Effective Ways to Manage Customers Queue and Service Delays

In the modern day and age the customer behavior have changed a lot, now a days customers tend to consider experience more important than ever before. In fact there are several studies and researches conducted all across the world which suggest that a majority of the customer is willing to pay extra if they are assured they will get a better experience. This customer behavior compelled businesses to seriously think about the ways they are offering services to the customers. The service industry in Dubai and all around the UAE is a very competitive market.

There are so many options available to the customers which also lead to high market standards and high customer expectations. This means that the business will have to beat the competition as well as they will have to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations. The biggest challenge any business faces is long customer queues and unwanted service delays. These are the things that can ruin the customer experience and make them very unhappy.

Unhappy customers tend to stop doing business with the brand and on top of that such customers also share their negative experience with their friends, colleagues and in social media which could be extremely bad for a business reputation and brand image. According to several studies if a customer is happy with a business they tend to share their positive feedback to up to 9 persons, if they are unhappy they tend to tell up to 15. Which means you can lost 15 possible prospects and the damage done to the brand image is topping on the cake.

Businesses often don’t realize the importance of words of mouth, most of the businesses think that is a thing of past, however, that is not the case, in fact in the modern day and age the word of mouth have become even more impact full, thanks to the social media and online channels, the impact of a positive or negative review/comment about the business can have much stronger impact on the business’s reputation than anticipated. That is why business adopt various modern technologies to improve their customer experience and to increase customer happiness. The queue management system is one of those and it is very helpful in dealing with the modern problems.

What is the Most Effective way to Manage Customer Queue and Service Delays?

The customer queues, service delays and long waiting times are not new problems, in fact in the present day these problems become a more difficult challenge. So, businesses are using several methods and strategies to deal with these problems in the past. We have all witnessed the incredible development in technology and communication in the past two decade. The businesses and organizations have also adopted to modernized IT infrastructure and implemented several technologies over the time. The service based industry was proven to be more innovative and creative. The service sector have introduced several new customer relationship management technologies in the past two decades.

These technologies have completely transform the market. When it comes to queue management and customer experience at service centers, we have noticed that most of the business are still relying on relatively older technologies, or one can say the innovation and creativity was relatively slower in this particular area. However, things are changing rapidly and now more and more businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are embracing modern technologies based solution for their queuing needs.

The digital queue management systems have completely taken over the market like a storm. We have witnessed very rapid adaptation all across the market in last decade and now businesses are more emphasizing on their queuing strategies. Because the queuing experience is the most influencing factor on overall customer experience at the branch and it can significantly impact the service delivery process and customer satisfaction. A digital queue management system have proven to be the most effective way to manage customer queues and to prevent unwanted service delays.

It because its ability to automate several customer journey processes and useful features for service agents which also help them speed up the service delivery process. Furthermore a modern queue management system comes with various other features that increase customer engagement, reduce their waiting stress, and improve their experience. The digital queue management system also comes with a powerful software which can be integrated with other enterprise tools, systems and central information center which enable businesses to include several innovative features to improve the system efficiency and efficacy.

When it comes to acquiring a queue management system there are tons of different options available in the market which could make it very confusing for the managers and decision makers to choose the right queuing solution. Here are some features of a modern queue management system which will help you effectively managing customer queues and the service delays.

Features of Queue Management System

In Dubai and all around the UAE there are several companies who are offering queue management systems with different labels and branding. There are vendors who are also offering customized queue management system to meet your exclusive needs. No matter which solution or vendor you choose, here is a list of some most important features and advantages of a queue management system that you should consider while selecting a right queue management system for your business.

Features to Automate Customer Sign-Up Process

Traditionally the customer signup process is the first part of customer interaction at your service centers. It should be welcoming, simpler and shorter. A modern queue management system offers a variety of sign-up methods, the most commonly used methods is a use of interactive kiosk. This interactive kiosk dispense tickets and it can also capture basic information which help queue management system improve the customer flow. The queue management system sign-up customers and visitors for the virtual queues, which allow them to wait freely and comfortably in the wait areas, lobbies and anywhere they want, hence the customers and visitors don’t have to stand in physical lines.

