After mere weeks in quarantine, Americans went hog-wild with their new pet adoptions. Instagram feeds are packed with newly adopted furry critters, and there’s no sign of a let-up any time soon. If the coronavirus has a single silver lining, this just might be it.

With the flurry of potential pet parents, now is the perfect time to put your best paw forward. Enter Waitlist Me, a waitlist and reservation app that will help you score a gold star for customer service and keep your customers, volunteers, and pets as healthy as possible during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are some ways animal shelters can use Waitlist Me right now to facilitate pet adoptions during COVID-19 and beyond.

#1. Corral crowds in their cars

Our collective new normal involves all sorts of protocols to keep us safe and healthy. We have adapted: We’re wearing masks in public, we’re standing 6 feet apart, and we’re shopping from the comfort of our cars to minimize the spread of coronavirus.

Enlisting cars as a crowd control tool is easy to do with Waitlist Me. Use our custom text notification feature to share simple coronavirus instructions with your customers, like to wait in their car until they are notified.  You can include this in the confirmation text that customers receive when you check them in or they schedule themselves.  Then when you are ready for them, just press a button to send them a notification it is their turn. If they reply back to a text you will see their message in the Waitlist Me app, and our Pro service includes an option to send open text responses to these messages for things like answering questions.

#2. Spread out demand with appointments

Another way to avoid a throng of eager adopters busting down your door is to encourage customers to make appointments.  This can help spread out demand to less busier times or can be used to avoid common bottlenecks that might require a specific staffer or area of your business. It can also help ensure you have the right number of staffers and volunteers when and where you may need them. 

Customers can use Waitlist Me’s web widget to quickly schedule an appointment with a few clicks, so they’ll be assured of their cuddle time and you’ll save staff’s time by letting people self-schedule. The Pro version of the service also comes with additional ways to customize the widget and set scheduling limits.

#3. Keep groups separate—and spaces sanitized

Some shelters across the nation are seeing their traffic skyrocket up to 90 percent! Because shelters are designed to make the most out of limited space, you often find yourself in tight quarters—not great when we need to be particularly germ-conscious.

That’s where Waitlist Me’s resource management feature comes into play. It’s completely flexible, making it easy to reconstruct the layout of your workspace within the app. When guests check in, you can assign them to a staff member or to an area, like your kitten play room, an application area, or a visiting room where they can get to know different animals. Once those guests leave, you know exactly where they’ve been—and you can sanitize accordingly.

And because you can use Waitlist Me on multiple devices, all your employees and volunteers can see where everyone is with a single glance. This lets you minimize potential contact as well as the need to have groups of guests pass each other in narrow spaces. Win-win!

From the perspective of a restaurant customer:

If you had told me in January that 2020 was going to the year of a pandemic, that wearing a mask to the supermarket would be necessary, and we’d all be forced into quarantine for weeks on end, I would have laughed out loud. This year has been nothing but strange, I think we all agree on that, and as we begin to transition into “normalcy,” we are all curious as to what the new normal will look like. And as nerve wracking as it may be, I personally can say I am excited. I’m excited to see friends and family, I’m excited to go to the beach, and I’m most excited to get back to restaurants. 

I’ve always had an immense passion and love for food, and as much as I love to cook, I am very over it. As cities and states begin to roll out their reopening plans, restaurants are opening their doors to customers for both patio and indoor dining options. But even as restrictions lift, there are still rules and regulations in place to keep both guests and staff safe, which I appreciate deeply. Although I am excited to sit with friends and enjoy a meal at my favorite places, I also want to ensure that we are being safe and remaining healthy.

My favorite restaurant might not look identical to pre Coronavirus times, nor are the rules in place going to be the same. But, as a guest, it’s important to respect and embrace these differences. My server will more than likely be wearing a mask, I may not be able to sit at a table with 10+ of my closest friends, and I may be asked to wait in my car, rather than at the bar, for my table. All of these changes are ok! I will survive! The restaurants are doing the best they can during a seriously challenging time and it’s important as guests to show up, show support, and show understanding. 

The list of differences from past to present can go on and on, but I think focusing on the future and adapting to what many are calling the “new normal” is what is most important. Restaurants are equipped with the best systems, staff, and regulations and we now have to be the best customers and come equipped with all they ask for. 

Top Three Things to Remember When Dining Out:

Social Distance: Remember to stay 6 ft. away from anyone outside of your party, when possible. To help both the customers and the staff during this transition, restaurants may invest in an app like Waitlist Me. Waitlist Me provides staff with easy and effective ways to manage their waitlist and reservations both in Coronavirus and non-pandemic times. Being able to send a text message to a guest when their table is ready so they don’t have to wait inside is a great feature for reducing crowds. 

