This article cuts through the technology hype and defines exactly what it means to deliver excellent customer service:

"...the secret to loyalty lies in creating and maintaining emotional relationships with customers by understanding them and addressing their needs."

Simple, yet often overlooked in the sea of technology buzz words -- technology is secondary in that it must be used to enable the "emotional connection" with customers, and not technology for technology sake.

Secondly, and just as importantly, IoE, and underlying technology, now makes creating these "emotional" connections with customers possible for even the largest retailers, and not just "mom and pop" shop owners. This is revolutionary. Companies that capitalize on this capability will achieve significant competitive advantage and differentiation in the marketplace. And we, Cisco, are ideally and uniquely situated to provide this capability to our customers.

Excellent article.