I’ve just returned from a month travelling overseas (lucky me!) and while travel is amazing, it does involve a lot of waiting (albeit in exotic locations).
In all the time queuing for planes, trains, buses, museums, train tickets, post office etc., I thought about the many ways queuing could be improved in service organisations.
1. If a queue forms because of a delay, tell customers the reason, apologise if it is in the service provider’s field of responsibility, and say honestly how long the delay is expected.
I believe customers are much more satisfied in the long run if they know how long the delay will be, as it gives them time to do something else. If the service provider says “A 30 minute wait”, customers can go and get a coffee, as opposed to saying “A 10 minute wait”, three times, as is often the case!
As comedian Michael McIntyre notes, the problem with RyanAir is that no reserved seating means everyone is anxious about getting on board first, and as no one knows when boarding will begin, one person will just stand up and everyone else will follow!
2. Give customers something to watch or do while queuing. Unoccupied time seems like longer than occupied time, so where possible get queuers filling out forms to save time at the counter, or show them something interesting on a television or digital display. It’s primo time to advertise products or give more information about the business, in the same way that the Tullamarine Airport Shuttle bus shows a little bit about Melbourne. Make this content top shelf and watch awareness and knowledge of your brand follow.
Can anyone tell me the point of muted televisions in departure terminals? Why do medical waiting rooms show only daytime television programs? Basic DVD players cost less than $20; be the coolest orthodontist in time by letting your largely adolescent customers watch music videos or a TV series of their choice from a waiting room library while they wait!
3. Have one queue for multiple service desks. The primal emotions stirred by seeing the other queue move quicker than yours can be completely eradicated by simply having the ‘next available teller’ method of queuing rather than separate queues for separate tellers.
4. For call waiting ‘virtual queues’ i.e. on hold, play music that matches your brand’s personality, or the demographics of the customer. It is also a good opportunity to play advertisements for other products and services, but not if it is a complaint! Messages on Hold sells ‘on hold’ time to other advertisers, but firms should guard their own hold time carefully; it’s valuable time when you have the customer’s attention!
There is nothing worse than calling up to fix an issue or complain, only to hear ads about all the other things you can buy! Where possible play different music or radio stations etc. for the different automated call options. Soothing music for complaints perhaps?
Lastly, avoid at all costs the “Your call is important and we will be with you shortly..”. See my first dot point above. When calling an airline once I was on hold so long the cordless phone ran out of battery! Say the queue is ‘x’ minutes long or there are ‘y’ number of callers ahead in the queue. At least that way customers can put it on speaker phone and not have to have the phone in the crook of their neck for hours!
5. Where possible, provide a ticket or reserved place in a ‘virtual’ queue, so that the act of physically queuing is not required. The Fast Pass system for rides pioneered by Disney is essentially the same as getting a ticket at the deli or bakery, with the addition of a time to return to the ride for instant use. It means demand for the more popular rides is spread out over the day and park visitors can use other rides and be buying food and gifts while ‘waiting’, a benefit to the provider and customer.
6. Allocate staff based on historic demand. Sounds super obvious but French and Italian post offices and train stations are frustrating with up to 12 desks/windows and only 2 staff rostered on! Thank God they have automated kiosks that are easy to use!
7. Use waiting time to deliver value. The best (and only) examples of this I have seen were Virgin Atlantic and Octopus Resort in Fiji.
On the Virgin plane I was on, you only received drink service if you used the interactive screen in the seat in front of you. You could place an order for food and drink and also build your own personal music playlist to listen to (as opposed to those patchy pre-built channels!), which allowed for amazing efficiency in service. A steward could avoid asking every single passenger their preference, and instead go down the aisle with the Coke or Coffee, serving everyone who ordered that quickly, while a partner did beer and tea for example.
This also had the added benefit to Virgin that not all passengers could be bothered using the system (resulting in less wastage or beverages used); and passengers were prompted with other Virgin messages and branding while scrolling through the screens of food, beverages and other add-ons (such as viewing films and television programs).
For passengers, scrolling through the options and using the touch screen was engaging and gave them something to do when otherwise they would have been looking at the boring welcome screens most airlines use. See point 2 above!
At Octopus Island, delivering value while waiting was as simple as asking newly arrived visitors to leave their baggage in the small boats used to come ashore, and instead be seated at a large table under some coconut trees. While waiting (read: relaxing) in the rays of sunshine filtering through the leaves, visitors are offered fruit cocktails before they are given the accommodation briefing and check-in procedures. For a resort, this process fits the brand offering perfectly and actually relaxes the guest from the first moment.
This could easily be incorporated by other accommodation providers with the simple addition of a cool or warm drink on arrival, and the provision of a table and chair to sit at when filling out any forms. After many hours of travel, it is a small touch that could make a big difference.