“Many restaurants are using devices like alert pages, but those are limiting to patrons,” said Josh Bob, founder and president, Textaurant.  “You really can’t go far from the restaurant.  Essentially, your time spent waiting for your table is lost, since you can’t spend it as you wish.  What business wants to waste their customers’ time?”

Overly long waiting times are not just an issue for large chain restaurants.  Even the small, trendy local restaurant will experience waiting times of more than 30 minutes.  And as a report from Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research notes, customers “take a dim view of waiting” for a table.

The study recommends restaurants “that continue with seating from a first-come, first-served waitlist should consider ways to empower guests…”  One way to do that is a beeper service like Textaurant, or for other business, appointment scheduling from TimeTrade.

“Customers want more freedom and flexibility,” continues Bob.  “Combine that with the fact that 98% of phones sold today have texting capabilities, and it’s a natural match for restaurants that want to change how they handle customers waiting for tables.  Once we add voice mail and email capability to the system, we’ll have something that everyone with a mobile phone can use.”

Textaurant took an existing, aggravating and stressful business problem and applied an innovative solution to enhancing customer service.  And, it’s not just about improving customer service; it’s also about improving the bottom line.  According to Bob, restaurants using Textaurant’s service are seeing reductions in no-shows for reservations and decreases in customers opting to not wait for a table.

The Cornell study claims “anything that can be done to reduce perceived waiting time [regardless of industry] should result in an increase in customer satisfaction.”  Sounds like a great business reason to innovate customer waiting processes and procedures.   Just like Textaurant.

Kelley Kassa
TimeTrade Blogging Team

Image Credit: InMagine TT0701816

In July our post The Psychology of Waiting Lines cited a classic paper whose introduction notes that “The bitter taste of how long it took to get attention pollutes the overall judgments that we make about the quality of service.”

Business consultant David Spark wrote recently about his experience waiting for technical service on a paid customer support line. His saga begins with “Why I love public transportation and hate HP” and continues with “HP responds to ‘Why I love public transportation and hate HP.” It may appear to be a complaint about a long wait on hold, but it’s not.  His complaint is really about not knowing how long his wait would be.

Thankfully, some organizations are recognizing this new customer expectation: to have reliable information on  how long their wait will be. This lets the customer decide if they should stay (on hold, in line) or go.  Organizations using technology to communicate waiting times include public transportation (subway signs saying “Next train in 4 minutes”), DMV offices, etc.

Providing customer wait times is not only respectful of a customer’s time, but it is also becoming a hallmark of excellent customer service.

Kelley Kassa
TimeTrade Blogging Team

Image Credit: InMagine SMP0013233

MIT's "Dr. Queue" (Photo: Tim Gray, Boston Globe)

The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine recently interviewed MIT professor Dick Larson, a.k.a. “Dr. Queue.”  The piece includes tips for both consumers waiting in line, and for retailers bracing for the busiest shopping time of the year.

For the retailer, there were results that don’t surprise us a bit:

In an informal poll, Larson found half of people polled reported they would not return to a store because of a bad experience waiting in line. He even notes that long, unpleasant lines have a greater impact on consumer behavior than low prices.

One piece of advice Larson recommends includes serpentine lines (first come, first served) over parallel lines (consumers select a line).  He cites a Duke University study that found consumers prefer the first come, first served approach.

Larson cites Apple stores as offering excellent customer service that eliminates lines all together. Similarly, leading brands like TimeTrade customer Best Buy use online appointment scheduling software to streamline the customer experience.

As the heavy shopping begins, perhaps it’s time retailers change their approach to how customers wait in line.  Clearly, the experience consumers have waiting in line can have significant impact on where they continue to spend their money.

Kelley Kassa
TimeTrade Blogging Team

According to polls on Yelp, Yahoo! Answers and other Web sites, there are some common places where the wait is considered abysmal.

If they haven’t already done so, organizations on this list should make some changes – if they care:

• Amusement Parks
• Airports, airlines
• ER, doctors offices, medical clinics
• Government Agencies: DMV, post office, border crossings, customs and immigration (see the Ellis Island photo above)
• Banks

Consumers have plenty of choices: travel to a different amusement park, change banks, perhaps choose a different airport or airline.  In the case of medical providers, customers can vote with their feet by simply switching doctors, hospitals and clinics. For government agencies you may not have a choice.  If they don’t offer online services or appointments, bring some entertainment (book, magazine, 3G-enabled mobile device, video game) while you wait … and wait … and wait!

