Think about the strategy of welcoming your visitors |

When you are looking for a queue management system, you must inevitably think about the hosting strategy of your customers/visitors!

When a company plans to implement a queue management solution, it generally does not notice the number of visitors to the waiting room or service areas. In fact, this visible part is just one of the many strategic elements of customer service.

By conducting observational clinics and working methods with our clients, we generally find the following:

• There is no clear and structured scripting of the customer service process;
• Prior to the management of a queue, there is a management of the reception and this point is not controlled;
• There are no basic analysis tools for the services offered to know and evaluate the costs and the maximization pathways;
• Managers are predominantly looking at the client path from a business perspective;
• The descriptive/Marketing concepts (texts, posters, buttons on ticket terminals, etc.) to direct visitors do not facilitate a quick decision making of the visitor;
• The absence of a measuring dashboard with performance indicators, such as: volume of services, resource skills related to service strategies and traffic cycles (home on site, home accompanied, interactive, via internet, online or mobile appointment).

During the first working clinic to integrate a reception management system, we draw with the managers the visitor routes via observation work on site or by camera.

Here is a concrete case that will make you smile.

Client: Health Sector

Traffic: Over 86 000 visitors per year | Varied clientele

Background: Several waiting rooms, access for visitors via several entrances to the building. Multiple service provision, complex and specialized terminology.

Situation: Implementation of a file management system integrated with the building’s signs. We also need to find improvement solutions to maximize the solution in place. Very modern signage, superb design with a concern for the detail of all the services offered.

History: During the evaluation of the project and the elaboration of the performance estimate, we proposed to the client to put in place a process of observing the methods of work and evaluation of the visitor course. For this step, we are implanting a camera to see and measure the ticket-taking/ticketing steps of the visitors. Then we follow the service process through the history in the system. Generally, it is noted that the process of file management and service (interview with the visitor) is well controlled by the users, because it is part of their administrative process (natural comfort zone of the managers). As a result of compiling the collected information, we draw the observed process by identifying the maximization points, the measurement tools to be integrated into the management dashboard.

If I return to our camera, it has allowed us to see for a day that more than 500 people showed up at the ticket terminal at different key moments of the day. This is the welcome phase, the P1 process of the visitor path in our jargon. Here are the findings (visitors):

• 87 have not selected the correct service ticket;
• 217 have requested assistance from the security guard or a nearby host to validate their choice of ticket;
• 79 were present at the wrong counter after being called;
• 14 visitors took a ticket of each choice offered in case;
• 51 reminders of visitors, temporarily absent from the waiting room (8/10 were young visitors);
• Loss of 56 tickets: missing persons or double tickets/errors, etc.

We found that the reading time of the information board generated a queue (Indian file) for the taking of banknotes on the queue management system …. In addition, the visitor seemed stressed by the choices offered and the impatience of the waiting visitors. This type of host causes a substep cascade with no added values. (Error, request for information, adding resources, etc.)

With this real case, one can highlight that the management of the reception is a precondition to the management of a queue. Many of our clients discover at our clinics that the hosting process is a strategic part of queuing management. With this process, we illustrate to the managers that we can frame the visitor reception and offer different solutions to improve their experience.

The main scenarios of the hosting process are summarised:

• Online or mobile appointments are a scenario that allows you to relocate a service ticket and provide a privileged moment to send more information. In this scenario, it is possible to offer communication features via email or SMS and thus plan the workload. This type of service is growing from year to year. According to our observations, more than 78% of potential visitors would like to use an online appointment service.
• Ticket taking with accompaniment and reorientation for complex services. It is noted that this service scenario is found in companies that host more than 20 000 visitors per year, this host scenario accompanied by a resource offers a significant cost/resource ratio versus self-service mode.
• The use of Advance call service tickets via SMS is a site-based solution, appreciated by visitors, to optimize the visitors ‘ waiting minutes. More than 60% of visitors already have mobile devices in hand to use this type of service. In this welcome scenario the visitor realizes his choice of tickets and the system asks him if he wants to be notified X minutes before his time of service via email or SMS. This allows it to manage its waiting period with more flexibility and thus to enjoy more of your areas of relaxation. This scenario offers several values added to the customer experience in your premises.

In conclusion, the management of the file starts with the management of the reception, and when someone will approach you and ask you if it is the right ticket … think of us!

Definition: The reception, a strategic element crucial to the business strategy, the welcome vehicle the image and the brand of the entity,

The role of the host can have 3 goals:

• Inform your client
• Advising your client
• Orient your client