Scheduling as a means of queue management

Pre Covid 19, you can walk into any office or store and be assured that your wait and handle time will be bearable. You could wait comfortably in a queue and not be so worried about how close you were to other customers. We have discussed life before this pandemic at length in our series on the perils of queue management. In discussing solutions for queue management, one simple yet perfect solution, is scheduling. You must schedule your meetings to avoid congestion and to reduce human contact. As a business, we came across a fascinating business case and we were totally excited to assist the company in resolving this issue. In presenting the case, the importance of scheduling will be revealed.

Case study presentation

Let’s call the company, Company D. Company D handles all sorts of deliveries across the globe. Company D ensures that they deliver all packages in good condition. In certain extreme cases, Company D may be unable to deliver these items to the customers’ doorsteps. Once Company D is unable to deliver the package, they phone the customer and inform them to pick it up at the office. To pick up the package, the customer shows their I.D and tracking number to an employee of Company D. The employee then goes to the warehouse to search for the package. One is unable to measure the handle time. The employee can find the package within 5 minutes. It may take the whole day to find it as well. There is the chance that the customer may have to return another time if the package cannot be found by close of business day.

The value of scheduling

During lockdown, with most borders closed delivery options became limited. Company A became the prime delivery to go to. They were one of the few businesses with the permit to still operate their air freights and cargos. Countless existing and new customers now thronged to Company A to receive their packages. After lockdown, a lot of customers thronged the premise to collect their package. It became increasingly difficult to practice social distancing. The risk of contracting Covid 19 at the premise of Company A was becoming high. Tensions were high. Customers became frustrated by the minute. It was taking forever to find packages due to intense backlog. We saw the opportunity to help Company A out.

With Right Time, Company A can now send customers a simple web link to schedule for an appointment to pick up their packages. Customers can pick a convenient time to pick up their packages and even select the agent that they would like to be served by. Staff of Company A then download all the appointments. With this list, they can search for all the packages and arrange them according to the pick up days. With this solution, Company A reduced the average wait time drastically. The customers feel safe. They are extremely happy with the service.

As illustrated clearly, forward thinking companies can use Right Time to schedule client appointments in a manner conducive to concepts of these times such as social distancing. Right Time is a quintessential tool for a modern company to use especially in these times of social distancing.

As a business owner, you can check out our free Covid 19 solutions to improve your #customer experience.

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