We have been working on a number of new features for NoshList, and one thing we have just released is a whole new look for the WaitList website. It is cleaner, faster and more mobile-friendly, so the pages will adjust to your tablet or phone as well as a computer browser.
Hope you like it!
Before you skip out the door for a little winter vacation, try to take 10 minutes to ponder the actions you can take in the new year to make your business more efficient, more beloved by customers, and more profitable. Whether you’ve got a long list of must-dos or are scratching your head, we’ve got one for you to consider: Download the Waitlist Me app.
Have nary a clue as to how one app can revolutionize your business in 2018? Here’s exactly how Waitlist Me will help make your business goals more achievable this year.
Forget grease pens and messy paper planners. Waitlist Me’s signature waitlist feature nixes hostess stand clutter. Now, your front-of-house staff can see your business’ waitlist in a single glance and add customers to it with a swipe.
The premium-level Reservation feature offers seamless waitlist integration. In one app, you can track appointments as well as walk-ins and offer accurate wait time estimates to both types of customers. It’s the best of both worlds for restaurants, offices, service providers.
With Waitlist Me, even a rookie host can quote accurate wait times and set the right expectations. The app shows real-time waits next to quoted times to make it easy to improve and know when things are running ahead or slow. You can’t always control the wait time, but you can improve the wait experience by serving customers on time, when you say you will.
Our Text and Call Notifications combined with our Public Waitlist are designed to take headaches out waits for everyone. Customers are free to roam around the area, not worried about losing their place in line, and your staff can do their jobs without hungry diners asking when it’ll be their turn.
Every level of Waitlist Me, from free to premium to pro, offers a Notes feature. Have a family that needs one high chair, two coloring pages, a gluten-free menu, and a wheelchair-accessible table? Make a note so that the party’s needs are front-and-center, no matter who seats them.
The Waitlist Me app was created to make your business easier to run, no matter how large or small. Multi-Device Sync lets you manage one account on extra computers, smartphones, or tablets—perfect for on-the-go businesses or large facilities—while Multi-Place Management lets regional and company-wide managers connect multiple locations to one (or more) Waitlist Me accounts.
The premium-level Add Yourself widget and kiosk features and the pro-level business hours settings are easy-to-use tools that allow customers to join your waitlist or create a reservation without sitting on hold or waiting until you’re open. They’re available 24/7 from wherever your customer has internet access.
Waitlist Me Pro allows you to track your resources. Whether you rely on table turnover, staff, special equipment, or something else entirely, our pro-level Resource Management feature tracks it for you, making it easy to see who and what is performing well and where you can make positive changes.
Comment cards not doing it for you? Our pro-level service incorporates Text Message Ratings and Customizable Survey features into the user experience. With a single text message reply or the click of a link, customers can quickly let you know what went right and what went wrong during their last visit.
Don’t leave your biggest decisions up to guesswork. Waitlist Me Premium and Pro are loaded with our Reports feature. The in-app statistics track average wait times, business activity, demographics, customer loyalty, group size, and more. Plus, you can automate how you access the information via weekly email summaries or downloadable reports, making data one less thing you need to think about.
The eye-popping, groan-inducing truth is that Americans spend 37 billion hours waiting in line every single year. And while we can get on board with some of these waits, most of them aren’t worth it. On any given day in any given place, the average person is wasting their time waiting. And here at Waitlist Me HQ, that’s not something we believe in.
Not sure if your wait is worth it? We’re breaking down the types of situations that warrant a wait and the ones that don’t to ensure that you, dear reader, get the most out of your most valuable commodity: time. Scroll down for four worth-it waits (and four more that should make you walk).
Getting your grub on? Don’t be so quick to join the line.
Wait for…pop-up restaurants. If you have your eye on an hour-long wait, make sure that you’re waiting for something special, like a one-night-only dining concept or a chef collaboration that the whole town will be buzzing about over tomorrow’s breakfast.
Don’t wait for…a happy hour table. Don’t let trendy hot-spots trick you into queueing for a table when they’re not offering anything better than the less-busy bar down the block. Happy hour specials tend to feature common offerings that appeal to the masses rather than house specialties, anyway.
Trust us: There’s no need to sweat a long line 24/7.
Wait for…playoff tickets. Supporting your favorite teams is an investment that lasts longer that two halves, four quarters, or nine innings. When you show up en masse for a sport you love, it keeps the teams you enjoy cheering for hanging around from season to season—and that’s a win in our book.
Don’t wait for…gym equipment. A well-managed gym shouldn’t include a line of toe-tappers waiting to snag their 40 minutes on a treadmill. If your favorite workout spot refuses to evolve in order to keep up with demand, consider taking your membership dollars elsewhere.
Nothing kills a good time quite like a queue.
