---
sourceDocument: Xanadu Customer Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/xanadu/customer-service-management

 Release :

    - xanadu

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Xanadu Customer Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - csm

bundleId :

    - csm

workflow :

    - Customer and Industry


---

# Create customer relationships

# Create customer relationships {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Xanadu
* 
* Updated August 1, 2024
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

The Customer Service Management
application provides the ability to establish different types of relationships between partners,
customers, and contacts.

These relationships make account and asset management easy and flexible. The table below
describes the available customer relationships.  
{#c_CustomerServiceRelationships__table_rn3_acct_rel_types__entry__3}

| Relationship | Description | Benefit |
|-|-|-|
| Bi-directional account relationship | Create a relationship between: * A partner account and a customer account. * Two customer accounts. {#c_CustomerServiceRelationships__ul_nnd_hpw_nlb}A bi-directional account relationship is created using a defined account relationship type. | An account relationship allows partner account contacts with the partner role or the partner administrator role to create and manage cases for their partner account. |
| Account hierarchy | Create a parent-child relationship between accounts. | An account hierarchy allows an account contact with the customer administrator role to manage the child accounts. |
| Contact relationship | Add a contact from a third account to either of the accounts in an account relationship. | A contact relationship allows a contact with the customer role or customer administrator role to manage the account for which the contact relationship has been established. |
[Table 1. Customer relationships]

{#c_CustomerServiceRelationships__table_rn3_acct_rel_types}