The “I Think I’ve Heard of You” Strategy

 

The other day, I went to a newly opened café in my neighborhood with an acquaintance. While we were there, I briefly chatted with one of the staff members.

 

According to them, the café is the second or maybe even third branch of an existing shop in the same city. A young, standout staff member who had worked at the original location was given responsibility for managing the new café when it opened.

 

I thought, “That’s impressive for someone so young,” when suddenly, he said:

 

“Have you been to our other location before?”

 

I had visited the original café once with my family. I vaguely recalled a stylish young man and woman working behind the counter. When I mentioned that memory, he told me that the man I saw back then was, in fact, him.

 

What a memory he must have!

 

I’d only been there once. We hadn’t even spoken. I wasn’t wearing anything especially noticeable or wearing unusual makeup.

 

We simply went there as a family, ordered drinks, sat for less than 30 minutes, commented on how stylish the place was, and left.

 

And yet, he somehow remembered me. I was genuinely impressed by the professionalism of someone in customer service.

 

Of course, there’s a chance he simply says “Have you been to our other shop before?” to everyone, as a clever strategy. But honestly, hearing it didn’t feel bad at all.

 

Though it may sound selfish, what feels worse is when I clearly remember visiting a place and interacting with staff, but they have no memory of me.

 

With that in mind, maybe it’s not a bad idea for those in customer service, who deal with countless strangers, to use a line like, “Have you been here before?” when they sense someone might expect to be remembered.

 

It’s the same logic as people who, upon exchanging business cards, say, “Oh, I think I’ve heard your name before,” or “Your company sounds familiar,” as if it’s their go-to phrase.

 

I know someone like that. I’m not sure if he does it intentionally or not, but whenever he exchanges business cards, he always seems to add a touch of celebrity flair, saying something like, “Oh, you’re the famous Mr. So-and-so?”

 

I’ve never seen anyone respond poorly to it (I’ve been present on several occasions). More often, people react with something like, “Perhaps you saw my work on such-and-such,” and go on to talk about themselves.

 

The “I think I know you” tactic might be surprisingly effective in all situations.

 

If you overuse it, people might start to see through the trick. But even so, if someone I meet for the first time were to say, “Hokuroku? I think I’ve heard of that,” I’d be delighted—whether or not they were using a technique.

 

Thanks again for reading Hokuroku this week.

 

Sakamoto Masayoshi, Editor-in-Chief of Hokuroku