What is the difference between a client and a customer?
July 27, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Business Face-off
I have already written hundred of articles on this site. Most of those articles tackle about business and marketing which also relatively discuss a client and a customer. If you have been following my articles, especially those that talk about marketing, you will notice that the term client and customer have been used interchangeably. Unless a reader has a deep marketing savvy, he can easily distinguish the two. But we cannot assume that all the readers here are business gurus. So to assure that everyone will be enlightened, we will try to illuminate the confusion by bringing the two into a face-off.
| Client | Customer |
| 1. Buys goods or services | 1. Buys goods or services |
| 2. Has a continuing business relationship | 2. Don’t necessarily have a continuing business relationship |
| 3. Under the protection of another person or organization (sellers or providers) | 3. Not necessarily under their protection |
| 4. Originated from the Latin word “cliens” which means dependent or follower | 4. Originated from the English word “customs” which means a practice or a habit |
| 5. Seeks advices | 5. Do not usually seeks advices |
| 6. Required to follow given advices | 6. Not required to follow advices |
| 7. Can hardly shift to another provider | 7. Can easily shift to another provider |
| 8. Difficult to replace | 8. Easy to replace |
| 9. Stays for a length of time | 9. May come and go |
| 10. Known by a company | 10. Usually not known by a company |
| 11. Will have a significant effect on a company if he or she will leave | 11. Will not have a significant effect on a company if he or she will leave |
| 12. Mostly has a contract | 12. Usually don’t have a contract |
| 13. Included in the long-term marketing plan of a business person or organization | 13. Included in their short-term marketing plan |
| 14. Usually inherited by professional service individuals or organizations (e.g., law firms, banks, construction firm, CPAs and accounting firms) | 14. Usually inherited by trading companies (e.g., grocery stores and shopping malls) and other service firms like restaurants and hotels. |
I hope my readers can now distinguished those two important characters in the marketing world whenever they read any of my business articles. Aside from the two, there are also other groups of people that play an important role in the market. They can be shoppers (who visit a store and may eventually buy or not buy a product), consumers (who consume or use goods or services but may pay or may not pay for them), and buyers (who purchase a product). Thus, a consumer may consume a product which has bought by another person. These persons – client, customer, shopper, consumer and buyer, have similarities to each other. They also have unique characteristics that distinguish them from each other. But for business individuals and organizations, no matter how they are similar or distinct to one another, they must equally be given what we call… value and care.
If you have some serious reactions, suggestions and additional insights about the topic, please feel free to make a comment below.
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Very nice describe. Very informative by this we can we can recognized them in right way. thanks for sharing this valuable info.
Hi there,
Thanks for visiting and welcome to my blog.
According your point of view client is more important than customer. You said that Client is a customer but Customer may not be a client. I am still confused at this point.
Customer is the one who purchases something at the Point of Sale but may not actually consume it.
Consumer is the one who actually consumes the purchase, even though he may or may not be the customer.
Client is like your partner in a business relationship. With respect to a professional service relationship, Client is used to refer the party hiring a consultant. It is used informally to describe any customer of a given service or product business.
Hi @ Termite Control (can you please put your name next time like name @ Termite control – so I can recognize you). Anyway thank you for the comment. Those are good reactions. I hope you will be enlightened to the following explanations.
The two are equally important. Having clients or customers may depend upon the industry of a particular business. An accounting firm, for example, may naturally have clients. While a restaurant may naturally have customers.
Their difference should not be construed that client is more important than a customer. Clients just weight more because they have deeper and more committed relationship with a company than customers. But nevertheless, the two should still be valued equally.
Clients and customers are almost the same because the two both buy goods and services. However, clients has extended characteristics than customers. Clients are more committed, more dependent, and have deeper relationships than customers. “Client is a customer but a customer may not be a client.” Clients are always customers, because they always buy goods and services. But customers may not become clients because they are not always have greater relationships with a provider or a company. Customers become clients when they become more attached with their provider company or business.
Thanks for the additional information CAD Programs. I hope you can also indicate your name or nick name next time.
Have a great day to all!
I already modified number 14 to avoid confusion.
CLIENT -The party for which professional services are rendered, as by an attorney.
A customer or patron: clients of the hotel.
A person using the services of a social services agency.
One that depends on the protection of another.
A client state.
Computer Science A computer or program that can download files for manipulation, run applications, or request application-based services from a file server.
Interesting post !! I think client uses ur business only for one time
customer uses ur business many times.what you think?