The true meaning of customer service queue management

Think you know customer service queue management?

The phrase customer service and queue management have different meaning depending on who you are talking to.  Take for example, when speaking to a CEO about queue management, they automatically think about CX (customer experience) and about the improvements they can make by changing the shape of the seating.  To a customer adviser (working at a desk or counter), they think of an endless sea of faces just willing them to work faster.  To a customer who must visit their nearest service centre, GP clinic or outpatient department, they instantly think about a packed waiting room, tinny voice announcements and people watching screens in the vain hope that they will be called next.  Ultimately, they get the feeling that they are about to lose a few hours of their lives.  It doesn’t have to be that way!

Time has definitely moved on from the kiosk and ‘take a ticket & wait’.  Let’s face it, it had to.  Take, for example, a recent implementation where hundreds of thousands were spent on improving the ‘Customer Experience’…the problem was, they forgot one thing, a toilet!  Take a ticket & wait systems are no real business solution.

The next generation

Looking at where we have come from, it is obvious to see that you can’t just put in place a system just because everyone else has it; sometimes, you must break the mould and think outside the box.  Take for example Hague QMS, Queue Management solution with a difference.  Whilst customers can visit their nearest service centre and use a touch-screen kiosk to select a reason for their visit, chances are, they will interact with the service centre long before going through the door.

Hague QMS allows customers to view real-time service data (how many people are waiting to be served, how long will I have to wait) and once the customer has this information, they can decide whether to join a virtual queue or book an appointment.  As Hague QMS uses interactive mobile technology, the customer doesn’t have to physically be in the waiting area, they could be getting a coffee or catching up on that last-minute shopping.  Hague QMS will manage the customer’s wait and will let them know when they are due to be seen and even call them forward when it’s their turn.

Beyond the Service Centre

Ok, Hague QMS is a virtual queue management solution but what are the benefits?

• No software or servers to install
• No licenses or support contacts to manage
• Free-to-use Concierge, iPhone and Android Apps
• Instant management reporting including Dashboard information
• Real-time customer feedback surveys
• We could go on…

One of the major benefits of Hague QMS is the fact that the solution goes way beyond the traditional service centre.  As an example, most Australian Universities are currently engaged in Orientation Week.

Orientation Week is where all the new students get to interact with their chosen University for the first time.  Many of the questions they have relate directly to how the next three or four years will pan out for them.  For a University, this is a busy time.  How do we know?  Hague Australia has Universities that use Hague QMS not only in their service centres and student hubs, but also use it in Orientation Week locations and Course Enrolment days.  It is these days when we see Universities conducting over six hundred + enquiries within a day.  On the busiest Course Enrolment Day, we have seen over one thousand enquiries within a four-hour period!

What does queue management mean to us?  It’s the ability to treat every customer/student/patient in the way that we wish to be treated.  It is that ability to allow us to wait where we want and do what we want with our time.  Finally, for any University, GP Surgery and Out-Patients Department, it means having the knowledge and understanding of how your services centre, health centre or service locations are really performing.

Want to know more about how Hague QMS queue management can help your business?  Contact us for an informal discussion and see why QLess is fast becoming the leading Australian customer service and queue management solution.