Holly's Highlights

How to lose a customer in 10 days

• Holly Curby • Season 6 • Episode 24

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What happens when a loyal, almost-daily customer walks away from their favorite spot for good? In this episode of Holly's Highlights podcast, we dive into a real-life story of how one soda shop lost a guest in just 10 days - and the powerful business lessons you can learn from their mistakes.

Discover the hidden costs of poor customer service, the data behind why guest experience matters, and the simple yet overlooked strategies that can turn casual buyers into loyal fans. From staff training to guest hospitality, honoring promotions, and empowering employees—you’ll hear practical steps that can transform your business culture and customer retention rates.

You’ll also hear wisdom from leaders like Jeff Bezos, Maya Angelou, and Harvard Business Review, plus actionable insights you can apply today to keep customers coming back and raving about your business.

Whether you’re a business owner, team leader, or simply passionate about customer experience, this episode will inspire you to serve with excellence, create unforgettable guest journeys, and avoid the costly pitfalls that push customers away.

Listen in and learn how to:

  • Improve customer retention with simple strategies
  • Train and empower employees to solve problems fast
  • Deliver consistent, memorable guest experiences
  • Turn negative interactions into opportunities for loyalty
  • Build a reputation that grows your business organically

Because in today’s competitive world, every interaction counts—and the way you treat people becomes your legacy.

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Visit www.hollycurby.com for more information and to sign up for the monthly Holly's Happenings e-newsletter. Holly's Highlights podcast and the opinions and ideas shared within it are for entertainment purposes only. The advice should be confirmed with a qualified professional.

Speaker 1:

Hi, friend, welcome to Holly's Highlights, a podcast designed to encourage, inspire and equip you to intentionally live your life full of purpose. I'm your host, holly Kirby, motivational speaker, leadership cultivator, marketing strategist and personal cheerleader. Let's check out today's highlights.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 1:

Hello, my friends. So today's episode is based on a very real story that turned me from a loyal, almost daily customer, I'm almost ashamed to say into someone who doesn't even glance at that shop anymore. See, I used to have a favorite soda shop. As one who has never drank, I've shared about the soda shop often on my social media, as I've often been given a hard time in fun, of course, from friends and family and co-workers that if I need a stiff drink they notify me here getting my favorite soda concoction. I know I'm really living life on the edge. Well, for whatever reason, I didn't really ever branch out and even try other soda shops. This one place was just my go-to spot from the get-go, the place where I pulled up, and they not only knew my name but they even knew my order. This place felt like a little treat for me, a simple indulgence and often my vice to just power through. But then things changed. Let's call it day one. Through three, I noticed a turnover in staff and suddenly the drinks were well, they were just bad, not just off, but truly undrinkable. Training clearly wasn't happening. Now I'm both a loyal person and one who extends grace quickly, so I went back for day four and day five, and that's when I noticed the vibe had shifted. A guy outside taking some orders looked annoyed just to see me. No smile, no welcome. Just what do you want? That's a pretty quick way to make a guest feel like a burden, not a valued customer.

Speaker 1:

Day six they announced a special promotion day, so me and my kids showed up, but the city shut down the event because of poor planning. The company promised a free drink coupon via text, so I did get that text, but it didn't have a code with it. Well, I went to the soda shop and when I asked about it, the employee shrugged and just said yeah, corporate does that all the time. Where they do a promotion, they don't let us know about it, or the code doesn't work, or they don't send a code. That was it. There was no solution. Now I was longing for things to resume to normal. So day seven through nine, yeah, I went back. Another promotion, this time from a ball game. It was promoted to visit the soda shop with a certain code for a free drink, and I tried it along with ordering other drinks, so just getting the one for free. It didn't work. Again, the shop refused to honor it.

Speaker 1:

At this point, I felt I was being treated almost as if I was a bad guy or even a con artist. So day 10, that was it. I was done. After all those frustrations, I went from loyal regular to completely gone.

Speaker 1:

They even sent me different surveys via text. When I would respond back. They would just respond back oh, I'm so glad to hear of your experience. Wait, what You're glad to hear. I had a horrible time and you're not even going to do anything about it. Here's the kicker, though. When my son asked me yesterday so how many times have you been there this week, mom? I was actually, for the first time in a very long time, able to respond with a big fat zero.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about why I'm even sharing this. Well, experiences like this are business killers. According to pwccom, 32% of customers will stop doing business with a brand that they love after just one bad experience. A study by Zendesk found that 50% of customers will switch to a competitor after multiple bad experiences. And then, of course, harvard Business Review reports that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can actually increase profits by 25 to 95%. That's huge. That means every little interaction matters, especially in industries with lots of competition, people can and will take their business elsewhere.

