Queue Tips: How to make the most of Queue Management

It’s time to re-think how your store operates. When you’re store is busy, give customers the option to join a virtual queue, instead of waiting for service in a physical line. 

Queue Management collects customer contact information and then adds the customer to a virtual queue. They won’t have to wait in a line and will be called back to the store when an associate is ready to see them. It’s the physical distancing and convenience customers want with the chance to maintain the associate’s ability to provide exceptional in-store service. Flexible, customer-centric service is what the new normal in retail is all about.

But it’s not enough to just have Queue Management available, you need to be able to optimize it. For this, following best practices is the key to success.

Here are our top Queue tips for making the most out of Queue Management.

Meeting Customer Expectations

Consumers are expecting more from customer service than they ever have before. Boost your customer’s satisfaction and help draw in new business with Queue Management. Allowing shoppers to wait comfortably in their car or visit a nearby coffee shop, instead of standing in long lines, is a way to differentiate your store from your competitors. While it drastically reduces the potential for sales lost due to walkouts caused by long lines, it shows the customer that you’re putting their needs first. 

Once you enable queue management solutions for your stores, it’s going to quickly become a service your customers expect of you. It’s not just a tool for the pandemic era, but a tool that can be leveraged to continuously meet the changing behaviors of telecom consumers. Keep Queue Management enabled beyond the time of physical distancing and make it a staple for all of your telecom retail store locations. Not only will you be a step ahead of the competition, but you’ll also be unifying your brand and customer experiences — no matter the location your customer visits, they’ll have the same, great experience with your brand.

Manage the Queue and Earn Greater Insights

Managing a busy queue can be brutal but to avoid this added stress, your teams should be leveraging the improved Reason Codes functionality. It allows associates to provide greater insight into why customers are joining the queue.

When a customer joins the queue, a list of reasons will be available to them to choose from. While they will still only be able to select one of four reasons provided, your business can now build a custom list of reasons by selecting the reasons that best fit your customer’s habits. Custom Reason Codes will help to improve the shopping experience for associates and customers alike. Giving associates the knowledge and tools to effectively manage in-store traffic, and leverage visibility into the queue for the chance to optimize in-store efficiency.

Keep it Simple

Customers will become more relaxed about joining a virtual queue the more information they have available to them — they want to know what to expect. One of the biggest irritants and causes of confusion is around the start and endpoints of lines. If you’re not sure where you are in the queue, especially without seeing a physical line to judge a wait-time by, you may not bother even trying to join the queue. 

Queue Management offers a simple yet effective self check-in process that makes joining easy and knowing your place even easier. Customers are made aware that they’ll be notified when they should return to the store, so they can feel confident in going about their day without losing their place. Your store should place signage in an easy-to-see location in the front of your store — customers should be able to arrive, see the signage from outside of your location, and be directed to scan a QR code or send an SMS from their mobile device to be added to the queue.

Queue Management gives straightforward text messages that clearly let the customer know they have been added to the queue and when they should return to the store for their turn to shop. 

Prepare for the Busy Periods 

Busy periods can bring unexpectedly high numbers of customers into your stores. Busy stores can quickly escalate into safety issues and without a way to manage it, customers may not feel comfortable shopping with your brand.

For now, safety will likely be the number one concern among shoppers. Ensuring that your store is prepared for the influx of shoppers without causing lines that deter sales starts with using Queue Management. You’ll provide safe, positive, and welcoming customer experiences that will go a long way to making every customer visit a profitable one. 

Add Contact Information for Same-Day Appointments

If customers are browsing your website, it’s likely that they’re planning a trip to your store sometime soon. Adding ​‘Contact Us’ information to your website means browsers can book appointments to quickly become customers. Same-day appointments can be made over the phone. 

These appointments are booked and managed by associates through Queue Management and with all appointment details included in the booking, associates can be ready for the customer when they enter the store. This ensures a great experience for the customer while enabling the associate to plan their day to accomplish all other tasks. 

Booking same-day appointments through Queue Management can also be done in-person so that those without working devices can still be added to the appointment queue.

Train Your Staff

Managing a busy queue can be brutal. To avoid the stress, make sure your team is trained on Queue Management to help improve the shopping experience for associates and customers alike. Trained associates have the knowledge and tools to effectively manage in-store traffic, help device-less customers with assisted check-ins, and leverage visibility into the queue for the chance to optimize in-store efficiency.

Queue Management is a part of the award-winning omnichannel suite from iQmetrix. See why this software was chosen as Business App of the Year in the 2020 Mobile Breakthrough Awards.