It’s not hard to tell when customers are disgruntled in line. They’re the ones giving dirty looks, rolling their eyes, craning their neck for a better option, or even being quite vocal about the fact that the line they’re in is long, slow-moving, and really frustrating. But why do they hate the line so much? It’s a necessary evil and there isn’t much that can be done about it, right? Wrong. There’s plenty that can be done to improve a queue – but first you have to acknowledge the problem and then identify what your customers dislike.
1. It’s not organized.
Whenever you think about the logistics of your business, it can help to put yourself in the place of a first-time visitor. You don’t want them to become a one-time visitor due to 1) lack of queues, 2) not being able to actually find the queue, or 3) finding the queue a chaotic mess. When a line is disheveled, hard to find, or overcrowded, it becomes stressful to customers (and service agents dealing with the unhappy customers). Signage and stanchions are simple fixes to organizational issues. Use stanchions to form a line – and use plenty of signage throughout your establishment directing people to the queue, and signage within the line telling people where the entry and exit is. Electronic queuing methods like station lights and audio signals can also help keep the front-end organized and efficient.
2. It’s not fair.
Customers may select what looks like the shortest line and still end up waiting longer than the people in the lengthier queue next to them for many reasons. When the lines don’t look or feel equally distributed, a sense of unfairness rears its ugly head and it’s tough for customers to get over that feeling of being ‘slighted.’ When people feel like they’re jockeying for position in the shortest or fastest line, it may be time to retire the multiple-line queue and switch to a single-line queue with multiple servers to re-establish a sense of first come, first served fairness.
3. It’s boring.
It’s been proven by many a line expert that unoccupied time feels longer than unoccupied time. So give your customers something to do! You can offer in-line merchandising to give them the ability to continue shopping. Or you can entertain them with digital displays showing instructional videos, commercials, promotions, or even cartoons, news shows, or movie trailers, whatever gels with your business. You really can make your waiting lines better and more efficient in both perception and reality. What will you do to make your waiting lines more enjoyable in the months ahead?
