Today no body interested to wait for food in a restaurant. Some restaurants initially provide more waiting chairs for customers. However, waiting chairs alone would not solve a problem, and the service time may need to be improved. This shows a need for strategies to manage waiting time for the restaurant management to understand the situation better.
The four aspects of waiting time are discussed by (Taylor, 1994)as objective, subjective, cognitive and affective. The objective waiting time means the passes time as measured by customers before being served. The subjective waiting time means the customers’ estimation of waiting time. In previous researches, the subjective waiting time is measured by means of the perceived waiting time and this was explained or discussed by(Pruyn & Smidts, 1998). (Bielen, 2007) Also discuss one aspects which is cognitive, cognitive waiting time means customers evaluate the waiting, and the waiting time has been evaluated as acceptable, reasonable, tolerable or not, as well as considered to be short or long. The affective waiting time means during the waiting time, customers have emotional responses, such as, irritation, boredom, frustration, stress, pleasure, happiness, ‘ etc.(Pruyn & Smidts, 1998). In general, wait management strategies have been examined either through objective approaches or subjective approaches (e.g., (Taylor, 1994)
Restaurants tend to have an element of delay in the delivery of the desired service to customers or clients. Some waiting time for customers is deliberately planned in order to increase their inventory but often waits are neither planned nor desirable. Unplanned waits generate strong negative impacts on customers who are in restaurant waiting for service. The balance between efficient operations and excellent customer service thus requires well-honed management skills(Butcher, 2007). If delays are occurring due to increased demand, one option is to improve infrastructure and resources to avoid customer waits. However, due to increased competition and higher labour costs this option is not always possible. Alternatively, a less costly option is to improve wait management strategies that reduce the negative perceptions of waiting(K & Kayani, 2007).
Guests mostly seek to enjoy new experiences that make their time spent memorable. In the hospitality industry, guests pay for a product, a service, and an unforgettable experience to enhance their desires. Their experiences often are affected by the waiting time for service; therefore, providing good service in an acceptable time frame helps a business achieve guest satisfaction.
Enhancing the guest experience is the main challenge for many businesses. In the hospitality industry, businesses seek to enhance guests’ experiences through the variety of services offered such as personalizing and customizing. However, those services are time dependent. When guests are not served in an acceptable amount of time, the evaluation of the experience could be negatively influenced, directly affecting guests’ satisfaction. However, many studies suggest that controlling guests’ perceptions can alleviate the negative impact of the service delay. Influencing guests’ perceptions about the service provider might influence the wait positively (Katz, Larson, & Larson, 1991). Also, waiting during the experience could be positive or negative; thus, understanding guests’ perceptions is critical in creating an unforgettable experience.
Guest satisfaction is a major concern for service providers, and waiting for service might decrease guest satisfaction about their experience (Pruyn & Smidts, 1998). Service promises might be broken when guests reserve a time and then have to wait (McDougall & Levesque, 1999). Therefore, many service providers attempt to fill guests’ waiting times with activities to make their waiting times enjoyable. Studies reveal that occupied time increases positive wait assessments and reduces perceived boredom. Guests who are joining an activity during the wait experience tend to be more satisfied and less bored (McGuire, Kimes, Lynn, Pullman, & Lloyd, 2010). However, Pruyn and Smidts (1998) and Chebat and Filiatrault (1993) state that commonly offered activities might be boring or routine for guests. Durrande, Moreau, and Usunier (1999) conducted a study about the waiting experience. They attempted to link the actual length of waiting and guests’ time styles (general attitude toward time) to the way they experience the waiting time. This study suggests that customers’ wait experiences relied on two variables’their own time and the real waiting time. Results revealed that when waiting times become longer, guests become passively impatient and less satisfied as they observe the service. Even if the service were perfect, they might not observe that because of the long waiting. Therefore, the duration of wait plays an important role in determining the quality of service.
Many strategies are used when a delay in service occurs. The strategies that are used when a delay in a service occurs are assistance, apology and compensation.(McDougall, G. H. G., & Levesque, T. J., 1999) Explored the service recovery strategies provided in hotels and restaurants. They (McDougall, G. H. G., & Levesque, T. J., 1999) found that assistance plus compensation are the most effective strategies when the service provider breaks a promise regarding the wait for service. However, the results of their study suggest that when a service failure involving waiting occurs, recovery strategies will not lead to a positive future for the service provider because it would cost the service provider much money. Investigating what guests are looking for is the first step in providing a good experience through a deeper understanding of their needs and interests(McDougall, G. H. G., & Levesque, T. J., 1999).
Davis and Vollmann (1990) Investigated that guests’ waiting times and their level of satisfaction in a fast food restaurant. They found that guests who seem to be impatient are guests who have limited time for their lunch break. Also, they found that guests might accept waiting in a queue when a store was busy, because there is a recognizable aim, such as the quality of products and services, for the wait (Davis and Vollmann, 1990)
In the hospitality industry, the number of necessary workers or staff can be determined according to the demand for the desired experience. The number of employees might affect the final outcome of guests’ experiences. A limited number of staff might not meet the demand for the service. (Lee and Lambert, 2006)Investigated waiting time management. They(Lee and Lambert, 2006) conducted their data in a university cafeteria. The main aim of this study was to investigate the acceptable waiting time for guests. They(Lee and Lambert, 2006) found that the number of employees plays an important role in serving guests within an acceptable time; therefore, they concluded that extra employees are needed in rush hours to serve guests in that acceptable time. Many service companies have found that it is more efficient to handle demand whenever it occurs than it is to attempt to smooth out during the peak hours or season. These service businesses usually maintain a base of full-time employees who operate the facility during non-rush periods but who need help during peak periods and usually opt for part time labour resources, especially high school or college students, parents who desire work during hours when their children are in school.
