As a matter of fact, he did remember. A frequent restaurant-goer, the man was well stocked with stories of the kind. Both positive and negative accounts he verbalized had beginnings and crescendos, were time-framed and geographically-linked, seemed very much alive and vibrant with emotions. However, there was a pivotal difference. Having effortlessly recalled the name of one restaurant, he failed to come up with that of the… better one.
Overwhelmed by a sudden suspicion that had just jumped up at me, I gasped: “Maybe… Maybe, it’s not a singular coincidence that a customer remembers instances of poor service better. What if we look at a broader canvas? Is there a likelihood it’s typical of all customers to stronger cling to their negative experiences rather that the positive ones?” Not wishing to bark up the wrong tree, I hastened to do some digging.
It seems, remembering bad events better is characteristic of our human nature. The 2007 August issue of the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science reads contains this information: "It really does matter whether [an event is] positive or negative in that most of the time, if not all of the time, negative events tend to be remembered in a more accurate fashion than positive events…" And "…the details you remember about a negative event are more likely to be accurate."
Interestingly enough, children psychology holds it that kids, be that consciously or subconsciously, resort to misbehavior so that to attract their parents’ attraction. Evidently, bad behavior patterns are more efficient attention grabbers than those of good demeanor.
The same principle can be traced in the performing arts realm. It is axiomatic that positive characters’ roles are a lot more difficult to perform. However, it’s not the case with negative characters. Why? Yet again, the same principle: bad behavior tends to be more noticeable and is remembered more easily.
Wrapping it up, we can say that good customer service does not boil down to treating our customers well. It is only part of the success equation. It also heavily rests with not treating our clients badly. We are deprived of a luxury of doing anything but our best while servicing demanding customers of today. Because, given an outstandingly good and bad display of services on our part, they are bound to remember the latter.
Maybe that is why one satisfied client retells their positive experience to just 1 or 2 other people, while a dissatisfied customer spreads the bad news among as many as 6 to 10.