Since everyone get their ticket number there is no dispute or complaint by the customers. Everyone knows the customer flow is managed by the automated software system so no one complaint about staff favoritism, line jumpers, delays in their queues, etc. Furthermore the interactive ticket dispensing kiosk also allow businesses to integrate various software and hardware accessories to capture customer information such as Emirates ID card reader, passport scanner, Barcode/QR Code reader, RFID, etc. which makes it easier and more convenient for customers to provide their information.

Features to Increase Customer Engagement

Customer engagement is very important in order to improve their experience. The human brain works in a strange way, when we stressed, frustrated, unhappy, bored, or waiting the brain perceives the time is passing slower. This phenomenon is applicable to the customer waiting time at the service centers. When customers are waiting in the waiting area, there is not much activity and they are bound to sit there they tend to feel the wait time is longer, this is called the perceived wait time. The perceived wait time is always higher than the actual wait time in traditional waiting environments.

However, a queue management system can help reducing it significantly. The queue management system collects historical data including both system usage and analytical data which enables it to estimate the wait time on the bases of historical and analytical data. The queue management system can print the estimated wait time on the ticket, which can be a great relief for the customers. As no knowledge of total wait time also add up to the customer’s stress.

Furthermore the queue management system also offer large displays or digital signage. These digital signage are used to display the queuing information. They show what is happening inside the branch and what are the active tickets and counters. It also make announcements of the upcoming ticket and their respective counter and it can also use to make announcements. The digital signage module is integrated within the queue management system as a simple add-on or in-built feature. It not only display the queuing information but it can also display multimedia content. The multimedia content can be adverts, information about the processes, company achievements or it can run media for entertainment.

These digital signage are placed on strategic position to maximize the visibility for the customers and visitors in the waiting area, moreover more than one digital signage can be used if needed. There is multi-lingual audio announcement system which also keep distracting customers from the waiting and help reducing the stress of the waiting. These features increase customer engagement and make their waiting experience more comfortable and relaxing.

Features to Automatically Categorize Customers and Automatically Control Customer Flow

The customer categorization is an important part of any queuing environment. Businesses always have different policies for different user groups. For example, if take an example of a public office, there might be people coming with some disability, there might be expecting mothers, there might be senior citizens, there might be VIP customers or premium customers, etc. All these scenarios require different response and expect different experience from the organization. Furthermore a business offers a variety of services usually different counters offer different set of services for example, if we take an example of a bank account there is a counter which offer services to the individual customers, another is to offer services to corporate customers, maybe another counter for premium customers and so on.

This requires the queue management system to be able to identify and categorize customers in different categories and groups. Which can be done easily by taking customer’s inputs during the sign-up process and the queue management system software can perfectly implement the queuing policy automatically.

Features to Support Popular Queuing Methods

Now a day’s all modern queue management systems support almost all queuing methods. There was a time when the vendors were designing different queue management system for different queuing methods, however, that is not the case. Now a day’s all modern queue management systems come with an administrative control panel which allow businesses to control every aspect of the queuing including the queuing methods. Here are some commonly used queuing methods:

FIFO: The FIFO stands for First in First out, this queuing method means that the customers who arrived first will be served first. The customers who arrived later will have to wait longer as per their turn based on their arrival.
Priority Queues: The priority queues are not for all industries usually these queuing models are used by special industries where the longer wait time could have negative impact such as healthcare, where the customers/patients are prioritized on the bases of the severity of their health condition.
SPT: The SPT stands for Shortest Processing Time, this method is usually used by the businesses who have different processing times for different customer needs. The queue management system automatically controls the customer flow to prevent crowd formation.
SIRO: The SIRO stands for Service in Random Order, in this method the customers are selected randomly from the queue. This method is not liked by most of the customers and it could cause additional problems for the service staff as well.

Different queuing methods are followed by different industry sectors. However, now a day’s businesses are using mixed or hybrid queuing methods as well. The queue management system allow businesses to configure the customer flow policies easily which allow them to implement a particular queuing method at any time as per the needs.

Features to Support Virtual Queuing

Virtual queuing is not a new form of queuing but it recently gain huge popularity all across the UAE. The biggest advantage of virtual queuing is that it can significantly reduce the wait time, in fact it can reduce it to literally none. This is because the customers are allowed to sign-up remotely. The customers are not required to be physically present at the business to sign-up for the queue. The virtual queuing offers a variety of very convenient channels to let customers and visitors sign-up for the queues and it issues them virtual tickets or e-tickets. The customers can sign-up remotely by using any supportive channel such as SMS, Call, Email, Online Booking, Website, Queue Management System Mobile Apps, WhatsApp, Customer Portals, QR Codes, etc.

