Travelers, sports fans and consumers of all kinds routinely experience wait times of some sort. The wait at airport security, sports concessions, or the amusement park can lead to dread, anxiety and a fundamentally worse experience.
ChecktheQ aims to change that by empowering airports, stadiums, retailers and other venues to mitigate these wait times to improve their customers’ experience by tracking and communicating wait times in real-time.
Now, CheckTheQ is expanding its services to comprehensively improve the in-venue experience.
Adam Hoffman, a Bostonian who came to the Midwest to study at Washington University in St. Louis, didn’t plan to stay in the region post-graduation. However, he decided to plant his roots there after co-founding ChecktheQ during his final semester at WashU.
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Hoffman has formed what he calls “a tremendous partnership” with his co-founder, Sanela Osmanovic. Osmanovic embodies how CheckTheQ’s leadership team is atypical in the tech sector: she is a female CTO, a first generation American, and the first person in her family to go to college.
Together, Hoffman and Osmanovic recruited Emily Cain, CheckTheQ’s Creative Director, and Pam Hoffman, CheckTheQ’s VP of Sales. Since then they’ve added additional staff including Stephen Albrecht, a full-stack developer sourced through the St. Louis-based LaunchCode program.
“We started this business because as frequent travelers, we didn’t like waiting in security lines that seemed to stretch for miles,” said Hoffman. “But, we found that when individuals are not happy at the airport, it’s actually the airport that pays the price because people spend less on concessions and don’t want to fly. The impact is similar in other verticals too.”
Platform users leverage CheckTheQ’s data to respond when lines get long, and to proactively manage their customers’ expectations by telling them when to arrive and how long they will be waiting.
CheckTheQ’s initial product line has garnered recognition and acclaim. Recently announced as a member of the 2018 class of Arch Grants recipients, CheckTheQ also participated in the selective Capital Innovators accelerator, and raised capital earlier this year.
Based on feedback received from the marketplace, Hoffman’s team is now rolling out a new service to help venues address a perpetual plague – dirty restrooms. ChecktheQ found that for venues of all kinds, restroom cleanliness is a significant concern.
“We listened to our customers, and heard that from airports to restaurants, big box stores to movie theaters, dirty restrooms are the most surefire way to lose clientele,” said Hoffman.
The ChecktheQ team talked to malls, restaurants, and retail, and found common pain around cleaning.
“It’s hard for venues to know when to deploy cleaning services, and when a restroom has gotten messy,” said Hoffman.
But the cost is significant. When customers see a restroom is dirty, they lose faith in the facility––the restaurant, doctor’s office, etc.––that they are trusting with their health and well being. ChecktheQ’s Restroom Report will supercharge venue cleanliness.
Restroom Report offers two services: Feedback and Tracking. The Feedback tier provides a direct channel for patrons to easily and anonymously communicate to facilities in real-time if a restroom needs attention. A patron who has run out of toilet paper or noticed a mess on the floor can send a one-word text or scan a laminated QR code on the bathroom mirror that alerts management that an immediate response is required.
Venues recognize that patrons can voice concerns to a manager for a resolution, or to the whole world via social media. Harman Moseley, an early supporter, and the owner of multiple cinemas in St. Louis, is enthusiastic about the service.
“If you don’t think a customer notices a messy bathroom, guess again,” said Moseley. “Everyone makes a judgment of a restaurant, movie theater, concert hall, grocery store, or retailer by the state of their bathrooms. If one person says something, 20 more thought it. Restroom Report helps keep busy public bathrooms clean, and customers notice and appreciate that.”
The second tier of Restroom Report uses sensors to track restroom usage in real time and notifies custodial staff when certain thresholds are met. These quantitative elements help venues to base scheduling on data and patron traffic.
“Our customers asked us, ‘How can we collect long term data to manage staff more efficiently and be more responsive to our customers’ needs?’ Our platform accomplishes that,” said Hoffman.
ChecktheQ’s subscribers pay a small fee on a monthly basis, priced per number of restrooms. Venues can customize how they receive alerts and data––through text, email, or POS integration, and to custodial staff or the maintenance team.
Hoffman said the team is looking forward to this next chapter for ChecktheQ, from tracking wait times to optimizing restroom cleanliness, and to rolling out the new platform nationwide.
Hoffman said he and his team are “really excited to call St. Louis the home of our tech company.”
“The Saint Louis community has embraced us at every step of our development, helping us find early capital, securing pilot sites and full customers, not to mention all the support from institutions like Capital Innovators and Arch Grants,” said Hoffman. “I’m most grateful to St. Louis for helping us assemble this incredible team. There has never been a better time to build a successful company in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area.”
You can learn more about wait time tracking at www.checktheq.com, and the new service at www.RestroomReport.us.
