While some officeholders are instituting “shelter-in-place” orders, others are calling their recommendations “stay-at-home” orders. The recommendations generally require people to avoid all nonessential going outdoors and stay inside as much as possible.
Don’t panic, the orders are not “lockdowns.” They allow people to continue performing tasks essential to the health and safety of family and pets. It’s still fine to buy groceries, go for a run, pick up medicine, visit a doctor or get supplies to work from home. To make these activities safer people prefer to use contactless technologies like making their appointments to a doctor, a bank or even placing an order in drug/groceries store on a particular time through their smartphone or any other device.
Such hard times are a test of endurance for many businesses. To attract customers and get their loyalty is the main task that is needed to be done due to the coronavirus outbreak. Companies that have queue management apps are more attractive for customers in times of distancing because they are allowed to follow directions limiting virus exposure. So your customers will be able:
- Remote Queuing. Say NO crowded lobbies by allowing customers to get in line from home. Tell them via SMS or App their wait time and when to arrive in the lobby.
- Flex-Appointments. Give customers flexibility. Interactive appointments provide reminder texts and the ability to cancel, tell you they’re running late, or reschedule right from their phone.
Let’s see how your future queue management system can help to build a strong relationship with your customers:
- Make your visitors engage and sign-in for service at the moment of their choice. Let visitors tell you who they are and why they came in for. So you will get all the information needed to offer them the best personal customer service.
- Inform your visitors – improve their experience. How long do I have to wait? Where to go next? – Keep your customers up-to-date on queue status to reduce the stress of waiting. Happy customers are repeat customers.
- Offer personal customer service. Break the ice and greet your visitors by name. The app gives your staff the information of why the visitor came in and lets them focus on providing great service.
- Message your visitors. The app also allows you to chat with your visitors. Do they have the necessary documents? Do they have any questions? Talk with them and distinguish your service.
There’s no arguing with this bold idea that queues suck. Nobody likes them, nobody is ever excited to be in a queue, and nobody looks forward to them. They’re also something that’s discussed about queues — their enormous cost.
Just imagen, Americans spend over 113 hours per person per year in queues.
The impact of a lack of queue management on brand loyalty
Slow-moving queues cause not only shopper frustration but may also affect brand loyalty:
- 74% would shop in a competitor’s store if they perceive the queue time to be quicker
- 70% would be less likely to return to shop again if they had experienced long waits, researchers found.
Being able to complete a purchase quickly has a significant effect on how customers view a retailer. 56% of customers say fast payment and reduced queuing is critical to “positively influencing their perception of a retail brand”(according Statista).
No customer experience these days is ever complete without a digital queue management system. Your customers can register themselves, saving you the time, the real-time tracking of queue status gives them a better estimate of wait times, and automatic notifications make sure they wouldn’t miss their turn even if they don’t decide to stay in your waiting area.
When it comes to queuing, the key is to offer as much transparency as possible. The more your customers know about what to expect, the less anxious they feel. And the less anxious they feel, the better your experience looks like.