The customer journey is meant to be smooth and friction-free. In an ideal world, customers will enter your store or office, acquire the needed product or service, pay, and leave happy. The reality of the typical customer experience doesn't always reflect this ideal situation; for instance, there are often bottlenecks that impact the journey, causing customer frustration and negatively impacting efficiency, one of these core bottlenecks is a long wait. Long waits are something nearly every customer dislikes, walking into a crowded waiting room or a long line and slowly counting the minutes as the line moves forward is an objectively unenjoyable experience. According to a QLess survey of 250 US adults aged 25+, "60.5% of customers have left a business because of a long queue, and either gone elsewhere or never returned. 69% of customers would patronize a competitor if they knew it had shorter waits." Customers are impatient about waits, and while businesses try to improve their waiting rooms with magazines or better chairs, this solution might not have the results they hope.
There is more to the waiting experience that agitates the average customer, and businesses should consider implementing solutions with a more significant impact. One of the ways an enterprise can combat the poor customer experience caused by long waits is by implementing a phone queue system. These are virtual queues that customers can check into on their phones to eliminate the need for in-person waits. QLess is a phone queue system with a wide range of features that are intended to transform the customer journey, creating a seamless, more transparent, and enjoyable process. With usage in industries ranging from government offices to retail, this phone queue system can change the line experience forever. Before diving into their impact on the customer journey, let's look at how phone queue systems work.
Phone queue systems are easy-to-use for customers and don't require much work to implement for businesses. They are a straightforward solution to the problem of long queues and difficult in-person physical waits; essentially, how it works is that customers can enter lines with the tap of a button. Using the QLess queue management software, your customer will tap to check into a line or appointment and virtually be entered into the line. They can monitor the wait time through their phone and keep track of the line as it moves; then, when their appointment is set to begin, they can enter and receive service. A phone queue system improves businesses' customer flow by organizing their lines for them.
The QLess line management system manages the line according to the appointment time, appointment type, and the employee servicing the appointment. It can also blend that line with walk-ins, automating the lineup according to pre-set preferences ensuring that everything moves smoothly for businesses and customers, with a seamless flow that doesn't require the same level of oversight from staff. This customer journey management solution works through the phone, as customers can check in and out of lines, message staff, and monitor wait times through an app or website. The QLess software has been found to reduce wait times by up to 97% and boost staff productivity by up to 90%, the calendar management features and line automation combine to make frontline staff's jobs easier and the wait for customers significantly faster. The benefits of a phone queue system are significant, impacting several core areas of an enterprise. Let's delve into how these flexible solutions manage to transform the customer journey for the better.
There are many things that the average consumer is looking for. In today's world, where ease of access is a priority, one of the most essential things is convenience. Customers don't want to shop with businesses that inconvenience them, and they respect nearly every product or service they purchase to be easily accessible. According to Smart Insights, "97% of customers have abandoned a purchase because it wasn't convenient for them." A Nasdaq survey showed that "83% of consumers believe convenience is more important now than it was five years ago." In a time where convenience is one of the most critical benchmarks consumers measure enterprises with, queuing systems can help businesses stand out, customers that use the QLess phone queue system have the freedom to wait for appointments or in lines from wherever they choose. Rather than standing in a physical queue or sitting in a waiting room, customers can join a line with their phone, monitor the wait time, and enter the physical premises only when it is time for their appointment giving them a more relaxed and individually tailored waiting experience.
Improving this aspect of the customer experience is incredibly important for businesses. Long waits are a big impediment to customer satisfaction and one of the most common customer complaints in many industries, according to Synqera, "73% of customers say waiting in checkout lines is their least favorite part of in-store shopping." Addressing the difficulty of physical queues will help businesses overcome this common cause of dissatisfaction and lead to happier customers. The happier your customers are, the lower your churn rate will be, and while no business has a perfect customer satisfaction record, addressing the issues you can will go a long way, physical waits are something the average customer has little patience for and are altogether avoidable. By implementing QLess, you can create a waiting experience that gives consumers back their independence and ensures happier customers.
Any solution implemented by a business should align with the preferences of its target market, for most enterprises, the most critical current demographic to target is Gen Z and millennials. This collective group ranges in age from 10-40, making up the 18-34 demographic that most businesses covet. To connect with this age group, you must cater their shopping experience to their established habits. For many companies, this will mean implementing mobile as a component of their customer service offerings. Millennials and Gen Z are both extremely online generations and very smartphone savvy, according to Review42, "98% of the Gen Z population owns a smartphone." Just behind them in this regard are millennials, as "93% of this generation owns a smartphone," according to the Pew Research Center. By adding smartphone-based solutions to your business, you won't be isolating many members of this generation; instead, you will be aligning with their established preference for mobile in the shopping experience.