All these channels are easy to access and allow customers to plan their visit in a way that they arrived only when their turn comes. This way they don’t even have to spend any time in the waiting areas, they will instantly get served when they will arrive. Furthermore the virtual queuing also enable businesses to enable a direct communication channels between the service agent and the customer and it can provide live queuing information through the supportive channels along with reminders and alerts which can significantly enhance customer experience.

Features to Boost Employee Performance and Productivity

A queue management system itself is a great support for the employees and service agents. Manual queue management requires a lot of resources, it have several problems and it can keep both customers and employees stressed all the time. When queues are management manually the employees will have to spend a lot time and effort on unnecessary tasks such as regulating the queues, listening to customer’s complaints, resolving disputes, etc. Which keep them distracted from their primary tasks and reduce their performance and productivity. A queue management system manages all these things automatically thence the employees can focus on their primary tasks.

Furthermore the queue management system also controls the customer flow automatically which ensures every employee works under a balanced workload which also improve employee performance and productivity. The queue management system can also support service agents in pre-service and post-service tasks which also help improving their performance. The queue management system can monitor and track various employee KPIs which help the management in resource management and training programs which eventually boost employee performance.

Features to Integrate with Third-Party Tools and Other Databases

This is one of the most important feature of a queue management system in the modern highly integrated business environments. The system integration ability allow queue management system to push or pull data from the connected system or database. Usually the queue management system is integrated with the customer database which help the businesses to identify the customers during the sign-up process and it also help businesses to capture the customer feedback after service delivery. The service agents will have to perform several pre-service and post-service tasks, which usually require them to pull information from certain data repositories and increase their readiness for the service delivery.

A queue management system can also help if it is integrated with the relevant systems, similarly for the post-service activities the queue management system can save a lot of time and efforts which not only improve employee efficiency but it also help reducing the service delivery time and reduce service delays. The queue management system can also capture a wealth of analytical and performance data which can be synchronized with other enterprise tools and systems and help management in various decision making tasks.

Ability to Capture Valuable Business Intelligence Data

The modern business strategies are heavily relying on data inputs and feeds. A queue management system software is a very powerful tool, it can capture the analytical and system usage data from each and every step of the customer journey. Which help the management acquire a deeper understanding of the customer journey, it helps them identifying the bottlenecks and hurdles in the customer journey and provide them business intelligence data to take more informed decision to sort out those problems. A queue management system is not just a queuing management tool in fact it is a complete digital transformation package for a service center.

The queue management system can also capture customer feedback with its in-built feedback tool or it can also be integrated with the third-party customer feedback systems. This allow businesses to capture more user information along with their feedback which can significantly improve the quality of the feedback data.

The queue management system also capture several employee KPIs and other performance data which help management in resource planning, designing employee development and training programs and can be used for other HR activities. The business intelligence data captured by a queue management system can be very helpful in decision making and strategy building processes. Furthermore the businesses can also evaluate the impact of the changes they made which is a great help. Businesses can also utilize this business intelligence data to improve various internal processes. A queue management system software is a server application which is deployed on a server either online or at cloud on at local network.

This allow businesses to connect all branches and enable the main branch or head office to monitor and track the queuing processes from all connected branches in real-time. In a multi-branch scenario the businesses can also restrict the access of a branch data to its manager while the head office can receive all updates from all connected branches.

Low-cost Scalability and Maintenance

The queue management systems are digital solution consists of various software and hardware components. The hardware that is usually used within a queue management system is easily available in the market, which is why it is inexpensive and easy to maintain. In fact once a queue management system is deployed the hardware barely needs any maintenance or replacement for years. Which is why the maintenance is relatively low-cost. Low-cost maintenance also reduce the operational cost and results in a better ROI over the longer period of time. The queue management system software is a server side application with multiple dashboard such as User Interface, Agent Dashboard, Management Dashboard and Administrative control panel.

Furthermore the software is deployed on a server hence doesn’t require much maintenance. If it is hosted online or at a cloud the server maintenance is the responsibility of the service provider which also reduce the maintenance cost. Furthermore the system can be easily expanded to multiple branches with relatively low licensing fees and cost of the additional hardware. All these features significantly prolong the lifecycle of a digital queue management system adding value to ROI.

