Regardless of what line it is or the reason for a line, Americans are impatient. Of all the burdens on their time, people most resent waiting in line, according to a poll reported in the Wall Street Journal, 41% of those surveyed said they resent waiting in line more than any other drain on time (Culberson, 1996). Studies and reporting nationwide have developed a clear idea of how much Americans hate to wait in line.
The body of knowledge about waiting lines are often called queuing theory. Queuing theory deals with the formation and operation of lines. By using the fundamental laws of probability and statistics, a planner can model almost any system in which a line is formed by using queuing theory (Grandsberg & Basilotto, 1998). There are three basic principals of queuing theory which consist of arrivals and inputs to the system, queue discipline, or the waiting line itself, and customer service. Each of these concepts is independent of one another but each is reflective of the results of waiting in lines such as scheduling of customers and the patterns of the influx of customers. Potentially there are a host of factors that can contribute to waiting in lines. The topic of this proposal is a component of waiting in line.
Despite the advent of technology into the banking sector- with ATM’s, call centers and Internet banking-most people would still prefer to do their banking face-to-face with a cashier at a local branch (Cocheo, 2003). Many retailing bank customers feel long waits to see a teller is a strong indication of customer service and their importance as a customer. This incident introduces the topic of this proposal which is “It takes to long to see a teller at a bank.”
Problem Statement Teller contact with the retail customer is a primary interaction with the banks customers. Therefore, the Learning Team A members posit an average of more than 20 customers per hour with a wait time mean of five minutes and an upper control limit of three standard deviations, approximately three minutes. This assumes five teller stations and three personal banker positions. In addition, this would also assume two drive-up positions in a branch. If the average per hour should be below 20 customers, this would suggest a different problem than queuing and would posit a need for a marketing promotion.
Library References Rationale The impact of waiting in line on Consumers The Reference mentioned above covers various subjects. Some of them are: marketing environment; marketing functions; special marketing applications; and marketing research. The rationale helps the organization to operate in an efficient and effective manner, thereby helping the banking organization to reduce impact of waiting customers in line and act as one of the highlights in the marketing strategy and tool for the banking organization.
Cashiers not call centers; say Britain’s banking customers Despite the advent of technology into the banking sector–with ATM, call centers and Internet banking–most people would still prefer to do their banking face-to-face with a cashier at a local branch. Cashiers out-perform all other communication channels in terms of how satisfied customers are with using them while call centers receive the lowest satisfaction score of all the six channels surveyed. The survey found that, of the six most widely used methods of getting in touch with a bank; contact via a call center was by far the least popular. Among those who had access to the Internet, the percentage using the Internet to interact with their bank rose to 42%. This implies that personal face-to-face banking will involve and attract people to arrive at the bank and will involve the waiting time.
When time is money, will banks make any? Challenges faced by banks regarding the balance between their two extremes of customer. The reference talks about the efforts of banks to make teller lines shorter with a dual challenge of meeting the expectations of more technology-savvy customers without ignoring the needs of customers who do not need new technology. Process for reducing customer waiting in over-the-counter service operations The case studies focused on over-the-counter (OTC) banking services. The use of game-play tactics (SBM) in the banking chamber was highly successful. It provided a mechanism for designing constraints that addressed issues of the incomplete and inaccurate system state knowledge usually held by the tellers. Further, the process promoted the development of a team ethos, and this change in attitudes had positive repercussions on the overall working environment.
References
Chebat, J. & Filiatrault, P. (1993). The impact of waiting in line on Consumers. The International Journal of Bank Marketing, 11, (2), pp.35-41. Retrieved from EBSCO host Database on August 11, 2006.
