The Goldfish Memory
Introduction
Some writers compare companies that don’t manage their customer relationships well and don’t keep records of their interactions to companies with “goldfish memory” — the goldfish being known for an extremely short memory, said to last no more than three seconds, which is why it keeps swimming around in its bowl tirelessly. Every three seconds it thinks it has discovered new worlds, different from the ones it just saw moments earlier. So — does your company have goldfish memory, or does it have an elephant’s memory that never forgets, no matter how much time passes?
Customers Will Never Be the Same Again
Service and product providers need to know that customers are not, and never will be, the way they were in the 1990s. Today’s customers have an unprecedented level of awareness. They compare and share their experiences — not just with friends, relatives, and colleagues, but with the whole world, thanks to the internet. So, will companies try to enjoy a steel-trap memory and treat their customers as they deserve? Or will they prefer goldfish memory, staying in the fishbowl, repeating the same things and hoping for different results? That’s the definition of insanity.
Many companies in third-world countries possess that goldfish memory. If you call their contact center, they may not be able to identify you from the mobile number you’re calling from. If you get transferred to another specialized employee because the first couldn’t help, the second one asks you all over again for your account or subscription number — and may even ask you to tell the story from the beginning. Your suffering with them continues every time you call.
Imagine you deal with a service institution and, at the start of the relationship, you provided them with several details about your name, work, address, and phone. Shortly afterward, you want to get another service from the same institution, only for the employee in charge to pull out the same form — but with the new service’s title at the top. Does that make sense? Yes, this happens in many large organizations dominated by bureaucracy, where each business unit acts almost as if it were a standalone company, with its own goals and its own database.
Stories and Lessons
One day, I shopped from a well-known Arab e-commerce site. I added some products to the cart, then stepped out to take care of urgent tasks, and came back later to complete the payment. Two hours later, I received a reminder message to complete my purchase before stock ran out. I felt confused and started wondering — maybe something went wrong during payment and the order didn’t go through. I went back into the site, checked my cart, and found it empty and the order intact. That site had goldfish memory: because of its poor CRM systems, it cost me extra effort I didn’t need.
In contrast, e-commerce giants Amazon and eBay have iron-clad memory like elephants. If you use these sites, you’ll notice how with repeated purchases the site starts showing you items you might like and products purchased by others alongside a product you once bought. They never asked you about your unique taste, but with their complex algorithms, they were able to predict things highly likely to please you.
How would you feel if you were about to buy a book from Amazon and were surprised by a warning message saying, “You purchased this book before. Would you like to buy it again?” (This message appears for Prime customers.) You’d appreciate it and feel more trust. That’s what happens on Amazon and on their app Audible — if you bought an audiobook, deleted it, and forgot over time that you had listened to it before, when you return to the same book page they won’t push you to buy it again; instead, they’ll offer you the option to download it again for free.
If one night you happen to be lucky enough to be a guest at the famous Ritz-Carlton (renowned for its distinguished customer experiences), remember that any request you make from room service will be saved for later reference if you ever return. For example, if you ordered a cappuccino made with low-fat milk, hazelnut flavor, and artificial sweetener, then came back months later as a guest and called room service to order a cappuccino, the employee will ask you: would you like it with skim milk, hazelnut flavor, and artificial sweetener?! And you’ll be stunned, because you very likely forgot you’d ordered it that way at the same hotel.
Closing
To provide an unforgettable experience for your customers, you need to focus on three things: how customers describe their unique preferences, how you can recognize them as lasting rather than momentary desires, and how you’ll remember or preserve them to surprise customers if they return.
Companies that aim to deliver a distinguished customer experience don’t let anything pass by unnoticed. Yet you won’t find that they have employees with superhuman memory — instead, they have several integrated technology systems running in real time that spare them and their employees the burden of remembering. That said, I should flag: owning these systems and installing them on company infrastructure won’t guarantee installing a customer-service culture and delivering distinguished experiences in your employees’ minds. Building a customer-centric culture comes before the matter of acquiring the tools needed to support that culture.
See also: Customer-Centric Operating Model
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