Conclusion

For any service based business the long queues, crowd formation and service delays are inevitable. One time or another the business will have to face such problems. However the growing businesses and businesses with high influx these problems are more common. Any business would want to avoid such problems as they not only harm the customer experience but also the brand perception which is very bad for the long term growth and sustainability. That is why businesses always seek ways to introduce efficiency and productivity to their internal processes to maximize the performance. In order to solve the problems of having long queues and service delays a digital queue management system is the best solution.

It help automating several customer journey steps, it manages the queues and customer flow automatically, it have in-built crowd prevention features, it help balancing the workload of the employees and significantly improve their efficiency and it simultaneously reduce the operational cost of a branch while improving the branch efficiency, productivity and customer experience. Which is why a digital queue management system is the best solution to solve queuing problems and to prevent service delays.

RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you implementing a highly cost-efficient and effective queue management system at your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

August 11, 2022

How to Reduce Queues in Banks?

Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the banks have exceptionally higher standards and service quality comparing to the other countries of the region. In fact the entire service based industry in the country is considered to be the best in the entire MENA region. The overall infrastructure of the banking industry is very high-tech and advanced, however, the queue management is one of the most overlooked part of the banking sector. The queue management systems are very common, in fact almost every branch of every bank would have some kind of digital queue management system. Most of the time banks and other businesses don’t fully understand the queue management systems. Usually business owners and bank managers think that the queue management system is just a tool to improve customer flow and minimize the wait time. But in reality a queue management system is much more than that. In this blog we will briefly discuss what a queue management system is, how it can help to reduce the queues and what other benefits a bank can get from a queue management system.

A queue management system is a combination of intelligent software and some hardware components. The software is basically a server which hosts all the intelligent algorithms, source codes and various user dashboards. The hardware is mainly used to interact with the customers. In a simple queue management system setup the first customer interaction happens on an interactive kiosk machine which take some basic information and dispense a ticket bearing their number in queue and also estimated time to their turn. Then there could be several digital signage displays who continuously display the live queuing information and also used for customer calling. The ticket numbers are announced on the signage as well as via an integrated audio system which is installed all over the place. Modern queue management systems also have customer feedback collection tablet or small screens which are usually placed at the counters. That is how a basic queue management system works. However, there are a lot more features that can be added to maximize the efficiency and to improve customer experience. The primary goal of a queue management system is to reduce the queues at the bank branch to minimize the customer wait time and to streamline the customer flow.

Queue Management System Reduces Customer Wait Time

The prolonged customer wait time can destroy their experience and make them unhappy. Long wait time means slow customer flow and slower service delivery, which results in long queues and crowd formation at the bank. A queue management system allows banks to digitally and autonomously manage their queues and customer flow which help reducing the customer wait time and prevent crowd formation to reduce the queues in banks. A bank offers several services and it have several counters to enhance customer experience and to improve service delivery. Usually in banks the average customer wait time is almost 20 minutes and in some cases it can reach up to 40 minutes and beyond. No one wants to wait that long, this makes customer unhappy and eventually a bank can lose its valuable customers due to poorly organized customer flow and queues. A queue management system have in-built AI (artificial intelligence) powered software and intelligent algorithms which makes it able to effectively manage the queues to minimize the wait time.

A queue management system can collect customer information and other required details about the service they need and it can route them through the shortest possible customer journey. The queue management system can perform several analysis and take decisions in real-time to maximize the bank branch’s efficiency and performance. For example, the queue management system can recognize the dedicated counters for certain services and it can automatically route the customers to the most relevant counter to ensure they instantly get served. The queue management system can also help service agents to prepare for the service delivery by informing them in advance about the next service and it is also capable of pulling up the required information from other connected systems to facilitate the service delivery process. Such features can significantly decrease the customer wait time. When the customers have to wait less, they are directed towards the right counter and the service agent also take less time to deliver the service, the overall wait time for every customer gets reduced. Less wait time means smaller queues and less chances of crowd formation.

