Articles

Care for Customers Waiting in Line

Jana M. Kemp

Disney sets the standard for caring for customers waiting, waiting, and still waiting in line. What are you doing to care for your customers as they wait in line to do business with you? Here are some line-up approaches from Disneyland.

Educate – Share part of your company history or product development history. Communicate your story with visuals, videos, audios and even menus of products and services. Disney’s menu boards are large enough that while waiting in line, guests can make their purchasing decisions before reaching the order counter.

Entertain – Information can be provided in an academic style (which may suit your business) or in an entertaining style – which many customers now expect. For instance, artistic and graphic visuals are more entertaining than text-only documents. And videos with narration and music tracks are more interesting than facts-only story telling. Disney uses videos, singing, story telling, interesting objects on display, fact-boards with colorful related images, air-flow that prevents stagnant and smelly air, and previews of the rides being waited for to entertain people standing in lines.

Engage – Activities which customers can complete on their own engage attention so that they forget about the long line or wait. Moveable ropes, chains and cords guide people through walking lines at Disneyland so people can see entertaining objects, signs and videos. “Please seat yourself” signs are meant to engage customers in the service process – even if they have to then wait while seated for service. At the U.S. Post Office, the waiting lines include counters with the various forms you may need to fill out so that work can be completed before reaching the clerk and paying for services.

Line-waiting strategies are studied in many college courses too under the title of “queueing theory.” The queueing theory studies include telecommunication, transportation and amusement ride scenarios and the back-of-the-line versus front-of-the-line and even being-served stages of the waiting-in-line experience. So, take a look around your business to discover where your customers are waiting in line – in person and on the telephone.

However you organize your queues, or lines, keep this goal in mind: keeping a customer waiting should be a neutral or an enhancing part of the process of doing business with your company.

Action Item: Ask employees and customers for ideas to improve your waiting-in-line process more manageable and a more enjoyable part of doing business with you. Then determine how you’ll better care for customers while they are waiting in line.
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Reprint Permission: The author is willing to grant reprint permissions. Please contact Jana Kemp: jana@janakemp.com or call 208-367-1701.