Waiting Lines Management and Customer Satisfaction in Commercial Banks in Kenya

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to find out how waiting line management influences customer satisfaction in Kenyan banks. To achieve the main objective, the study determined the effect of waiting lines management on customer satisfaction, how commercial banks manage waiting lines and the challenges faced by commercial banks while managing waiting lines. The research was a census survey of all the 43 registered commercial banks in Kenya. The primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaire and the analysis was done using descriptive statistics generated from Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study concludes that majority of commercial banks customers in Kenya are not satisfied with management of waiting lines. The main area where customers are dissatisfied is the perceived waiting time. Besides, bank customers are not satisfied with information provided in the waiting room and the waiting environment within the banks. Customers become less satisfied due to perceived longer waiting times that they have to spend queuing at the bank. Customers are not satisfied with management of waiting lines despite the fact that banks have implemented lines management measures such as use of physical barriers, automatic queue measurement systems, seamless banking, internet banking, mobile banking and agency banking. The study recommends that commercial banks in Kenya should invest in the provision of appropriate information to the customers and commercial banks in Kenya should increase customer satisfaction by adopting strategies such as use of signage and signaling systems, use of interactive communication and advertisement on the television screens and allowing visitors’ freedom of movement while keeping them informed about the expected waiting time or giving them a guaranteed reception time. The study also recommends further study in efficiency of line management technologies in the Kenya banking sector.