Hygiene, hygiene, and more hygiene! It may be the restaurant’s job to sanitize more frequently and ensure their staff is healthy; but it is your job to always wash your hands, and to check your own health before walking in the doors.

Respect the guidelines put in place by each individual restaurant. Many restaurants are urging guests to wear masks when possible. Some are asking you to please sanitize your hands before entering. And, others have detailed layouts for guests to follow to help prevent exposure. The list goes on, so pay attention and read the signs! 

You might look at this list and scoff, but remember, the restaurant may not look the same and the rules might not be the same but the food IS still the same, and that’s really what is important. So if you’re like me and you have a deep admiration for all things food, then get out and support your favorite spot (and all their new quirks) – again, and again, again. 

Is your business seeing a summertime boom? The easiest way to boost your earnings from now through Labor Day is to make it easier for you to serve your customers—and for you customers to work with you and enjoy your products and services. Waitlist Me is a free app that helps you do exactly that.

Ready to find out how your business can reap the benefits of all those happy vacationers walking through your door this season? Read on.

Restaurant

It doesn’t matter if you’re a year-round dining favorite or a beach bar open for the season, an influx of foot traffic in the summer months can overwhelm hosts and servers. Without a waitlist management app, that overwhelm can lead to table pile-ups and frustratingly long lines.

Good for you: Get rid of the grease pens and toss the paper trail. Waitlist Me streamlines your hostess stand. Within the app, you can add parties to your waitlist, estimate wait times at a glance, and contact waiting customers via text messages, keeping your service running smoothly from breakfast through last call.

Great for your customers: Nobody wants to wait around in a foyer or entrance area for a hostess to call their name. Waitlist Me’s public waitlist and text alert features let tourists take in the views (and the corner knick-knack shop) without missing their table.

Boat and equipment rentals

Whether you rent out sailboats or kayaks, paddle boats or stand-up paddle boards, inner tubes or jet skis, you’ve got an equipment roster you have to keep an eye on and customers you have to keep happy.

Good for you: Got one boat that’s broken down, another that should’ve been returned an hour ago, and a line of tourists eager to hit the water? Waitlist Me helps you manage your availability and your ETAs, and our text alerts will ensure that your renters are docked on time, every time.

Great for your customers: Vacationers can hit the water without worrying about when they have to return to dry land. Assure them before they go that you’ll text them when it’s time to head back in, leaving them free to enjoy their rental.

Ropes and adventure courses

A vacation is the best time to do something wild and crazy and completely spur-of-the-moment. Sure, you’ve got the planners, who made reservations before their plane touched down in your town. But you’re also juggling the tourists who fly by the seat of their pants.

Good for you: An intuitive app like Waitlist Me allows you to add groups quickly (and makes notes about their wants and needs). That level of efficiency means you can move through a line of waiting guests quickly, which keeps foot traffic flowing and prevents customers from taking one look at a long line and running the other direction.

Great for your customers: Nothing kills an adrenaline rush like standing in line. Waitlist Me lets you add customers to a public waitlist they can check from anywhere and text them when it’s their turn to hit the course. That means they can get up to an adventure of their own—without missing their turn.

Surf and swim shops

Your store is a novelty to tourists. They can’t wait to inspect every nook and cranny, but when it comes to choosing a new equipment or trying on apparel, sometimes they need a little more help than the average shopper.

Good for you: No sales associate wants to split their focus on a dozen customers clamoring for their assistance. When you add them to a waitlist, you guarantee that your associates will deliver the level of service you want to be known for.

Great for your customers: Forget the frustration of hunting down a sales assistant or wondering where that guy with the name tag disappeared to. When customers are placed on a waiting list, they know that the focus will be 100-percent on them from dressing room to check-out.

Hotel pools and beaches

Your guests expect the highest level of service, no matter how slammed you are. Treat them like the sunscreen-toting VIPs they are with a little help from Waitlist Me, which has been proven to increase customer satisfaction.

Good for you: The app’s interface is easy to navigate and intuitive to use. Waitlist Me makes checking to see which chairs or seating areas are open and which will be coming available soon a breeze, letting your attendants focus on service rather than floor plans.

Great for your customers: While nobody wants to wait for their fun in the sun, our app lets you make the wait bearable. Waitlist Me offers accurate wait time quotes, easy-as-pie reservations, and a public waitlist your guests can check from the comfort of their hotel room or the bar.

These are challenging times with the spreading of the coronavirus. Many businesses are being forced to close their doors or to change the ways they do business to continue serving people.

