One of the lines I’ve used recently in presentations is that the “Customer is no longer King, they are King Kong“. What I mean by this is that your business reputation is now almost entirely in the hands of your customers as they have the capabilitity to rampage through your communication strategy using social media tools. Wanting higher levels of transparency and authenticity, they aren’t there to be manipulated with a clever PR campaign or shallow words. I’m constantly surprised by the number of businesspeople I meet who don’t get this. Seeing social media (still) as some plaything for Gen Y. They couldn’t be more wrong. A shift in convention has happened. User Generated Content (UGC) is the most powerful weapon that customers have in their armoury to reject bad service, inconsistencies in Corporate values or to tell the world how great you are (more powerful than any advert you can place). So many businesses shy away from feedback, only wanting to hear (or publish) the good stuff. By listening to their customers using social networks, invaluable interactions can be made, potential crises averted or wonderful new brand evangelists can be discovered. Get on, get listening, join the conversation and get learning.