I need a new smartphone. My Palm Treo was the victim of an office mishap and needs to be replaced. Even with my insurance, a new phone will be only $50 more, so the search is on. In posting my quandary about whether to stay with Palm (Pre), slide over to Blackberry or make the jump to an iPhone, the response from my online friends has been quite interesting.

Even though I never directly asked for opinions, one group was very vocal about expressing their affection for their mobile device. You could call it iLove.

The passion that iPhone users display for their devices is almost scary. They love their phones. I mean, really love them. If you were a lazy researcher (which I have never met, BTW), you could take the ratio of iPhone responses to everything else and predict that about 90 percent of all people with mobile phones are using the darling of the AT&T wireless family.

In truth, there are many more Blackberry users in the world, but you would never know it. How many of them would stop a stranger in the street to tell them how much they love their phone? Or offer a quick game of Mario Kart?

The obvious question here is how do we take a small share of the market and energize our base to the degree that it seems we are the industry leader? How do we create raving fans (with a nod to Ken Blanchard) and get them to spread the word?

Well, unless you have the equivalent of the coolest, sleekest phone ever created, you had probably better focus on the basics of delivering a good product and offering over-the-top customer service.

Getting even a few people talking, especially if they are the right people, will be a huge step in the right direction.

PHONE UPDATE: I ended up going with the Blackberry Tour, which just became available through Sprint last week. I absolutely love it, and it is perfect for what I need a mobile device to do.

Dave Fiore is founder and CEO of davemail.

I was a little nervous as I walked through the doors of my Bank of America branch this morning. I was sure they could tell why I was there. I needed to close my two business accounts, and my downward-cast eyes were a tell-tale sign that I was hoping for a quick and impersonal transaction.

I quickly realized that would not be the case when I got to the teller, and he informed me that I would have to sign in over at the white clipboard and someone would be with me in a moment.

When I told the nice young associate of my intentions, she made a pouty, sad face and asked me why – and if something was wrong. I told her that I didn’t keep huge balances and was tired of paying monthly fees. (The other reason, which I did not share with her, was that I was very excited about using a community bank, with local ownership keeping my money churning in the local economy. I also like that they bring me cookies.)

She then told me that with minor adjustments to how I use the account, the fees could have been waived. Again, that is not the only reason I moved, but it sure could have saved me some money over the years.

Why didn’t I know that? They should have done a better job telling me about ways to use my accounts more efficiently. Are there ways for your customers to save money by making minor adjustments to how they interact with you?

I realize that you may lose a little income at first, but what a tiny investment that will prove to be when they stay with you for years and tell others about how well you treat them. We should always be more interested in relationships than squeezing a few extra cents from each customer.

And that you can bank on.

Dave Fiore is the founder and CEO of davemail.

While hanging out with my younger three children last night, I heard my 9-year-old son say something I have thought a million times but never had the courage to say out loud.

He was busy putting the final touches on a new Lego ship with his little brother, when his 7-year-old sister started telling him something apparently unrelated to the project at hand. Without even looking up or interrupting the process of snapping small plastic pieces together, he replied very matter-of-factly, “I have no idea what you are talking about, but I am going to act like I know exactly what you are talking about.”

Undeterred, she kept talking, he kept building and I chuckled inside.

While that is the kind of advice that should be standard in pre-marital counseling (the concept – not actually saying it), it is not great advice for business. Like not quite hearing what someone has said and replying with a smile and nod (a la Seinfeld’s low talker and agreeing to wear the puffy shirt), only pretending to understand your clients’ needs can be deadly.

It is much better and far less embarrassing to ask a client to clarify or even repeat their request than to grab the highlights of your conversation and run with it. This is especially true if you have performed a similar task for them before. Our clients care about the details – and so should we. Everyone understands an honest mistake, but it is much harder to explain the fact that you were simply not paying attention.

So don’t fake it. Make sure you know what your clients need and then go above and beyond – be proactive, suggest new ideas and do your best to blow them away with how well you understand their needs.

Oh, and that advice goes for personal relationships as well. You think clients get mad if you are not paying attention?

Dave Fiore is the founder and CEO of davemail.