Asking customers and patients to wait in their cars is gaining popularity as a better alternative than waiting inside businesses. Curbside service has taken on a whole new significance across multiple industries.

Waitlist Me makes it easy to track who is next in line to be served and then press a button to send a text notification when you are ready for them, so people can wait in their cars until it is their turn. There are also options for people to add themselves to the waitlist without even having to leave their car.

Here are some of the industries using Waitlist Me to provide better wait experiences in new ways:

Healthcare Facilities – Medical offices, urgent care centers, dental offices, eyecare centers, and hospitals are some examples where patients often wait in confined areas and may be afraid of getting sick from others. Allowing them to wait outside or in their cars helps to limit cross-infections for patients and healthcare workers.

Dispensaries – As this Forbes article aptly points out, “It should go without saying that medical cannabis patients are the most vulnerable cannabis consumers, and the most at risk of serious complications from Covid-19.” Social distancing strategies like curbside pickup can help reduce the risk to these patients. Even for non-patients, waiting in the car can be better for limiting the number of people in the store at a time or avoiding the need to go into the store at all.

Veterinary and Animal Services – With people spending more time at home and the elevated stress-levels caused by the crisis, pets are going to be an even bigger focus than ever. Vet clinics, animal shelters, and humane centers can keep visitors and staff safer by not having too many customers waiting inside their businesses.

Restaurants – For those restaurants that don’t have to close altogether, shifting to delivery and curbside pick-ups so customers don’t have to leave their cars can be a way to continue serving their clients.

Blood Donation – With people more reluctant to leave their houses, blood supplies have declined. Making it easier to schedule an appointment and wait outside can help encourage more people it is safe to donate blood.

Supply Stores – While many retail stores are closing, some types of supply stores will be important for builders, plumbers, electricians, mechanics and others that perform important home and automotive services. These stores can reduce crowds and offer more touchless systems for picking up supplies.

Grocery Stores – People will continue to need groceries and safe ways to shop. Some grocery stores are already moving towards limiting the number of people in the store at any given time to keep aisles clearer. When a customers finish shopping, the next customers are texted to invite them inside.

People don’t like crowded wait areas, even in the best of times. These days social distancing requires an even higher standard of avoiding crowds, and letting customers and patients wait in their cars can be a valuable option for businesses to provide.

Nowadays, with everything from smart mugs to smart bike helmets managing and monitoring our days and nights, you might be wondering if you really need to add another techie solution to your lifestyle.

While we won’t weigh in on, say, a smart saltshaker, there is a clever must-have that every business owner or manager will fall for fast. Waitlist Me is a waitlist and reservation app that will have you tossing your grease pens and appointment books after just one date—er, dinner service.

Designed with restaurants and a variety of other types of businesses in mind, Waitlist Me is a flexible, plug-and-play app that makes managing waitlists, reservations, and appointments a breeze. Keep reading for 7 reasons to L-O-V-E Waitlist Me.

Lose the crowded lobby

Waitlist Me uses text notifications to alert your customers when they’ve made it to the front of the line. This allows them to maintain their place in line without standing in line. Our app sets them free, letting them wait while they window shop or drop off their dry-cleaning or hang out in the car.

Improvements made easy

Pro and Platinum subscribers are able to access Waitlist Me’s reports on table and assignment usage. You can harness this data to learn more about how your business uses its resources, from physical space to employees. With these numbers in hand, you can start making small changes that lead to cost savings, larger margins, and bigger bottom lines.

DIY updates are a cinch

Waitlist Me is built for businesses, not for techies. And because businesses can change from day to day, we’ve made it a breeze to make changes to your waitlist and the text message notifications you send to your clients—just in case.

A+ experience ratings

A hollering host? Not on our watch. Our waitlist and reservation app notifies guests by text when their table, their doctor, their changing room—whatever it is they’re waiting for—is ready for them. No rude interruptions and no missed summons makes for a five-star rating. Cheers!

User-friendly interface

We’re reinventing waitlists, not apps, which is why we built Waitlist Me to be easy to use the second you log in. Our intuitive interface works the way you expect it to, and we’ve made all the most important information available at a single glance, giving you an ASAP way to see how your business is doing in the moment.

Unlimited device sync

Built for scale, Waitlist Me allows you to use as many devices as you want to manage one queue, all at the same time. Forget paying per user. Now, managers can ensure business runs smoothly while everyone else goes about their daily tasks.

Always upgrading

The development team is constantly looking for ways to improve our service. We are continuously talking to business owners and managers in different industries to see what would make their lives easier. Being better at business? Here are Waitlist Me, that’s our M.O.