Kelley Kassa
TimeTrade Blogging Team

Image credit: NYPL Digital Gallery on Flickr

To my knowledge the customer lodged no complaint, and therefore the company had no opportunity to ensure her satisfaction.  However, there is no telling just how far reaching her dissatisfaction will be.

Frustrated customers go away.  People are busy, and they won’t hesitate to leave one service company to obtain the same type of service somewhere else.  Irate customers may vow never to return, and with the viral capabilities of social media, will most likely generously offer their opinions about their poor experience to others.

Current marketing data shows that customers are continually frustrated by time spent on routine customer service interactions.  In fact, sixty-one percent of people interviewed in one customer satisfaction study said they would choose one company over another based on the appointment scheduling process.

It’s no secret that in order to compete in today’s turbulent economy, companies must deliver top-notch, efficient, and convenient customer experiences.  Customers demand shorter wait times, and businesses must respond.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, below are a few options a company may consider for boosting customer satisfaction:

• Equip call centers with interactive voice response
• Entertain & educate customers waiting in line
• Send social media alerts to keep customers informed
• Utilize self-service checkouts
• Implement online appointment scheduling.

If my fellow tire customer had been able to schedule the automobile work from her desk, she may not have walked out without a word.  If alerts were sent to my blackberry as to the status of my vehicle, I might actually have good things to say about this company.  That’s a lot of ‘if’s’, folks.

Pamela Taylor & Lisa Letchworth
TimeTrade Blogging Team

Image credit: InMagine PCRF005548

It’s a project of unprecedented magnitude, and while government authorities are working their tails off to get everyone vaccinated, they seem to be overlooking a proven opportunity to improve reach: offering appointments can reduce wait times, which helps compliance. (“Compliance” is healthcare’s word for whether patients actually do what providers recommend.)

Citing a CDC advisor who calls it “potentially the largest mass-vaccination program in human history,” the Washington Post said Saturday

To prepare, more than 2,800 local health departments have begun recruiting pediatricians, obstetricians, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and even dentists, along with a small army of volunteers from churches and other groups. They are devising strategies to reach children, teenagers, pregnant women and young and middle-aged adults in inner cities, suburban enclaves and the countryside.

Last night ABC News ran this two minute clip. (You’ll have to sit through a commercial first.) At about 0:36 remaining, Ryan Owens says “Many children will go to their pediatrician. Others will have to go to the health department and line up, just like these people are.”

He turns and points to a lengthy queue.

This is ridiculous: it discourages people from getting shots.

Of course we’re biased; we believe in the convenience and effectiveness of Web self-service appointments, and we sell the stuff. But seriously: this is a public health issue. People are less likely to do something when there’s a long wait.

Conversely, when the time factor is under control, compliance increases. Evidence:

• In May we reported on a talk at the Pediatric Academy Societies’ annual meeting saying Appointment scheduling issues keep children from getting vaccinated.
• At last April’s “Health 2.0 meets Ix” conference in Boston, Kaiser-Permanente VP of PR Holly Potter (@HTPotter) reported that Kaiser has found (with its millions of Web users) that when patients can pick an appointment time online, at their convenience, they’re 40% less likely to no-show.

This isn’t rocket science: You know yourself, when there’s a long line for something you’re less likely to do it. It’s just that healthcare hasn’t quite woken up to the opportunity. (Kaiser has, most haven’t.)

We hope private providers and public health officials alike will give us a buzz. Spread the word.

Related resources:

• Blog post: Medical journal article shows reminders help patients stick to the plan
  
• Our healthcare solutions page
  
• Case study: Sonora Quest labs TimeTrade smooths patient traffic and guarantees service within five minutes of scheduled appointment time
  
• Case study: Berkeley HeartLab Centralized scheduling helps provide cardiac patients with top-notch care
  
• Case study: Family Health Care Clinic Family Health Care Clinic delivers better care, 25% more visits, $2.5 million more revenue

Waiting stinks.

And it’s a costly waste of time.