Wait for…a big-time live show like SNL. Did you know people regularly camp out on New York City sidewalks for 12-plus hours at a time to see a taping of Saturday Night Live? For die-hard fans, it’s a worthwhile experience that comes with stories, new friends, and sometimes even munchies delivered by the host of the week.
Don’t wait for…trivia night seats. Waiting is stressful—that’s a fact. But your limited time out with your friends shouldn’t be a nail-biter! With British pub-style trivia exploding in popularity across the U.S., there’s no reason to queue for a table. Find another venue and discover a new favorite!
Shop ‘til you drop? Fabulous. Wait ‘til late? Not so much.
Wait for…a sample sale. Whether you’re a bride-to-be or a bargain-hunting fashionista, you know that there are sales and then there are sales. Black Friday might make you feel more “eh” than “yay,” but if a favorite store or brand is having their once-a-year blow-out, go ahead and queue your heart out.
Don’t wait for…a Saturday afternoon shopping trip. A casual trip to the mall shouldn’t make you want to pull your hair out in frustration or grumble about how slow other shoppers are being in the dressing rooms. When it comes to brick-and-mortar stores that need your business to keep the lights on, stellar service should be offered alongside the merchandise.
Of course, businesses can improve the wait experience by using Waitlist Me. So if you find yourself stuck waiting somewhere, you can always mention that to them!
Running a restaurant isn’t the same as it was a couple years ago. With the introduction of government mandates regarding COVID-19, technology has shaped customer expectations around service in all parts of their lives, and people are less willing to put up with unnecessary waiting to get the goods and services they want. Fortunately, there are applications like Waitlist Me that help restaurants and other businesses raise the bar and deliver at a higher level of service that meets today’s expectations.
Cut the clutter and stay organized
When the phone is ringing off the hook at the front desk, it can be near impossible for a frazzled host to serve the line of customers spilling out of the entrance, waiting to be acknowledged. Forget grease pens and paper planners. Waitlist Me eliminates hostess stand clutter and makes it easy to add and seat dining parties. Your front of house staff can see your business’ waitlist in a single glance and add customers to it with a swipe.
Over-deliver on wait expectations
With Waitlist Me, even a rookie host can quote accurate wait times and set the right expectations. The app shows real-time waits next to quoted times to make it easy to improve and know when things are running ahead or slow. Using status colors and notes to organize and keep tabs on waiting customers helps you get them seated more efficiently. And with the smart historical wait estimate features available with Waitlist Me Pro, you can take into account the previous 4 weeks of data to get more accurate estimates. You can’t always control the wait time, but you can improve the wait experience by serving customers on time, when you say you will.
Set your guests free
With so many new mandates on restaurant capacities, having guests wait in the lobby is no longer an option for many businesses. The text notification feature does away with diners’ worries about losing their place in queue without requiring them to physically be there. No more looking for a socially distanced area around your hostess stand, and no more long queues stretched 6 feet apart around the corner turning off new walk-ins. Whether they choose to window shop, walk down the block, or hang out in the car, one quick text lets them know when their table is ready. All you have to do is tap a button, and the customer will be paged instantly.
Give people visibility into their wait
The number one question your host doesn’t want to answer when it’s busy: Is my table ready yet? A close second: Where are we on the list? Waitlist Me keeps customers in-the-know automatically with its popular public waitlist feature. Once they’re added to your waitlist, they’ll receive a text confirmation that includes a link to your public waitlist that they can check in their phone browser (no app download required). In real time, they’ll see exactly where they are in the queue along with their wait time.
Never lose a reservation
The worst problem customers face on busy nights or big holidays is lost reservations. When your restaurant relies on overstuffed date books, though, hostesses get used to saying, “What was the name again? I’m not seeing it in the book.” Your guests deserve better, and Waitlist Me helps you stay organized and manage your reservations in one location that you can access from multiple iPads or Android tablets. You can even login from your home computer or your smartphone to keep tabs on your reservations.
Make waiting less painful with Waitlist Me.
Waitlist Me makes it easy to let customers add themselves to your waitlist or reservations with our web widget, and we recently added features to our Pro service to control business hours this feature is available or accepts reservations. Complementing these settings for regular business hours, there is now a feature to set specific blackout dates for holidays or days you might be closed or not taking reservations.
Simply login to the Waitlist Me website and navigate to Account > Settings > Customize Settings (under Add Yourself) > Blackout Dates. Press the green Add button, and choose the date you desire to restrict. The drop down menu lets you select whether you are closed and not taking reservation or waitlist requests or if you just aren’t taking one of these options like you normally would. For example, on Christmas you might be closed, but on Valentine’s day you might be open but so busy you don’t take reservations that day.
Once a blackout date is set, you can see and manage the upcoming blackout dates on this page. If you need to remove a restriction, just hover over the date and press the red X that appears on the right. Or click on the row to edit it.
Once you have blocked off a date, if a client tries to make a reservation they will receive a message letting them know that no reservations will be accepted:
