As the shops get busier in the weeks before Christmas, the issue of queuing becomes more and more obvious.

Queuing is the bane of shopper’s lives and bad experiences can often result in aborted purchases, negative feelings towards a retailer and, sometimes, all-out rage! But how can you avoid these pitfalls?

Everybody has a general benchmark as to how long they think a queue will last. For example, you know that a queue at immigration will take forever; the bank will probably take a similar period of time and the post office could take much longer. On the shorter side of things, the cash-point should only take a few moments and the traffic lights will change any second – don’t even bother taking it out of gear. ]

But what happens when there is a deviation from the norm?

In simple terms, you feel good when you win and bad when you lose. This feeling is often amplified when compared against the progress (or lack thereof) of other queues at the checkout or as you exit an aircraft (not only is your queue not moving, the other queue is making remarkable progress). Similarly, beating that car in a traffic jam never fails to put a smile on your face.

Do you remember the last time you were in a packed pub, trying your best to reach over the bar and catch the barman’s attention? All you want is a couple of drinks and you don’t want to miss out on the banter back at the table. You eye up the opposition, make a mental note of your arrival time and, after much jostling, sharp elbows and dagger looks, you finally look the barman in the eye, get the nod and know you are next. At this point you relax a little, knowing you have claimed your place in the world. Even so, you are slightly on edge as you see your predecessor’s money disappear into the till, your neck is out like a giraffe and the barman looks up; only to turn the other way and deal with much later arriving member of the opposition – look at the smirk on their face! Feel the anger rise up inside of you. You feel cheated, wronged and have a distinct prejudice against both the barman and the sly queue jumper.

Do you want your customers to feel like this? I wouldn’t think so, but what can retailers do to keep the rage at bay? The answer is distraction.

M&S food make a wonderful job of it, bringing out your inner child with a dazzling array of sweet impulse buys (mini yum-yum anyone?) and in one fell swoop make you forget you are in a queue and you are at the checkout in no time (whilst making a significant contribution to profits).

But it’s not just impulse buys that beat the queuing blues. Performance works wonders as well; watching a florist create a stunning arrangement makes time fly by…
So, what are our top 5 tips for queuing success?

1. It’s first come, first served. No ifs and no buts.
2. Clearly delineate a single file queue to avoid queue jumping.
3. Offer theatre or visual interest wherever possible.
4. Open another checkout if queue times are even slightly longer than usual.
5. Make the most out of impulse buy opportunities.

What were your best and worst queuing experiences?
Ross

The real benefit of BIM is customer satisfaction

Our retail clients spend a lot of time trying to understand what their customers want, like and need in order to make them happy and loyal. In the construction industry prioritising and monitoring customer satisfaction is often absent from the project objectives, not recognised as a key performance indicator (KPI), and rarely a shared vision.

There is a lot of speculation about how Building Information Modelling (BIM) will benefit the construction industry and there is no doubt that by automating processes there are many efficiency gains to be had. But while individual supply chain members seek to understand the benefits BIM makes available to their own part of the process and what they personally will gain from it, the overall benefit that BIM offers to the industry is overlooked. This overall benefit of BIM is customer satisfaction.

BIM by its nature is client-centric and can, used well, deliver a better service.  Some of the most pertinent benefits of BIM include:

• Making contract documents more accurate
• Improving communication
• Reducing the costs associated with errors and coordination problems
• Providing the client with better visibility and certainty of the outcome
• Improving project budgeting and cost management
• Improving safety
• Reducing the need for meetings and RFIs
• Speeding up scheduling processes
• Ultimately producing a less defective end product

Meanwhile, customer satisfaction comes from exceeding expectations, that means not just meeting the basic need for a building, but also providing services that meet and exceed their specific individual requirements, as a result delivering something extra. By placing too much emphasis on the financial gains made from small improvements in process and management, the opportunity for real change using the BIM process will be lost. It is time to collectively focus on the client.

Take a look at the BIM model animation below. This shows the BIM modelling process for a large supermarket. At each stage of the modelling process the client is able to interrogate data, simulate, expand, enhance and coordinate the model.

Video supplied by our BIM specialist division – Cadnet

The key to successful BIM is collaboration. This does not necessarily mean that individuals are participating in the BIM process, but they can work with their modelling team to ensure that the BIM model continues to meet their needs and offer building intelligence throughout the lifecylce of the building. Many traditional industry divisions and constructs will need to be overcome for the collaboration to happen.

There is a shortage of independent advice and support available to the construction industry, and this is where we fit in. Our experience in BIM implementation allows us to advise and support clients, professionals and contractors either collectively or individually to deliver a better service and not just a better building. We want to ensure that clients make a real gain from their investment in BIM, and ultimately that they have a satisfied customer.

Mark Johnson, National Accounts Manager – C A Design Services