every vendor has its own payment and costing structure hence all these things could be very costly. There are two different types of software, one is COTS or commercial off-the-shelf software which are ready-to-use and are designed by a vendor or service provider according to the market standards. The up-scaling, customization and modifications could cost you a lot down the road which impact the overall ROI of the system. There is another type of software solution which is called customized software development, in that case the vendor design and develop a tailor-made queue management system solution exclusively for your business and you will get full ownership rights of the product. In that case all such costs can be eliminated or significantly reduced which improve your ROI over the time. No matter which system development approach you take it is important to clearly understand, define and agree upon all these aspects as in future you will be needing all those services. Any obstacle or difficulty could compromise your growth, progress and productivity as well.

Features of Queue Management System:8. Business Intelligence Data Gathering

In the present day and age the modern businesses are heavily relying on the data, in fact the most successful business strategies are completely data driven. Business decisions, policy making, strategies and product development functions heavily rely on the business intelligence data. The business intelligence data is basically the insight to your internal and external processes including employees, customers, communication, and much more. A good queue management system always capture valuable business intelligence data. It can capture system usage and analytical data from each and every customer touch-point throughout the customer journey. It monitor and evaluate the entire queuing process, customer journey, customer experience, happiness and overall efficiency of the queuing process. Furthermore the queue management system is also capable of monitoring several employee performance KPIs and it can integrate with other systems to further improve the quality of the business intelligence data. The customer feedback is one of the most important part of business intelligence data, a good queue management system offers you integrated customer feedback tools, or it can also provide in-built customer feedback management features which help you to gather feedback data long with other insights. A queue management system also provide in-built analytical tools and data sharing capabilities which allow managers to extract actionable reports and share data with stakeholders to address the problems and take actions for future improvements.

Conclusion

The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a very dynamic marketplace, the customer trends are changing rapidly the market competition is growing steadily and the technology is evolving on a rapid pace. All these factors need a business to adopt to the technologies and practices that can respond to the sudden changes and also support business growth. When it comes to the modern marketplace the businesses have started transitioning from a sales-oriented business model to a more customer-centric business model since more than a decade now. This transition was not sudden but gradually it have completely changed the way businesses were operating around a decade ago. For any customer-centric business the customers are its top priority, especially in highly competitive markets the businesses need to pay more attention to their customers’ needs, desires and interests. According to several studies and researches all around the globe, a modern day customer puts experience equal to the quality of the product or service they acquire from a business. These studies have also indicated that a majority of the customers are willing to pay extra if they are ensured that they will get a better experience. This makes customer experience one of the most important success factor. Businesses all around the UAE are actively seeking new methods, practices, technologies and solutions which can help them improve customer experience.

A queue management system is the solution to all major problems that a service-based business could face. It help businesses improve customer experience and it also increase their operational capabilities and performance. That is why a when it comes to acquire a new queue management system there is a lot on the stake. Businesses need to be very careful when selecting a new queue management system. However, in Dubai and all around the UAE the sheer number of vendors and different types of queue management systems can make it very confusing for a manager to decide which solution they should choose. That is why in this blog we have listed the basic details about the software and hardware of the queue management system along with several other features that can help you achieve your current goals and a good queue management system with all these features will make you able to deal with unexpected and uncertain future market conditions. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and develop a custom tailor-made and highly cost-efficient queue management system for your business please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this: How to Customize Performance Management System

January 12, 2023

Increase Customer Engagements to Boost Sales

The markets are rapidly changing and we are entering into a highly customer-centric world. Similarly in Dubai and all around the UAE businesses have transitioned from sales or business oriented to customer-oriented business models. This orientation was inevitable, as the market is changing, the customer demands are increasing and here in UAE the customers are more aware and powerful. The UAE is a financial hub for the region, there are many businesses who are operating in UAE there are countless multination enterprises who are not only managing UAE operations but the entire middle-east and Africa operations from UAE. This is what makes the market more competitive and this is also the reason the customers are so strong as they have a lot many choices available to them all the time, if you failed to please them they can find hundreds of other vendors or service provider who will offer them what they want. This is what makes customer engagement, customer experience, communication and customer satisfaction the most important factors of a modern day success strategy.

Businesses usually focus on improving their customer service centers, their internal and external processes and emphasize on their products/services. However, the customer engagement is mostly overlooked which is due to the lack of awareness about it. The customer engagement is a very strong factor in converting prospects into customers and retaining them. The customer engagement have huge impact on sales and customer retention. Every business knows that the sale is just one part, the second part is to retain your customers, make them loyal and have repeated business. Many businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have significantly boost their sales by adopting modern customer engagement practices. According to several studies businesses increased customer engagement can witness an increase of up to 85% in direct sales, furthermore it also help increasing upselling and cross-sell incomes. In this blog we will discuss what customer engagement is and how businesses can increase their customer engagement which will result in significant boost in their sales and conversions.

What is Customer Engagement and Why it is so Important?

Traditionally the term customer engagement means the relationship between the customers and a business. However, the more modernized definition of customer engagement includes the entire customer lifecycle form acquiring customer to onboarding, providing them services, nurturing your relationship with them, gathering their feedback, gaining their trust, ensuring their happiness and converting them into loyal customers. So the customer engagement means the complete process of communication, customer interaction and experience, customer loyalty and customer retention, etc. The customer engagement plays an important role in generating revenue, retaining customers and customer loyalty. These factors form the foundation of success and enable businesses to achieve for their long-term goals and objectives. Well-established businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE use customer engagement metrics as high-value indicators of their business development, sales and profitability, and the overall success. This is what makes customer engagement so important.

