Let’s face reality, no one has time to wait these days. Waiting rooms are usually a den of appointments, meetings, and other professional activities. Generally, waiting rooms are boring because visitors do not know each other, and no one even communicates to you. Customers are always glued to the television or their phones as they wait for their services to be performed.
Each minute the customer spends unhappily waiting for their services increases your risk of a bad reputation as some of them might end up posting negative feedback on social media. Customers may easily lose their patience and consider finding more appropriate services from other providers. It is, therefore, important that you find a better innovation to make your room more attractive and appealing to all your visitors.
Of course, there is little you can do about changing the waiting time of your customers as they wait to be served, but there are ways in which you can make their waiting experience incredible by using visitor management software.
Below are other ways that can make waiting in the lobby comfortable and effortless:
- Provide Complimentary Wi-Fi
Technology is evolving each day, and nearly every person owns a smartphone that has excellent Wi-Fi features. Starting from local groceries, down to libraries and business places, Wi-Fi has become an integral part of our lives. Those magazines and newspapers placed in the waiting rooms keep customers busy, but to satisfy them more, you need to integrate a more technological approach, mainly using Wi-Fi. When customers are engrossed in their phones catching up with friends or perhaps watching YouTube videos, they are unlikely going to notice how time will pass.
If your business place does not have access to a Wi-Fi connection in the waiting area, then it is time to talk to your internet service provider about installing one. If you already have one in the office, then consider setting up a second one in the waiting room and ensure that it is well protected with a strong password. This would keep your visitors engaged before you can attend to them.
- Consider Purchasing a Television
Every customer wants to be entertained as they wait to be served. Installing a television in your waiting room would generate a relaxing atmosphere, where customers can watch music channels to get entertained or perhaps catch on the news to get updated on the current affairs of the nation. For instance, if you have a law firm, then you can grab your customer’s attention by featuring headlines on on-going judicial proceedings in courts. If you own a cosmetic company, then switch to channels that talk about beauty tips. Call on professional electrical contractors to help you setup the electrical system needed to power up the TV and other devices in your waiting room.
- Get Rid of Dull Floors and Invest in Comfy Furniture
If you have been using cheap carpets in your reception, then it is time to refurbish them to enhance the waiting room experience. Invest in handmade floors that trigger a professional spirit in customers so that they will not feel like you are operating a shoddy business. Quality floors, sound, lighting systems (get it now..), and amazing decors improve the waiting room experience to a large extent. If you need repair or replacement services for your commercial lighting systems, then you might want to contact professional lighting repair services immediately. Not only will the customers feel comfortable, but they will also not notice how time will pass. Comfy chairs are another way you can improve your customer’s waiting experience though today’s savvy customers need more than just sitting down. The first thing a customer wants when he visits your workplace is to sit down in comfortable chairs and rest, so it would be advisable not to deprive them of this comfort.
- Recruit Friendly Staff
Your staff can either make or break your customers. You may have invested in those relaxing chairs or installed an excellent Wi-Fi network, but if your team is unfriendly, then customers will have a bad waiting experience. Nothing is as welcoming as a genuine smile from the staff, primarily when they are serving you.
- Encourage Social Check-Ins
Encourage your customers to check-in via social media by offering incentives or free products. This will help you leverage the benefits of marketing through word of mouth. Besides, you can encourage your customers to sign to your guest Wi-Fi by using credible data that you can later use for your ad campaigns.
A waiting room is typically dull. If you want to retain your customers by creating an impeccable waiting room experience, then you need to implement these strategies promptly.