Every industry received a major shakeup during the pandemic. Whether it was the education industry, where schools around the world had to close and move online, or the healthcare sector, where overburdened workers were tasked with tackling a global crisis. The retail industry might be among those that were hit the hardest. Stores across the countries were forced to shutter, and even as we return to normalcy, the retail sector is still looking to adjust. One of the biggest modern changes in every industry, not just retail, is a focus on the customer experience. A smooth, efficient customer interaction that creates a satisfied customer is imperative to retention, and businesses worldwide are investing in initiatives that help create a more positive shopping experience. According to Grandview Research, "The global customer experience market is valued at $8.79 billion and is expected to continue to grow with a compound annual growth rate of 18.1% from 2022-30." Many retailers are searching for new technologies and initiatives they can implement that will help them to create a more positive customer experience.
One solution many enterprises have turned to is adding a digital queue management system. Virtual queues enable businesses to streamline customer flow and create a smoother, more independent experience for the people that visit their stores. With customer queue management software like QLess, businesses enable customers to check in remotely for appointments or lineups. Using the software either through a desktop, mobile device, or app, customers can virtually enter a lineup, track their wait time with real-time SMS updates, and head to the front of the line when it is their turn. It is a powerful tool that will have an important impact on customer satisfaction. Queue software can help streamline the customer experience in several crucial ways that the modern retailer must pay attention to. Below, we’ll explore why now is a pivotal time for retail businesses to key in on the customer experience and how a virtual queue system can help.
Focusing on the customer experience can improve your bottom line in almost every industry. Happy customers are repeat customers, and improving customer loyalty inevitably increases your profits. It also has an impact on gaining positive reviews, which are likely to help your business’s brand and lead to more customers. A good experience can ensure a customer frequents a retailer rather than their competitor, but unlike most other industries, retailers aren’t just trying to compete with other competitors. They are trying to compete with a whole other way of shopping. Brick-and-mortar retail was the only option available until recent years, so it started with a strong head start. However, ecommerce is closing the gap on brick-and-mortar shopping, particularly due to the pandemic. According to Statista, "The share of retail sales in the United States that were ecommerce has grown from 4.2% in the first quarter of 2010 to 14.5% in the second quarter of 2022." That number has steadily climbed every year and spiked to an all-time high of 15.7% during the pandemic.
The trend is continually pointing up for e-commerce, which eats into brick-and-mortar businesses. In some countries, the share of ecommerce spending outranks brick-and-mortar. This is the case in China, where more than 50% of retail sales come from ecommerce. We are still a long way away from that in most countries, but e-commerce unquestionably poses a threat to physical retailers around the world. So what can be done if the growth of e-commerce seems inevitable? The answer is that there is still a lot of hope for physical businesses. By focusing on the retail experience and ensuring customers are happy with how they are treated, stores can still achieve the growth they hope for. According to CNBC, "81% of Gen Z, the most smartphone-driven and online generation, still prefers to shop in-store." As long as stores continue to innovate and key in on the customer experience, they can remain ahead of e-commerce and appeal to their customers. With a queue management system for retail, businesses can provide an improved customer journey that makes them stand out.
There are many things customers don’t like in the shopping experience. If staff are unhelpful or rude, that contributes to dissatisfaction, if displays are confusing or messy, customers might prefer the organized simplicity of a website. But of all the customer complaints, the biggest issue the average customer is likely to have will come from long lines. Few things create irate customers more than a long, in-person wait. Standing in a line that seems to stretch forever will lead to unhappy customers and walkaways, both of which are harmful to a business. Most customers have little patience for extended waits and no qualms about leaving your business and heading to another. According to a QLess survey of 250 US adults, "39% of respondents consider a wait from 0-5 minutes a long wait time, and 64.4% of respondents said they’d only be willing to wait 0-5 minutes for something non-essential. The 69% of respondents also stated they’d be willing to patronize a competitor’s business if it had noticeably shorter wait times."
Generally speaking, while most customers still prefer the in-store experience, a long in-person queue can be all the push they need to look elsewhere. Most enterprises accept these waits as a standard cost of doing business, but an arduous wait is not a necessity. The queue management tools of QLess make it so businesses can empower their customers to wait however they want. The queue management software allows customers to remotely check into a lineup. If they have the product already picked out, they can check into the lineup from wherever they are, enter the store before it is their turn in line, grab the product, and head to the front of the line when it is their turn. This is a much more positive experience than standing in a congested physical queue. The ability to wait on their own terms is something customers will value. Convenience is one of the top priorities for the modern consumer, and QLess helps create a more convenient waiting process away from the stress and exasperation of a long line.
