At Waitlist Me, we focus on helping businesses transition away from pen and paper or overly complex services. Making waiting less painful is a win for both the guests and the staff. Of course, waitlist management is only one way to streamline operations and work smarter, not harder. In this article from Dumpsters.com, check out a few more resources that show how to use technology to improve the guest experience.
Waitlist Me has been helping restaurants and other businesses better serve their customers for over a decade with simple and flexible solutions for managing wait times and scheduling. Today thousands of businesses use Waitlist Me to serve millions of people every month, increasing revenues and customer satisfaction in the process.
As we have continued to improve our waitlist, reservation, and table management features over the years, we have worked closely with a wide variety of small and medium-sized businesses across several industries and developed a deep understanding of the needs of those businesses. Recently, we noticed several challenges businesses faced in delivering consistent customer service quality in ways that were simple and efficient.
Over the past year, we have focused more of our efforts on solving some of these problems. Starting with a deep dive into discovery initiatives that involved talking to hundreds of customers and businesses, we then moved through multiple design and feature iterations to develop a whole new set of solutions that we are launching under the name Perklist.
So what is Perklist? On a high level, it is a simple set of perks, or special benefits, that businesses can provide to their customers. As each business is unique, Perklist is designed to be flexible in allowing businesses to choose what perks they offer and how they use them to better serve customers in ways that fit their brands and processes. Basically, it is a versatile toolkit that businesses can use to understand, engage, and interact with their customers in more authentic ways.
To give a few examples, some key areas that Perklist can help businesses include:
– Better service – Providing better service through seamless seating and personalized benefits and experiences
– More visits – Driving more guest visits through targeted specials, timely messaging, and fun reminders
– Stronger relationships – Building stronger relationships through honest listening, consistent recognition, and genuine interactions
Perklist provides several types of perks that businesses can utilize based on their needs and goals. Some of the main feature areas include:
– Scheduling – Priority seating options through Waitlist Me integration
– Promotional – Customizable benefits that can be delivered effectively in novel ways
– Menus – Simple options to display menus, specials, and exclusive items
– Feedback – Private surveys for encouraging customer feedback and gaining valuable insights
– Messaging – Engaging group updates, question clarifications, and interactive conversations with select customers
Our journey in developing Perklist has just begun, and we see many opportunities to extend the functionality and value the service can provide to businesses and their customers. Some of these ideas are complimentary to Waitlist Me, like how Perklist can provide more choices, interactivity, and even exclusivity in scheduling visits. However, there are many other features that we didn’t feel fit neatly into Waitlist Me and could better evolve as a separate service. That said, our core product goals in developing Perklist are the same as those of Waitlist Me in our focus on simplicity, flexibility and providing exceptional value, and we hope people will enjoy this new service as much as they do Waitlist Me.
We are excited to see where things go with Perklist. Check it out!
Want to do more with Noshlist? Now you can. More features are now available with NoshList Premium, the expanded version of our restaurant waitlist management app for iPad.
NoshList Premium features the same capabilities as NoshList, including unlimited SMS text and automated phone call notifications to diners, while new services have been added to increase functionality and provide diners with the ability to interact directly with the restaurant via text. NoshList remains free, while NoshList Premium is priced at $49 per month per restaurant.
NoshList Premium features include:
- Unlimited Two-Way Texting
- Table Number Assignment
- Large Party Functionality
- NoshGuest Auto?ll
- In-App Statistics
- Designated Local Phone Number
- 30-Day Exportable Analytics
- Weekly Email Summaries
“With NoshList Premium, we get an expanded set of features that help us deliver an even better guest experience including unlimited two-way texting that our customers really like, as well as a designated local phone number,” said Garrett Schmidt of Buffalo Wild Wings. “We benefit greatly from analytics and in-app statistics, which allow us to measure our waitlist performance in real time relative to past shifts. NoshList has made managing our waitlist much more efficient and given us valuable insight into an aspect of operations we never had before.”
NoshList notifies diners via text messaging that their tables are ready and improves their dining experience by replacing paper lists, microphones and alert buzzers with text messages sent directly to their cell phone. Since the February launch of the free service, nearly 4.5 million diners have been seated with NoshList.
NoshList was excited to return to this year’s National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (NRA) in Chicago from May 17-20, marking the company’s third year as an NRA exhibitor. There are a number of trends that are changing the way restaurants manage their businesses better with technology, and NoshList has been at the forefront of these innovations.
Since last year’s event, NoshList has tripled the number of people seated through the NoshList waitlist app. The NoshList wait list app closed out 2013 with more than 22 million diners seated across 4,000 restaurants. In the first quarter of this year, NoshList seated another 10 million diners, as growth continues to accelerate. We also were one of the first apps to integrate with the award-winning Clover POS device.
NoshList got a chance to show off several design improvements and new features in its new iOS 7 and Android apps, and gave a special preview of its new reservations feature for the first time at NRA. Adding reservations to the NoshList app is another way the company is building the simple and intuitive tools that restaurants need to improve their guest experience and operational efficiencies. The reservations feature will be live in the App Store and Play Store within a few weeks.
