There is a visual prompt that I often encourage branch managers to place behind their teller windows, new account desks, and drive-up windows. It is this: "Is your line worth waiting in?"
I like to point out that we bankers can control some things in our business but only influence others. One thing a front-line employee has no real control over is how long a customer must wait in his or her line.
Sure, we can influence wait times with efficient processes and competent personnel. But the fact is that we never know whether the next three people in line are 30-second, or 1-minute, or 5-minute transactions. So even if we are as efficient and proficient as possible, some customers may wait longer than either of you are happy with.
We may not be able to control how long a wait will be, but we do control what happens when a customer reaches the front of the line and is face to face with members of your team. It is almost always what happens during that interaction that establishes in a customer's mind whether the wait was reasonable.
A few months ago, a senior manager at a bank shared with me the results of a research project that his bank had hired an outside firm to conduct. The firm studied the bank's and its competitors' operations as well as surveying customers from each bank. Two pieces of information jumped out at me.
One finding was that this particular bank's branches had the shortest average wait times. Their customers, in fact, spent less time standing in branch lines or sitting in drive-up-window lanes than did their competitors'.
Yet in the survey, this bank's customers ranked their "satisfaction with wait times" the lowest in the peer group. Ponder that for a moment. In reality, their customers had shorter waits than their competitors' customers, but this bank's customers were the least satisfied about their waits.
Do you think that this bank simply had less patient customers than its peers? Or were their "waiting areas" substantially inferior? Somehow, I doubt it.
What I would suggest is that the negative differentiation was actually happening once the wait was over. Simply, if the customer service experience is poor once a person gets to the front of the line, no amount of waiting feels reasonable.
I've raised a few eyebrows in the past by suggesting to folks that the way to improve customers' satisfaction after they have stood in line is to add just a few more seconds to the transaction. This may sound counterintuitive, but hear me out.
Of course, we do not want to make lines move appreciably slower. But I would suggest that, if a customer has become frustrated waiting in a line, no amount of speed and efficiency displayed when it is "his turn" is likely to greatly improve his opinion of his branch experience.
And if a banker chooses to make the delivery of a sales pitch his priority in that interaction … well, good luck with that one.
Conversely, if that customer is made to feel respected and appreciated, even longer-than-we-would-have-liked wait times can seem acceptable. I like asking groups, "How long would you wait in line for the most professional, positive, and respectful interaction you'll have today?"
I have a preference for asking employees whether their lines are worth waiting in, as opposed to simply drilling canned scripts into their heads. Most fast-food establishment drive-up windows have rigid procedures that make employees thank customers and ask them to "come again."
Call me a skeptic, but I don't think many folks drive away feeling especially moved or impressed by the gesture.
Asking folks whether "their" lines were worth waiting in encourages a personal ownership of that customer experience. Sure, it is also smart to give regular reminders of things that help produce positive experiences.
Acknowledging a customer's wait in a sincere way may be the best "diffuser" possible. The same customer who has simmered to a slow boil while waiting in a line often cools off quickly when we indicate that we do not take his time or patience for granted.
Genuine smiles can work magic, yet are too seldom seen. And thanking customers for their business in a way that actually sounds meant can communicate more than most marketing pieces around the branch. Feeling appreciated in a place greatly increases the chances a person will choose to return.
In a banking world where face-to-face transactions in branches are dwindling, making the most positive impressions possible with customers is more important than ever. Speed counts, but personal interactions matter more.
It is hard to control how long the next customer will have to wait in your line. But you do control what happens next. Are your lines worth waiting in?
