The power of consumers has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Now, companies stay more in-touch with their buyers and provide better products as an outcome of listening to their concerns.
As the saying goes, we are more apt to complain than to compliment. How many of us have pulled in a drive-thru restaurant, ordered a sandwich, get to work, then realize they didn't put cheese on your sandwich? Most of the time you eat it anyways and on occasion you call the number on the bottom of your receipt to complain (depending on what kind of day you're having) - and expect something in return.
Your feedback is recorded and used to identify specific problems throughout the company that need attention. Companies gauge a component of their success off the feedback they receive from consumer complaints and compliments.
So, consumers have more power than ever! We talk about products and services on blogs, through Facebook, Twitter and other social media - and expect companies to pay attention. And why wouldn't they - they can find out what problems they solve for their buyers (ones they never thought of): how they use the product; its functionality; and what features they do or don't like - are a few.
To make my point full circle, journalists and publishers now use social media as a resource for story lines and creating consumer-driven articles. If companies are smart, they will know about and respond to social media concerns, so that when a controversial headline is ran about their company they know about it before hand.
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