Customer Waiting: The Psychology Of How To Manage For Great Results

Have you ever picked a line at the store only to realize that you chose the longest, most slowly moving line? Have you ever waited forever to receive a shipment and then felt like they owed you an explanation for what could possibly take that long? Have you ever had such a great time laughing and talking in line with other people that you didn’t even notice how long you waited?

 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are a typical customer with common perceptions of waiting in a Customer Experience. Years ago, David Maister wrote a paper called "The Psychology of Waiting Lines." Maister suggests that sometimes waiting in lines can seem longer than it is. Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, wrote an article on Psych Central that details eight reasons that waits seem longer.

 

This episode of The Intuitive Customer explores the psychology of waiting and what you can do to mitigate it for customers. We address Rubin’s eight reasons and share what you can do about them to promote customer-driven growth.