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The Difference Between a Customer and a Client
If you visit dictionary.com to look “customer” and “client” up, you’ll find these first definitions:
1. a person who purchases goods or services from another…
1. a person or group that uses the professional advice or services of a lawyer, accountant, advertising agency, architect, etc.”
I’ve shortened them to make a point: You don’t want customers any more after reading those definitions. You want clients. You don’t want people who buy from you once because you simply have the “goods” they need right now. You want ongoing relationships with people who use your professional advice and expertise — who buy from you because of how you help them, not what you hand them.
You may think this is splitting hairs; that it’s semantics. But it’s really a mindset. Cultivate relationships so that you become indispensable for what you know (that you can transfer), how you help, and how you make people feel about the interaction. When you do that, you’re building a client base, not a customer list.
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I totally agree with you.
This aproach (client vs. customer) is beyond a slaes person’s attitude. There are several Marketing Aproach was built on this philosophy.
Good sales reps would know what you are talking about and I beleive, sooner or later, most of them become business owners.
After being overly fussy about a project and searching I found this definition to clear up my thoughts. I couldnt agree more.
Thanks
I concur with the other folk, and it is a useful distinction. However, I have worked with organisations that use the term ‘client’ , but the behaviours are geared towards once off business and vice versa.
My own conclusion is that the label ‘client’ or ‘customer’ is semantic; the differentiation is the marketing philosophy and how well these values are translated into practices and behaviours.
Hey, great definition! Exactly what I’ve been looking for
This is a great distinction. I am going to talk about this in a forthcoming blog post (and reference your original post of course).
is it just customer – uk english client – us english ?
“Client” is so corporate-speak. “Customer” can relate to everyone
It is all about attitude, that is my attitude toward the people I market to and serve. I was directed to this site because I wanted to know if I was splitting hairs on the core definition of “customer” or “client” so I decided to look it up. In the sales industry and now in the consulting business I have always considered my customers to be clients. I try to offer customer service in a way that not only generates referrals but also produce repeat business.. When I think of clients I think of a long term relationship, when I think of customers it is one time only. Truth be told, I don’t won’t all customers to become clients.
I am ok with definintion but I would probably disagree with explaination of customers as being one time buyer. In fact I always thought is otherwise. Clients may need advice in the time of need however customers are buyers for long time.
It’s unfortunate that none of you know the definition of client. To create a client relationship, it requires a contract which establishes a fiduciary relationship, one of trust and confidence. I have seen so many real estate agents use both customer and client interchangeably without knowing the difference. It has nothing to do with long-term business relationships. It is not a mindset, it is a matter of law.