The business world is shifting – the power is moving to the customer. The old adage "the customer is always right" has never been truer than it is today. Mobile has taken over small business marketing and the Internet gives customers greater control than in years past – and the information needed to make decisions when it comes to which business to support. Social networks are also giving more power to consumers, with the ability to swap opinions through complaints via Facebook or a re-tweeted complaint that goes viral – and research tells us that only 29 percent of customer complaints were replied to on Twitter out of 1,298 complainants who participated in a study done by Maritz Research. Small business owners don't need to worry, though. Instead, they need to focus on ways to rise above their competitors. Take into consideration these tips to help with your customer retention strategy: