John Havens

Listen to Customers, But Don’t Panic

Where did Netflix and Bank of America go wrong? Maybe they listened to their customers a little too much.

Customer backlash has been behind a number of major decisions being reversed lately -- fueled by a wave of criticism that has flooded the social-media stratosphere.Social media and the Internet have been revolutionary, opening the door between companies and customers and allowing for a new kind of conversation. That newfound platform has given consumers a voice and allowed companies to react quickly, but it has also been the culprit behind some recent corporate headaches.[summary]That’s because negative feedback expressed through social sites sometimes pressures companies to panic or reverse major decisions, painting the company as unsure of its own branding strategies.Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), for instance, lost almost a million customers in just a few months after raising prices and splitting its services, only to pull back Qwikster weeks later.Even after backpedaling, shareholders s...

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