How losing just 1% of customers could cost your restaurant hundreds of thousands

On behalf of Favouritetable, Mark Ferguson speaks to Mark Dickinson, international restaurant management expert and founder of FYI.done.

Mark Ferguson (Favouritetable):

Mark, it’s great to have you back. It’s been about a year since our last chat, how’s life and business?

Mark Dickinson (FYI.done):

It’s great to be back, I feel a bit of a celebrity being here for a second time! It’s been a very busy few months. 

We’ve had a fantastic summer, and autumn has really taken off. We’re working on several new restaurant openings in Dubai and Lebanon, three or four set to go live this season, with another due early next year. It’s an exciting time.

From cleaning glasses to leading global hospitality teams

Mark F:

For anyone who doesn’t know, you’re something of a hospitality industry veteran. Could you remind us of your background and what FYI.done focuses on?

Mark D:

Of course. I started my career 45 years ago, cleaning glasses behind a bar, and sneaking the odd drink when no one was watching! I fell in love with hospitality from day one.

I’ve been fortunate to work all over the world, including China, Uganda, Thailand, Japan, and the Middle East. 

I ran food and beverage at the Royal Orchid in Bangkok, when it was rated the best hotel in the world, then moved to Tokyo to lead operations at the Tokyo American Club. For the last three decades, I’ve been in the Middle East, helping hotels and restaurants open, grow, and thrive.

What I do now with FYI.done is help organisations build their own academies, training systems, management programs, and leadership pathways designed around their brand. 

We create management development frameworks, Future Leaders Academies, and executive training, all aimed at helping managers grow into true leaders rather than just administrators.

The management crisis in hospitality

Mark F:

It feels like the quality of management is under more pressure than ever. What do you see as the key challenges right now for restaurant managers?

Dickinson:

It’s a critical question. Many people think they’re managing but they’re not actually leading. There’s a big difference. Wearing a sharp suit and carrying a clipboard doesn’t make you a manager.

Too many managers are stuck doing rather than ,developing. They micromanage, writing rotas themselves, fixing every issue personally, when they should be empowering their teams to take responsibility. 

If a manager says, “I do the schedule because no one else can,” I know exactly what kind of operation that is: One person trying to control everything. 

That kills growth. The best managers create systems that teach, delegate, and develop others. They understand that when mistakes happen, those moments are pure gold. Because when something goes wrong, it gives you a learning opportunity, what we call root cause analysis.

Learning from Mistakes, Not Hiding Them

Mark F:

That’s a really interesting point - the value of mistakes. Can you give an example of what this looks like in practice?

Mark D:

Absolutely. Let’s say the wrong dish goes to the wrong table. The typical reaction from a manager is to scold the team: “Don’t do that again.” But that’s not management, that’s firefighting.

Instead, we ask: Why did it happen? Who punched the order into the POS? Were they properly trained? Was the restaurant too busy? Did communication break down between kitchen and floor? Maybe the team didn’t have assigned sections, so everyone was serving everyone.

Once you trace the chain, you find the weak link, training, process, or mindset, and that’s what you fix. It’s not about blame; it’s about growth.

When we ran a management program recently in Dubai, we had ten experienced managers in the room, and they were astonished. They’d never been taught to think this way. That’s alarming because it shows how many people hold senior titles without ever learning the fundamentals of leadership.

The high cost of an unhappy customer

Mark F:

You’ve made the case that every customer matters, and you’ve done some eye-opening calculations on what happens when just a small percentage of guests leave unhappy, right?

Mark D:

Yes. We ran the numbers, and they’re staggering. If just 1% of your guests walk away unhappy, in a typical restaurant that can mean around £120,000 in lost revenue per year.

That’s not just because those customers don’t return. It’s because unhappy guests talk, and in today’s digital world, a single bad review spreads fast.

So the goal must be 100% happy customers, 100% of the time. That’s not a slogan, it’s a management philosophy. You must cascade it through every level of your operation.

Your managers have to be obsessed with guest satisfaction. Every plate, every smile, every detail matters. If you build a system that trains and supports people in that mindset, your service will transform, and so will your profits.

Why systems matter

Mark F:

And this is where technology can play a role?

Mark D:

Exactly. A platform like Favouritetable is invaluable because it gives managers visibility. You can track who punched which order, when it happened, whether errors are recurring. That’s data you can learn from.

But again, it’s not about using data to blame people, it’s about using it to coach them. In our industry, mistakes are wonderful—once. Repeated mistakes are the real problem.

The old-school, top-down ‘boss is always right’ mentality has to die. We need collaborative, learning-driven leadership where the aim is continuous improvement, not fear.

Every guest is a marketing opportunity

Mark D (continued):

Here’s something managers forget: Every single guest is your marketer. If you’re serving 450 covers a night, that’s 450 opportunities to build your reputation.

But managers often become desensitised, they see a sea of faces every day and lose that personal connection. Yet for each guest, this might be their only night out in months. You have to make it exceptional.

Tools like Favouritetable help here too. You can log guest preferences, mark birthdays or anniversaries, note returning customers. Those small gestures, remembering a favourite dish or acknowledging a special occasion, turn a good experience into a great one.

Planning ahead: The 180-day rule

Mark F:

Let’s talk about the busy seasons: Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s. What’s your advice?

Mark D:

Plan. Plan. Plan! It shocks me how many people say, “Christmas is coming, we’d better get ready.” Christmas has been on the calendar for 2,000 years! Your festive strategy should be locked down six months in advance. 

I teach what I call the 180-day timeline:

• 180 days out: brainstorm ‘crazy ideas’ and set your key themes.
• 90 days out: confirm visuals, menus, and decorations.
• 30 days out: finalise execution details.

If you follow that rhythm, you hit December with clarity and confidence, not panic. The restaurants that do this are the ones that win: fully booked, beautifully presented, and delivering seamless experiences that guests rave about online.

Planning creates time and peace of mind. It also gives you a framework to say “no” when someone wants to add a wild new idea two days before Christmas Eve!

The year ahead: Stability, AI and smarter hiring

Mark F:

Looking ahead to 2026, what do you see coming down the line for the restaurant sector globally?

Mark D:

Two things. First, stability. The market feels balanced right now. The winners will be those who innovate and refine what they already do—who stay curious and keep improving.

Second, AI. It’s the big topic, and rightly so. I don’t think it threatens hospitality jobs, we’re in a people business, but it will become a powerful enabler.

Within the next 6-9 months, we’ll see AI tools that can produce customised training videos, performance analyses, and even personality-matching for hiring. Imagine feeding your applicants’ profiles into an AI system that cross-references DISC and team-fit models, then tells you who’s best suited for your restaurant culture. That’s where we’re heading.

AI won’t replace people, it will elevate them

Mark F:

So AI could enhance the human side of hospitality rather than replace it?

Mark D:

Exactly. AI will handle the data, scheduling, and profiling so that managers can focus on what really matters, building people, creating atmosphere, and serving guests.

The restaurant industry will always be a people business. Technology should empower that, not undermine it. The future is about smarter humans supported by smarter systems.

Mark F:

That’s a perfect note to end on. Your insights are always invaluable and I know our readers across the UK restaurant sector will take a lot from this conversation. Thank you so much for your time.

Mark D:

Thank you, Mark. It’s always a pleasure. Let’s not wait another year before the next one!