A Dry Cappuccino – a Lesson in Customer Loyalty
“What on earth is a dry cappuccino?” my husband asked as I was telling him this story.
Well… it’s what we used to call a cappuccino. These days, if you simply ask for a cappuccino, you often get what is basically a café latte with a bit of foam on top.
And while we’re on the subject, a lady came into the coffee shop and asked for a Spanish café latte! In old money, that would simply be a café con leche – coffee with milk in Spanish. Just as caffè latte means coffee with milk in Italian. And in English? We have a perfectly good word for it… milk!
Anyway, enough of me showing my age…
I popped into Costa on New Oxford Street and made my usual plea:
“Could I have a small, dry cappuccino, please?”
Guess what arrived?
A blooming café latte.
By now I’m so used to being served buckets of milk that I just sighed, put some sugar in it and accepted my fate.
But then something unexpected happened.
The barista looked at the order again, realised it wasn’t what I’d asked for, apologised, took it back and made it again.
I was so happy.
Why?
Because he cared.
He didn’t have to. He could see I’d reluctantly accepted it. It’s a busy location with hundreds of passing customers every day. He probably thought he’d never see me again.
But he didn’t let it slide.
And that’s the power of service recovery.
Right now, I’m telling people how brilliant the baristas at that Costa were. I founded a mystery guest company just up the road, and I always champion positive, memorable, service that makes a difference!
The lesson?
It’s okay to make mistakes.
What matters is what you do next.
In hospitality – and in fact in any customer-facing business – people rarely judge you solely on whether something went wrong. They judge you on how you made them feel.
One positive behaviour can completely change the emotional outcome of an interaction. A genuine apology. Taking ownership. Spotting a mistake before the customer complains. Caring enough to put it right.
Those moments build trust. They create loyalty. And they become the stories people tell.
At Silent Customer, this is exactly what we’re passionate about. Yes, we identify opportunities for improvement, but our real focus is helping businesses understand the positive behaviours that shape how customers feel about their experience. Because it’s those behaviours that people remember long after they’ve forgotten whether the coffee, meal or purchase was technically perfect.
Sometimes, putting something right creates a stronger impression than getting it right first time.
Now that’s the power of great service.
AND FINALLY – tips from our own Sally for all of those mystery shoppers out there.
Silent Customers are motivators not critics.
Our language and choice of wording needs to show that.
If something is wrong, you don’t need to repeat it, use harsh words or let it colour the rest of your review. You don’t need to say you were ‘disappointed’ when you describe a fault – it feels too disapproving.
We are there to observe and report.
We can then encourage positive change through motivation.
To learn more, take a look at our top tips here
From all of us at The Silent Customer Team