What is Customer Engagement Strategy?

The customer engagement strategy can be narrow down to two important factors, the customer needs and their interests. The customer engagement is often confused with customer satisfaction and customer experience, although these three are inter-connected and inter-dependent however, they all are distinct phenomenon and should be treated separately. The customer engagement strategy is basically how the customers will interact with your business and brand and the core objectives of customer engagement strategy is to offer value to the customers, solve their problems, address their concerns, and encourage them to interact with your business more. The customer experience is how the customer perceive your brand based on their interaction and the customer satisfaction is how happy or unhappy they are with that experience or interaction. That is why the customer engagement strategy have profound impact on customer experience and customer satisfaction as well which makes it a crucial component of your overall business strategy. The customer engagement strategy is also formed like any other strategy you need to consider key factors and then set goals, make a plan, assign resources and take appropriate actions to achieve those strategic goals and objectives.

How to Build a Successful Customer Engagement Strategy to Boost Sales?

The customer engagement strategy is not as that complicated as it may sound. It is a simple process which starts with a little bit of research and need basic expertise to form a plan of action. Here are the key steps to consider while setting up your next customer engagement strategy:

Start with research work, discuss with stakeholders, analyze business intelligence& feedback data
Identify and segment your ideal customer groups, this is crucial as your top-priority customer group will be your high-value target audience and will dictate the course of the rest of the path
Build a brand voice and create valuable content that aligns with your targeted audience groups
Enhance customer interaction and offer them personalized experience
Streamline your customer engagement process by utilizing specialized tools such as CRM
Build a loyalty program that offers value and exclusive offers for loyal customers
Integrate and align customer feedback management process with customer engagement strategy
Leverage the potential of social media, modern digital channels and other technologies
Implement customer success center technologies and self-service solutions
Evaluate the success of your customer engagement strategy after a pre-set time and make improvements to boost the impact and outcome for the next cycle

Setting up customer engagement strategy is very important it will help you increase the success rate and it will provide your teams a guideline to follow which is also very helpful for improving the performance. While setting up a customer engagement strategy it is also important to define the success metrics and monitor them throughout the process. Usually business revise their customer engagement strategies after an year or so but in such a dynamic and fast-paced markets like UAE it is important to evaluate your strategy twice an year or quarterly.

Key Customer Engagement Strategies to Increase Customer Engagements and Boost Sales?

Now that we have already discussed what customer engagement is, why it is so important, what customer engagement strategy is and how to set up a successful customer engagement strategy, let us discuss the market proven and most commonly used customer engagement strategies to increase your customer engagements which will definitely help you boosting your sales and conversions.

Utilize Multiple Channels to Increase Customer Engagements and Boost Sales

The customer engagement heavily rely on frequent communication. Today we have multiple communication channels. Especially with the rise of mobile phones, social media platforms and online platforms it is extremely important that your reach out to your customers in a way which is most convenient for them. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the internet penetration is 99%, which is far more than any other nation in the region. And the same is true for the smartphone usage as well. This means that people have access to internet and they also use smartphone. In fact the smartphones usage has significantly increased all around the world. In fact the smartphone usage has exceed the regular laptop and desktop computers. Here in UAE people on an average spend almost 8 to 9 hours daily on the internet for work and personal needs. Out of that time 3 to 4 hours are only for social media and communication. Which makes digital communication far more significant than ever before. That is why identifying the popular social media and digital platforms that are used by your target audience is crucial and you should have a strong presence on all those channels and platforms.

Each social media channel is slightly different from the other. This means each social media users’ demographics could be different too. For example, the Snapchat is more popular among youngsters and Gen Z the LinkedIn is more popular among professionals and so on. You have to identify which social media or digital communication channel is more popular among your targeted audience and then focus on them to maximize the customer engagement. When you reach out to your customers through their preferred medium they feel more connected with your brand. Integrating multiple channels in your communication and marketing process is a great customer engagement strategy. It not only help you streamline your communication but it is also very helpful in generating more leads and sales. If you keep reaching out to your customers through their most used platforms and channels they will never forget about your brand. This will also help you nurturing your relationship and establishing a strong bond between you and your customers.

Personalize Content and Experience will Increase Engagement and Boost Sales

Personalized content/communication and personalized customer experience are the two most important factors in customer engagement. When you personalize your content/communication and customer experience you treat every customer as an individual this is what have profound impact on every customer, whether they notice it or not but when you are treated as an individual your subconscious mind perceive a very positive image about the business or brand. It make them feel like you are talking to them or you have prepared your systems and processes to exclusively serve them, this sense of exclusivity is great for a satisfactory experience and it also help gaining customers’ loyalty. Furthermore the personalized communication help businesses build a persona or a personality which is much easier to interact and engage with. The brand persona can also help businesses gain a great competitive advantage and help them build a unique brand identity. The existing customer data can be a great source of information to utilize in building personalize experience and content/communication. Personalized customer experience and content is great way to increase customer engagements and boost sales.

Offering Self-Service Solutions can Increase Engagements and Boost Sales

Several worldwide studies and market analysts have suggested that almost 70% of the customers try to solve a problem by themselves before contacting the service rep or support team. It is important to understand that a majority of people who will be coming to your business would not be seeking specifically your product or service but in fact they are seeking a solution to their problem. Whether you are a B2B or B2C business your customers will be seeking a product or service that can offer them a solution to the problem they are facing. Similarly when the customers need to contact a business they first try to solve the problem by themselves rather going through the process of filing a complaint, claiming warrantee anything like that. That is why the self-service solutions have gained huge momentum over the last decade. Whether it is your corporate website providing useful information, your blogs offering guides and tutorials, your FAQs or user manuals, social e media pages, self-service kiosks, customer portals or anything, the customers will appreciate utilizing a self-service channel to solve their problem. This will significantly increase their engagements and help you gaining more sales and conversions.