Gen Z is particularly pronounced in their preference for merging digital and physical shopping channels. Bluestone PIM notes that "48% of them expect to be able to buy online and return an item in-store, and 33% expect to be able to buy online and pick up in-store." For younger generations, digital technology plays a significant role in how they shop, and they expect brands to be able to accommodate that, this isn't just true in retail, it is shown in many industries. QLess helps enterprises adapt to the mobile preferences of their consumers with a phone queue system that can be accessed through an app or mobile-optimized website. Mobile queue management systems help businesses create an omnichannel experience for their customers, where they interact with your business physically and digitally. With Gen Z and millennials now aged into the most important demographic for businesses across industries, meeting the mobile needs of consumers is more important than ever before.
Not everyone entering your business will have a perfect experience, no matter what you do. Individual customers have different expectations and preferences, and meeting all these varying needs can be difficult; similarly, there are a lot of different customer experience strategies an enterprise can implement what may help them improve, but one of the best is simply asking your customers what they think. Customer feedback is incredibly important, and the QLess digital queue management system has features that enable businesses to collect and store these insights. The QLess customer feedback solution allows enterprises to send a pulse survey via automated text after customers purchase or receive a service. They can automate this, so it happens automatically and draft different questions or simply request a review, QLess will then store that information in the database, and businesses can look through them to find important insights. The benefits of receiving subjective information from your customers are significant, this form of customer engagement allows you to learn more about your performance relative to customer expectations.
Understanding the areas of your business where your customers may find you are falling short of expectations and the areas where you are performing well will allow businesses to implement important changes. If you are seeing a significant number of reviews stating that the customer service wasn't up to par or that there was a significant degree of confusion around a certain part of the experience, this is an important step to improving that; ultimately, the goal of every enterprise is to provide a service that has the customer leaving happy. A happy customer is a loyal customer, and that requires businesses to be attentive to what their customers think of their experience. QLess gives businesses the tools they need to collect important insights from their customers that will give them a clear picture of how they are performing. This will enable them to implement customer experience solutions that have better results.
Hearing firsthand from your customers is incredibly important. It gives enterprises a clear picture of how the people they are trying to satisfy feel about their service, but while subjective data is important, it is imperfect. Most of the time, customer feedback comes from both ends of the extreme spectrum: customers who have had a good or bad experience which provides crucial information, but obtaining objective information is just as important. This comes in the form of data or business intelligence, data paints businesses a picture of their processes that is unbiased and unopinionated. Armed with high-quality data, businesses can break down how they perform in several crucial areas and use that information to create a more seamless customer experience. According to Data Ideology, "Data-driven businesses are 23x more likely to acquire new customers and 6x likelier to retain them." Data is a driver of business success, but one of the issues many businesses struggle with is acquiring accurate data on things like their line experience.
QLess helps enterprises gain high-value insights into their services by offering business intelligence features. Since customers use the mobile customer journey management software to schedule and check into appointments, QLess can collect data covering several important topics. QLess records the average wait time, the number of customers served in a day, the appointment no-show percentage, and more, this information is reported to companies in graphs and charts that easily illustrate deviations and key takeaways. It can also be segmented, so businesses can filter the information according to criteria like the day of the week, time of day, appointment type, and more.There's a lot businesses can do with this information, they can notice areas where they might be falling short of customer expectations, like certain appointment types that have longer waits than others or times of day when they might be overwhelmed. They can then make the necessary adjustments to provide better quality service at all times of day for every appointment type. It is a tool that helps connect a leadership team to highly valuable, objective, and actionable insights.
Customers have a lot to say. Whether they've had a positive or poor experience or want to get in touch with a staff member, customers want their voices heard. Shopping at a store or going to a doctor's office shouldn't make customers feel like just a number to a business. It should be a personalized experience, where they feel their opinions matter and staff is accessible. Strong communication is how businesses can meet this need, which is something that businesses across industries often struggle with. It can be difficult to remain in constant contact with customers and hear out all their varying requests and complaints but armed with the right tools, businesses can provide stronger communication to their customers, benefiting all parties involved. QLess' phone queue system is complete with communication features that enable staff and customers to message back and forth, as well as mass messaging that makes communication scalable.
The bi-directional communication features allow customers to message staff regarding any questions or complaints. They can connect with staff while waiting in line, send additional details to make appointments a smoother process, and have their communication needs met. For businesses, they can send mass messages to entire lineups of people at once, provide important updates, and schedule SMS appointment reminders on the day of appointments. Better communication allows businesses to meet customer demands more efficiently and helps cut back on appointment no-shows which are a serious problem in industries across sectors. A customer interaction tool like QLess allows businesses to maintain better contact with customers to ensure they don't forget appointments. The mobile nature of QLess means customers are likelier to be more responsive and engaged, as they are much more likely to check texts than emails. Overall, enhanced communication leads to happier customers and a more effective enterprise.
