Poor customer service can hurt your business. But just how badly might surprise you.

Just ask United Airlines. In 2008, musician Dave Caroll and his band Sons of Maxwell were traveling on United Airlines when the airline allegedly broke Caroll’s $3,500 Taylor guitar. United Airlines refused to pay for or replace the guitar, so Caroll and his band did what musicians do best. They wrote a song about the incident called “United Breaks Guitars” which details Caroll’s frustrating experience with the airline’s customer service reps. The song went viral on YouTube with 25 million views (and counting). Travelers who came across the humorous video took to the internet to vent, recounting their own poor experiences with the airline industry, with United Airlines bearing the brunt of the criticism. It may be a coincidence, but a week after the video was posted, United Airlines lost 10% of its stock value—a value of $180 million.

In today’s age of sky-high digital connectivity, the need for companies to deliver remarkable customer experience has never been more important. While not all customers will be creative enough to record a viral music video detailing their experience with brands, customers can leave product and service reviews on sites like TrustPilot and Yelp, or take to social media and with just one post, share their experiences with thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of followers. And, as we have seen with the examples of United Airlines, those negative reviews can have an impact on a company’s bottom line.

And even though

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