If you have tried repeatedly to get a focus on customers, customer loyalty and customer profitability inside your organization with less than stellar results, you’re far from alone.  Most companies jump in without evaluating how the organization works together, whether the CEO is truly committed and if the patience exists for the long road ahead.  These are the key issues that usually get in the way of making progress

I approach a book by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman with a mixture of wariness and anticipation. Wariness because Friedman's books tend to go on for many pages longer than they need to, and many of those pages contain his trademark blend of Davos Man self-congratulation and cheesy metaphors. Yet I still have a sense of anticipation because in every one of Friedman's books there are a handful of insights that are so clear, so sharp, so flat-out right that they frame how you look at the world going forward.

COMMONLY available laser pointers can zing data through the air across a room twice as fast as most USB cables or Wi-Fi routers. The new optical wireless promises to be cheap and easy to roll out in hospitals and other places where radio transmitters cannot be used.

Sales is ultimately an exercise in relationship building. If you or your reps aren’t building effective relationships with the people you talk to, you’re missing out on big opportunities. Of course, sales can often come down to money, timing and “fit,” but at its heart, sales is still about building trust and rapport and showing respect between two professionals.

Emotional design has become a powerful tool in creating exceptional user experiences for websites. However, emotions did not use to play such an important role on the Web. Actually, they did not use to play any role at all; rather, they were drowned by a flood of rational functionality and efficiency.