Here are five ways to make your waiting area more comfortable:

• Offer free Wi-Fi. The people who have to wait in your office will hardly even notice how long the wait is if they can play around on their computers while they are there.
• Provide water, coffee and snacks. Offer something extra special like chocolates, nuts or fresh fruit. People are less grumpy about waiting when they have treats to distract them.
• Change the lighting in the office. Replace the fluorescent light bulbs with softer lights. Switch to a metal halide ballast system. Make the ambience of the room better with good lighting.
• Repaint the area. Learn a little bit about color theory and use new paint colors to change the mood of the room. You might also try a bit of feng shui if you are so inclined.
• Offer reading material. Provide magazines as well as a variety of different books. For non-readers offer jigsaw puzzles or Sudoku books.

The trick is to set up a calm environment that people have enough to do in so that they won’t be bored while they wait.

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