Queue Management System Automates and Optimize Customer Flow

Smart management of customer flow and customer routing is a key to reduce wait time and to enhance customer experience. The queue management system can offer a variety of features and automation options to allow the bank manager to automate the customer routing and customer flow based on their policy and strategy. Furthermore it is also capable of automatically managing the customer flow based on the real-time data it collects from various touch points. Bank manager can leverage the customization to further improve the efficiency. The queue management system can take customer information or the information of the service they are requesting for. This information can be used to set the route of the customer, for example, if a customer needs Service A which is offered by the counters 1, 4, 7 and 11. Then the queue management system will automatically monitor all these counters and it will direct customer to the immediately available counter. This can save a lot of time and it improves customer flow.

Some services require customers to visit multiple counters for full service delivery. Those kind of services are called stepped services. The queue management system can automatically manage customer flow between different counters and ensures each customer reached to the most quickly available counter to avoid any time delays and idle counter time. Which can also save a lot of time and reduce the overall customer wait time. The queue management system can also monitor the employee performance in real-time. It can detect which employee is taking how much time for a single service delivery and which employees are best at delivering which services, this data is analyzed by the in-built smart algorithms and accordingly the queue management system keep routing customers through the most efficient route. Furthermore there are always some exclusive customers such as corporate customers, VIPs, Premium Account Holders, and customers with special needs. A queue management system can also effectively manage the flow of such customers to enhance their experience.

Queue Management System Improves Employee Performance

Employee performance is a crucial part of the queuing process. If the employee will perform well they will be able to serve more customers in a single shift. This also means that the average customer wait time will be reduced. For example if an average service delivery time is 10 minutes and the same employee start taking 11 minutes for the same service and if you have 20 customers ahead of you, your wait time will be increased by 20 minutes. That is why the employee performance is a crucial part of queuing process. With poorly managed queues and traditional service delivery methods the average service delivery time is very high therefore the employees can’t delivery high performance. However with the queue management system a lot of business processes can be digitalized and automation further improve the efficiency of the internal business processes. For example the queues and the customer flow is managed automatically by the queue management system hence the employees don’t have to spend time on queue management.

Since a lot of steps can be automated with the help of a queue management system the employee get more time to focus on their primary tasks which increase their performance. Furthermore the queue management system can also provide additional information about the customers and their needs even before they reach to the counter. This helps service agents in preparing for the upcoming service and save a lot of time. A queue management system can also be linked/integrated with other organizational systems and tool or with the central information center which enables queue management system to automate certain service delivery processes. If the queue management system have access to the other systems and databases it can also pull the required data and information for the service before even the customer arrives at the counter, and help service agent in quicker service delivery. The quick service delivery significantly improve employee performance and make them able to deal with more customers in a single shift.

The queue management system help reducing customer wait time, it facilitates service delivery process and help service agents to deliver more qualitative and quantitative work. The queue management system frees employees from unnecessary work and allow them to focus on their primary tasks. Which not only make the employee comfortable and happy but it also help them perform better. The queue management system can monitor and capture various employee performance KPIs which help employees which can be used for self-assessment and also by the HR to create employee development and training program to further maximize the employee performance over the time.

Queue Management System offers Virtual Queuing

One of the most modern and most effective way to reduce queues in banks is the virtual queuing. The virtual queuing have gained huge momentum in the market since past 2, 3 years. The virtual queuing is embraced by various industry sectors in Dubai and all across UAE. Basically the virtual queuing allow customers and visitors to use mobile channels to sign-up remotely for the virtual queues. It means the customer doesn’t have to physically be there in order to secure their position in the queue. Furthermore the virtual queuing can utilize multiple digital communication channels to keep the user updated and informed about the ongoing queuing activities. This allows the customers to arrive only at the time when their turn will come and prevent any congestion or long queues at the bank. The virtual queuing offers multiple sign-up channels which make process simpler and convenient for the customers and it also offer real-time updates and alerts so no customer misses their turn.This way banks can significantly reduce queues at the branch.

The virtual queuing can offer multiple innovative features which not only help reducing customer wait time and queues but also help improving customer experience. The customers can easily sign-up using customer portals, online/website, mobile application, appointment booking portals, SMS, emails, phone calls, QR Code and many more. Furthermore the virtual queue management system also provide detailed information in mobile app, appointment booking module and other channels which help customers plan their visit as per their convenience. The customers can view the peak hours, expected wait time at any hour, day or date based on the historical data collected by the queue management system. The can also use mobile apps and online portals for branch navigation. This allow them comparing multiple branches in reach and let them chose the one with the lowest wait time. Hence the customer can plan their visit with more freedom. Since the customers are instantly served when they arrive, this prevent crowd formation and queuing issues at the bank branch. It also help improving employee performance and enable branch managers to smartly utilize resources for maximum efficiency.

