Instead, customers are directed to contact the company's support line where a customer service representative will set up the account for them.

ENGADGET: Switched On: The Peek of popularity

Another trick: Set up a customer-advisory panel.

FORBES: Small Biz Bum Alert

Later, she also determine that batteries needed to be replaced every two years, and set up a database to automatically send letters to every customer one month before their battery expired creating a whole new revenue source for her business.

FORBES: The Hands-Down Best Place to Advertise Your Business

He says Brighter has emphasized customer service more than rivals, to the point that it helps customers set up appointments.

FORBES: What's More Important: A Wildly Original Business Model--Or Smart Marketing?

Best practice is to set up a small, specially trained and dedicated team of social customer care agents.

FORBES: Social Business Can Kill You

Many direct-to-customer stores that Cingular opened a few years ago to compete with Verizon were set up close to RadioShack outlets.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Legacy Locker allows users to set up a kind of online will, with beneficiaries that would receive the customer's account information and passwords after they die.

CNN: New services promise online life after death

An advice and response unit is being set up in Northampton's central Market Square where Anglian Water experts and customer service staff will be available to answer any concerns of residents, she said.

BBC: Schools still shut over water bug

Today, cable systems have to provide costly set-top boxes equipped with high-capacity hard drives to every new customer that signs up for DVR service.

FORBES: Magazine Article