Let’s build a successful Waitwhile account 😄
We recognize that every business is unique and we are certainly not a "one-size-fits-all" type of platform; there are so many options to customize Waitwhile to fit your needs! This article will go into detail about properly setting the building blocks of an account that will increase efficiency and customer satisfaction and set you up for a successful operation powered by Waitwhile!
Overview
Add your location details
Create your services
Set up resources
Customize your messages
Configure your waitlist and/or bookings
Collect customer data
Customize your branding
share your registration links
invite your staff
Bonus: Add multiple locations to your account
1. Define your waitlist and booking requirements
Determine what you’ll use Waitwhile for: will it be for walk-ins, reservations, or appointment scheduling?
Identify your business’s needs, like the number of locations, types of services, and any limits on queue size.
We will go into this a bit more further down
2. Add your location details
Set up your first location by completing all of the details for your business under Location Details.
This includes:
Business Hours
Business Address
Business contact information
3. Create your services
In Waitwhile, Services represent the specific offerings that your business provides to customers. These can include appointments, consultations, repairs, or any activity that requires time or resources (staff members)
Example Services:
Healthcare: Doctor’s appointment, dental cleaning, physical therapy session, lab test or blood work
Government: DMV appointments (e.g., License Renewal, ID Services), tax consultation, permit applications, passport processing
When creating your Services, you can set different different attributes such as Service category, service duration, price, service description, availability, and other optional settings that best match your business needs.
4. Set-up resources
In Waitwhile, RESOURCES refer to the tools, spaces, equipment, or personnel required to perform specific services or manage bookings efficiently.
Example Resources:
Healthcare Clinic: Treatment rooms, medical equipment, or doctors.
Restaurant: Tables or private dining spaces.
Salon or Spa: Massage rooms, hair stations, or stylists.
When setting up your Resources, you can configure Resource categories, descriptions, availability, service specialities, upload imagery, and much more.
5. Customize your messages
Waitwhile offers customizable messaging options to help you communicate efficiently with customers & staff at every step of their visit or booking journey. Whether you’re sending notifications, reminders, or follow-ups, managing your message settings ensures your communication is clear, timely, and aligned with your business needs.
Waitwhile offers two (2) types of Messaging:
Customer Messages: Are communications sent directly between your business and the customer before, during, and after their visit.
Team Notifications: Are internal communications sent to staff members (users) to help them manage operations efficiently and stay updated on customer activities.
Within Customer messages & Team notifications, you can enable messages that work best with your customer flow, create customized templates that speak like your brand, and event personalize your messaging with variable text. You can even create Saved replies that can be sent for your most frequently asked questions.
Learn more about Messages
6. Configure bookings & waitlist
Waitwhile is a versatile platform that enables businesses to efficiently manage waitlisting and bookings, providing a seamless experience for both customers and staff.
Waitlist
For waitlisting, customers can join the queue remotely through a customized registration link or in person, receiving real-time updates on their position and estimated wait time via SMS or email.
From the Waitlist settings, you can configure how your waitlist should function, the different elements that are visible on your registration pages, and how the waitlist should work if you also offer bookings.
Bookings
Businesses can set booking parameters to manage capacity, prevent overbooking, and optimize staff schedules. From the Booking settings, you can configure your booking availability, whether customers have the ability to reschedule or cancel their booking, and if your bookings should sync to your waitlist at a set time.
7. Collect customer details
Customer details are essential to personalizing the guest experience and improving the management of your waitlist, appointments, or services. With Waitwhile’s Customer Detail Settings, you can configure what information is collected from customers and how it’s used.
8. Customize your branding
A positive customer experience starts with a cohesive experience. That’s where branding comes in! Don’t forget to customize your account so that Waitwhile seamlessly integrates with your business style 😎
Learn about how you can customize your Waitwhile account’s style and put it into action under the Custom design settings
9. Share your registration links
Your customers will be able to join your waitlist or schedule appointments through your public registration options. These include:
Kiosk for customers to register through
QR codes for customers to scan-to-join
Online web links that you can share on social media or embed on your website
10. Invite your staff
Did you know that Waitwhile is ideal for teams to use together? Don't wait to get the ball rolling, invite your staff to collaborate in Waitwhile! Sending them an invitation is easy and it’s free.
Invite your colleague to join your Waitwhile through the Account overview settings
Add multiple locations to your account
Have multiple locations? You can duplicate all of your configurations to create multiple locations.
Go to Account Overview
Under Locations, select Add location
Give your location a location name
Select the location that you want to copy from
Choose the settings you want to copy from the available options
Click Add location to save
To ensure that your Waitwhile account aligns with your business’s workflow and delivers a seamless experience, don't forget to regularly review Waitwhile Analytics to track average wait times, no-shows, and customer feedback. Use this data to make adjustments to your queue management or appointment scheduling for improved efficiency.
Have additional questions or need assistance? Reach out to us via chat or at support@waitwhile.com.