Mobile Phone Repair Centres are no exception

Lunch and Dinner times are terrible peak periods in the Mobile Phone Repair Centres.

Customer Queues can sometimes be up to hours just to get to the counter to be served by a Customer Service Agent

Imagine waiting for 2 hours and being told by the Customer Service Agent that the phone needs to be brought in for repair for 2 days! The interaction with the CS agent was only 5 minutes and I waited 2 hours !

Unbelievable, isn’t it?

For me, I would prefer to make an appointment to send in my phone for repair.

At least in Singapore, I do not have to pay high car parking fees as some of the repair centres are located in Central Business Districts. Or even take half a day off just to avoid the peak crowds.

Why do Banks make us wait so long?

Banks are one of the victims of poor queue management.

During peak hours, the queues are so long.

What the bank usually does is open more counters, allocate more staff in order to cope with the peak hour crowds.

But still, the queues moved at a snail’s pace.

If only we can make an appointment and then come 5 minutes before the appointed time, and get served within 5 minutes.

Technology is so advanced nowadays. Solving this is no rocket science.

Allowing bank customers to make appointments can be through 3 ways :

1. SMS appointment (using your mobile phone)

2. Internet appointment booking

3. Last but not least, call in to make an appointment

SMS appointment will be the best one to use.

Internet appointment requires a computer to do so.

Calling in is also not easy when you have to wait for a long time before you get to the operator.

Using SMS to book an appointment takes alittle bit of getting used to. Well, whenever there are changes we need time to adapt to it.

Basically, you send an sms (in a certain format) to a number e.g. 12345 and you will receive a reply to confirm your appointed date and time.

If the appointment you requested is already filled up, the reply sms gives you the next available time closest to your choice.

Then just appear at the bank 5 minutes before the appointment, and you will be served in no time.

Long Customer Queues? No more!

Don’t you think that it’s about time, Banks use this technology to relieve us of the pain and frustration?

Long Queues Drive Your Valuable Customers Away !

Don’t you hate to wait in long queues in banks, repair centres, restaurants, hospitals, etc? Don’t you wish that they will open more counters to serve the queue faster? Don’t you wish the person currently being served can get it over and done with immediately?

Waiting is a complete waste of time! Frustration builds up and let’s not even talk about customer satisfaction. The traditional Queue Systems does not manage queues, it is on a 1st come, 1st served basis. What the current queue system does is issue you a queue ticket and you join the customer queue.

During peak hours (typically twice during the day in most industries), the queues are extremely long. Needless to say, you will have to get a queue ticket and join the queue. Mind you, the queuing time can sometimes be up to an hour !

Sometimes, when you see the length of the queue, you give up and walk away. Or you might even consider doing business elsewhere. Some of us might even have to go to the extent of taking a day leave just to avoid the long queue.

On the other hand, wouldn’t this be great? You go to the bank (or repair centres, restaurant, hospitals, etc.) and you are served within 5 minutes! No waiting in the long queues.

Or

You get your queue ticket and you do not have to wait in the queue. So you go shopping (or do whatever you like) instead of waiting there in the queue. You will be informed when your turn is near.

As for the banks (repair centres, restaurants, hospitals, etc.), it is definitely advantageous to them to achieve the above. Customers will be happier if they can come at their own convenient time and be served within 5 minutes.

There will not be any need to allocate more resources to handle the peak crowds. You will attract new customers due to your effective management of your operation.