Blog and Insight

Behind the Scenes at Silent Customer: Experience, Resilience, and Real Service

20 October 2025

Silent Customer

Personally, and business-wise, it’s been an absolute bugger of a year so far.
My mother passed away in Feb after a short battle with Cancer. The day after she died the GP ‘fast-tracked’ my other half for suspected cancer. (It wasn’t – thankfully).
At the same time, I was suffering from awful bladder plain which has since been diagnosed as chronic and incurable.
I’ve had hand surgery, and there’s more besides.
I didn’t as much sink into depression, as plummeted really. Thankfully, I have amazing friends that kept me going (special thanks to Emma Sweet who checked in every day on the darkest days) and a wonderful team at Silent Customer.  I don’t know what I would have done without Sally our ops manager.
Sally
But things are better and I’ve hauled myself back onto dry land ready to face the mess that is our political landscape and the damage that it’s had on hospitality.
Time away from the business has given me perspective.
I have worked in hospitality for over 35 years! And I can tell you that while a lot has changed in the industry the way people feel and behave in relation to how they are treated, has not.
Silent Customer is a small agency, so we do not have the pressure to cut corners in order to please greedy and detached shareholders. We have the bandwidth to care about our clients and their teams. We are honest about what is deliverable so you can be sure that the insights are genuine. We deliver ‘TRUE’ feedback ‘KINDLY’ to help you to motivate teams, increase sales and reduce revenue leakage.
Forthwith, I will be regurgitating my many years of practical hands-on and behavioural hospitality experience and sharing ways in which you can grow your teams to deliver incredible service without spending a gazillion pounds on ai videos and Sally will be divulging top tips for mystery shoppers to get those highly competitive hotel visits!
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Check-backs and complaint handling go hand in hand. Intercepting a problem before a customer tells you, or Google, not only prevents negative word-of-mouth but can increase revenue through loyalty and positive PR.

Use our fun PEP talk sheets to support your front-line teams in learning how to avoid complaints.

Engaging Conversations

Building a natural and genuine rapport with guests can be the most positive and memorable part of their dining experience. Whilst the food and the environment can be remarkable by itself, making a customer feel that they are more than just a table number, has a far wider reach in terms of spreading positive word-of-mouth.

Use our fun PEP talk sheet to support your front-line teams in learning how to have engaging conversations.

Positive Body Language

Being able to communicate positivity, and with enthusiasm, encourages customers to reciprocate in the same manner. However, most of us are unaware of how we are perceived by others and, whilst we may think we are coming across as welcoming and friendly, our body language could be telling a different story.

Use our fun PEP talk sheet to support your front-line teams in understand the importance of self-awareness.

Relevant Recommendations

Team members need good product knowledge to be able to describe and enthuse, but often don’t know what many of the dishes taste like. A lack of upselling is also often due to a lack of confidence in knowing where to start a conversation that leads to a recommendation.

Use our fun PEP talk sheet to support your front-line teams in learning how to upsell.