Attractive Loyalty Programs Increase Customer Engagements and Boost Sales

The loyalty programs are a great gifts which keep on giving back to your customers. It is not just to please them and make them come again and again and do repeated business but it is to give them value, importance and establish a bond between the business and the customers. The loyalty programs are a great tool to inspire the prospects who haven’t yet done any business with your brand. The loyalty programs build credibility and trust among the customers which also attract more customers. The loyalty program also indicates that you value each interaction with your customers and they will always get a small little treat whenever they will do business with you. The loyalty programs can be designed as per your best interests, for example the point base loyalty program is the most common in Dubai and all around the UAE however, you can also offer benefits on other important things such as leaving appositive feedback online or in Google will give your customers a discount voucher, you can issue your customers loyalty coupons which they can share with others to support increase your referrals, etc. No matter what you offer to your customers or how you offer to them having a loyalty program is always helpful in increasing customer engagement and boosting your sales.

Implementing Closed-Loop Customer Feedback Increase Engagements and Boost Sales

Every business knows the importance of the customer feedback. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are proactively collecting customer feedback and business intelligence data as this data is extremely vital for understanding customers, markets and your internal and external processes. The customer feedback data help businesses identify the areas of improvements and help them in the product development process. It also help businesses in aligning their products/services, processes, resources, and communication as per customers’ needs and interests. That is why gathering the customer feedback is so important. However, most of the businesses overlooked the fact that gathering customer feedback data, analyzing it and then taking action on it is just one part, the other most important part is to follow up with the customers and letting them know that their feedback was taken very seriously and appropriate actions were taken. Obviously the customer feedback has different kinds, sometimes it is just an NPS score, sometimes it is suggestions or complaints and sometimes you are surveying for product development. Whatever the case is a closed-loop feedback campaign is many time more engaging than an open-loop feedback campaign and it significantly increase customer engagement and help boosting the sales.

Brand Awareness and Email Campaigns Increase Customer Engagements and Boost Sales

The brand awareness campaign is extremely important for any business. If your targeted audience group is not aware of what you are offering then how they would be able to buy it? That is why businesses regularly and more frequently launch brand awareness campaigns. Similarly the email is also a great communication and marketing tool. According to several studies all around the world the email which is among the earliest digital communication channel is still one of the most beneficial marketing channel for businesses with having the highest ROI rate comparing to any other digital marketing channel as of this day. On top of that the digital marketing have already dominated the marketing industry. As I mentioned earlier that the mobile phone usage and internet penetration in UAE is higher than any other country in the region and people tend to spend hours on the internet on daily bases for both work and personal needs. It means that the digital marketing have very high potential in Dubai and all around the world. Both the brand awareness and email can significantly boost the customer engagement and can produce great number of sales for a business. However, the important thing to understand is that both your social media ads, posts, videos, PPCs or emails should be used to remember your customers about your business and not to bother them. Businesses who failed to gain the full benefits of their digital brand awareness and email campaigns either overdo it or either doesn’t pay much attentions. A balanced brand awareness and email campaign can significantly increase customer engagement and boost your sales.

Evaluate and Improve Customer Engagement Strategy

Businesses usually utilize multiple customer engagement strategies and use a blend of multiple strategies which suits fit to help them achieving their business goals. Obviously any strategic decision is driven by a goal and objective in mind. And for customer engagement the prime objective is growth, furthermore the goals of your customer engagement strategy are also influenced by your high-level organizational goals and objectives. Traditionally the customer engagement is used to boost sales by achieving several other goals such as improving your brand image and brand perception, increasing your customer retention and attaining higher customer loyalty. The customer loyalty and customer retention can be taken as the foundation for growth and progress. Without a loyal customer base a business can hardly operate. Think of a bucket and water analogy, your customers are the water in the bucket, and your goal is to full the bucket. If your bucket had a hole at the bottom you will never be able to fill it, unless you start pouring more water in it. As soon as you will stop pouring more water you will start losing the level in the bucket. If you don’t have loyal customers you will have to invest more in marketing, brand awareness, and brand image building campaigns which will squeeze your profitability. That is why it is important to evaluate your customer engagement campaign against the goals you set at the beginning. This can be done by collecting data and analyzing outcome, such as increase in sales, customer feedback, revenue and much more. This will help you identifying the loopholes in your campaign which you can rectify and make your campaign more effective over the time.

Conclusion

Over the time the markets have become more customer-centric, now a days’ if a business failed to satisfy its customers they will immediately lose them to the competition. Especially in Dubai and all around the UAE where the markets are growing at a rapid speed, the competition is very high and increasing steadily and the customer demands are skyrocketed. A business who needs to survive and grow must have to obey the unspoken market rules. The customer is a king now, a business should be able to fulfill their needs, desires and expectations. This is when the customer engagement can be a great tool for a business, no matter what industry you operates in or whether you are a B2B or a B2C business, you should develop a highly customer-centric strategy in order to be able to survive and grow in the market. The customer engagement is often confused with customer satisfaction and customer experience which is why most of the businesses failed to invest adequate amount or time, resources and efforts in it. That is why in this blog we have discussed what customer engagement is, why it is important, how different and interconnected it is with other business strategies and how a business should develop its customer engagement strategy.

