The Customer Table #003 - When Every Detail Matters, Everyone Wins

Happy Friday everyone!

Lets get straight to it. In this weeks edition of The Customer Table:

?? Karen is back, but this time from the managers point of view.

?? Key Findings from the 2025 State of The Restaurant Industry.

?? Reality vs LinkedIn.

??The Hawthorne effect and how listening isn't just polite, its profitable.

?? The sneakiest of sneek-peeks at the upcoming Foodback Intelligence launch!

?? Try Foodback for yourself.

???? Prosecco & Pizza Club - See you Wednesday Copenhagen!

By Stian L?kling Pedersen , Founder & CEO

It’s 6:47 PM on a Friday, the dinner rush is in full swing, and Michael, the restaurant manager, feels like he’s juggling flaming swords while riding a unicycle. A table in the corner is complaining that their food took too long. A kid at another table just spilled orange juice all over the floor. His Head Chef is yelling something unintelligible about a broken fryer.?

Michael takes a deep breath, straightens his tie, and mutters, “Just another day in paradise.”?

And then, she walks in.?

Click-click. Click-clack. The sound of Karen’s heels ring like a warning bell. Michael has seen her type before, head held high, a sharp eye scanning the room for imperfections. She strides in, exuding an aura of expectation.?

Michael seats her at a nice table by the window, trying to mask his unease. Karen orders a glass of Chardonnay and the steak frites. He relays the order to the kitchen, hoping this will be a smooth service.?

But tonight, everything that can go wrong, does.?

The wine takes too long to arrive. When it does, the glass has a smudge. Karen sighs dramatically. The steak comes out overcooked, the fries lukewarm. Karen calls over the waitress, her voice tinged with sharpness, “Is this supposed to be medium rare? Because this is more like medium burnt.”?

Michael rushes over to smooth things over. He apologizes, offers a replacement, even takes the steak off the bill. But Karen is unimpressed.?

“This is a joke,” she declares, loud enough for half the restaurant to hear. “I’ve had better meals at a gas station.”?Michael resists the urge to ask which gas station, purely for research purposes.

Karen storms out, leaving a Yelp review before she even reaches her car:?“1 star. Avoid at all costs. Dirty glasses, cold food, rude staff. This place ruined my night. Never again.”?

As Michael watches her leave, he feels defeated. Exhausted. His team worked hard tonight, but it didn’t matter. One bad experience erased all their effort. Karen’s words will linger online, turning away potential customers before they even give the place a chance.?

Michael sinks into a chair after closing time, wondering how it all went so wrong.?

But what if it could have gone differently??

The Alternate Ending

It’s 6:47 PM on a Friday, and Michael is just as busy as ever. The dinner rush is chaotic, but tonight just feels different. Why? Because Foodback is running in the background, giving Michael and his team real-time insights into what’s happening.?

When Karen clicks into the restaurant, heels clicking like a metronome of doom, Michael greets her with a warm smile. He seats her at the same window table.?

The wine arrives promptly. Karen takes a sip and frowns ever so slightly. But instead of making a scene, she notices the small QR code on the table:?“Let us know how we’re doing in under 20 seconds!”?

Karen scans the code, curious. The first question pops up:?“How’s your drink so far?”?She types in,?“It’s fine, but the glass has a smudge on it. Just FYI.”?

Michael sees the notification instantly. He discreetly signals the waitress to bring a fresh glass of wine. She's on it immediately, the whole team in on the ball tonight. Within seconds, Karen’s glass is replaced with a sparkling clean one.?

The steak arrives, and this time, Karen thinks it’s overcooked. But instead of escalating, she gets her bumbling yet beloved husband Kenneth to use the QR code again:?“Steak is a bit overdone. Can I get it cooked more to my liking?”?

In the kitchen, the chef gets the notification. A fresh steak is prepared and delivered promptly. Karen is impressed. She looks up at Michael and smiles for the first time that night.?

“Thank you for fixing that so quickly,” she says.?

Michael nods, “We’re just happy you’re enjoying your evening.”?

Karen goes on to finish her meal with a Crème Br?lée—on the house, as a thank-you from Michael for her feedback. On her way out she thanks the waitress for her service tonight and asks her on her compliments and thanks to the chef for the second steak-frites, "it was perfect!" As she leaves, she’s already texting her BFF′s Becky and Stacy about how great the experience was.?

The Real Lesson for Managers?

