Every business has its own set of strengths and, of course, challenges.
You may have the best product or the most desirable service, but there could be communication issues, security problems or a need for innovative technology to keep up with evolving customer needs.
But what most organisations often overlook is the common challenge of managing customer queues, especially in this time of pandemic where safe queuing is a must to reduce congestion and minimise face-to-face contact. People hate to wait, especially in queues and this can really impact their customer experience.
So, how do you know if your organisation needs a real queue management solution?
Here are 5 signs to look out for to uncover whether your business requires queue management technology to solve this common challenge once and for all.
Do you need queue management technology?
Queue management problems are common even for thriving organisations. However, this doesn't mean that long lines, lengthy wait times and grumbling customers should continue to become the norm.
With queue management technology, you can improve customer satisfaction and gain helpful insights to further optimise the service experience you deliver.
If you are contemplating whether to invest in queue management technology, here are 5 signs to observe:
- Service centres are congested
We're not just talking about one or two people waiting politely for an available team member to serve them. We're talking about long queues that break social distancing and start to congest access. Long enough that people get frustrated and leave, earning the business a negative reputation.
If your organisation experiences these kinds of lines, it's time to rethink your approach and implement a feasible solution. For instance, you may wish to consider kiosk devices and software that facilitates a quick and versatile service, easier.
- You're hearing customer complaints
Many organisations accept queueing as a natural part of the ebb and flow of customers. But the key here is to know when you have passed from 'acceptable' to damaging your company image and customer relationships.
Once you start hearing reoccurring complaints or muttered grumblings from people about excessively long waits in the line, it means dissatisfaction is mounting. You don’t want to keep customers waiting for too long as they may post negative feedback on social media or spread the word, even while waiting for their turn.
- You cannot predict peak periods
Peak periods are the times during the day, month or year when most customers come, your team gets busy and long queues begin to form.
If you can't predict these peak periods, you’ll likely get blind-sighted by them, resulting in an overwhelming number of customers and queues getting out of hand. Due to this, your staff will also find it hard to address each person’s need sufficiently to provide a great experience.
- Staff workloads are unbalanced
In many cases, one or two queues will become much longer than others, sometimes to the point of obscuring access to the shorter queues.
If your queues are unbalanced, customers will generally have a bad interaction. This can also affect some of your staff members’ performance, while leaving others wondering how to help.
- Management has no data to make decisions
Most organisations try to handle their queuing problems manually, often with a staff member given an emergency task to stand near the entrance to help direct customers in an attempt to help solve the issue.
However, this can result in inconsistencies, slow service, unmanageably long lines, congested areas and even annoyed customers.
Management teams that make decisions without real-time and historical data are unable to predict service requirements, manage staff effectively and analyse service delivery. This lack of transparency affects both staff and customers - ultimately leading to a negative impact on your bottom line.
So, how can queue management technology help?
If you found yourself nodding along to one or more of these signs, your business may periodically be getting swamped with customers and you don't have the right solution to smoothly handle the situation.
Fortunately, with the right queue management technology, your customer queues can be streamlined with solutions that integrate with your current systems, workstations and mobile devices.
In fact, having queue management technology offers the following benefits.
You can:
- automatically track the data over peak congestion periods to let you know when to open new channels and when to help customers find the right queue; and then provide data for analysis and strategy later on.
- connect directly with customers via their mobile phones to notify them of waiting times and which service channel they should use.
- keep track of every customer interaction so that management knows exactly how long people have been waiting, how long the service is taking and what services customers require.
Queue management technology allows you to monitor all of these in real-time so that action can be taken to improve your customers’ experience and determine what is needed in terms of training, preparation and response.
Solve everything with NEXA’s queue management suite
Does your business needs queue management technology? Intuitive software solutions that can help you solve these challenges for good?
At NEXA, we’re focused on delivering innovative solutions that streamline the customer journey and improve internal efficiencies. These include:
NEXA OASIS - An online appointment booking solution designed to improve customer experience and team efficiency.
NEXA Mobile Q - Provide an excellent customer experience with virtual queue management.
NEXA eConcierge - The portable queue management application that humanises the customer experience on-site.
Contact us today and we can discuss your business’ requirements to help you streamline your processes and minimise customer queues for good.
