I’d like to think it was fate — or maybe the CRM gods — that brought me to my cab driver when I arrived in sunny, balmy New Orleans for Microsoft Convergence.

Exiting the airport, I immediately darted for the first cab I saw, not knowing that there was some formal process of having to go downstairs and actually calling a cab. But everything was okay, my cabbie said, doesn’t look like the police were watching–and hey, he got another passenger without having to wait in line.

While in the car, we started talking about my PC, his Mac. He’s been a Mac user ever since Photoshop was only a Mac product. When I asked him whether or not he had an iPhone he casually said, “No, I hate Cingular.”

When Katrina devastated New Orleans, he and his family had to evacuate and among the possessions he took with him was his cell phone. He was  staying at a friend’s place, unsure of where he was going to live next, but he needed to renew his contract–so he got a year’s worth of service. Six months later, the service suddenly terminated. “I was living out of a paper bag!” he told me. In it, amazingly, he had his contract and showed them the dates. Cingular said it could do nothing about it. He had to renew. So he switched.

He also has beef with AT&T, which acquired Cingular in 2005. When his mother left her home in New Orleans, she continued paying her phone bill until my cabbie finally helped her cancel her service. When they moved back to New Orleans, she tried to reconnect her telephone service but AT&T accused her of missing payments and was ready to inundate her with fees. So he told his mother to hang up the phone and they called the cable company–they came that afternoon and installed everything. “Why in the world,” he said. “Would you push away those asking for your business??”

It’s certainly not unusual to speak with a disgruntled customers, but it only reinforces just how disconnected companies are from the needs of their consumers. The fantasy is the notion of having customers run businesses — but aren’t we all already customers? That’s why I’m really excited about the social trend that’s quickly gaining momentum (Check out our June 2009 issue on Social CRM!)–I’ve been to many conferences where the theme was “dialogue” or “conversation,” but I think until you’re actually talking/chatting/tweeting/texting with the customers, it’s all just theoretical fluff.

We all know retaining customers is cheaper than acquiring a new one, and in the long run, your loyal customers are typically your most profitable. In the eyes of the consumer, however, it seems all companies want is quantity, with very little care for relationships.  “I’d be a horrible CEO,” he said. “I’d keep all my customers, but I’d never be profitable.” Ironically, it’s this mentality that will help companies be profitable, especially now. Unfortunately, it’s likely that this fervent thirst for the numbers drives people toward reckless acquisition, rather than relationships.