The past several decades have started a major shift that businesses are now reckoning. The modern consumer is more empowered and mobile than ever, sparking a significant decline in brand loyalty. The pandemic expedited what was already an ongoing trend as brand loyalty dropped 16% amidst COVID-19. Now more than ever, businesses have to compete to earn customer loyalty, as the emphasis on convenience and saturation of options creates a more competitive marketplace. The importance of acquiring a customer is significant, but acquiring loyal customers might be more significant. Churn is a natural part of every business, but having a solid base of repeat, loyal customers is how businesses stay afloat and grow. According to SmallBizGenius, "Boosting retention by just 5% can increase profits by up to 25-95%." It is also less costly than trying to market to new customers.
A virtual queuing system gives businesses a powerful solution to increase customer retention and loyalty. It is an all-in-one customer service platform that makes the overall appointment experience painless from end to end. Your customers can use the virtual appointment scheduling software to book appointments anytime, including outside business hours, they can check into lines remotely without needing to wait in physical queues, and they can communicate back and forth with staff for improved transparency and communication. QLess makes receiving a product or service from a business drastically more convenient. Convenience is top of mind for most customers, and QLess ensures that the appointment process is smooth and friction-free, this will surely incentivize customer loyalty by removing some of the biggest roadblocks to a good customer experience. Long waits, difficulty with appointment scheduling, and unresponsive staff are three extremely common customer complaints. Removing these issues will lead to more repeat customers, a crucial thing in a highly-competitive market.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, most businesses were completely unprepared. It is hard to be able to handle something as unforeseen and unpredictable as a global pandemic. Most businesses saw losses mount and customers leave as they scrambled for answers, the enterprises that were able to bounce back fast could do so largely because they were agile and flexible. Being an agile business means responding quickly to changes and altering course effectively to navigate difficult situations, digitization is a big part of that. Digitization helps businesses move quickly to make necessary changes which was certainly the case with the pandemic when remote work became the norm and companies had to move their entire infrastructure online. For businesses looking to digitize to become more agile, a phone queue system like QLess can help significantly in this regard.
QLess has virtual services features designed to help businesses run a digital appointment calendar. It works very similarly to the virtual queue system for physical appointments. Customers schedule their appointments through the app and are sent a link through SMS when it is time for them to check-in. They can check in on their phones and monitor the wait time until their appointment is set to begin, then they are sent either a Microsoft Teams or Zoom link, which QLess is integrated with and they can then join the virtual appointment. These advanced features give businesses the tool they need to run a fully digital appointment system if necessary. They can also blend different appointment types in their virtual queue, so physical and virtual appointments in the same line, it is a system that empowers companies to manage their appointment calendar in various ways and gives customers a choice of different types of appointments. This contributes to making a company more agile and capable of adapting to whatever major changes come.
Conclusion
In almost every industry, from retail and healthcare to government and education, companies are doing everything possible to separate themselves in customers' minds. This is one of the reasons there has been such an emphasis placed on the customer experience giving customers an enjoyable and seamless experience is the best way to stand out and earn their loyalty. As long lines and physical queues are clear obstructions to a good experience, addressing this problem has become vital. A phone queue system is a solution that enables enterprises to eliminate the need for a physical queue. With just the tap of a button, customers can enter virtual lines, monitor the necessary wait, and join when it is time for their appointment. This mobile-friendly solution aligns with the tech-savvy consumer most businesses will be targeting and has numerous benefits that can improve the customer journey. Your customers want speed, convenience, and ease of access. With a phone queue system like QLess, you can accommodate this need. Shorter waits, no physical queues, and improved transparency and communication are all ingredients to a seamless and friction-free customer journey.
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University students attend higher education institutions with the hopes of expanding their minds and preparing for their future. Unfortunately, all too often they got lost in a system that doesn't cater to individual student experience. Instead of feeling that the administration exists for the students, attendees quickly realize that they must conform to the needs of administrators in order to be successful. Scheduling appointments, registering for classes, even asking advisors for help all become nightmarish experiences filled with long lines, tired and impatient staff, and inadequate information.
Oftentimes, students will enter university fresh-faced, excited, and ready for success. Over time, however, ineffective university resources begin to take their toll. When simple tasks like registering for classes or dealing with financial aid eat up so much of their time, their desire to continue with their education slowly decreases. Students struggle to gain support from on-campus systems, which explains why consistently negative experiences with campus resources are one of the main sources of attrition; unfortunately, universities struggle to increase student satisfaction with limited resources. While student experience often ranks as a top priority for administrators, improving on-campus systems seems like an insurmountable task. A large student population means long lines--there doesn't seem to be a way around the problem. Fortunately, online appointment booking tools and an effective scheduling application both provide a modern solution to a large problem in higher education.
By using an electronic scheduling application like the one from QLess, academic institutions solve the problem of impatient students before it starts. Instead of expecting students to show up, wait in a line, and hope for the best, scheduling applications allow students to book an appointment ahead of time, eliminating the need for physical queues. In an age of ever-evolving technology, an electronic solution like a scheduling application can simultaneously push academic institutions into the modern age and improve the student experience.
