Do you have clients or customers? I had a meeting the other day during which we discussed the difference. It is interesting to take a step back from time to time and think about your customers and how you refer to them. You will probably care for and market to your customers differently based on what you call them. Think about your lawyer or accountant. Are you their customer or client? If you sell retail products or services you probably have customers. The word client implies that you have a relationship and that there is an ongoing business relationship. While a customer on the other hand may buy one product today and never return. The customer is probably not looking for any sort of a relationship and is probably not interested in sharing any info about themselves. Can you convert customers into clients? Does it make sense for your business? Do you call your customers or clients something else? Names can be very powerful and can impact the way you work.
Let me know what you think.
Note: For the purpose of this blog we will use customer and client interchangeable to cover all business types.