Speaker 1:

I've always tried to teach my teams that the guest you're helping is why you even have a paycheck. That's a gift, so treat them as such. Founder of Amazon, jeff Bezos. He once said we see our customers as invited guests to a party and we're the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better, and you've heard me share time and time again something Maya Angelou reminds us of, and that is people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Now, this soda shop didn't lose me because of one mistake. They lost me because they consistently failed at the fundamentals, which are making a good product, treating guests with respect, honoring promises and solving problems.

Speaker 1:

So what can businesses do to avoid this? What can you do, whether you own a business, whether you're a part of a business, what can we tangibly do to avoid this? Well, here's a few quick takeaways. Let's look at five of them actually. First one invest in training. Staff turnover is inevitable. I get it. I'm a part of our recruiting and training and onboarding process, but training ensures consistency. A well-trained employee can make or break that guest experience. Isn't that worth investing in?

Speaker 1:

Number two hire for hospitality, not just task skills. A smile, eye contact, genuine care those matter just as much as how fast someone can take an order. Don't underestimate those soft skills. Sometimes businesses can focus too much on compensating for operational excellence and not enough for those unteachable personal attributes that can truly win over a guest, not to mention retain them and even attract new ones. So hire and compensate accordingly for those hospitality skills.

Speaker 1:

Number three communicate with your team. If you're offering a special promotion, test the system before launching it. That makes sense, but for Pete's sake, communicate it to your team. Don't leave staff and customers confused. Educating your team of what is going on is just one way to set them up for success in their roles. So communicate with your team. Communicate with your team.

Speaker 1:

Number four empower employees to solve problems. Now a simple I'm so sorry, let me make this right for you goes such a long way. If frontline staff feels powerless, the customer feels abandoned, and this can put the team member in an awkward spot too, where they feel embarrassed or defensive or even unvalued as they're put in the crosshairs, so to speak, but not in a position to actually do something about the dilemma. The unintended consequences of not empowering your team leaves them to be problem identifiers but not problem solvers, which is what we want, as well, as they get dependent on your managers, which doesn't make for a unified team, nor allow your managers to actually lead. So empower your team.

Speaker 1:

And then, number five, walk the guest journey. When was the last time that you approached your business like a customer? Where are the friction points? Fix them before they become reasons to leave. Look at your exterior. Is it clean, inviting good signage? Have you visited your website to see if your hours and location are easy to find? Or even made sure, if a guest needs to contact your leadership, that it's not a frustrating experience, that they're able to do so? Have you walked through and making sure that your team is welcoming and approachable and knowledgeable? Was the process of making a purchase or booking a service clear and have a smooth flow to it that is consistent each time they visit? How about the time? Any bottlenecks anywhere or things that could just go without? That are kind of time killers. Now, I could go on, but essentially, walk that journey of a guest. Now, when you get these right, you not only keep guests, but you turn them into raving fans who bring friends, who share on social media, and they keep coming back.

Speaker 1:

So here's the big takeaway from today's episode Every interaction is shaping someone's experience, whether you realize it or not. You're either building trust or you're breaking it, whether you're in leadership, on the front lines or even just a loyal customer, like I was. The way we treat people matters. Ask yourself what's one thing that I can do this week to make my guests feel more valued. You've heard me say it before, but it's worth repeating. You don't just sell a product, you create an experience, and that experience becomes your reputation. It becomes your impact. So, as we go into this week, let's be the kind of people and lead the kind of teams that don't just serve well when things are easy, but serve excellently even when no one's watching, even when it's hard. And if you need a little heart check or encouragement, I leave you with this from Colossians 3.23. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, because ultimately, it's not just about getting the task done. It's about doing it with purpose, with integrity and with care for the people on the other side of that transaction.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you'd like to go deeper on today's highlight, I highly suggest the book Lessons Learned from a Mouse by Dennis Snow. It's a great book and I'd love to hear from you as you hopefully gather by now through our years together here on Holly's Highlights, I'm a positive person. I really like to look at the good side of things. So do you have a company that you frequent often, that you just love? Well, I'd enjoy hearing why Is it their customer service or their product? And then let's give them a shout out to and build up those who are doing it right. They need to be seen and recognized and even shared. So I'd welcome you to share your story with me at Holly Kirby on Instagram or Holly's highlights on Facebook. Maybe I'll even feature your experience in a future episode. Who knows? Thanks for listening, my friends.

Speaker 1:

As for my former beloved soda shop, I choose to look at it that I'll save money and time and even calories. Let's go out and be the reason someone feels seen, valued and welcomed. This week and until next time, keep shining, keep showing up and keep creating experiences worth coming back for. Thank you for joining me on this journey of life. I hope that today's highlight has been encouraging, inspiring and equipping so you can go out and live your life full of purpose. I'd be honored if you'd take a moment to leave a review or, better yet, subscribe. We can also stay in touch by joining my email list at hollykirbycom. That's H-O-L-L-Y-C-U-R-B-Y dot com. Until next time, make it a great day for a great day.