Perhaps the most instantaneous result of an effective scheduling application is the elimination of physical lines, without an electronic tool, students often run into long lines at every on-campus location. While long queues are frustrating at any juncture, they're particularly irritating during key points in the year. When students struggle to register for class, change programs, or ask advice about their courses due to long lines, attrition begins to develop. Instead of forcing long queues that lead to general frustration and discontent, a scheduling application assigns students a specific time with which they can complete their necessary necessary business. When each student knows the time and date they can sign up for new courses, registering for classes becomes a breeze. Even signing up to see an advisor becomes a stress-free task--each person is assigned an appointment time, eliminating the pressure on both the student and the administrator. By bypassing lines and allowing individuals to address their issues at a specified time, students no longer waste their time waiting for help. They gain more time to study, hang out with friends, or even just relax, all of which will contribute to higher student satisfaction.
While a scheduling application gives students more free time, it also tailors the university experience to a new generation. Current and incoming university students have grown up with technology. They're well-versed in mobile applications, and they actually prefer to handle most of their business electronically. Academic institutions, like any business, attract the most customers when they know their audience and tailor their services accordingly, for a mobile generation, mobile scheduling applications should be the norm.
The QLess scheduling application not only provides a mobile platform for students to access information from anywhere, it also sends text alerts to inform students of their appointment times. By creating a smartphone-friendly design, this scheduling application speaks to a main tenet of a new generation--consistent and reliable mobile communication. It ensures that students have simplified access to important academic information, and it lessens the possibility that they'll forget their appointment time and fail to show up.
While human error always stands as a distinct possibility, electronic scheduling applications allow students to feel comfortable an at-ease in their academic environments. By using technology they are already experts in, academic institutions create easy communication and connections between administrators and students. Students who feel comfortable in their academic environment are more likely to complete their university education, rather than cave to the pressures of campus life.
When students are constantly filtered into long lines and told to wait their turn, the personal element of higher education disappears. Students want to feel like their individual needs have significance, especially in an institution with the social weight of a college or university, many students accrue heavy debt in order to gain their degree. For instance, the desire to feel like their individual experience matters isn't misplaced. Difficulty gaining access to basic information and meeting essential needs for the future of their education is understandably frustrating.
Although electronic scheduling applications simply increase the organization and staff productivity on college campuses, they also allow each student to feel like they're receiving personalized attention. A specific appointment time communicates that each individual is important enough to receive focused attention, in which only their specific questions and needs matter. Simple as it may sound, a scheduling application can make all the difference in creating what feels like an individualized learning environment, despite the fact that each student receives the same time and attention to discuss their needs.
If students have a problem with campus systems, they want to make their opinions known; unfortunately, when it's difficult to even get a meeting in the first place, students don't feel that their concerns are being heard. Even if every individual problem can't be addressed immediately, allowing students to provide feedback on their experience can greatly improve student satisfaction with on-campus life. University processes may not change immediately, but allowing students to feel heard and appreciated subtly communicates that their opinion matters.
A scheduling application allows students the opportunity to address their concerns, without eating up the essential time of administrators. Instead of sitting in an office and listing off every complaint, students can fill out electronic surveys, effectively and quickly communicating the elements of the campus system that don't work for them. Feedback provides a two-fold opportunity for growth within the university. First, administrators hear student concerns quickly and easily, allowing them to adjust future processes to fix the most common problems. Second, students get their frustrations off their chest, lessening their irritation and providing hope that things will change in the future. A scheduling application allows universities to listen and react to the needs of their students, without decreasing the productivity of their staff. Students have a hand in the improvement of their education, and it doesn't come at a cost to either students or administrators.
Academic institutions are designed to push students towards graduation; unfortunately, the decision to leave university altogether is a common one. While each individual leaves their academic institution for their own reasons, dissatisfaction with campus resources often appears as one of the major sources behind drop-outs. Although it sounds like a no-brainer, it's worth stating that students who are satisfied with their college experience are far more likely to stay in school and eventually graduate.
An effective scheduling application increases student satisfaction with on-campus services. Students express their concerns, gain personalized attention, and generally improve their ability to function within a university setting. With a scheduling application, graduation seems like an achievable goal, rather than a faraway possibility. When students believe that they can graduate, they're much more likely to work towards that goal. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the work in front of them, students see a clear path towards reaching their degree. Sometimes a little hope and a plan is all it takes. Happy students who believe they can graduate are more likely to graduate. A scheduling application brings that goal to the forefront of their minds, encouraging students to stay in school and earn their degrees.
