Once again, Pete's insight into the inner workings of social media and why it matters to marketers comes to the fore. Building on Fred Reichheld's work at Bain and the development the Net Promoter Score, Pete picks up on the pivotal difference in motivation between a satisfied customer--"I got what was promised, and if *you ask me* I'll affirm it"--versus the dramatically different motivation of someone who's been shortchanged and is now out to make sure that this never happens again, *actively initiating* a conversation with anyone in earshot. Given the tools now available, the number reached is likely to top 3,000. It's this basic truth that drives social media that makes "Angry Customers" a must-read for contemporary marketers and business leaders.

The book is great for Marketing people but as a Sales Rep. I was expecting more info on selling, the how to improve info .

Clearly, this isn't the last we'll hear of Pete Blackshaw. His insightful commentary regarding brand credibility and his coined phrase, CGM-consumer generated media, applies not only to consumer products, but to anyone selling a product into today's 2.0 world.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to his next piece of work.

One of the fascinating by-products of the internet age is how consumers have commandeered an increasing amount of power in the marketplace equation. If in the 1970s, the marketspace was where nobody could hear you scream, today the Blogosphere and the attendant media is a place where we can hear everything, and a compelling YouTube video (the dead mouse in the cereal packet)can become the retailer's worst nightmare. What do you say when your PR assistant tells you: "We're up to 2 million hits on the dead mouse. It seems to be gaining momentum."

In this environment, many corporates are woefully flat-footed, and use old solutions to band-aid the new problems. This won't work, and Blackshaw sets out exactly how bad things can get, what not to do in these situations and, mercifully, what SHOULD be done.

Readers should treat carefully the title of the book. It isn't always true that an unhappy customer tells anybody else. And even the old adage that an unhappy custoemr will tell 10 others (and they'll ten others etc) is simply not correct. If it were, then mathematically, many more businesses would be going out of business. But Blackshaw's arresting title does highlight the very real possibility that in today's highly connected and somewhat random world, even the smallest ideas or bad experiences can quickly catch alight and become a forest blaze. These things can happen.

In my own country, New Zealand, two high school students tested a well known British drink Ribena and found that despite the claimed content of Vitamin C, the drink contained almost none whatsoever. Ribena responded with a "no comment" and really handed the media a perfect storm. Charming school girls, a big bad corporate and a public already twitchy about health issues. Ribena are still putting out the fire.

Blackshaw's book is an important read for marketers and public affairs people. We read of the wonderful opportunities in the internet age, but we need to be mindful also of the explosive dangers of getting things wrong.

- A good read with: Anderson's updated Long Tail, The, Revised and Updated Edition: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.

- Here's nother excellent book, you may not yet have read. It makes a good twin-read with Angry Customers Tell 3000. Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Walker covers the wider issues of marketing and how they have been transformed by the web - and he also deals with consumer backlash. His term for the murky and not-so-clear-cut new paradigm: Murketing.