The viral nature of the Internet, together with the growing distrust of paid media and traditional advertising has led to customer reviews or earned media becoming one of the most powerful influences of the consumer’s purchase decision.

The premise is simple, if someone you trust recommends something, you’ll probably try it, if 5 people you know recommend it, you are even more likely to try it. But if 50 or more tell you to try it, you will most likely go for it.

A recent study found that customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating in content marketing at 89%. Consumers don’t trust what a business says; they trust what your customers say.

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Things break, problems crop up and employees have bad days. Everyone makes mistakes but it’s how you deal with these mistakes that keeps customers coming back. A good recovery can turn angry, frustrated customers into loyal ones.

With the viral nature of the Internet, and this new age of social media, customers can broadcast their opinions to thousands of people online in a very short span of time. There’s a title of a book that goes, “Satisfied customers tell three friends, angry customer tells 3,000”.

These days, what happens when a customer is dissatisfied or unhappy with a move?

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Before the Internet took over the world and much of our daily communications and interactions, most of us had local experts we would call or go visit if we had a need. Or if we didn’t know where to look, we’d leaf through the local business directory or yellow pages.

The advent of the Internet age has significantly changed the way we work and play.

What’s the first thing you do now when you need to buy a new flat screen TV? Or if you’re checking out a nice hotel for your holiday, or a fancy restaurant to bring that special someone?

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