Technology Can Help Businesses Respond to the Pandemic

Wait times directly correlate to the customer experience

Think about times when you had to stand in a line and wait, and wait some more - eventually starting to contemplate if you should just leave or asking yourself: is my time spent here, worth it? Did you find yourself standing and questioning how the organization operates, or completely changing your entire perception about a particular company because the wait time was way beyond your expectations? Well, guess what, during these trying times lines have gotten longer and way more difficult to manage!

Wait times and virtual queues

Today, more than ever, it is imperative to provide customers with a fast, smooth, and safe experience. The customer waiting time has two aspects, the passage of time and the perception of the passage of time. Real-time matters in conditions such as waiting for an important package to arrive, or in dire situations waiting for an ambulance. On the other hand, a service provider can have the ability to alter the perception of an individual, like at a theme park, entertaining its customers while they wait their turn or shaping their expectations with signs, such as “15 minutes remaining”. But both real and perceived, in today’s ‘times-up’ world, wait time factors critically into customers’ evaluation of their service experience. A Virtual Queue Management system allows customers to stay in the line while utilizing their actual time in whatever way they please by continuing to shop at other stores, stay in their warm cars, or only show up when it’s their turn.

Customer expectations

Post pandemic, a significant number of customers expect contactless service and are keen to minimize the risk of exposure. As such, saving wait time in the queue adds to not only convenience but also health safety. Today, a fitting Queue Management Systems is required to eliminate the time spent in lines by placing customers in a virtual queue. Also preserving the ‘first-come-first-serve’ basis, allow providers to serve the traffic as it flows. Customers expect simplicity. For example, having the ability to join a queue by scanning a QR code, or by visiting a web-site and then communicating over the 2-way SMS is the key. Downloading an App or remembering a website on a mobile device can be cumbersome, especially if a customer is visiting various places. Imagine a customer pulling in front of a store, pointing their camera at the store wall scanning to scan a QR code places them in a Queue. He or she waits in the car and is texted (over SMS) to come inside when it is their turn - it is that simple.

Increased productivity

Enhanced data acquisition and analytics ability of a good tool are vital to make the overall business operations efficient. A Virtual Queue system should be able to provide key business metrics, such as average wait time, average service time, number of customers served over a time of day and day of the week. Such information helps the operation managers allocate just the right number of resources per location and per counter - thereby increasing productivity manifolds.

Benefits

Customer satisfaction is important but the operation managers must keep an eye on the cost to serve. Standspot.com, a Califo ia-based startup, is an innovative company that is determined to achieve enhanced Customer Experience while minimizing the total Cost-to-Serve. Their Virtual Queue Management system helps businesses increase customer satisfaction and respond to COVID-19 by reducing wait times, offering a safe waiting environment, and providing feature-rich data for optimal operations. Check out their free trial that helps to evaluate the SaaS product with enterprise-class support before making a decision.