Client vs Customer: Key Differences and When To Use Which

Customer means a person who buys goods and services from the company. While the client refers to a person who looks for professional service ... Skiptocontent Sinceyou’rehere,Ibetyou’rewonderingwhatistheanswertoclientvscustomerdispute… Istherearealdifferencebetweenclientandcustomer?? Well,letmefirsttellyouthatI’vebeenthere. Formanyyears,Iwasneutralinaclientvscustomerfight.Ithoughtbothwordshavethesamemeaning,andsoIcanusethemassynonyms. Asitturnsout,that’snotathing! Andwhileinaday-to-daytalkafewlexicalmistakesmayslipthrough,itwon’tbethesameinbusinesscommunication. Whenyoutrytoappealtoyouraudienceyouhavetousetherightwords.Plus,youshouldsoundknowledgeableenough,sotheywanttotrustyou. Today,I’mgoingtoshowyouhowtounderstandtheclientvscustomerdispute,onwhichsidetostandandwhetheritreallymatters! Tableofcontents: Definitionofacustomer Definitionofaclient Keydifferences–ClientvsCustomer So…Ihaveclientsorcustomers? Alternativestocustomerandclient First,I’llexplainthedefinitionofclientandcustomer(separately)solaterwecanclearlyseehowbotharedifferent. Definitionofacustomer “Thereisonlyoneboss.Thecustomer.”–SamWalton Whenitcomestothedictionarydefinitionacustomerisapersonoranorganizationthatbuyssomethingfromashop,store,orbusiness. Rightaway,wecanseethatcustomerisawordthatwemostlyrefertoinregardstocasualpurchases. AndthatshouldbenosurpriseasthewordcomesfromtheLatin‘custom’whichsimplymeans‘practice’. Therefore,wecanunderstandacustomerasapersonwhobuysgoodsfrequentlyorhasahabitofdoingso. What?!Itwas50%off!That’salsowhywedefineacustomerasapersonwhopurchasesgoodsorservicesinexchangeformoney. Also,it’simportanttomentionthatthecustomerdoesn’tgetinvolvedinalong-lastingrelationshipwiththebusinesshepurchasesfrom. Thismeans,thatthewholesalescycleisusuallyshort. Ofcourse,brandscanbuildagoodrelationshipwiththeircustomers–andtheyshould!–butsincetheydon’trelyononlyoneortwocustomers,theycanfocusonotherpartsoftheirbusiness. Foramoreday-to-dayexample:Youcanthinkofacustomerasapersonwhousesone-offservices–goestothestoreoreatsinarestaurant. Definitionofaclient “Thebestwaytolookatanybusinessisfromthestandpointoftheclients.”–JamieDimon Again,let’sstartwithadictionarydefinition. Aclientisapersonwhousestheservicesoradviceofaprofessionalpersonororganization. Straightforward,weseethataclientismoreofa‘formal’formofacustomer. That’sbecauseaclientisinvolvedinmorespecifictypesofpurchases,namelyservices. Thismeansaguywhogoestobuyafewapplesandpearsisnotthestore’sclientbutacustomer. Yet,ifyougotothelawyertohelpyougetoutofthatdeadlocksituationthenyou’rehisclient. Now,thatwasarealdeal!Whenitcomestotheclientthesalescycletendstobequitelong.Therefore,therelationshipbetweenbothentitiesalsotendstoplayasignificantrole. Foraday-to-dayexample:Thinkofaclientasapersonorentitywhousesprofessionalservicessuchasalawfirmoradesignstudio. Keydifferences–ClientvsCustomer Nowthatweknowthedefinitionsofbothclientandcustomer,let’stakealookatkeydifferencesbetweenboth. Meaning Thefirstandthemostobviousdifferenceintheclientvscustomerfightisthemeaning. Thus,justtorecall. Customermeansapersonwhobuysgoodsandservicesfromthecompany.Whiletheclientreferstoapersonwholooksforprofessionalservicefromthebusiness. Relationwiththeseller