Queue Management System Collects Business Intelligence Data

Modern problems need modern solutions. There was a time when businesses and customers are not as that concerned about the wait time, in fact a long waiting line with first come first serve queuing was enough to gain higher levels of customer satisfaction. However, world have changed now, especially Dubai and other cities in UAE are some of the most modernized societies in the entire GCC. The information technology is deeply rooted into a business success. This means the data and information are the most crucial aspects of a successful strategy. The queue management system is one of the most effective tools to collect valuable business intelligence data and deeper understanding of customers and their preferences. A queue management system can collect statistical and analytical data from each and every touch point of the customer journey and in addition to that it can also collect customer feedback data, employee performance data and offers various other information. The data can be analyzed with in-built analytical tools and bank manager can easily extract actionable reports from this data which help understanding the customers, their preferences, liking/disliking and much more. Such information can be very helpful in building new strategies and evaluating various business processes.

Conclusion

Let us admit no one likes waiting in long queues, and we all want instant service from our beloved businesses and brands. When it comes to the banks, the queue management and crowd prevention is some of the most important tasks. Actually everything revolves around the customers, and customers can only satisfied when a business meets their expectations and facilitates their interaction. That is why the queue management systems are used, they not only streamline the customer flow but also help improving performance and collect valuable business intelligence data. The virtual queuing is one of the most effective strategy to reduce queues in the banks. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you designing or deploying the most effective and efficient queue management system as per your bank’s needs. Please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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September 15, 2021

Queue & Waiting Time Management

Queue and waiting time management is a crucial part of the service-based industry. Businesses and organizations in Dubai and all across the UAE are eagerly seeking ways to improve their queue management and customer wait time management. Basically, the customer journey and customer experience are what will decide if a customer will do business with the brand or not. If a customer has a bad experience they will most probably avoid that brand, if they had a good experience they will prefer to deal with the same brand again and again. This is what is called customer retention. Customer retention is based on customer loyalty, customer loyalty heavily relies on the customer journey and customer experience. The customer journey and customer experience are heavily depending upon the queue and waiting time management. It might look like a long shot but it isn’t. These all factors have cascading effects and act like dominos, one’s fall leads to the fall of the next and eventually, the entire structure falls apart. That is the reason why queue and waiting time management is so important.

The cost is also an important factor, it reduces profitability. If businesses are adding up new counters and hiring more staff, it is easy to understand that this will have a cost and running expense also. If businesses are not adding more counters they will fail in reducing the wait time, as a result, the customer churn rate will increase, the customer retention will decrease and customer loyalty will decrease. On top of that, the business will lose its reputation. A negative brand identity is very bad, it affects everything. It directly impacts the cost of acquiring new customers and the businesses will end up investing a lot in the marketing and brand identity building efforts. However, a simple queue management system can save it all. The queue management system not only makes the queue and waiting time management easy but also has other benefits such as improving customer journey and experience, collecting customer feedback and business intelligence data, etc.

Here are some benefits of a queue management system and how it can help businesses and organizations in the queue and waiting time management:

Queue Management System Manages Customer Flow and Organizes Queues

The entire service-based industry in the world is investing a huge amount of hard-earned revenue and resources to improve customer experience and customer journey. From interior and lighting to wait for time and agent’s behavior everything contributes to the customer experience and customer journey. Businesses and organizations in Dubai and all around the UAE are eager to improve customer journeys and customer experiences. The wait time has a huge influence on customers’ experience. Several studies have shown that an average wait time threshold is 10 to 13 minutes only, which in most cases is even more than the service delivery process. Any time longer than that will start impacting customers negatively. As much as the waiting time increases from the threshold limit the customer experiences a decline. That is why the reduction in the wait time is the top priority. Obviously instant service delivery requires a huge number of active counters, which requires a large number of trained employees, and that cost is not realistic. The businesses should optimize the number of counters and the wait time to achieve a balance that can provide optimum customer waiting time and also ensures maximum profitability.