As Michael locks up for the night, he reflects on how things went. Sure, there were hiccups. But thanks to real-time insights and live notifications, they didn’t spiral into disasters.?

Here’s the thing: Foodback didn’t just help Karen feel heard. It also kept Michael’s team on their toes, knowing their work mattered. When staff knows someone’s paying attention, not to catch mistakes, but to celebrate effort and performance, they work harder. They notice the smudged glasses. They double-check the steak before it goes out.?

This isn’t about micromanaging. It’s about caring. It’s about empowering.??

Because when you care about the details, and you empower your staff to deliver on every single little detail, that’s when you go from managing to caring to empowering to delighting. Both Karen and your staff.?

The?Hawthorne Effect, the idea that people perform better when they know their work is being observe, isn’t some abstract theory. It’s real. And when applied with care, it can transform your team from good to exceptional.?

With real-time insights, you can go from putting out fires, to preventing them. You see the small problems before they become big ones. And your team knows their hard work is seen and appreciated. That what they do matters.

At the end of the day, Foodback doesn’t just help you listen to customers like Karen. It creates a culture of accountability, pride, and excellence.?

Because when every detail matters, everyone wins.

You. Your team. Even Karen.?

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Follow Karen as she traverses the treacherous jungle that is bad customer experiences!

State of the Restaurant Industry? 2025 - National Restaurant Association

The 2025 State of the restaurant industry is out, you can find it here.

Key findings:

?? Restaurants are feeling positive about the year ahead, but competition is heating up. Over 80% of operators expect their 2025 sales to match or surpass 2024, yet they also anticipate more pressure to stand out in a crowded market.

? For many diners, experience matters more than price. In fact, 64% of full-service customers and 47% of limited-service customers say that a great dining experience is just as, if not more, important than the cost of their meal.

??? Value in 2025 isn’t just about price, it’s about the full experience. Customers crave more than just good food; they want warm hospitality, clean spaces, and a welcoming atmosphere. Operators who strike the right balance between affordability and great service will have the edge.

?? Loyalty programs are driving customer traffic. A huge 70% of operators say their rewards programs bring in more guests. Consumers are also taking notice, 61% of delivery users, 54% of quick-service diners, and 41% of table-service customers say loyalty perks influence where they eat.

?? To grow in 2025, restaurants need to deliver more than just meals. Creating a memorable experience that blends value, innovation, and hospitality will keep customers coming back and boost long-term loyalty. ??

Reality vs B2B companies on LinkedIn

Listening isn't just polite it's profitable ??

But to get to that point, things are a little bit more complicated ??

That's why we boiled it down to make it easier to digest ??

(Hint, hint - just like we do with your feedback, making sure it's always served up on a silver platter, ready for you to dig in)

Click the image to book a quick, no-strings attached call with one of our specialists!

Foodback Intelligence

CTO Daniel Chaibi and his team have been hard at work, and the launch of Foodback Intelligence is just around the corner. You will hear all about it from both him and CEO Stian L?kling Pedersen shortly.

But you know how it is, when you've worked hard on something, something you think can make a real difference for your valued customers, something you're proud of, its hard to keep the secret under wraps.

So, heres a little sneak-peek at some features we hope you'll love!

Importance Rank

Importance rank uses machine learning to rank?all the questions you receive answers on based on?their impact on your customers overall satisfaction (influence) and improvement potential. From most important to least important.

It boils it down for you and gives you data-driven insights on where to prioritize your efforts to maximize impact.

Sentiment Analysis

Analyses all the comments you receive, inspects consumer mood and summarise 1000s of comments in seconds, across all your reports and dashboards.

Recommended Actions

Utilises the power of today's global knowledge base (every research paper written, every training book published, every public review given, everything) with our proprietary data. This almost endless sea of data, gets distilled down for you into your very own top three recommended actions that you can act on immediately.

You'll have to wait for more we're afraid, but if you're feeling curious, ping a message to Seth Bacharach , Andreas Breimyr , Burke Johnson or Wissam Hassouneh and they'll tell you all about it!

Try Foodback for Yourself!

Prosecco & Pizza Club - See You in Copenhagen on Wednesday!

Our Ears Are Always Open

Do you have tips, wishes or topics you would like discussed in future editions of The Customer Table?

Let us know in the comments section and we'll try our very best to make sure your voice is heard!

Your voice matters.

Every voice deserves to be heard.

And...

If you don't ask...