Theotherkeydifferenceisthetypeofrelationthataclientandcustomerhavewiththeotherentity. Acustomerengagesinatransactionwiththecompany.Thatmeans,itisprobablyaone-offpurchase.Thus,thesellerdoesn’thavetobuildastrongrelationshipwiththebuyer. Ontheotherhand,aclientengagesinafiduciaryrelationshipwiththecompany. Thismeansbothsidesworkonlong-termgoalsandalong-lastingrelationship.Plus,thebusinesshastofocusoncreatingastrongbondwiththeclientinordertomakehimcomeback. Agreement Athirddifferenceintheclientvscustomerdisputeisthematterofanagreement. Thecustomer,ashemakesanonlyone-timepurchase,needsnoformalagreementbetweenhimandtheseller. Yet,theclientengagesinalong-termrelationshipthatcanbeoftentimeshardtopredict.Meaning,anagencyorafirmmaynotbeasrelevantasitseemedtobeatfirst.Thus,bothsidesneedaformalagreementthatwillincludethingssuchas: Quota Deadlines Responsibilities Expectedresults Projectedresults Andmore… Theoffer Whilethisdifferencebetweenclientandcustomerdoesn’ttouchoneitherclientorcustomerdirectly,itshowsushowbusinessesthattargetbothgroupsdiffer. First,wehavecompaniesthattargetcustomers.Suchentitiescanofferbothproductsandservices. Andontheotherside,wehavecompaniesthathaveclients,which,asyou’veprobablyalreadyguessed,offerservicesonly. Longevity Thisdifferenceisstronglylinkedtotherelationone. Namely,businessesthathavecustomerstendtobuildrelationswithlesslongevitythattheonesthathaveclients. That’s,ofcourse,becausetheydon’trelyonlong-termgoalsandratherjustaimtoscoreone-timesells. Ontheotherhand,businessesthathaveclientshavetodotheirbesttokeepclientsfromchurning.Afterall,theyrelyontherelationshiptheycreate. Personalattention Lastbutnotleastisthematterofpersonalattentionthatvastlydiffersinthecustomervsclientdispute. That’sbecausewheneveryouwanttocreatealong-lastingrelationshipyouneedtoputmorepersonalattentiontowardsanotherperson. Thinkofitlikeaboutadate. You’dgooutwithaguyoragirlandhopethatsheorhelikesyou. Youwantedtocreatearelationship,nothopingforaone-nightstand.Thusyoudidyourbesttograbtheirattentionandshowyourbenefits. Onthecontrary,ifyouwerelookingforaquickscore,allyouhadtodoislieaboutwhoyouareandshowhow‘awesome’youare. Sure,youmightachievewhatyouwanted,butthere’snochanceyou’devermeethimorheragain. Unlessyou’reJoey,ofcourse!Andbusinessisjustlikethat. Whilebusinesseswhohavecustomerscan’tor,atleast,shouldn’tlieabouttheiroffer,thepersonalattentionislessrequiredintheircase.Here,thequalityofaproductshoulddoitsjob. Thesameaspectismuchdifferentinregardstoclient-basedbusinesses.Here,personalattentionishighlyrequiredandshouldbeapriorityasyouwanttokeeptheclientforaslongasitispossible. Plus,youhopehe’llcomeagainanddobusinesswithyouonarecurringbasis,forexamplelikewebsitebuildingbusinesses. So…Ihaveclientsorcustomers? Afterallissaidanddoneyoushouldhaveagoodoutlookonthetopic. Yet,ifyou’restillwondering:DoIhaveclientsorcustomers? Letmegiveyouafewexamplesofcompaniesthatareclient-andcustomer-based. AnagencyliketheabovehasclientsClient-basedcompanies: Lawfirm Designstudio Accountingfirm Insuranceagency Realestateagency Advertisingagency Healthcareprovider Asupermarket,ontheotherhand,hascustomersCustomer-basedcompanies: Bank Restaurant Retailstore Supermarket SaaSproduct Servicestation Amusementpark Asyoucansee,typicalservice-basedcompaniessuchasagenciesandstudioshaveclients. Theirpriorityistogetonlyafew,yet,high-ticketclientsandstickwiththem. Customer-basedcompaniesthatare,forexample,retailstoresandrestaurantsusuallyrelyonmanycustomersthatmakeone-timepurchases. But,asyoucansee,thesearenotbusinessesthatcanjustbeunappealingtotheircustomers.Whiletherelationshipofthesingletradeismuchshortercomparedtoclient-basedcompanies,theyalsoneedreoccurringpurchasestofunctionproperly. Therealdifferencelaysinthevolume. Businessesthatselltothousandsofclientssimplycan’tfocusonpersonalattentionandfiduciaryrelationship.Logistic-wiseit’snotreallypossible. Alternativestocustomerandclient -Wow!That’salotofconfusionforjusttwowords! -Iagree. Butmaybe,justmaybe,wecanfindsomealternativesthatwillhelpusresolvetheclientvscustomerdispute. Below,Ilistafewwordsalongwiththeirdefinitionsthat,inspecificscenarios,canbeusedas alternativestowordscustomerandclient. Buyer–Apersonwhomakesapurchase.Itcanalsobeusedinregardstoapersonemployedtoselectandpurchasestockormaterialsforalargeretailormanufacturingbusiness. User–Apersonwhousesoroperatessomething.Nowadays,mostlyusedinregardstosoftwareusers. Consumer–Apersonwhopurchasesgoodsandservicesforpersonaluse. Patron–Acustomerofashop,restaurant,etc.,especiallyaregularone. Clientele–Thecustomersofashop,bar,orplaceofentertainment. Purchaser–Synonymtoabuyer.Apersonwhobuyssomething. Habitué–Aresidentoforfrequentvisitortoaparticularplace. Shopper–Apersonwhoisshopping. Wheneveryougetstuckwithcustomervsclientinyourmind,gobacktotheabovelistandconsiderusingoneofthealternatives!   SometimesitallDOESN’Tmatter!   Butman…You’vejusttoldmethatit’scrucialtousecustomerandclientproperly! That’strue.Butitdoesn’tmatterwhoyouserveorselltowhenitcomestocustomerservice. Morethan50%ofyouraudiencewantstogostraighttothesourceandcallacompanydirectlywhentheyhaveanissue.Andthatdoesn’tchange,nomatterifyouhaveclientsorcustomers. Now,youcanofferthemaneasyandconvenientsolutiontogetintouchwithyourcompany–allbyphone. WithCrazyCallyou’llbuildanefficienthelplineusingtoolssuchasanIVRandlocalphonenumbers.Thiswayyourcustomers(orclients!)getaneasywaytoreachyourbusinessandquicklyresolvetheirissues. Signupforafree14-daytrialandtestoursoftwarebeforeyoubuyit. 100%Fullaccess. Nostringsattached. Afreephonenumber. Nocreditcardrequired. $1tofullytestthesoftware.   Enteryourbusinessemail SignUpFree Makeyourcustomersstay,withareliablebusinessphonesystem! Wrapup! NotsolongagoIwasalsothepartoftheclientvscustomerword-fight. AndIkidyounot,itwasn’teasytofindtheansweronline. Mostly,theinformationisquiteconfusingandyouendupthinking:“That’sthesamething!”Whiletherealityismuchdifferent. Hopefully,atthispoint,youknowwhichiswhichandthispiecebroughtsomeclaritytotheclientvscustomerdispute. Plus,nowyouknowwhoyouserve(orsell)to! Yet,ifyou’restillhavingtroublerememberingwhoisaclientandwhoisacustomer,gobacktotheDefinitionofacustomersection. ThereyoucanreadthatcustomercomesfromLatin‘custom’whichsimplymeans‘practice’. Rememberthatcustomcanbeunderstoodas“regularbusiness”whichcanbeunderstoodastypicalselling,retailstores,andsupermarkets. Thisconnotationshouldhelpyouquicklyrecallwhichiswhich. Okay,twowords,somuchtosay! Ihopeyou’veenjoyedthispieceandifyou’dliketocheckoutsomemoreinformativecontent,checkouttherestofCrazyCallBlog! Sharethispost FacebookTwitterLinkedin Writtenby JakubKliszczak Heythere!👋I’mJakubKliszczak,MarketingSpecialistatChannels,adata-drivenphonesystemthatpowersupcustomerconversation.MydailygoalistospreadthewordaboutChannelsandhelponlinebusinessesprovidebettercustomerservice.(Nomoreinterview-likecustomercalls!)WhenI’mnotwritingforourblog,Iwriteonmypersonalsite,playfootball(akasoccer🇺🇸),readnon-fiction,ortrytodeconstructwhatlifeisabout. SubscribetoChannelsblog