Social networks, podcasts, blogs, and wikis are enabling customers to become advocates rather than simply targets—giving them the means to express their thoughts and feelings when they go to your store, buy your product, or purchase your service.

Social networks by themselves are turning the relationship between businesses and their customers upside down. Today, businesses are using social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, or developing their own, to create organic, online, highly "niched" customer communities. It's the ultimate feedback loop, one that gives you insight into your customers you could never get before.

And finally, with call centers playing a key part of the customer experience for so many companies, we also provide a look at how one company set up call center protocols to make sure customer problems were handled properly and quickly.