A queue management system is a very capable tool, it controls and manages the customer flow. The sign-up and customer flow are digitally controlled. There is no human factor involved. This makes the process very efficient and agile. The customers and visitors also don’t have many complaints. As the system is controlled by the computer so customers and visitors also tolerate much more. The well organizes customer flow reduces the wait time and also help the employees to focus on their primary tasks, which is service delivery and related jobs. This expedites the service delivery processes as well and further help to reduce the wait time.

Queue Management System Reduces the Actual Wait Time and the Perceived Wait Time

Another advantage of a queue management system is that it also help improving the ‘perceived wait time’, the perceived wait time is always longer than the actual wait time. For example, when a customer is sitting in the waiting area, they might think they are waiting for too long, however the actual time spent is not that long. This is something that involves human psyche. Our brain tend to perceive time slowly if waiting in a bored environment. A queue management system includes large digital signage screens. These screens can play multimedia content which can divert customers form waiting time. This improves customer engagements. Moreover the screens also display live queuing information and ongoing activates along with audio announcements, which also keep the user distracted, active and engaged and the perceived wait time get reduced. Thus the queue management system not only reduce the wait time but it also help improving the waiting experience.

Queue Management System Automates Customer Journey and Reduces Wait Time

The queue management system are very helpful in automating the customer journey and customer routing. Most often in Dubai and all around the UAE businesses are offering multiple services through multiple counters. There are two major factors that can improve customer flow and customer route, one is the smart load management for each counter, and the second is automatic customer journey and customer routing management. Each business has different methods and businesses practices, the queue management system helps implementing company policies easily. If a business has multiple branches the head-office can implement the company policy instantly throughout the entire network. The customer routing and load management could also be configured as per the company policies. Each employee works differently some are more capable some are less. Some perform better is busy hours some couldn’t. These all things impact the customer journey and customer wait time. In case of stepped services, where a single service delivery requires a customer to reach to several or at least more than one counter is a bit more difficult to manage manually, however with a queue management system the customer routes and journey can be managed automatically as per company’s policies. This saves a lot of time and accelerate the customer flow.

For example, a business have five counters with ten different services. The first two counters are only exclusive for the top two services and top two of the remaining services can be delivered by any counter and rest can be delivered through the three other counters. That may sounds like a very complex scenario but it isn’t. Usually businesses divide their counters and services to improve customer experience, employee efficiency and profitability. Let say the two agents out of the five are more trained and experienced so assigned to deliver complex services or for VIP or Premium customers. The remaining staff is sufficiently trained for all other services. If the customer journey and customer journey and customer routes are managed manually, it could be a big hustle for both the customers and the employees as well. This is where a queue management system significantly improves productivity and profitability. The entire process can be automated, the customer journey can be cut short, the wait time will be reduced and the employee performance will be increased. This will result in better resource management and due to automation only a limited amount of human resource will be needed which will increase the profitability.

Queue Management System Help Managing the Queues and Reducing Wait Time by Improving Employee Efficiency

The employee efficiency plays an important role in customer wait time. If your employees are efficient and proactive they will be able to work efficiently and they will also be able to deliver good quality of work which will increase customer happiness and customer satisfaction. Without a queue management system the employees will have to manage the queues and customer flow manually. They could easily get distracted from their primary tasks. They could easily get overloaded during the busy work hours. The employees will fail to perform at their maximum efficiency. Which will further increase the customer waiting time. There are other aspects too such as when queues are managed manually customers have too many complaints about the mismanaged queues, employees, line jumpers, etc. Customer could easily end up in wrong queues which will again create problems for both customers and the agents. Such things will keep the employees busy in managing and calming the customers and visitors, which will reduce their performance and efficiency. The employee will be exhausted during the initial few hours of their shift, which also impacts the customer experience and increase wait time.

With a digital queue management system the employees don’t have to worry about such things. They can easily focus on their primary tasks. The queues, customer flow, and the entire customer journey will be managed by the queue management system which itself reduces the wait time a lot. Moreover the employees will have more time to perform their pre-sale and post-sale tasks, which will reduce the service delivery time which results in less waiting time. Moreover when the employees work under a balanced workload they don’t stressed out and they remain more focus, sharp and active at their tasks. These factors not only increase employee efficiency but they also help improving the customer journey and customer waiting time.

