Do manners count in this economy?

In a recent discussion with a number of business executives the subject of lack of manners in the business environment came up. In particular among younger (under 30) employees. The topic encompassed many scenarios within the business environment, internally as well as external situations. When one asked what was their pet peeve a number brought up the same subject -- failure to return phone calls. 

This seems to be an increasingly common situation. Surprisingly what we have experienced are people not responding to phone calls when someone from their company (usually senior to them) has asked us to call them. In addition there is a similar situation even when  responding to an initiative they made. It is no only a lack of manners, a sign of amateurism and immaturity it is often a lost opportunity, In our case we are in the marketing business and we are often in the position of selling a proprietary program we think can benefit those we contact. 

What is lost on these (not cold call) situations is that they are in a highly competitive marketplace and if we can't get a response from them we might get it from a competitor, thus giving their competition an "edge" in the marketplace This seems to cover the country as an increasing trend especially among the "under 30" crowd. I know it's a tough economy and staffs have been cut but when a referral has been made or a request solicited and you don't respond it reflects poorly on your firm and on you. And in tough times or anytime you want to be known as being "user friendly" as you never know who the person you ignore knows that can impact your career. In other words it is a dumb move!