How to Create a Queue Management System that Works

How to Create a Queue Management System that Works

Queue management is important for a variety of business types and can have a big impact on customer experience, thus affecting profits and customer loyalty. Whether you run an event venue, or the ice cream truck at the local farmers market, managing your customer queue can be vital for maintaining the peace. But how do you create a queue management system that actually works?

Think about placement

When it comes to setting up a queue management system, it’s important you think about placement above all else. If you get this wrong, you could end up with disgruntled employees, frustrated staff and a lot of wasted time.

When it comes to considering placement, think about where your customers are coming from and where they’re trying to get to. Is it an easy system? Does it make sense? Is it logical? Does it follow the natural flow of customers?

It may be worth trialling a few different placements to see which works best for both you and your customers.

Use the correct equipment

It’s no good implementing a queue management system if you don’t have the right equipment – how will your customers know where the queue is? How will you keep everything orderly? In some scenarios, this may not be necessary; it could be that you have a natural queuing area, like in a shop, but for others, a little guidance is key.

Café barriers, despite the name, are an ideal solution for this for any business. If you’re working in outdoor areas, or simply want a multipurpose queue management system, café barriers can help to create an easily identifiable queueing system.

For those who visit a lot of exhibitions and tradeshows, café barriers may be particularly useful in distinguishing your stand from the competition whilst also giving customers a clear idea as to how your customer service works.

If café barriers don’t suit your purpose, then it may be worth investing in a subtler system using rope and belt barriers. The benefits of this type of system means that it’s easily interchangeable as and when necessary which may be more practical than café barriers.

Employ staff

Not all systems can work seamlessly without interference. In fact, many queueing systems will need the input of members of staff to help manage the crowd, answer questions and maintain order. This is particularly relevant when it comes to dealing with larger queues associated with event venues and concert halls.

Create signs

Not all management systems are clear. How many times have you joined a queue in a shop only to discover you’re at the wrong end and someone’s managed to skip ahead. Simple signs can go a long way to creating a seamless customer experience which is important when managing queuing systems.

Disruption or disgruntled customers can lead to a feeling of animosity which can then have a damaging impact on your brand’s reputation and so it’s important to review your queue management system regularly and determine how it could be improved, and whether a simple sign could make a lot of difference.

Disruption or disgruntled customers can lead to a feeling of animosity which can then have a damaging impact on your brand’s reputation and so it’s important to review your queue management system regularly and determine how it could be improved, and whether a simple sign could make a lot of difference.