We have also listed a few highly popular and effective customer engagement strategies. If you want to learn more about customer engagement of if you have any query or if you want us to help you building and executing your customer engagement strategy, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this: How to Customize Performance Management System

January 11, 2023January 11, 2023

Why a Virtual Queuing System Is Better Than Clipboard and Pen

The businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are well-aware of the queuing difficulties and problems. Especially the retail and service-based industry suffers the most. The businesses who require their customers to arrive at their location or branch in order to make a transaction are the ones with more intense queuing and crowd management problems. Traditionally the queuing process is managed via clipboard and pen. Businesses doesn’t use any tool or complex software solution for their queuing and crowd management needs. This caused very serious problems and businesses have started noticing higher walk-out rates. Furthermore the market conditions, customer behavior and other factors also started transforming the queuing industry. We have witnessed the rapid and in-depth integration of smartphones and other digital technologies in our both work and private lives. The customer experience has become much more important than ever before in recent times. In fact there are several studies and market researches which suggest that an ordinary customer place experience equal to the quality of the product or service they are acquiring. The clipboard and pen based conventional queue management methods are unable to offer a better customer experience.

Furthermore the modern workplaces are heavily data driven the businesses need a tons of data in order to function properly hence there are several technological solutions and software that are considered to be absolute necessity for the modern businesses. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE in fact anywhere in the world, the cost of the labor and retaining employees is very expensive. In order to improve operational capabilities a business might have to hire more employees. First of all more employees doesn’t necessarily means optimized and improved productivity, you must also have to have management mechanisms in place in order to maximize the outcome of the teams and individual employees. That is the reason businesses implement digital solutions and software. The digitalization and IT help businesses in achieving maximum performance with far less employees and far less sophisticated management. In fact a single employee can produce an outcome worth of a team’s work if proper technology and digital tools are in place. Same is applicable to queuing process as well. Businesses need a proper technology to maximize the success rate and in order to achieve their strategic and long-term business goals.

What is Virtual Queuing?

The virtual queuing is a modern form of digital queue management systems. The traditional digital queue management systems have greatly improved the queuing process however, the virtual queuing have completely revolutionized it. The traditional queuing significantly improve customer flow, reduce their wait time, improve management and enhance customer experience. But the virtual queuing have amplified all those advantages with innovative features and integration of modern technologies and digital platforms. The virtual queuing not only allow your customers and visitors to sign-up remotely for virtual queues but it also provide them freedom doing so without being physically present at the premises. This means that the customers and visitors can sign-up for a virtual queue while they are at their home or work and their wait time starts right away, they will be served on time as per their ticket or e-ticket number without being physically waiting or standing in queues at the business’s premises. This is the major difference between a traditional digital queue management system and virtual queue management system. The virtual queuing further enhance customer experience by providing facility to sign-up using multiple remote channels and other useful features. This is what make virtual queuing more superior than the traditional digital queue management systems.

Why a Virtual Queuing System is better than a Traditional Clipboard and Pen Method?

The virtual queuing system can completely eliminate all pain points that cause a lot of problems in the traditional clipboard and pen line management methods. That is the main reason of implementing a digital virtual queuing system. Furthermore the virtual queuing system also offers a tons of benefits and can help businesses effectively compete in the modern marketplace. Here are the common problems that a traditional clipboard and pen method has along with key advantages of using a virtual queuing system:

Common Problems with Traditional Clipboard and Pen Waiting Line Management

The traditional manual queuing management with clipboard and pen is an outdated process. It is not effective anymore and the businesses need a better management tool to ensure a smooth customer experience. Here are some very common problems that businesses and customers face with a traditional clipboard and pen based queuing management methods:

Unclear Wait Time: The wait time is one of the most important factor in queue management and it have profound impact on the customer experience. The manual clipboard and pen based queuing management can’t estimate wait time or provide a clear information to the customer which is also the cause of most of the complaints.
Higher Customer Churn Rate:The manual clipboard and pen based queuing management always have higher walk-out rate which is called customer churn rate. The customer churn rate is represent a great loos of the sales, not only that it results in unhappy and unsatisfied customers who will share their experience with others which will harm your business’s brand image.
Inconvenient for Employees: The biggest problem with the clipboard and pen based queuing system is that only one employee at a time can have it. But that is not practical, usually more than one staff will have to manage the waiting lines hence they will have to constantly pass the clipboard and pen to the next employee. Furthermore the handwriting and typo also cause more problems.
Poor Customer Experience: The customers can never be provided with the accurate estimated time to their turn, usually it crosses the value the staff estimates due to several factors. However, another critical problem is that the clipboard and pen based queue management requires customers and visitors to stand nearby or in waiting lines, hence they have less freedom and could feel bound which results in frustration and unhappiness.
No Data Collection:The business intelligence data is vital for strategy making and decision taking processes. A clipboard and pen based queuing system cannot gather any kind of business intelligence data. It is nearly impossible to understand customer behavior, their experience, the waiting time and employee performance, etc. using clipboard and pen queuing management method. Without clear information decisions and strategies have too much guessing work which reduce the success rate and can undermine the profitability and productivity of a business.

The waiting line management can be very challenging for businesses. There are several factors that contribute to long waiting lines and their repercussions on customer experience. The clipboard and pen queuing is a very old waiting line management method. Due to its inherent disadvantages and flaws businesses started adopting more modern and technologically advanced queuing methods such as implementing a digital queue management system. Here are some key advantages of virtual queuing that will help you significantly improve customer experience, efficiency and productivity in the process.

