Lines... and how we really feel about waiting!

The Washington Post recently featured an Ana Swanson article about line queuing titled, What Really drives you crazy about waiting in line (it actually isn't the wait at all)?

CPS' QuikLine managing queues in Los Angeles

It turns out, says Swanson, that the time people spend waiting in line, and how they feel when they do so, is a big deal for people and for the economy.

Richard Larson, who studies line queuing theory at MIT, estimates people can spend a year (or 2!!) waiting in line over their lifetime. And, virtually no one enjoys waiting in line -- particularly when you consider that includes waiting in traffic and the DMV!

As a result, the ways business manage lines, according to Swanson, results in easily billions of dollars of gained and lost brand equity and consumer spending.

A bad line experience can forever impact a shopper's perception of a particular store or the brand --- as well as cause shoppers to leave a line (that's known as reneging) or even leave the store instead of going through the line (balking) -- resulting in revenue losses.

It turns out how people feel when they wait matters a lot more than how long they wait.

A key element in how people feel is fairness regardless of the wait times, according to Swanson.

Whole Foods utilizes CPS' QuikLine  automated queuing software in many metro stores.  Over the years, we've noticed that many stores have switched to multiple lines from a single serpentine line when there is space (another critical commodity!). Swanson notes that the "guarantee" of fairness eliminates the stress and anxiety associated with selecting "the wrong line" when there are many, unmanaged parallel lines.

Interested in improving your customer's wait experiences? Contact CPS to find out more about QuikLine.

Social Media Wall Selected!! Best of IBS Awards Finalist

Bob Musa, CPS' President says, "Wow; we were thrilled to hear our Social Media Wall has been selected as a Finalist in the 2016 Best of IBS Awards!"  Musa continues, "What business wouldn't be excited to hear such news in this relatively quiet holiday week?"

Let's #GetSocial!

Social Media Wall combines traditional marketing copy and images with curated social media content. A sales office or information center uses it to create social media conversations between sales/marketing staff, home shoppers, buyers and related parties -- as a part of the general marketing program.

"We've found," Musa adds, "that new home marketing has changed over the last decade with the introduction of digital technologies.  Now, technology is customer-facing and Social Media Wall  effectively moves social media off the desktop and mobile device into the sales center."

A key component of Social Media Wall, Musa explainss, is curated content -- meaning that CPS provides a back-end, web-based management tool for reviewing social media messaging and determining which Tweets and posts will display on the Wall.

Look us up at the 2016 International Builders Show -- we'll be in Booth 2856 in the nextBuild area!