Do you have Customers or Clients? Or a mix of both?

A Customer is someone who buys products or services from someone else, this could be a person or company. A supermarket has customers. This is a short term mainly economic relationship. These customers buy mainly on price and may return to the supermarket, but do not have loyalty to them. Its likely that if a cheaper or more convenient alternative came along they would happily go elsewhere.

A client on the other hand is someone who buys your service or product because of the value. Lawyers for example have Clients. The client has taken the time to find the person who suits them best. These are not choosing on price and are often happy to pay extra for the ideal service. These clients often have long term, loyal business relationships with your company.

If you have customers, you want to focus on selling. If you have clients you want to focus on serving. This means getting customers to buy something and encouraging the build of a sustainable relationship with a client. To do this you need to pay attention to your client to what they need and what you can do for them. If you already have clients and do not build this relationship they will become customers which you do not want.

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