Using a QLess scheduling application can change the life of university students everywhere. By eliminating physical lines and cutting down waiting times, scheduling applications allow students to feel like they're experiencing the personalized education they deserve; in addition, the mobile platform results in easy use for a tech-savvy generation and an opportunity for instantaneous feedback on campus services. Happy students are much more likely to stay in school, and to spread positivity about their academic institution, both online and in their personal life. If you want to increase your graduation rates, you need to learn more about QLess systems today. If you think our system might be the right fit for you, contact us now. We'll answer all your questions about QLess solutions. For more on improving campus operations and retention rates, read about how we've created college campuses without lines.
A well-developed workflow management system simplifies business processes at colleges and universities tremendously. As a business, these institutions provide education and degrees to their customers, also known as their students. Although colleges and universities stand as one of the most essential business organizations in young adult life, technological systems on-campus are often not on par with the fast-paced, technology-driven environment of the day. As incoming students reflect more expertise in current technology, so should their places of education. A workflow management system can change life at your university, both for your students and for your administrators.
In a school environment, multiple departments and individuals work together to contribute to the larger education machine. While some units identify prospective students, review applications, and send out offers of admissions, other divisions focus on registering current students for classes, organizing appointments with advisors, and assisting students with on-campus problems. Each of these individual systems work together to contribute to the overall goal of the organization--educating students and pushing them towards graduation, hence the need for workflow management.
A workflow management system simplifies all these processes. It's a software that automates some elements of your workflow management, taking the pressure off of your staff members and increasing the happiness of your students. By creating a streamlined network for all your most essential campus processes, a workflow management system allows each student to feel valued and supported, and each staff member to increase their productivity and efficiency.
A workflow management system creates an at-ease campus environment; not only that, it also brings your institution into the future. Easy-to-navigate education processes attract students, allowing your campus to continue running like the well-oiled machine that it is. Keeping your campus in the dark ages of technology not only hurts your students, it hurts your entire business. A high-tech workflow management system is a necessity your school can no longer do without.
Whether fair or unfair, students expect a lot of of their colleges and universities. An individualized learning experience is the standard, but most students would settle for consistent help from their on-campus systems. Unfortunately, high enrollment rates, a limited amount of resources, an overworked staff, and a surplus of tasks to complete often leave students feeling confused and overlooked. The more difficulty students experience navigating their education process, the more impatient they become. If enough time passes, the decision to leave school altogether becomes an easy one.
They're not getting the help they need to prepare for their future, why would they stay?
Consistently negative experiences with student services are one of the primary sources of attrition among college students. When students don't get the help or services they need, they drop out of classes, refrain from attending courses, or even leave the school altogether. As an organization that seeks to prepare young adults for their future, the current attrition rates are unacceptable.
Thankfully, a workflow management system presents a wonderful solution. By simplifying student access to on-campus services, a workflow management system decreases frustration and confusion among the student body. With a system like the one from QLess, you can decrease attrition rates by as much as 50%. A workflow management system improves student satisfaction and increases retention rates by allowing each student to feel like their needs are being met.
While a workflow management system improves the lives of your students, it also leads to increased productivity of your staff. A higher education environment already deals with a lack of resources, but a larger problem presents itself in an ineffective use of the resources that do exist. Oftentimes, staff stretch themselves far too thin trying to meet the needs of all students, despite the lack of time or effective organization systems to do so. Advisors overbook themselves attempting to sort out class schedules, and the Registrar and Admissions offices are overrun with impatient students. While it's undeniably unfair to the students, it's equally as frustrating for the staff.
Workflow management systems streamline campus processes and effectively allocate your staff resources. By eliminating the need for physical lines and relying on technology-based systems for organization, workflow management systems allow your administrators to gain a clear view of the tasks they need to be completed. Instead of surprise assignments and a frustrating amount of work for staff members, each administrator focuses on their assigned tasks, increasing their overall productivity. Not only does it result in increased happiness for your employees, it also ensures that all your resources are used effectively, lowering operational costs and saving money in the long run.
In our technologically advanced world, physical lines and in-person wait times just aren't practical anymore. Many of the problems that develop in university settings stem from a general lack of organization. Without a workflow management system, students are forced to go to an office, wait in line, and generally waste their time in an attempt to progress in their college experience. At the same time, administrators have little control over the time and attention needed to help each individual student. With a finite amount of resources and an infinite amount of potential questions, administrators are unable to prioritize and organize accordingly. With that lack of organization, both staff and students waste their time, and neither leaves feeling happy.
A workflow management system sorts through the chaos in your offices and eliminates the inconveniences of poor organization. Instead of arriving at an unspecified time in a physical office, students are assigned an appointment time with which they can ask all their questions. Interactive virtual queuing simplifies the process if your student does need unexpected help, and mobile reminders ensure that each student arrives at their specified appointment time. Most importantly, all these processes are completed inside the system, without assistance from your staff, allowing them to save their abilities to actually help students and bypass the errors that often accompany in-person scheduling.
