Any good businessman already knows the power of word of mouth but do they really understand how valuable it is and how more valuable it becomes in the Internet age?

Friends still play an really important role in influencing consumers. Eighty-three percent of online shoppers said they are interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know, while 74 percent are influenced by the opinions of others in their decision to buy the product in the first place.

- Manage Smarter, September 2009

and

A March 2009 study by Knowledge Networks, for example, found that between 10% and 24% of US social media users turned to social networks when making purchase decisions about various categories of products and services.

- eMarketer, October 2009

So in the age of Social Network – your customers are already talking about it – even if you cant see it.  You need to get out there are talk to them.  Build your brand. Build your network. Build your circle of influence.

After all – are we not all consumers? Don’t we ask our friends for advice on products / services that we are looking at purchasing? Why should your customers be any different?

Tags: motorcoach software, Online reservations, Social information processing, Social network, Technology/Internet, web 2.0