How do we deal with customers cutting in line?

People spend most of their lives waiting, right? We often have to wait when consuming some services. Most of us Chinese are famous for not being able to service when the service capabilities of service organizations are insufficient. When meeting a large number of demands at the same time, think about the always busy windows of hospitals and the long queues at gas stations waiting for gas. Waiting becomes the only thing you can do at this time. Everyone hopes to be the first to be served, but unfortunately, unless you are willing to pay a higher price to obtain such priority, in most cases we think it is not cost-effective and unnecessary, so we should wait. Right!

Is it because the waiting time is too long that we feel unbearable? Not entirely. Through research on customer psychology, we will find that it is actually our feelings about waiting and our emotions while waiting. Feelings allow us to be satisfied with, accept or complain about the service. Can our service organizations consider whether they can make our waiting easier or at least tolerable?

1. Boredom makes our days seem like years

When you are right When you are not mentally prepared for waiting, of course you will not bring any equipment to pass the time. When you have to sit in a chair or stand and wait, you don’t even have a newspaper at hand. There is really nothing to do except look around. , it’s boring, it’s like listening to a lecture in 5 minutes. If we find something to do for our lovely customers, time will not be so difficult, especially if these things are related to the services provided by the service organization, it would be better, and by the way, we can also educate the customers.

2. Is it my turn?

If we wait for 30 minutes in the restaurant before someone comes to greet us, the dishes will be served in 20 minutes, or as soon as we sit down When ordering, the first dish is served 10 minutes later, and the others are served 40 minutes later. Do you think it takes longer? I guess under normal circumstances we will not tolerate the service of no one to greet us after we sit down. Why do we feel like this? Because after a dish is served, we feel that the service has begun. Unknowingly, 40 minutes have passed in anticipation, and the next minute it is my turn. Do you often have this kind of self-talk? Customers will be more likely to ignore waiting during service. There are also exceptions. When something goes wrong with the service you provide, consumers want you to handle it quickly. In this case, the feeling of waiting is completely different.

3. Am I forgotten?

Everyone thinks that they are the most important. When we feel that we have been forgotten or don’t know how long we have to wait, anxiety is The most likely emotion we have is to think, "Hey! Why am I standing in the wrong team again? This damn place is motionless. I should have known which team I was standing in, but now it's all me." The bank's queuing system is something that many service agencies should learn from, so that each window has a single queue and knows how many people are in front. Of course, you have to keep your ears open to avoid missing out. Hotels with good business provide drinks and fruits to guests waiting for a table, and even promise 20% off if they stay for more than half an hour. They are telling customers: You have not been forgotten, and thank you very much for your visit. Look, things that used to make people anxious have become less uncomfortable. I saw that some hotels even provide mahjong and playing cards!

4. I don’t know how long it will take

Anxiety is most likely to arise about unknown things. When customers don’t know how long they have to wait, the anxiety will be more serious. Just like when we make an appointment with a client, if you arrive earlier than the appointment time, you have to wait patiently until the appointment time. You know how long to wait before the appointment time. After this point , you don’t know when to meet. Once the original time passes, anxiety will increase accordingly. Therefore, providing clear waiting time and relevant information to waiting customers will make customers have a more positive feeling and effectively reduce the number of customers. of anxiety. Customers often have more patience and less anxiety when they can understand the reason for the wait, especially when the wait is reasonable. Customers who don't know the reason for the wait will feel powerless and irritated.

5. Boy, don’t jump in line!

When someone jumps in line, the calm queue will be chaotic, and the psychology of the customers in line will be very unbalanced.

This obvious unfairness will make waiting times appear longer. This usually occurs in places where there are no obvious rules or where many customers are waiting to be served. Hospital visits or best-selling real estate openings often require procedures to maintain order. Ensure fairness. The first-come, first-served rule is always the rule and cannot be challenged unless the priority rule is clearly communicated to customers first, for example in an emergency room the sickest or injured people are usually the first to be seen.

6. Exciting things are worth waiting for

If you can make your products and services very valuable, congratulations, your customers are usually willing to wait. This is what many luxury goods do. . A Hermès leather bag costs 150,000 US dollars. Do you want it? Sorry, I will give it to you in 2 years. This is called "waiting marketing". The longest record is waiting for 5 years. Not only do people who wait have no temper, they also feel that they have money. face.

In short, provide your customers with some distracting activities while waiting. Displeased customers will certainly affect your business. Being able to keep customers waiting shows that marketing is good, or that hospitals like tertiary-A hospitals never have to worry about running out of patients. If queues are caused by process and work efficiency, that's another topic. Want your business to last? Treat your customers well.