The recession and digital media have returned power to the consumer, Jaclyn Trop reports, and with the Web as their megaphone, more consumers than ever have become activists looking for public
retribution for perceived slights.
"Customers want to be heard," Marilyn Suttle, co-author of Who's Your Gladys?: How to Turn Even the Most Difficult Customer into Your Biggest
Fan, says. "In many cases, "if you don't make eye contact, they're out of there. It's become, you better make me feel important or I will leave."
Trop strings together some
anecdotes and interviews with consumers that confirms the point. Suttle's co-author, Lori Jo Vest, tells her that firms that invest heavily in customer service will be best poised to survive the
downturn, counterintuitive as spending money might seem right now.
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