hose critical lines of communication. One-way, Two-way, No-way Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who never listened to anything you had to say? (The no-way communications mode) Obviously, it is not possible to have a good relationship with a person who never communicates with you. Even worse, what about a relationship with a person who simply ignores you for long periods of time and then suddenly takes an interest in your life and starts telling you what you should do? (The one-way communications mode) This kind of one-way communication does little to make your relationship work. Chapter 8 Figure 8-3: One-way Communication Establishing Communication with Your Customer So how does it feel when the person you have a relationship with ignores you or only talks to you when he or she wants you to do something? How do you suppose it feels to a customer who subscribes for service and is then ignored until the contract expires, only to then receive a phone call and be begged to re-subscribe for another two years? It surely does not feel good. Participating in the Relationship A very natural consequence to opening the lines of communication between you and your customer is that you will begin to learn from each other. The customers will change their attitudes based on your communication with them. And if you are smart, you will change what you are doing based on what you hear from the customers. It is here, at this juncture, that your organization will really begin to reap the benefits of a relationship-based model of customer interaction. Note, however, and this is critical, that you must really communicate with customers and you must actively listen to them. If you truly want to benefit from this process, then you must be ready, willing, and able to change in response to what they are saying. We are not talking about merely running market surveys once a year and changing the nature of advertising copy based on shifts in consumer behavior. We are talking about actively listening and trying to figure out h