If you want any relationship to work, you have to get this right. Honest, two-way communication is the foundation for trust, respect, integrity and loyalty. And it doesn't always come easy. It often requires courage.

Consider your own experience as a customer. Remember a time when you felt cheated, misled or just plain jerked around. The business may not have even been intentionally cheating you or jerking you around but the point is you felt that way. And you may have customers who have felt the same way about your business.

Think back to your bad experience. Would you have felt differently if the company had clearly stated prices, order tracking or delivery schedules that were available to you as a customer? Would it have made a difference if someone had recognized the problem they caused you, accepted responsibility and offered an alternative? Would you have felt more positive if you felt like someone really listened to you? Would you have more faith in the business if a representative of that business just plain told you the truth instead of trying to cover their tracks or avoid having to resolve the problem? Chances are you're saying yes right now.

If you want to create a lasting relationship with your customers, it would be wise to make sure you offer them the truth and an open ear. No one wants to feel ignored or dismissed, especially if they are already upset. This applies to your employees too.

We already established how loyalty-winners have won the loyalty of their customers as well as their employees. Without your employees' cooperation, you will not be able to provide the type of service you want to give your clients.

Integrity demands that your behavior is consistent across the board. Applying one standard to how you treat customers and another to how you treat employees will compromise your integrity, breed confusion and inspire resentment. Not only that, it breaks the 4th rule: Keep it simple.

Whenever you're thinking of customer loyalty and strategy, apply the same principles to employee loyalty.

When you think of customer loyalty, think about employee loyalty as well

Think of how quickly you could win the respect of your employees if you held regular lunches with employees. There is only one requirement: each employee brings a serious question or complaint. Not only do you listen and respond to their questions and complaints, but you follow up in person or in a company memo or via email and let them know what you're going to do to resolve their issue or question. Think about the impression it would make if you did the same with your customers.

Open communication like this lets employees and customers know you have nothing to hide. It also shows your commitment to getting the business right and your commitment to keeping them happy.

Responding with explicit information about how you are handling the issue they raised, lets them know you were truly listening and value what they have to say. That equals respect, which in turn begets trust, which begets loyalty.

Think about how you can show your employees and your customers that you are truly interested in what they have to say.

To learn more about how to grow your business, contact a member of Gray & Company, PC ? visit online: www.cpagray.com