text: Simply put, it is what a company is willing to do to help cultivate the relationship with their customers - the people who buy their products or services.\n\nThis can be demonstrated in a number of ways: toll-free phone numbers, live chat to resolve questions, incentives for referrals.\n\nHere's how one company defines it:\n\nCustomer service and support (CSS) is the part of a company's customer relationship management (CRM) department that interacts with a customer for their immediate benefit, including components such as the contact center, the help desk, and the call management system.\n\nAccording to Lithium Technologies (a CSS product vendor), corporate costs for CSS interactions are expected to reach $100 billion in 2004. To increase customer satisfaction, while minimizing the costs involved, many companies are turning to customer-based service applications such as Web self-service and online communities for customer-to-customer support.