We had a great time at the event, spoke to a lot of interesting potential customers and technology partners, and were thrilled to have a chance to be interviewed by Turn & Burn on the NRA Media Stage.
We also had a couple Armor Active stands, which work great with NoshList. Here is a blog post on how they looked.
Got, say, 15 minutes to kill before your train pulls in? How about a couple hours while you wait for the new donut bakery’s latest flavor? Or maybe an easy 5 for the next available operator?
Whether you’re waiting to talk to a manager or to grab a table, these 27 factoids about the lists we love to hate will keep you occupied. Happy toe-tapping!
You’ll spend an average of 2 years of your life waiting in line. Sorry in advance. https://www.therichest.com/shocking/15-weird-and-depressing-facts-about-waiting-in-line/
You’ll feel less anxious if there’s a single line rather than multiple lines. It feels fairer that way, but you’re still going to worry about line-cutters. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/11/27/what-you-hate-about-waiting-in-line-isnt-the-wait-at-all
Americans hate the DMV the most. Honorable mention: customer service hotlines.
But Americans love waiting for some things. Like event tickets, delicious food, and Splash Mountain.
And the more something costs, the longer people are willing to wait. See: iPhones, Hamilton tickets, and Splash Mountain.
The key to keeping waitlisted customers content: Distract them. Give them something to do, watch, or read while they wait.
In New York, you wait “on line.” Sorry, grammar nerds. http://mentalfloss.com/article/82257/12-impatient-facts-about-waiting-line
It takes a lifetime to get Green Bay Packers season tickets. Only 90 or so are released every year. With a waitlist of over 130,000 fans (many of whom were added by their parents when they were born), you’re talking about decades of playing wait-and-see. https://247sports.com/nfl/green-bay-packers/Bolt/Green-Bay-Packers-season-ticket-wait-list-at-133000-people–113926844/
Good news: approximate wait times make lines seem shorter! It gives you something concrete to look forward to.
Bummer: Statisticians have noticed an increase in “waiting culture.” Trendy neighborhoods and affluent cities are seeing an influx in no-reservations policies at hip new restaurants, which means waits are becoming the norm in some areas. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/upshot/the-upside-of-waiting-in-line.html
You’ll always see waitlists hit the nightly news on Black Friday. Throw a gaming system in the mix, and all bets are off.
The Netflix queue was created by chief product officer Neil Hunt. He’s British. In August 2013, Netflix ditched it’s infamous “instant queue” in favor of the “my list” feature. https://newrepublic.com/article/116996/netflix-queue-and-history-british-word-america
The Netflix thing makes sense when you know that the word “queue” is super British. It’s so British, it’s included in citizenship tests.
Well, the actual word “queue” is French. It was defined to mean “a line” in 1837 by Thomas Carlyle, who likened the line-up of people he saw outside shops in France to a man’s ponytail, which the French called “a queue.”
The most iconic British queue is at the bus stop. Forget about snapping selfies in front of a phone booth. Pull up a piece of pavement, instead. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23087024
The politest queue of them all is for Wimbledon’s final matches. Tennis whites suggested but not required. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23087024
You’re least likely to see a queue at the local pub. And, alas, it’s probably where it would most come in handy, too. Anyone for a pint?
The quintessential queue joke: “What is this queue for?” “I don’t know, but I’ll find out when I get to the front!” Seriously, people say this.
There’s also a legend about the people who study the psychology of waiting. It goes something like, “a lawyer, a secretary, and an ad exec are waiting for an elevator…”
Canadians use the term “lineup.” Turns out they kick butt at merging in traffic.
And Canucks are better than Brits at some queues—er, lineups. When waiters need to organize their own lineups, like at building entrances or street-front ATMs, Canadians are the champs.
If you want an even more polite lineup than those found in Canada, head to Japan. http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/everyone-line-up-canadas-tradition-of-orderly-queuing-foreign-and-strange-to-many-newcomers
Also: Canadians hate line-cutters. Tourists beware!
If you cut in line, you stand a 10-percent chance of getting shoved. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170320-we-hate-to-admit-it-but-brits-arent-the-best-at-queuing
Australians wait the longest for new iPhones—and they get them first. That’s because the sun rises in the east, of course. In 2015, Lindsay Handmer camped for 2 days to get the iPhone 6, and he did it to bring awareness to the homeless who sleep on the streets nightly. YouTube star Mazen Kourouche camped for 10 days…and then the launch event was delayed. Whoops! https://www.pymnts.com/apple/2017/iphone-release-iphone-sales-news/
You have to wait in line on Mount Everest! So much for that “alone at the top of the world” feeling. Also: Sometimes people die in line. Yikes.
The longest line in the world is the Haaj. This religious pilgrimage to Mecca takes place every year in Saudi Arabia.