The £50 Note That Changed Everything

30 years ago, I discovered something revolutionary about customer service measurement. It wasn't about the measuring itself, it was about turning the whole experience into something that elevated everyone involved.

In the 1990s, I co-owned a business that measured, advised and trained restaurants, hotels and pubs on their customer service. Over the years, we became a leader in our field, working with companies like Hilton, Café Rouge, The Ivy, The Savoy Hotel, Pret A Manger, Chewton Glen and Whitbread, before the business sold successfully in a trade sale. But our success wasn't just about the numbers we collected - it was about the philosophy we developed around how we operated.

The Problem with Traditional Mystery Shopping

Our competitors in the mystery shopping space were essentially running surveillance operations. They'd send in anonymous evaluators, collect data and deliver reports that made general managers and their teams feel like they were being spied on. The whole process created an adversarial atmosphere where staff felt judged rather than supported.

We took a completely different approach. We built up a database of over 6,000 members of the public who we paid to mystery shop our clients' premises, but what marked us out was our philosophy of taking great care and attention in setting up the programmes. We made sure to involve and engage all concerned from the start, which meant the whole team could see that the mystery shopping programme was in everyone's interests.

We even recommended that bonuses be paid to general managers, back of house, and front of house team members for improving their results, which was a revolutionary concept at that time. The idea wasn't to catch people doing things wrong; it was to catch them doing things right and celebrate those moments.

Enter Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe

I was honoured to work with Pret A Manger's founders, Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe, for many years.

For their mystery shopping programme, they introduced an idea that was pure genius. They decided to reward any staff member who 'wowed' one of our mystery shoppers in the moment. We gave our Pret mystery shoppers a list of situations to create, for example asking for directions, requesting extra napkins, or other simple requests that could prompt extraordinary service responses.

Here's how it worked in practice: Let's say a mystery shopper asked a staff member for directions to the nearest tube station. If that staff member went above and beyond, perhaps walking around the counter, out of the store, and into the street to show them the way, magic would happen.

The £50 Theatre of Recognition

When a staff member delivered this kind of exceptional service, our mystery shopper would reveal themselves right there on the spot. They'd hand the staff member a beautifully printed card congratulating them on their outstanding service, then walk back into the premises making sure the staff member held the card up high for everyone to see.

The manager, who always had a £50 note ready for these moments (which happened once or twice a month), would immediately hand it to the staff member. But here's the brilliant part: They wouldn't just quietly reward them. The manager would announce to everyone in the premises exactly what had just happened and ask everyone present to give that staff member a round of applause.

Genius, right?

Why This Approach Was Revolutionary

This wasn't just customer service measurement - it was theatre, recognition and team building all rolled into one. The impact was immediate and multi-layered:

For the individual: The staff member received instant recognition, financial reward, and public celebration. They felt valued and motivated to continue delivering exceptional service.

For the team: Everyone else witnessed that going above and beyond was not only noticed but celebrated and rewarded. It created positive peer pressure and set clear expectations about the level of service expected.

For the customers: They got to witness this celebration of exceptional service, which reinforced Pret's brand values and created a positive association with the brand.

For the business: Customer service standards rose across the board, team morale soared, and the brand reputation was enhanced through every interaction.

The only operational challenge? We had to make sure that particular mystery shopper never returned to the same Pret location again!

The Timeless Power of Recognition

When I recently read Will Guidara's book ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’, which I highly recommend, it took me right back to those days with Pret. The principles remain exactly the same: exceptional service deserves exceptional recognition, and when you celebrate people doing things right, you create a culture where excellence becomes the norm.

What Sinclair and Julian understood, and what forward-thinking leaders still understand today, is that measuring performance isn't about catching people out. It's about catching people doing things brilliantly and making sure everyone knows about it.

The lesson here isn't just about customer service or mystery shopping. It's about creating a culture that elevates people, celebrates excellence and turns everyday interactions into memorable moments. Whatever type of business you’re running, the principle remains the same.

When you combine measurement with genuine care for your people, when you turn evaluation into celebration, you create something powerful: a culture where unreasonable hospitality isn't just encouraged, it's inevitable.

That's a lesson that's just as relevant today as it was 30 years ago in a Pret A Manger on a busy London street, with a staff member holding up a congratulations card while their colleagues applauded their exceptional service.

Sometimes the best business strategies aren't about what you measure, but about how you celebrate what you find.

If you’d like to have a chat about creating an unreasonably excellent culture, get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.