The Psychology of Waiting Lines, or how to manage waiting lines in order to provide satisfaction and good service to your clients.

1. The Psychology of
Waiting Lines
Hristo Kolev
Based on Maister D. H. (2005) and William J. Stevenson W.J., (2012)

2. Index
1. Introduction
2. General Approach to Wailing Lines
3. The 2 Laws of Service
4. Managing customers’ acceptance: the 8 psychological
considerations

3. 1. Introduction
 …are frustrating, demoralizing, agonizing, aggravating,
annoying, time consuming and incredibly expensive
 …occur when there is a temporary imbalance between
supply and demand.
 …are one of the seven wastes in lean systems
 …add to the cost of operation and reflect negatively on CSAT

4. 2. General Approach to
Wailing Lines
 Queuing Theory
 Mathematical approach
 Planning and analysis of waiting lines
 Centered in minimize Customer waiting cost and capacity cost
 Psychology of Waiting Lines
 In some instances it is not feasible to further shorten waiting times
 “Experience of waiting”
 Satisfaction, Perception, Expectation

5. 3. The 2 Laws of Service
…psychological
phenomena…
Satisfaction
Perception
Expectatio
n
“It is hard to plan catch-up ball”
• Use the halo-effect from early stages
• Use money, time and attention to improve the perceived quality

6. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
Occupied Time Feels Shorter than Unoccupied Time
Fill time should:
• Offer benefit in and of itself
• Be related to the following service encounter
Examples:
• Hand out menus for customers in a restaurant
• Turn the restaurant's waiting area into a bar
• “Put me back”

7. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
People Want to Get Started
Customers fear of “being forgotten”, so companies should:
• Transmit the sense “we know that you are here”
• Enter the customer into the system
Examples:
• Staff passes by the table as soon as the customers are seated
• Nurse who records patient’s name, symptoms and allocates

8. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
Anxiety Makes Waits Seem Longer
Customers get anxious when:
• They don’t feel to “get started”
• Feeling the “the other line moves faster”
Examples:
• Prevent queues announcing that “there is enough for everybody”
• Airlines make announcements that connecting flights are being held

9. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
Uncertain Waits Are Longer than Known, Finite Waits
Companies should give its customers a prevision (finite expectation) to
relax them and minimized their anxiety.
Examples:
• Deal with the “appointment syndrome” – even a short wait could be
increasingly annoying.
• Deal with the troublesome queue-management tools:
• Some clients never show up
• Difficulties to decide how far apart to schedule appointments
• They give customers finite expectation

10. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
Unexplained Waits Are Longer than Explained Waits
Waiting in ignorance creates a feeling of powerlessness, which
frequently results in visible irritation and rudeness and on the part of
customers as they harass serving personnel in an attempt to reclaim
their status as paying clients.
Examples:
• On a cold and snowy morning clients understand and wait for a taxi
with more patience, because they understand the causes.
• Bank catching up on paperwork personnel – wait for the “idle”
personnel to attend

11. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
Unfair Waits Are Longer than Equitable Waits
Whatever priority rules apply, the service provider must make vigorous
efforts to ensure that these rules match with the customer’s sense of
equity, either by adjusting the rules or by actively convincing the client
that the rules are indeed appropriate.
Examples:
• Implement FIFO systems
• Avoid multitasking that could lead to “lesser priority” – don’t receive
calls when attending a customer
• Some rules serve for the provider, but are not accepted by the client
– tables in restaurant

12. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
The More Valuable the Service, the Longer the
Customer Will Wait
Customers with a full cart of groceries are much more inclined to
tolerate lines, but waiting for something with little value could be
intolerable.
Examples:
• Express checkout
• Online check in
• Separate simple; medium-difficulty; and complex transactions.

13. 4. Managing customers’
acceptance…
Solo Waits Feel Longer than Group Waits
Group waiting increases the tolerance for waiting time. Companies
must promote the sense of group waiting rather than isolating each
individual:
• Individuals share their exasperation
• Console each other
• Feel comfort in group waiting
Examples:
• Disneyland makes waiting part of the fun, part of the service