Advantages of a Virtual Queuing System

Any digital queue management system can offer a great efficiency comparing to traditional clipboard and pen methods. However, the virtual queuing is considered to be the most modern and advanced form of queue management systems. The virtual queuing system help businesses achieve a better customer flow and improve customer journey and experience. The customer experience drives customer loyalty, and the customer loyalty is a key to long term success. Furthermore the virtual queuing system is also a great tool to collect highly valuable business intelligence data which help businesses understand and evaluate their internal processes, customer experience and much more. The virtual queuing system utilizes the most commonly used communication channels and mediums to make it more convenient for an average customer or visitor to access to the system. The virtual queuing also help reducing the customer wait time and provide better control over the customer flow. The crowd prevention features help management dealing with any unexpected scenario and large influx of the customer and visitors. The virtual queuing system is based on an AI (artificial intelligence) based smart software engine which also facilitate communication and improve customer engagements. Here are the key advantages of a virtual queuing system which make it far more superior than the conventional clipboard and pen methods.

Advantages of Virtual Queuing System: Easy Remote Sign-up Features

One of the biggest advantage of a virtual queuing system is that it offers multiple remote sign-up methods. Which makes it more convenient and easier for the customers and visitors to sign-up remotely without being physically present at the business premises. There are multiple channels that can be integrated with virtual queuing system such as SMS, Call Center, Online Booking, Customer Portals, Corporate Website, Queue Management System Mobile Apps, WhatsApp, QR Code, etc. All these channels help customers sign-up easily without any need of physically appearing at the business. The customers are signed-up remotely for virtual queues, no matter if they are present at the business premises or not they will remain on their designated positions in the queue and will be called upon their turn. This means that if a customer plans to visit a bank branch or a customer service center they can sign-up while they are at home or work, and they will be issued an e-ticket which will contain their token number and the estimated time to their turn. Hence they can plan their visit with more freedom and convenience which definitely enhance their experience and raise their happiness and satisfaction.

Advantages of Virtual Queuing System: Significantly Low Wait Time

The wait time is one of the most impactful aspect of queuing process. Longer wait time will always hurt your customer experience and it will also cause increase in customer churn rate. Furthermore the longer customer wait time also causes unsatisfied service experience and it creates other management related problems such as it will impact your employee efficiency and resource management strategy. Furthermore there are two different types of wait time that we consider in queuing process. One is the actual wait time and the other most important phenomenon is the perceived wait time. The perceived wait time is just the imagination of human brain. The human brain works in very peculiar ways, if the waiting experience is not so good, the actual wait time could be 1 minute but we will feel it like 5 minutes or so. That is why the perceived wait time is very important for customer experience. The biggest advantage of virtual queuing system is that it not only reduce the actual wait time but it also help minimizing the perceived wait time as well. As the customers and visitors can sign-up remotely and only required to arrive at the time of their turn so the wait time can be reduced to literally none. Even if a customer arrive before some time it would be marginal and they will have to wait very little which is why the virtual queuing system is one of the best in terms of managing customer wait time.

Advantages of Virtual Queuing System: Increase Customer Engagements

Customer engagement is another important factor of queuing management process. Engaged customers are tend to tolerate more wait time comparing to less engaged customers. For that different queue management systems use different techniques, for example a traditional digital queue management system offers digital signage screens and audio/visual announcement system which help engaging customers and keep them distracted from the waiting and reduce their stress. The digital signage are used to display the live queuing information along with multimedia content which keep users busy. Furthermore the audio/visual announcement system also keep announcing ticket number upon each customer call in multiple languages which also keep user distracted from the waiting and help reducing their stress and boredom. The virtual queuing system offers all these features and on top of that it also offers a bi-directional communication channel. Since most of the customers and visitors who are using virtual queuing would spend very less time in waiting areas so the communication channels help businesses provide queuing information, updates, notification, alerts and also a chatting facility via dedicated chat boxes or WhatsApp, etc. The service agents can also update customers in case of any urgent update or change in their turn, etc. These all features help businesses increase the customer engagement which is essential for reducing the wait time stress. It greatly help improving customers’ waiting experience and increase their satisfaction.

Advantages of Virtual Queuing System: Improved and Automated Customer Flow

The customer flow management always have huge impact on the overall performance and efficiency of the queuing process. Each business offers multiple services, these services are offered through multiple counters. Sometimes businesses also multi-stepped services or stepped services which require a customer to visit at least two or more counters in order to avail a full service. Then there are different customer segmentations on the bases of the customers and visitors demographics and service type. For example, businesses could have dedicated counters for elderly visitors, people with special needs, VIP or Premium customers and service-bound segregation. All these segregations means that each customer group will be treated differently or could have different customer experience expectations. On top of that in a real-life queuing scenario there are several other variables that can impact your customer flow such as longer service delivery time than expected, unwanted delay due to disputes, additional requirements or any such thing, all these factors can disrupt a regular customer flow. Hence the businesses need a mechanism in place which can order the customer flow by monitoring real-time queuing data and taking automated decision in order to ensure maximum customer flow is sustained. The dedicated administrative dashboard and smart software engine of the virtual queuing system will help businesses define and implement their queuing policy in a fully automated manner. Hence the virtual queuing system monitors system usage stats and data from touch points to take real-time decisions which help improving the customer flow and improve customer experience by reducing their wait time and solving such problems.