There are many different ways to look at the situation with physical stores and e-commerce. There is certainly a competitive aspect to it, as e-commerce sales cut into brick-and-mortar; however, the alternative approach is to look at e-commerce and brick-and-mortar and consider the potential for them to co-exist and optimize the customer experience. This blend between e-commerce and physical shopping is called an omnichannel shopping experience. It is where customers shop using multiple touchstones from businesses; for instance, omnichannel shopping is curbside pickups or click-and-collect. This is where customers order something online and head to a physical store that houses the product to pick it up. This type of shopping surged during the pandemic. According to a Deloitte study, "The share of click-and-collect purchases jumped from 15% of purchases to 25% of purchases during the pandemic." Now, "More than 50% of retailers have click-and-collect capabilities enabled," according to Digital Commerce 360. This is just one example of the potential usage of omnichannel retail.
Many businesses are innovating in this space, but you need the right tech infrastructure to succeed as an omnichannel retailer. QLess can help blend the digital and physical shopping experience for a business. Look no further than the click-and-collect example to see where QLess can be an asset. Customers can order their products from an online store and receive a link to check in whenever they want to pick up their purchase. When they tap the link, they can check into the collect line and be placed in a spot to receive their product. This is an efficient way to manage a curbside pickup system and ensure it remains organized. Today's average customer favors omnichannel shopping, as it is more efficient and communicative. According to a Harvard Business Review study, "73% of customers prefer shopping through multiple channels." Adding customer journey software like QLess, which is an additional touchstone that simplifies the shopping experience and is entirely digital, will align with this trend toward multi-channel shopping.
Every retail store will have aspects of their experience where they meet or exceed customer expectations and aspects where they fall short. Every operation has its strengths and weaknesses. Learning more about your weaknesses and taking steps to overcome them is an important step to giving your customers the seamless retail experience that they deserve. For that, you need a tool capable of collecting high-value, actionable insights that clearly illustrate your operation's performance in the customer experience sphere.
QLess is a significant aspect here. QLess has business intelligence features that collect, store, and report valuable insights to businesses that can shape their decisions. These features showcase important customer experience insights that can show businesses' flaws in their operations. The reported data includes appointment no-show percentage, number of customers serviced in the virtual queue in a day, and median wait times. It can be segmented according to times of day, days of the week, service type, and so on. The data from this is reported in charts and graphs that allow retailers to decipher the information and spot trends easily. Armed with data and analytics, businesses are more equipped to make effective decisions. According to Tech Jury, "Businesses that use data and analytics can make decisions 5x faster than those that don’t."
Seeing where your business is struggling is important and is the first step toward implementing plans that improve your position. If the QLess analytics show that your curbside pickup wait times are significantly longer than other kinds of waits, then you need to change your process. Having that data shows important flaws and is also the benchmark you can use to gauge improvement. Retailers that continue to improve and tweak their operations to optimize the customer experience will see the benefits. The more a business factors hard data and analytics into its decision-making processes, the better it will be able to understand its performance and the areas that need improvement. QLess provides the concrete analytics a business needs to make these important adjustments.
Customer expectations today are different from what they were previously. Before the internet and the rise of customized shopping, customers would have been happy to walk into a retailer, browse, find an item, purchase, and leave. Now, consumers expect their shopping to be experiential. They don’t just want to feel like they are any other shopper; they want to feel like they are an individual. Customers now expect a personalized experience when they enter your store, and it is important businesses provide it for them.
Customers prefer personalized shopping experiences, and if businesses can provide it for them, they will see direct results in their bottom line. According to Google, "People are 40% more likely to spend more than planned when they identify a shopping experience as highly personalized." But what most retailers struggle with is providing a personalized experience at scale. It is difficult to make every customer that enters feel like they have a customized, personal experience.
Implementing QLess and its bi-directional communication can assist here. With QLess, retailers can message their customers and receive responses. This is good for inquiries, like if a customer wants to ask a staff member where certain sections are, this feature ensures staff is always accessible. The automated messaging features similarly ensure that the experience feels personal. Retailers can set up automatic messages through the QLess system that are triggered when a customer takes a certain digital action, like checking in the line. These messages can include greetings, well wishes, and more. It is a small thing that requires minimal effort from the business, but it contributes to making the customer feel more seen. Customers want the shops they use to communicate with them and tailor their shopping experience to their individual needs. QLess opens the door to a more communicative retail experience with features that enable back-and-forth digital conversation and automated messaging.
