Knowing your customers and their needs as thoroughly as possible is central to any business. And that's the very point of customer-relationship management systems — sophisticated business software commonly known as CRM.

Oil and water. Red and blue states. Technology and people? The first two pairings represent a basic form of incompatibility that may seem irreconcilable to many.

Many entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money trying to land new customers, an extremely important goal if you're trying to grow your business. But what are you doing to keep the customers you already have?

“Don’t be a stranger now.” You’ve surely heard that expression, a most hospitable one. But for small business owners, a returning customer is essential to survival.

The idea of partnering with customers is often confused with providing good customer service. But they're hardly the same thing.

If you think good customer service leads directly to customer satisfaction, think again.

You want customers. You need customers. In fact, you need them so much that you're willing to tackle them in the street to tell them so.