Advantages of Virtual Queuing System: Improve Productivity and Employee Performance

For any business the productivity and performance are essential needs. Without achieving higher productivity and performance a business can never achieve higher profitability which is crucial for long term success and growth. The clipboard and pen based queuing system is slow, restricted and outdated. It cannot meet the needs of the modern market requirements. A digital queue management system on the other hand is very advanced, it improves productivity and performance and help businesses in resource management. A virtual queuing system can collect a variety of employee performance data which is also very helpful in improving employee performance. It can track all employee activities and their progress of the day. On top of that it provides various performance KPIs and analytical tools which help management in evaluating employee performance and help them taking actions in right direction to improve performance and productivity. Furthermore in any queuing management scenarios the employees who are serving customers need to perform several pre and post-service tasks. These tasks can be time consuming, however, with the help of the virtual queuing system and its ability to integrate it with other internal systems and central information center can help reducing employee efforts and maximize their performance. It also keep employee free from any task related to customer flow and line management as all that is done automatically. Hence the employee performance and productivity if significantly improved.

Advantages of Virtual Queuing System: Collect Valuable Business Intelligence Data

The modern day and age is completely dominated by technology and data. The AI (artificial intelligence), big data, cloud, electric cars, smartphones and such technologies are so popular that every day we are reading something about them. The technology have completely revolutionized our daily work and personal lifestyle. The modern businesses are heavily relying on IT and data for their day-to-day tasks as well as for basing their strategies and policies upon it. The term business intelligence is self-explanatory. The business intelligence data is insight about the matters relate to your business. It could and should include both internal and external factors. The data gathering is crucial for any modern business as their most of the policies and strategic decisions will be solely based on the reports and inputs of their data analysts. The traditional clipboard and pen queuing method is unable to collect the required data in fact it is nearly impossible to collect any business intelligence data with that method. The virtual queuing system on the contrary can provide a wealth of valuable business intelligence data. The virtual queuing system is capable of collecting system usage and analytical data from each and every touch point of the customer journey and it can also capture insight from other connected systems and tools. Furthermore the virtual queuing system also provide enriched analytical tools and customized reporting features which also help businesses getting the full advantage of the precious business intelligence data.

Advantages of Virtual Queuing System: Effectively Collect High-Quality Customer Feedback Data

Customer feedback data is vital for a healthy business growth. It help businesses acquire a deeper and better understanding of the customers, their behavior and market trends. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE actively work on their customer feedback management campaigns. For that usually businesses use a dedicated customer feedback management tool. The virtual queuing system offer two different method to implement customer feedback management tools. You can integrate your CRM or existing customer feedback management tool with the virtual queuing system or you can utilize the in-built customer feedback management module of the virtual queue management system to collect customer feedback data. It is far more convenient to conduct customer feedback campaign using the in-built customer feedback tool of the virtual queuing system. As the queue management system is already taking information about the customer and the service they need. Hence no need to input that data again during the survey. Which will make your survey small and it will definitely increase the response rate. Furthermore the customer feedback data can easily be analyzed with in-built analytical tools or it can be relayed to a third party system, CRM or any other customer feedback system or it can be integrated with the central information center for better data analysis and data sharing tasks.

See More: 5 Ways to Manage your Customer Service Queues

Conclusion

For any business managing queues and large influx could be a challenging task. For that businesses hire additional staff adopt modern practices and implement technologies. The queue management process is a very complicated process. Especially in Dubai and all around the UAE where the markets are very advanced, the customers are savvy and the competition is tough. Furthermore the customer experience has become a phenomenally important factor in any business’s success. It is not just in UAE but all over the world, the customers are willing to pay extra if they are provided with a better experience. That is why businesses need to focus more on customer experience and customer satisfaction. When it comes to queuing management system the clipboard and pen queuing method is very old and outdated. It is limited, have several restriction, and this method doesn’t collect any business intelligence data. These are the reasons businesses decided to implement more advanced and technology based digital queue management systems. The virtual queuing system is the most modern and highly advanced form of a traditional digital queue management system. It not just only offers all advantages of a tradition queue management system but it also help boosting system efficiency and enhancing customer experience.

The virtual queuing system is a great tool to maximize the efficiency of your queuing process. It also help enhancing customer experience and it is a great tool to capture valuable business intelligence data. In this blog we have discussed why a virtual queuing system is better than clipboard and pen. We have listed the common problems and drawbacks of clipboard and pen based queuing process and we have enlisted the key advantages of the virtual queuing system. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to implement a highly customized and tailor-made virtual queuing system for your business please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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January 4, 2023

How to Customize Performance Management System

The performance management is an integral part of a business’s growth strategy. The performance management help improving the operational capabilities, improve resource management, align employees and resources with high-level goals and objectives, maximize the productivity and profitability of the business and make them ready to be reactive and responsive to the abrupt changes in the market and customer trends. The modern businesses face modern problems, the markets are evolving on a rapid pace, the customer demands are skyrocketing, the workplaces become more dynamic, the employee’s demands and needs are also continuously changing. Above all the Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a very competitive market. The human resource management have evolved a lot over the past decade, with the introduction of Gen Z in worldwide marketplaces the values, norms and standards have transformed a lot. Several surveys are market research proved that the managers and even the employees felt difficult to share an honest opinion in a fear or harming the relationship with their employees, managers or peers. It is not that this bias is new, however, it got amplified in the recent years.

Similarly there are several other variables, such as intense integration of the technology, which have completely transformed the work environment and digital ecosystem. The communication channels have been changed, the digital customer experience is paving its way, the customers are more focused on having a good experience, the competition is becoming tougher day by day, and the customer retention needs more focused efforts than ever before and so on. We can discuss hundreds of different factors that have completely changed the work environment, culture, customer behavior and marketplaces over the years. However, the important thing is to understand that a performance management system is an absolute necessity for a high-performing business. When a business or organization will have to choose a right performance management system they can easily get overwhelmed with the variety of available solution in Dubai and all around the UAE. However, a good one-fit-for-all type of performance management system or solution doesn’t exists, otherwise it wouldn’t be so difficult for many enterprises to implement a best performance management system. That is why the customization is the only way to implement a good performance management system/software which can full-fill all your business needs.

