Why would a business want to help me?

Today we are living in the beginning of what Gary Vaynerchuk calls “The Thank You Economy”. Now is where the consumer has much more influence than any time in the last 70 or 80 years. A business’ reputation is critical to their long range success and for those business that are looking for a competitive advantage helping you will give them the chance to change your negative view into a positive one. An email to Delta Airlines that complained about poor service in the Toronto airport elicited a voucher for $100 on a future Delta flight. The net of this is that someone who would not fly Delta will book a ticket because of the savings. They would probably have picked another airline for this new trip and Delta now has another chance to make a customer happy. Additionally, the customer feels valued because the airline acknowledged the problem and took some responsibility.