The cost of waiting in queues can be tremendous for customers and small businesses. No clients enjoy losing time waiting in physical queues at the store, in the medical center, or at the bank; and for small businesses, the cost of long waiting lines often results in a vast majority of unhappy customers who may abandon their purchases. Bad queue management can affect the bottom line of small businesses which also damages their reputation if they fail to meet customer needs. As shoppers lose patience, they turn away, leaving retailers with a loss; nevertheless, a smart queue management system can help small businesses make money or improve their operational efficiencies.
Reduce Wait Times In-Store
Customers appreciate efficient service and typically find a waiting time of 5 to 10 minutes in line to be acceptable; in fact, the longer the customers wait, the less satisfied they will be, which may result in abandoned purchases. This behavior comes at a cost for customers, they will feel impatient, angry, and like the quality of service has failed them. But it has a cost for the shop or retailer, too:
- Retailers can destroy their reputations by not providing the best customer service to their customers. For example, by being unable to communicate with them in a timely manner about waiting times. Using a smart queue management program eliminates the need for staff to constantly be in communication with customers.
- Retailers are losing money since shoppers may leave the queue earlier. This results in fewer sales for them, and therefore, fewer revenues.
Businesses can increase their revenues by implementing smart queue management solutions to manage their lines and reduce waiting times. The outstanding QLess smart queue management system can prevent shoppers from leaving stores and help retailers increase their revenue by up to 50%. The line manager app provides detailed information to shoppers about their checkout times and therefore reduces their stress. Since shoppers receive a notification on the app to know when they can join the line, they feel more in control.
Create Virtual Waiting Rooms
Physical queues can be crowded, leaving the employees of any business under pressure to respond to customer requests.
- The staff can not take care of any extra walk-ins, or if they can they have to rush existing customers, resulting in poor customer service. Customers lose time and energy or sometimes money if they take time away from work to wait in lines.
- Businesses struggle with physical waiting rooms. They can improve their customer experience, but they lack the technology or human resources to manage their waiting lines.
Businesses, retailers, and service providers can manage their queues virtually with smart queue management. QLess technology provides a virtual waiting room where businesses can manage their traffic flow online. Users don't need to be physically present and can simply arrive at the time of the appointment which liberates businesses from long waiting lines. The QLess dashboard provides detailed information about the virtual room such as the forecasted waiting time and the number of customers before you.
Improve Communications With Customers
When customers schedule an appointment, they usually receive a one-time confirmation sent by email or text on their mobile device. As they receive no information between the time they took the appointment and the day of the actual booking, they may forget their appointment or go but have to wait in long lines. A lack of communication leaves both parties unsure of what will happen next; as a result, many no-shows may occur causing businesses to lose money and clients. Communication can be assisted with technology so both the customer and the retailer can easily share pertinent information.
QLess helps businesses reduce their no-shows, customer waiting times, and improve communications with their clients. The smart queue management system stores all information in cloud-based technology that sends reminders to clients. Customers are also encouraged to use the app to notify the business if they have to cancel the appointment, they can rebook an appointment directly in the scheduling app. Clients may also request more time or check-in when they arrive at the store or on-site.
Empower Employees
Long waiting lines and unhappy customers not only have a cost for your business but on your staff's performance, too. According to a study, 33% of employees feel stressed at their workplace and fail at providing the best job or customer service. The cost of this stress is staggering for your business:
- Overwhelmed employees are more likely to leave the business and find another job. The cost to recruit new employees and to train them is enormous. Retaining your employees and empowering them in their job with smart queue management is vital to the success of your business.
- Stressed employees cannot meet high standards when dealing with customer complaints. Unfriendly staff has an impact on the perception of your business reputation and performance in the eyes of your clients.
Your employees can manage their time better and deal with customers more efficiently.
With the QLess line manager app, your staff is empowered as they can manage customer complaints, requests, appointments, and walk-ins in an efficient way. As your staff removes unnecessary stress when dealing with customers, they provide better service, they also feel more informed and can be more productive at work.
Use Data To Make Decisions
When queuing in lines, every party loses time. Businesses can make use of the data collected from the smart queue management system to make decisions. They can also track the time it takes employees to respond to customer complaints. Businesses can use that information to make important decisions. This may include store opening times, or promotional campaigns to launch in-store during peak times.
- Many businesses lack data about their lines which could be used to creatively develop incentives. This information can help them adapt their workforce to provide better customer service.
- Businesses need data to understand if the experience in the store or at the checkout was successful. This data can include information for the entire purchase, just the waiting line, and final purchase or customer complaints.
With QLess smart queue management, not only can businesses collect this data but they can also let customers express themselves over the quality of the service. The tracking and reporting features of the line manager app capture valuable insights such as no-show rates, transaction types, service duration, and product return.
Reduce Their Operational Costs
Inefficient practices can hurt businesses, the consequences of burdened systems or out-of-date processes can damage revenues. Waiting lines are a great example of such harm: if not managed efficiently, they represent a loss for the business.
Unhappy customers may leave or your employees may be overwhelmed, utilizing smart queue management in your business can help reduce some of these issues:
- Systematic inefficiencies are bad for your business because they harm the overall performance and may result in high operational costs.
- The cost of gaining new customers requires new marketing campaigns. If your business has to replace the staff or cope with dismissals, the costs to hire new employees is huge, too.
- As you deal with systematic inefficiencies, your business is missing some opportunities to develop new services or products for a competitive advantage. Your competitors may become better at providing the same services as you and may steal your customers.
QLess helps any business reduce their operational costs and remove any bottleneck or inefficiencies. By improving businesses' overall productivity and creating more opportunities, QLess' smart queue management system boosts operational efficiencies up to 90%.
Improve Customer Service With Smart Queue Management
Customer service is king for any customer-facing business, great customer service may boost the revenues of your business which in turn will make customers more interested to pay more to receive fantastic customer service, so why would your business miss more sales, more customers, and more revenues?
QLess smart queue management improves customer satisfaction by up to 100%. Not only do customers feel more satisfied but businesses see better results from their customer service efforts.
Request a demo today or call our US free toll number at 1-800-405-4637. Discover the entire spectrum of QLess innovative and smart queuing system to make your business more efficient.