An effective workflow management system changes your on-campus life immediately. Improved allocation of resources, clear processes for students, and increased organization all lead to instantaneous changes in your business systems. However, workflow management systems also provide information on what needs to change in the future. As a completely automated process, workflow management systems collect valuable information on your student and staff patterns. Student wait times, staff efficiency, student needs--all these and more can be found within your workflow management system.
With QLess systems specifically, we provide a real-time dashboard that consolidates data from multiple offices. At a glance, you have a general idea of what's happening in all areas of your campus. In addition, surveys within the system provide even more information about student satisfaction and necessary changes. Improving your business is a constantly evolving process, workflow management systems provide valuable insights to ensure that you can provide the best resources to your students for years to come.
We don't need to tell you that colleges and universities need students to stay afloat. Enrollment and retention present a major challenge for higher education institutions. That explains why many student administrators list student retention and student experience as their top priorities. While students may drop out when dissatisfied with their education, the ripple effect extends much farther than a single loss. Unhappy students spread information online and within their communities about the ineffectiveness of the school, giving other individuals the message that your institution isn't worth attending. While an individual drop-out can already present a hefty loss, consistent dropouts can negatively affect your application and enrollment rates over time.
An effective workflow management system leads to increased student happiness and higher retention rates over time, but it also allows your students to talk positively about your institution. Not only are you saving money on attrition, you're also building a strong reputation that will draw more students to your school over time. Reputation matters, both for the present and for the future. Workflow management systems support your ability to meet your student's needs, building a strong reputation as an institution that cares. With a reputation like that, who wouldn't want to apply?
Workflow management systems are a necessity in the modern age. It increases the happiness of your students and staff, leading to higher productivity and increased retention rates. In addition, it organizes your office with little effort from your staff and provides valuable insights into how you can improve your processes in the future. If you're ready to build a strong reputation, meet your students' needs, and save money for your business, you need to take the QLess approach. Learn more about how our electronic queuing system can enhance your education systems today. Please contact us for more information about our system.
Waiting rooms have been an essential aspect of hospitals, doctor's offices, and other healthcare facilities. But it doesn’t take much thought to realize the idea is counterintuitive. Crowding individuals with ailments in congested areas while they wait for assistance is not ideal. This was only further emphasized as a person-to-person airborne pandemic struck the world. Patient queue management software can be the solution to remedy this.This experience caused many healthcare professionals to have to re-evaluate their waiting procedures. There were concerns about pandemic transmission in waiting rooms and the overall healthcare experience. Amid virus anxiety, would patients sit with others even with a mask on?For a while, there were no true means of eliminating the waiting room. But in recent years, to address these concerns, many healthcare providers have been implementing patient queue software like QLess. This software aims to help reduce patients’ anxiety and create a waiting room experience that meets customers' expectations. The healthcare industry is crowded, and consumers abandon providers that can't meet their needs. According to Medical Economics, 69% of patients would switch providers for better services. Patient queue management software is an impactful solution that can de-congest waiting rooms and provide a safer, more patient-friendly experience. In a time where consumers easily switch businesses, the patient experience is vital. Below, we will break down what patient queue management is, how a virtual queue management system creates safer spaces, and why this is so important for patients and healthcare organizations.
Before we go any further, it is important to fully understand what patient queue management software is. The idea is relatively straightforward, and it has changed the healthcare sector. Why not have a virtual waiting room to manage customer flow instead of a physical one? Patients can access this virtual waiting room from their phones, computers, or on-site kiosks.With key features that enable customers to track the actual wait times for appointments, monitor the progress of the line they’re in, and communicate with staff, patients have a drastically changed experience when using healthcare services. Some organizations still hesitate to embrace and implement digital technology into the patient experience. But data indicates that customers already rely on digital technology and expect organizations to accommodate that reliance. According to a poll from Healthfully, 80% of consumers want the ability to use technology to manage their healthcare experience. Furthermore, the average consumer uses tech constantly throughout their daily lives. The average U.S. adult spends more than seven hours a day on screens, according to Exploding Topics. Healthcare organizations should prioritize implementing helpful tech solutions like patient queue management to avoid customer alienation. Patient queue management software has substantial benefits that enterprises should not overlook. With features that allow customers to enter virtual queues from their phones, patients can remotely wait in the virtual waiting room and monitor their queue times. Implementing virtual queues doesn't mean healthcare organizations need to eliminate waiting rooms. It simply gives patients the ability to choose.
