The aim of article is to present the relationship between the use by the company specific method of acquiring knowledge from the outside, which is co-operation with customers and its innovative capacity. These relations will be shown with regard to the variables mediating and regulating called moderators and mediators. As the main thesis of the article is assumed that the customer relationships are an effective tool to promote innovation for a company - to increase its capacity for innovation, but their prevalence and intensity depend on contextual variables: company size, industry and market it operates. In the empirical part of the article will present the results of research conducted among enterprises of the Region of Malopolska. They showed that businesses are aware of the fact that customers are an important source of knowledge in the innovation process.