When do customers "appear" to become less important?

In my Consumer Behavior class Tuesday night we discussed what companies do, or seem to do, that makes customers less important. I really like looking at customer relations from this angle. We so often concentrate specifically on what we say we are giving our customers, not what we may not be giving our customers.

This opens up the thought process in analyzing your business. Do your customers feel important. Do your actions (marketing, networking, advertising, customer service) make your customers feel important? Are you sure?

Are your customers trying to tell you something? There may be something your customers are trying to tell you they want, and the when you don't have a response (changes/add-ons to products, new products) you send the message to them that you do not value your relationship with them.

As so much does not, it goes back to taking part of the conversation with your customers. Open up the dialog, and listen closely to what they are saying about you, and especially what they are saying to you.