Any meaningful relationship is a two-sided affair and it should be beneficial to both involved parties. Both sides usually have an opinion of what it should be like. Hence, it helps to understand what type of relationship the other side would like to have. What is true for relationships between two people also applies for relationships between companies and their customers. After all such relationships are meant to create mutual value.
Unfortunately, the reality looks a bit differently. A large proportion of companies we observe can be clustered in one of three groups. (1) The ‘non-believing’ who do not see the business advantage of meaningful relationships with their customers. (2) The ‘egoistical’ who believe that what is good for them is also good for their customers. (3) And the ‘ignorant’ who believe they know what their customers want, but really don’t have a clue. Here’s an article elaborating on how important it is to know what kind of a relationship customers want or need.
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