Arriving anywhere for an appointment shouldn’t be stressful, for the customer or for the service provider. But there are times when your waiting room looks like the apocalypse blown in on a tornado. Everyone wants to avoid days like that, and by making a few small adjustments, you can. Read on for some tips for a calm waiting room.
1. Don’t overschedule.
That’s one of the biggest problems in the service industry — overscheduling appointments with clients and leaving everyone in crowded, angry fluster. If you know that there is a limit to what you or the service provider can do, honor those limitations, even if it only gives you three or four customers for the day.
2. Decorate the waiting room in neutral decor.
Use warm or calming colors on your walls and gentle yellow lighting. And if you’ve noticed that your waiting room ambiance is particularly edgy, you can change the music to something that is easy to listen to, like Jazz or the sounds of nature.
3. Don’t schedule the appointments too close together.
Keep at least twenty minutes between bookings so that way you have the chance to clean up and prepare for your next customer. A good appointment scheduler will have built-in tools to help you manage appointments so as to avoid double-booking and undesired overlaps.
4. Always have any paperwork for your client ready so they can fill it out the moment they get there.
Or, better yet, give it to them the appointment before, or give them access to an online platform where they can download it themselves and fill it out prior to the appointment. This will save a lot of time and keep appointments on schedule.
5. Use a robust appointment scheduling software program.
Software Advice designates EZnet Scheduler® as a top online appointment scheduling software. EZnet Scheduler gives everyone at your service company access to information about scheduled, confirmed, and canceled appointments. It also has built-in tools to help you manage resources. Moreover, it keeps things on track so you can avoid problems like overscheduling and appointments booked too close together.
6. Keep calm.
Should you find that things are a little stressful, don’t worry. Like a wave, it will pass, and things will calm down again. If clients and customers see that you and the staff are frazzled, they will reflect that feeling right back at you. As such, you want to do whatever it takes to make their customer experience a good one.