According to Corsten and Stuhlmann (1998) the capacity of a facility is critical and it directly affects the guests’ experience when it is not designed well. When the demand exceeds the capacity of the restaurant, customers begin waiting in a queue and notice that capacity is inadequate(Corsten & Stuhlmann, 1998)
This was further supported by (Hwang & Lambert, 2009) who states that guests are more likely to be frustrated when demand exceeds capacity. (Hwang & Lambert, 2009) Used a simulation method to measure guests’ waiting times with a restaurant’s performance and the results revealed that capacity levels must be regulated in order to meet guest service standards.
(Ford, 2011) Discusses adding capacity to restaurant is one of the strategy used to manage waiting time. He (Ford, 2011) states that this alternative is usually expensive, organizations do not usually choose it unless they believe the high demand causing the waiting lines will continue. The organization will be particularly hesitant to add capacity if its design-day capacity is already at a high percent level, meaning that the organization is already at or below capacity most of the time. Stopgap measures for adding capacity temporarily are sometimes available. For example, employees can be asked to work overtime or on flexible schedules, cross-trained employees can be reassigned from their normal areas to help unclog a service bottleneck, temporary help can be hired, or temporary changes in physical facilities can be made, like adding tents to provide additional exhibit space at a convention or busses for increasing capacity to move people at special events(Ford, 2011).
(Ford, 2011) Also mentions one strategy as that restaurant should manage demand. Simply informing guests of when the busy and slack times occur may smooth out demand. Service providers can also schedule appointments or offer inducements to customers to use capacity at nonpeak demand times.Requiring reservations at a restaurant is an example of the first method, and early-bird specials or discounts on airline travel or hotel rooms at off-peak times are examples of the second. Some organizations, such as airlines and hotels, can ask that guests make reservations, even guaranteed reservations in some cases, to help manage demand. Customers are often willing to call for reservations with such organizations because they do not want to take a chance on not getting a flight or a room. No one wants to arrive at the cruise-ship dock only to find that all rooms are occupied. But many hospitality organizations do not have the market stature or have too many similar competitors for most customers to help them in their capacity decisions by requiring reservations.
Guests will make reservations when the alternatives are few or they do not have the flexibility regarding time, desire, or distance to do something different if their primary choice is at capacity. Thus, guests are willing to pay for a guaranteed hotel-room reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon more than a year in advance to ensure that the room will be waiting for them after they walk to the end of the Bright Angel.
Trail. But, they may not see any value in making a reservation at the nearby Carrabba’s since, if that restaurant is at capacity, many similar alternatives are probably available near Carrabba’s. Another way to manage demand is by shifting demand from peak-capacity use times to off-peak times by offering guests inducements to change their arrival patterns. When the wait times for popular attractions became excessive, Disney shifted demand by creating a special after-hours ticket called ‘Magic Kingdom’s E-Ride Nights.’ The tickets were sold for under $15 and provided guests with unlimited access to the nine most popular attractions for an additional three hours after the normal park closing. To guarantee the guests minimal wait times on the nine attractions, the tickets sold each night were limited to a fixed number of guests and were sold in advance at the Disney resorts on a first-come, first-served basis. The actual number of tickets sold was limited to match the capacity of the nine attractions.
The guests who paid less than $15 for the right to spend an extra three hours after normal closing time to ride their favourite rides as many times as they wanted to were happy and thought they got a great deal(Ford, 2011). They did not have to stand in long lines with everybody else waiting for these rides during the day. Regular daytime guests were also happier; their lines were shorter because the E-Ride Nights guests were no longer in the lines during the day. In effect, Disney expanded park capacity by shifting demand, but unlike the power company that gives customers a lower rate at off-peak times or the restaurant that offers low-cost early-bird specials, Disney was able to charge more and guests were happy to pay; they felt they got good value for their money.
Allow the Line to Form and Then Manage the Line by Diverting Customers says (Ford, 2011). When lines are unavoidable, one way to keep customers happy is by offering people waiting in line something else to do. Having a gift shop in a Hard Rock Cafe or Rainforest Cafe gives patrons an opportunity to go and do something while they wait for their table to be ready. These diversions not only benefit the guest by creating the perception that the experience has begun, but they can be highly profitable, sometimes more profitable than the service product itself. Rainforest Cafe even calls itself ‘A wild place to shop and eat.’ An organization may go so far as to close down some available capacity to ensure that people wait long enough to become ‘diverted’ to the gift shop, with its high-margin items for sale. Or an organization may keep a phone caller on hold longer than absolutely necessary to present a recorded message promoting other services. Many restaurants suggest guests wait in the bar, where they can order drinks and appetizers, until their table is ready.
A related strategy is to upgrade a low-demand aspect of the organization’s service to divert customers toward it and away from high-demand features. For example, a resort hotel could upgrade its pool bar to attract people away from the main lobby bar at peak times. A cruise ship could upgrade a currently underutilized restaurant to be family friendly so it takes pressure off the main dining facility. A golf course could upgrade its practice area with computerized swing-analysis equipment, to take pressure off the course during the most popular tee times. From their own daily experience, most people can cite numerous examples of organizations that planned and managed the wait well or poorly. The best organizations know what steps they need to take when lines start to form(Ford, 2011).