So let’s toss around some ways people use to shrink the stink.
Some businesses get it, and do a variety of things:

1. “Take a Number” dispensers at the deli counter. Doesn’t save you any time, but gives you a good shot at “first come, first served.”
2. Walk-in queuing systems are the software equivalent of “take a number.” (Sprint stores have a TimeTrade queuing system for walk-in service.)
3. Cordoned “enter here” queues (at banks, post offices, airports) reduce the risk of getting stuck in the wrong line. (Why don’t supermarkets do this?? Don’t you hate it when the cashier turns on the “call supervisor” light for your line??)
4. Restaurants offer “call ahead seating” to grab a place in line before you even get there, to reduce your wait.
5. Some ERs publish their wait times on the internet. Associated Press, April 2009. And some let you call ahead and grab a place in line, then check back to see how close your turn is. That one’s not just a convenience, it keeps you (and your kid) from hanging out with sick people for hours.
6. Then, of course, there’s making an appointment (or a reservation, as it’s called in non-service businesses).

#1, 2 and 3 still make you wait, but you can mill around. They don’t reduce your waiting time, but they do reduce the discomfort. In a sense, they make the waiting a little better.

The others, though, make your life better, because they address the value of your time. And now that I think of it, “Take A Number” and queuing systems do let you roam around and perhaps pick up a few items, letting you use that time.

Complex subject, this. One thing’s for sure – there’s a lot of waste involved in waiting lines, and that makes it an opportunity for improvement.

Think about it.

It hit me because of events in two vastly different industries a week earlier:

• That Sunday I was on the phone with Southwest Airlines, and their system said “Our hold time is unusually long. If you want our system to call you when it’s your turn, press 1.”
• Two days later I had my adventure with the x-ray appointment (not) at a local clinic.

What do airlines and x-rays have in common? Both are capacity-based, which means customers need to be matched up with availability. And there’s a world of difference in how these two managed the customer experience.

• Southwest had their robot do the waiting, so I didn’t have to.
• The clinic has lots of friendly, courteous people, but responsibility for my waiting time apparently hasn’t dawned on them. “Come on in, and we’ll get to you when we can.”

Think about this. Waiting stinks (and is a costly waste of time), so what ways can you think of to improve the customer experience?

Later this week I’ll return to this, but give it some thought. Maybe in the shower.

For a refresher on the cost (and value) of people’s waiting time, see our very first post: It’s RUDE to make people wait. And costly. That’s where this photo first appeared. It’s a real-life case study.

Any questions?

(Not surprisingly, a search on our new website for “waiting” produces three pages of case studies and articles. Just browsing the headlines is informative…and a Google blog search for “I hate to wait” produces hundreds of thousands of hits.) (Do we see a pattern here, a universal thing about whether customer service matters?)

A tip of the hat to Occasional CEO buddy Eric Schultz, who keeps threatening to write a guest post for us someday.

This is ominous if you’re in a business where customers have to wait: when your customers find a competitor who doesn’t make them wait, you could be toast.

There are exceptions: this morning I scheduled a physical with my doctor, and I have to wait three months! For this we pay the highest healthcare costs in the world?? But, he’s my doctor, and I’m not willing to doc-hop – a good doctor is a special case.

Most services aren’t nearly that special, and impatience rules. Sources cited in the Globe say:

• More than 30% of voicemails go unheard for three days or longer.
• More than 20% of people with messages rarely check them.
• PhoneTag, a company that transcribes voice mails and sends the text to users [so they can be archived, searched, and quickly read], estimates it takes 6 seconds to read a voice mail that would take 79 seconds to hear.

In this case, text is the lethal competitor – texting or email, as provided by PhoneTag ($30/month). They sound like a potential winner, but I’d hate to be in their shoes – Google Voice offers a similar transcription service for free. (Uh-oh, Google has noticed this?)

Worse, if you like to plan by anticipating where the puck’s going to be, the demographics show it’s getting worse… Sprint has been working hard to listen to its customers:

”A survey done for Sprint by Opinion Research Corporation found that with the exception of people age 65 and over, adults respond more quickly to a text message than to a voice message.”

• Under-30s are four times more likely to respond within minutes to a text message than to a voice mail.
• Over-30s are twice as likely to respond within minutes to text.

Lesson: people hate to wait. (Where have we heard this before?)

Later this summer TimeTrade will report some new findings about this, the result of original research we commissioned. Nice of the Globe to set the stage for us. :–)