Ultimately, the people that define the customer experience are the customers. Businesses can have a million different ideas of how they can make in-store retail shopping better for their customers, but the people that possess the true answer to that question are the actual customers. Your customers are a goldmine of insights and information; if businesses fail to mine them for these useful insights, they will be overlooking the value that customers can provide. Taking the time to learn from your customers will allow your retail store to better suit their needs.
QLess provides customer feedback features that allow businesses to send pulse surveys so their customers right after they leave the store. The immediacy increases the likelihood that the customers will respond, and because they are sent via SMS, it won’t get buried in the inbox. Retailers can customize their survey questions to try and get the best information possible from their customers. Ensuring the survey is fast and easy to answer guarantees more customer responses. Customers like to talk about their experiences, whether they are positive or negative. And if you aren’t asking them for information, they’ll simply tell others. According to In Moment, "95% of customers share bad experiences with others, but the average business only hears from 4% of its dissatisfied customers." That is a waste. Dissatisfied customers are a negative, but understanding why they are dissatisfied can yield long-term better results.
QLess for retail allows businesses to collect and store customized customer feedback surveys and ratings. Businesses can analyze customer feedback and see if they notice any recurring themes in what is causing customer complaints. If customers are confused about the layout of stores, unhappy with how they are treated by staff, or disenfranchised with long lines, this information is all good to know. Understanding why customers might not be happy with their experience allows retailers to make changes that ensure these issues are improved. The most important feedback on the customer journey comes from the customer, and QLess enables the collection of these pivotal insights.
The habits of consumers all over the world were changed as a result of the pandemic. More and more consumers started to have second thoughts about entering stores or waiting in lines. This drove consumers further into e-commerce and has made it harder for retailers to rally after the pandemic. Even though there are vaccines and cases are down substantially, many still have lingering feelings of discomfort in stores or in crowds. After two long years of worrying and stress, it is only natural that many customers continue to reel and feel a sense of concern in brick-and-mortar stores.
Accommodating pandemic-conscious consumers is important. According to an Axios-Ipsos poll, "The number of consumers still concerned about COVID and unready to return to normal life remains high. 46% of Americans say they have already returned to their pre-COVID life, and 57% say they are concerned about the pandemic." This is reflected in people's attitudes towards waiting rooms and physical queues. According to a QLess survey of 250 US adults aged 45+, "59.4% responded that they associate long lines and crowded waiting rooms with unsafe conditions." Many remain uncomfortable in these situations, and QLess can help by decongesting store areas.
QLess’ remote check-in makes it so customers don’t ever have to stand in a physical queue if they don’t want to. This is a significant appeal for those who feel anxious surrounded by others. Customers can simply take out their phone, stand or sit in a less crowded area, and enter the virtual queue system. This will remove the need for physical lines and congestion in the store, limiting the chance of contagion and ensuring maximum comfort for customers who remain anxious about the pandemic.
Focus on the Mobile Shopper
Consumers have developed many different habits that will define the next several years of shopping. One of the most significant is the modern consumer’s love for their smartphone. This is something that exists across generations. According to Statista, "A majority of people in the United States spend five or more hours on their phones every day." The usage of phones doesn’t stop when people enter stores. Shoppers are mobile-driven, and integrating that love for smartphones into your customer experience can help your retail business stand out. According to PYMNT, "The share of customers who use their smartphones to shop in-store grew from 28% in 2020 to 34% in 2021." There are many different ways that the average smartphone user can have mobile integrated into their shopping experience. According to Insider Intelligence, "Customers use their smartphones for things like looking up reviews, comparing other products, and browsing for offers while they are in the store."
Using mobile channels to augment the retail experience is made easier with QLess. QLess allows customers to interact digitally with businesses through communication features and virtual queuing software. The virtual queuing software is a final touchstone that replaces physical queues, but the communication features are useful throughout the shopping process. Customers can inquire about product availability, receive information on exclusive offers, and ask questions about return policies. It is a way to ensure that customers that demand a mobile component to their in-store shopping receive one.
Investing in the customer experience is investing in the sustained growth of your business. For any company to survive and grow, they can’t just attract customers; they must keep them. That requires a seamless customer journey. A long physical wait is one of the biggest bottlenecks to an efficient customer journey. An extended physical queue immediately puts customers in negative spirits and can contribute to walkaways, negative reviews, and one-and-done customers. A waiting line management system like QLess for retail is how businesses can combat this problem. Virtual queuing solutions eliminate the need for customers to stand in line. Instead, they can remotely enter a virtual queue from their phone, receive real-time updates on the wait, and proceed to the front of the line when it is time. This is a solution that significantly improves the waiting process and empowers customers to wait from wherever they want. With a host of other impactful key features, QLess is an all-in-one retail customer experience solution.
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.