Queue Management Systems Collect Business Intelligence Data

The queue management systems collect business intelligence data to identify the areas of improvements and factors which are impacting the queues and customer waiting time. The businesses intelligence is a collective data coming from various feeds and sources. The data is then processed and compiled up in actionable reports. On the bases of this data the businesses can easily identify the areas of improvements and the factors which are consuming the most wait time in the customer journey. This enables the businesses to setup and configure their queue management system and tune up their other policies and strategies to ensure the improved queue management, better customer flow, lower customer wait time and better customer experience. There are different types of business intelligence data. The three main sources of business intelligence data is the queue management system’s usage and other stats, employee KPIs and the customer feedbacks. The queue management system has ability to capture data from various points and various levels. It can accurately measure each customer’s journey, service delivery time, wait time and much more. The employee KPIs are very helpful in assessing and evaluating the employee performance. The customer feedback provide deeper understanding of the customer journey, their expectations, needs and on-going market trends.

Collectively these all various sources form the business intelligence. Which is processed by in-built software engine and tools. Later the data is extracted in the form of various reports. The queue management systems provide different types of reports meant for different audience. These reports and customer feedback help businesses to identify the areas of improvements. For example the queue management system pointed to a particular service which takes longer than usual time. The businesses can plan to modify the service delivery mechanisms or practices in order to make it faster. Let say an employee is very good at certain services and not so efficient at others, the business can identify this by using the KPIs, and then they can either plan training for that employee or make sure that he remain appointed on the services with good efficiency. Such things are helpful for businesses to plan for future strategies, make policies and take actions for better queue management and lower waiting time.

Conclusion

The queue and waiting time management is a most important aspect of customer journey and customer satisfaction. If the customers are not happy and satisfied with the service they have or their experience throughout the entire customer journey, they will immediately leave the business or organization. If they had a good experience they will stay and become a loyal customer. The loyal customers are a very precious asset of any business the entire business success can be based on the customer loyalty and customer retention. It is nine to twelve time more expensive to acquire a new customer comparing to selling to an existing customer. The queue management and waiting time dominates the entire customer experience and customer journey. No matter how good your services or products are if your business practices and service delivery methods are not good and customers are leaving unhappy and unsatisfied, they will eventually switch to others. A digital queue management system have completely revolutionized the queue and waiting time management.

A queue management system automate various aspects of the customer journey, it can effectively manages the queues without getting affected by the quantity of the incoming customers and visitors. It manages the customer routes and automatically control the customer journey. It effectively distribute customers among the relevant counters and reduce the workload of the employees. Collectively these all factors results in huge reduction in the customer waiting time and excellent queue management. Moreover the queue management system also collect crucial business intelligence data to evaluate and assess each and every customer touch point. The queue management system can also effectively manage the employee performance. This help the management to further take steps and make policies to ensure the smoothest customer journey and a satisfactory customer experience. RSI Concepts is a leading name in queue management system providers in Dubai, UAE. If you need help with your queue management or branch transformation and customer journey management, feel free to reach us out through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you.

Check out this: Impact of a Queue Management Software on Staff Productivity

BLOG OF RSI CONCEPTS

Tag: Reduce customer waiting time

Effective Ways to Manage Customers Queue and Service Delays

What is the Most Effective way to Manage Customer Queue and Service Delays?

Features of Queue Management System

Features to Automate Customer Sign-Up Process

Features to Increase Customer Engagement

Features to Automatically Categorize Customers and Automatically Control Customer Flow

Features to Support Popular Queuing Methods

Features to Support Virtual Queuing

Features to Boost Employee Performance and Productivity

Features to Integrate with Third-Party Tools and Other Databases

Ability to Capture Valuable Business Intelligence Data

Low-cost Scalability and Maintenance

Conclusion

How to Reduce Queues in Banks?

Queue Management System Reduces Customer Wait Time

Queue Management System Automates and Optimize Customer Flow

Queue Management System Improves Employee Performance

Queue Management System offers Virtual Queuing

Queue Management System Collects Business Intelligence Data

Conclusion

Queue & Waiting Time Management

Queue Management System Manages Customer Flow and Organizes Queues

Queue Management System Reduces the Actual Wait Time and the Perceived Wait Time

Queue Management System Automates Customer Journey and Reduces Wait Time

Queue Management System Help Managing the Queues and Reducing Wait Time by Improving Employee Efficiency

Queue Management Systems Collect Business Intelligence Data

Conclusion