What is a Performance Management Software?

The modern performance management system is software application which is exclusively designed to support a business’s performance management processes. It is like any other software tool that a business might use to improve any other work flow or process. For example, a document processing tools or a complaint center tool is a digital solution to improve the efficiency and performance of the document processing and complaint management processes. Traditionally the performance management was done manually, where the evaluation is majorly based on the reviews by the managers. However the digital performance management system or performance management software is a modern digital solution that help businesses to increase the efficiency and efficacy of their performance management process. By leveraging the performance management software businesses can easily adopt to:

Agile Performance Management
Continuous Performance Management
Contextual-based Performance Management
Project-based Performance Management
KPIs, OKRs, Balanced Score Cards
Performance Management by Objectives
Modern Performance Metrics

And much more. The performance management software help businesses adopt to modern practices and methodologies to maximize the outcome of their performance management campaign. Furthermore the performance management software is a great tool to digitalize the performance management processes which brings automation, accuracy and transparency to the system.

How to Customize a Performance Management System that fits all your Performance Needs

Every business and organization have its own very unique culture, work environment, practices, business processes, management structure, strategies, plan, goals, work flows, etc. which make it significantly different from others. The organic evolution, natural growth and the leaders are responsible for this uniqueness and it is considered to be one of the best competitive advantage one can have in highly dynamic markets. This uniqueness also means that every business and organization have different needs hence they need a different performance management solution. There are two major categories of software solutions, whether you are acquiring a software solution for any internal or external business processes, these two categories remain same. The first one if the commercial off-the-shelf solutions (COTS) and the second category is customized, tailor-made or bespoke software. The customized software are exclusively designed to meet the very unique demands of a business hence are more reliable, perform well, integrate within organization easily, and produce much higher and better quality outcome. In this blog we will discuss how a business can customize their performance management system software to unlock the true potential of their workforce and achieve higher goals and objectives.

Customize Performance Management System: Engage Employees in Discovery Phase

Like any other software the performance management system also require a comprehensive discovery phase. Since you are aiming to develop a customized performance management software you need to do proper research before making a plan for the software. Usually business pay adequate amount of efforts in the research and discovery phase however, the most important thing that most of the businesses undermine the importance of engaging employee in the discovery phase. Most of the times businesses doesn’t include employees in the discovery phase or any other phase of the performance management system development. However, engaging employees in the early stages of the performance management system development will help you build a better and more compatible system which will align with the needs and expectations of the employees as well as the business goals. This will help you define the metrics, incentives, goals, objectives, critical success factors, and much more in a way which make sense for the employees. This also help businesses in implementing the new customized performance management system and enable them to adopt it with a more positive attitude and help you achieve better efficiency and efficacy of the system.

Customize Performance Management System: Make a List of all Required Features and Performance Metrics

One of the biggest advantage of a customized software is that you can add all the features you want. Every business have different performance objectives and even goals also. The performance management process and practices also differs from case to case, that is why each business requirement is different from the other. It is important that you include all the features that you need. Such as goal setting features, communication framework, performance metrics and data analytical tools. Whatever you want you can include in the system at this stage. The best is always to consult with the external consultant or the performance management software development company. As they would have more experience with the performance management system and their feedback can be very vital. It is important that all the performance measurement metrics are also discussed internally with all stakeholders and relevant personals. You can also engage employees at this stage and consolidate all the feedbacks in one document then refine that document and for a charter document or scope of the work. This charter document or scope of the work will include all the features that you will be getting in your customized performance management system. It is important to invest as much time and effort as you could in this stage as it is the most crucial aspect of the customized performance management software development.

Customize Performance Management System: Intuitive UI (User Interface)

For any software the UI or user interface is a key to success. Studies have revealed that people tend to avoid complex software and their efficiency declined with complex UIs and difficult user experience. Same is applicable for your customized performance management software. If the UIs are simple and easy-to-navigate the user response will be good. Furthermore it is important to customize your UIs look and feel to match with your company branding. The navigation of your customized performance management software should be simple enough to let user access the tools/features or information within a few clicks. Performing different tasks should be simple, such as defining KPIs, setting up goals and objectives, viewing performance data or any such feature should be easily accessible for all the users. Furthermore several features can be added in UIs to make them more intuitive and user-friendly such as adding tool tips, mouse hover functions, dialog boxes to share instant help materials, a dedicated help and FAQs section and guidance for the users to understand each feature of the customized performance management system. Offer simple options to save the work and continue it on the next day/session. That is a very useful feature. The textual content should be simple, avoid using complex and technical terminologies and use plain and simple language to make the system more understandable.

Customize Performance Management System: Digitalization and Automation

One of the biggest advantage of implementing software based solution for manual processes is the digitalization and the automation. The digitalization means that the performance management software will convert manual processes in digital which are more convenient. It also allow several dashboards for different users with different level of access and according to their job roles. The administration or higher management and power users will get maximum system access. This enable businesses to make a process simpler and convenient. For example, if a manager want to schedule a one-to-one discussion or meeting with an employee, they can schedule it in the system. If reviews are to be conducted this can be scheduled, and the management will get full overview of what is happening. If a review is pending they will immediately know, if they want to get the information that who conducted the review and what were the findings, etc. and all that can be done with a few clicks. Furthermore the automation help managers collect the performance data automatically which can save a lot of time and efforts and make the processes even more convenient. These are the advantages which enable businesses to easily adopt to continuous and agile performance management practices and other more frequent performance reviews.