The million-dollar question that healthcare organizations might have is whether or not waiting rooms are such a bad thing. Waiting rooms were the only option for healthcare services before technology advanced enough to make them less necessary. So how bad could it be? By implementing software to eliminate waiting rooms, might healthcare organizations solve a problem that doesn’t exist? The answer to this question is a firm no. Waiting rooms pose a genuine risk to older patients' well-being. A 2012 study of elderly residents of long-term care facilities published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that a visit to an emergency department is associated with more than a threefold increased risk of acute infection. While this vindicates the need for patient queue software, it is also common sense. Requiring sick and injured people to share a room for extended periods increases patient risk. The pandemic highlighted that the prior waiting room model is untenable during an airborne virus outbreak among those visiting emergency rooms and doctors' offices. Healthcare providers adapted by spacing chairs, having customers wait outside, and mandating masks. While they may have curbed the virus from spreading, they reduced operational efficiency and didn't enhance patient satisfaction. It is not insignificant that waiting rooms also have extremely long patient wait times. The longer customers are cramped in a waiting area, even if socially distanced, the more at-risk they are. Similarly, the more unhappy they will be. This is why it is incredibly important for enterprises to be very conscious of the state of their waiting rooms.
We’ve established that waiting rooms might inadvertently put customers at risk, but what do your patients think of them? Customer satisfaction is vital in healthcare, as it's still a business, and unhappy customers can easily switch providers. The waiting room is a defining step in the patient's journey before receiving service. So it is worth asking if increasing patient satisfaction in the waiting room experience is necessary or if customers are okay with the current status quo. Data shows that consumers distrust crowded waiting rooms and dislike the experience they provide. A QLess survey of 250 U.S. adults showed that 59.4% of consumers associate congested waiting areas with unsafe conditions. If customers feel unsafe in the waiting room, chances are they will not enjoy their overall experience. A contributing factor in this situation is that the average waiting room is just not a pleasant place to be. Typical healthcare waiting rooms present sterile environments with white walls, fluorescent lighting, outdated magazines, and a T.V. This is hardly a positive environment, and according to Fierce Healthcare, unpleasant waiting rooms are a bigger issue for customers than long wait times. Rather than investing in more comfortable chairs or a higher-definition television, enterprises should focus on the real problem. Customers just don’t like waiting rooms either way. Patients prefer waiting from home or nearby cafes to congested waiting areas. Giving the consumer the option to skip the waiting room altogether is the best solution to a longstanding problem.
The healthcare industry is about more than just improving patients’ well-being, although that is the primary objective. The modern consumer isn’t satisfied with just receiving excellent quality of care. The experience for patients along the way is not nearly as important. Healthcare organizations that want to survive in this new age of experience-centric care will do well to improve their waiting room. According to Forbes, 60% of Americans have had a negative healthcare experience in the past year, and 52% of those people will tell others about their negative experiences. Curating a positive waiting experience without risk and discomfort is important in building a patient-friendly healthcare organization. This will help create loyal customers and position healthcare companies to succeed.
It is clear that there is a need for change in the waiting room experience. Customers don’t feel safe, and there is an established correlation between emergency waiting room visits and further infections. The problem has only gotten worse in recent years. A 2022 study by Yale showed that emergency room crowds had reached crisis levels and posed significant patient safety risks. The same is true across Canada. The crowding is due to an overstressed system, not necessarily management failure. De-congesting the waiting room is incredibly important for both safety and satisfaction. Let’s explore how patient queue management software can lead to less crowded waiting rooms while providing efficient patient flow.
The primary feature that QLess offers that is designed to help de-crowd the waiting room is its remote check-in software. In a typical waiting room without a patient queue management solution, individuals have to check-in in person. They arrive at the front desk, inform staff they’ve arrived, fill in a form, and take a seat, waiting to hear their name called. This requires physical presence throughout the waiting process. Remote check-in software lets customers wait for their appointment without physically arriving until it begins. How this works is that customers will receive a link when they register for an appointment. They can access this link via mobile devices, computers, or an on-site kiosk. When their appointment is scheduled, they can tap the link and check in. Once they’ve checked into their appointment, the patient is automatically placed in a virtual queue. The queue displays the number of customers ahead and the projected wait time based on data tracking and machine learning, accounting for the line's size and wait times at different parts of the day. Customers can be queued based on appointment type or healthcare professional they're meeting. They can track their progress through an app or website and know when to be there. This means lines can move smoothly without customers needing to be in the waiting room until the end. This also lines up with what customers prefer. In a QLess survey of 250 consumers, 57.2% of respondents indicated they are likelier to patronize a business if they have early insights into wait times. QLess virtual queuing system's remote check-in feature eliminates the need for customers to enter waiting rooms until their appointment begins. They can choose whether they are comfortable in that environment and wait on their own terms.
Long wait times in healthcare have been a persistent issue and seem unavoidable due to the nature of the industry. Demand often exceeds the ability of facilities to provide efficient service due to the need for proper care and attention for each patient. This is why patients wait an average of over 18 minutes at physicians’ offices, according to PartnerMD, and 145 minutes at the average emergency room, according to Autoinsurance.org. Patient queue management software can’t entirely solve the issue of long waits that are endemic to the healthcare industry. However, it can provide organizations with a tool to increase staff productivity, manage customer flow, and improve overall efficiency, positively impacting wait times.
