We’ve all had the dehumanizing experience as a customer of being treated as a number and not a person. But consumers increasingly have choices when it comes to where they spend their money. You’re at risk of losing business if you don’t remain constantly mindful of the customer experience and, in addition, if you aren’t analyzing your customer data and planning accordingly. NEMO-Q can provide the solution to address both these concerns.
It’s Time to Do Away with Making People “Take a Number”
The whole concept of being “treated like a number” began with the so-called take-a-number queue management system. In this low-tech approach, customers arrive at a location, take a printed ticket, and then wait…and wait…and wait for their number to be called. Unfortunately, this much-hated system is still being used at locations such as DMVs, fast food restaurants, banks, post offices, and pharmacies. This type of system lacks personalization, taking away any opportunity to greet someone by using their name. And when businesses have attempted to improve things for customers, they’ve often simply built technology solutions based on the old way of doing things. McDonald’s, for example, added self-service digital kiosks so customers wouldn’t have to wait in line to place their order. But customers still receive a number, and there is no predicting the length of the wait based upon that number because the internal priority system is completely different. Everyone has experienced the frustration of hearing the employee call out number 154, followed by 152, then 376, and so on.
Manual Queuing Systems Lack Data and Analytics
When compared with digital queuing solutions, take-a-number systems provide little to no useful business information. Simply grabbing a slip doesn’t provide information about when a particular customer arrived, how long his or her wait was, or how these factors vary by employee or over time. Once a customer discards their slip in the trash can, the chance to gather any data about their wait is tossed aside as well. Digital systems provide the opportunity to gather data and apply powerful analytics, but a company needs to strike a happy medium between providing value to the business while still creating an excellent customer experience. The purpose of data collection should be to both better serve a customer now and learn how to improve service for others in the future. But this information must be captured in a way that is invisible to customers and doesn’t inadvertently make them feel like they are simply a source of data.
NEMO-Q Provides Options to Make Customers Feel Valued
The NEMO-Q Virtual Queuing system provides the flexibility to allow customers to check in and secure a place in line through a variety of means. If the customer is onsite, the system will allow him or her to get in line by checking in at a kiosk or with a receptionist or greeter. Additionally, a virtual queuing system allows customers to get in line from a remote location via immediate web entry, online appointment, phone call, or SMS text message. This frees them from the burden of physically standing in line and allows them to remain productive while they wait their turn. And the NEMO-Q system provides the option queuing by name, allowing for a more personal touch. Once a customer is being served, employees can seamlessly transfer those that require multiple transactions to other queues, meaning they don’t suffer the indignity of being told to “take another number”. And the employee is able to communicate with whomever they are transferring the customer to with “ticket text” to help expedite the transaction. Finally, the powerful data and analytics of NEMO-Q software deliver statistics in a number of standard report formats, or users can create their own using the NEMO-Q Report Builder. Reports can be queried by employee, workstation, specific date, time, or location and can be run on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. Results can be displayed in graph or grid format or printed and exported into Excel or Crystal Reports.
When a customer is given options they feel valued. NEMO-Q allows customers the flexibility to easily make an appointment, receive alerts in the way that they prefer, and then wait in the comfort of their home or in your lobby. At NEMO-Q, we’re dedicated to providing the best service in the industry to our clients and empowering them with the tools needed to create the best possible experience to their customers.
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