Customize Performance Management System: Third-Party Integration

In today’s modern work environment the organizational software, tools, and databases work in harmony with each other where a well-connected network and data sharing mechanism is development to increase collaboration and communication between different software and tools a business is using. The performance management software is not different, it also support different levels of integration. However, most of the time the HR managers or the decision makers doesn’t realize that certain technological platform are better in integration than the others, furthermore it also depends on the existing network and digital ecosystem. So, the technology that you are selecting to develop your customize performance management system should be able to integrate with your existing business tools, enterprise solutions, databases and central information center. The central information center is a digital hub which hosts the data of all connected software and tools. Your new customized performance management software should be able to integrate. It doesn’t matter if you need integration or not, but the compatibility should be there. As organizations and businesses keep growing and high-performing enterprises need support from their IT infrastructure. That is why it is important to ensure your new customized performance management software will support the required third-party system integration.

Customize Performance Management System: System Administration and Configuration

Usually the HR managers or other decision makers doesn’t emphasize on the customization features and abilities of the system’s administrative panel. Most of the time when the word customization comes, people often think it is having a change in the source-code of the program or layout, which is only done by skilled professionals. However, every software also have an administrative control panel which allow certain level of customization which help system administrators and power users to manage and modify the system’s features and certain aspects. That control panel is very vital for a performance management software. Obviously it depends on the vendor, but on your part you can think of different scenarios that you could face in future which might require to make certain changes in the system. For example, currently you are conducting employee performance evaluation twice in a year, you might want to ramp up the frequency by conducting performance evaluation after each quarter. You might want to set up on-demand based reviews and assessments such as project-based performance evaluation, etc. Similarly there could be so many different scenarios and practices which you are not needing today but maybe in the distant future you might going to need them. Similarly you might want to control the alerts, notification, or even the data access for different users, etc. All these features will be available on the administrative control panel which will allow you to change or customize the system configuration to suit your needs and requirements.

Customize Performance Management System: Mobile Compatibility

The performance management system is a very important tool, the key to better performance management is always communication, in case of a performance management software you will always want your employees to interact with it more often. However, usually businesses keep the access to such systems restricted within their networks, or even the access is not the issue such software and tools come with desktop version only. The administrative and user access panels and dashboards are mostly web-based interfaces. Which means that an employee will have to login to a web-page in order to interact with such systems and software. The modern performance management system is also a similar software, it offer multiple web-based UIs (user interfaces) which can be accessed through a web browsers. However, these days the smartphone and mobile technology have completely transformed our work and personal behavior. People tend to spend more time on their smartphones and mobile devices. Above all there would be a lot of employees who will be always on the go or who will be working off-campus. For all such employees interacting with performance management software could be a big problem. That is why offering mobile compatibility can significantly increase their interactions and engagements which also have positive impact on the performance. The mobile compatibility can be achieved by two methods, one is making your UIs responsive and the other is offering a dedicated smartphone application. Both methods are good, but the dedicated smartphone applications tend to offer a better user experience.

Customize Performance Management System: Scalability, Upgrades and Maintenance

The scalability, upgrades and the maintenance are the most important components of any custom software development project. Similarly your customized performance management system should also have a crystal clear strategy, plans and mechanisms for the scalability, upgrades and maintenance. Another great advantage of the customized software application is that they are exclusively designed for a particular business and the ownership belongs to that business and not the vendor or outsourcing contractor who is developing the software. This completely solve all commonly associated problems with the scalability, as the customized performance management software is completely owned by the business itself, hence they can expand it as much as they want, they can have unlimited numbers of the users without paying anything extra. There would be no monthly or annually fees or subscription charges or associated licensing fees. The upgrade policy can be mutually worked out with the vendor or outsourcing contractor. Since you will own the customized performance management system software hence you are not bound to the same vendor, you can have in-house team to keep the system up to date or upgrade it whenever needed or you can sign an agreement with the vendor or any other third-party software development company who is familiar with the technology and can support your with further customizations in future. Same is the case with the maintenance too.

Conclusion

In the present day’s dynamic marketplace and skyrocketing customer demands, it is crucial for a business to efficiently and effectively utilize its resources. For that every business have some kind of performance management strategy. Usually businesses follow traditional by-book methods to execute a performance management strategy. However, the marketplace have changed very rapidly and the performance management is also not the same as it was a decade ago. This require businesses to be more proactive and reactive towards abrupt market changes which is why businesses adopt and implement technological solutions to increase their capabilities, productivity and readiness to respond to the market changes. A performance management system is one of the most important part of any business’s success strategy. However, recently businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have started adopting customized software and application instead of going for COTS or commercial off-the-shelf solutions. The biggest advantage of the customized performance management system software is that business can design is exclusively to meet their specific and unique needs. Unlike COTS the customized software doesn’t require you to adopt the new system and make changes to your existing processes, practices and methods.

The customized performance management system can easily integrate in the existing digital ecosystem and it can be designed as per the user’s demands hence very less or no training is required. Furthermore the businesses own their customized performance management system which means that their data will be more secure and they can customize the system the way they want in future as well. There are several other advantages of the customized software which make this method far superior than acquiring a commercial off-the-shelf software solution. That is why reason we wrote this blog to help our audience understand how they can customize their performance management system software to maximize its efficiency, impact and efficacy. If you have any question or if you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you design and develop your new customized and cost-efficient performance management system software, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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