There are two key ways this software helps with this. Firstly, the patient queue management system completely automates the queue process, so enterprises don’t need to oversee it themselves. The software has configurable policies, like no walk-ins or a maximum 5-minute late policy for appointments. Then, the lineup can be completely automated, with the artificial intelligence-based system drastically more efficient and organized than a standard physical queue. QLess’s patient queue management software also has smart calendar features that give staff a better sense of their day. The entire appointment calendar is displayed for them, showing the customer, appointment type, and more. The calendar is color-coded and organized and can be segmented, so employees have a heightened understanding of their daily workflow, increasing overall efficiency. By reducing wait times, healthcare organizations can reduce the time people need to spend waiting for appointments. The remote check-in features allow customers to wait from wherever they please, but inevitably there will still be some customers that prefer to wait for appointments in waiting rooms. With automated queue management and smart calendar features, the QLess patient queue management system ensures waiting times are trimmed, resulting in less crowded waiting areas.
Communication in the healthcare process is incredibly important. Customers strongly desire communication from end-to-end in the healthcare process, and having better communication can lead to safer waiting rooms. With better communication, enterprises can create safer waiting rooms in several ways. Having customers that indicate they might be contagious wait remotely will reduce infection risk, and enabling customers to message staff if they are running slightly behind but still keep their appointment will lead to fewer delays. While this type of communication could lead to a safer, less crowded waiting area, many enterprises are ill-equipped to offer this level of communication. Customers expect communication, particularly through digital methods. According to Forbes, 80% of consumers surveyed said they prefer to use digital communications with their healthcare providers, and 43% said they want to engage digitally with their healthcare providers before, after, and during their visits. But many enterprises lack the digital infrastructure to provide this level of communication that customers are hoping for, even if it can make customers happier and lead to safer waiting rooms. The QLess patient queue management system empowers healthcare organizations with bi-directional communication features that improve the connection between customers and staff. With the QLess features, organizations can drive a more communicative approach to healthcare. They can individually message customers and receive responses, schedule messages to entire groups of customers, and create automated messages triggered at different parts of the patient journey. Better communication means less confusion, as late customers or no-shows often trigger chain reactions that lead to extended delays. With better communication, there are fewer bottlenecks, which means lines move faster and waiting rooms are less crowded. This also improves the patient experience, as enterprises can answer patients' questions digitally during busy times when they might not have the time to respond face-to-face.
One of the most significant ways healthcare organizations have pivoted away from the standard waiting room model is by leaning into virtual healthcare. The pandemic made face-to-face appointments a near-impossibility at many practices, and to combat this, many organizations pivoted to virtual healthcare options like telehealth. Providing medical care virtually remains important even after the peak days of the pandemic. According to McKinsey, virtual healthcare remains hugely impactful, with 46% of consumers using telehealth now compared to 11% in 2019.Telehealth leads to less congested, safer waiting rooms for obvious reasons. With the option to schedule remote healthcare appointments, customers don’t need to visit healthcare offices at all. If customers have a mild but contagious illness, healthcare organizations can schedule virtual appointments to ensure they don’t spread their illness. Ultimately, the fewer in-person visits, the less crowded waiting rooms will be. But many organizations might buckle under the weight of managing an entire virtual calendar without the proper digital solution.
QLess has virtual service features that enable healthcare organizations to provide a positive patient experience remotely. QLess is integrated with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, two popular video meeting platforms, and enables organizations to put customers in mixed queues that accommodate in-person and remote patients. How this works for remote patients is they would schedule an appointment online and select a virtual appointment. They will then receive a QLess link and be placed into a virtual queue when they check in for their appointment. They will then be able to monitor their wait time, see who is in front of them, and receive a Zoom or Teams link when their appointment is ready to begin. Virtual appointments are a crucial part of the post-pandemic world. The QLess patient queue management platform enables enterprises to integrate remote patients into their virtual queues and digital calendar, creating a smooth appointment process and easier virtual appointment management.
The waiting room is a longstanding problem in the healthcare industry that most organizations have neglected to address. The concept of making ill or injured patients wait for long periods in a congested room is one that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, although there haven’t been other options for organizations until recently. Now that QLess for healthcare and other patient queue management systems exist, the need for waiting rooms has been drastically reduced. These digital solutions enable enterprises to create a virtual queue where customers don’t have to be physically present to wait in line or in the waiting room. The customer can check in, monitor their status in line, and communicate updates with staff, all from their phones or computers. This means they can wait outside the office, from their home, at a nearby park, or wherever else they’d prefer. Customers can still wait in waiting rooms if they want to, but QLess allows them to wait remotely, helping to drastically reduce congestion in healthcare offices. Reducing risk in the waiting experience should be an important objective for all healthcare organizations, and it resonates with customers. Consumers strongly dislike the typical waiting room process that has been the norm in healthcare for ages. With QLess’s queue software, healthcare businesses can meet the needs of the experience-oriented patient while creating a safer, more positive waiting process.
