CLIENT, CUSTOMER OR PATRON AND THE DIFFERENCE
Clients and customers are similar in many ways, but the difference is in the type of service that a customer purchases. You have customers if you run a SaaS company. Clients, on the other hand, are essential if you run a law firm.
Let’s look at some examples to help you understand the difference in service types.
Client-centered services:
The law firm
Studio of design
Insurance company
The accounting firm
Agency for real estate
Marketing/advertising firm
Customer-centered services:
SaaS provider
a retail establishment
Company that operates on a subscription basis
Amusement park Bank Restaurant
One way to think about it is that if a company has a customer service department, it usually serves customers rather than clients. Client-based businesses are those that do not have a customer service department.
It is important to note, however, that some businesses can have both clients and customers. For subscription-based companies, such as SaaS, some customers may purchase professional services that include a personalized customer success manager (CSM) from your team. These are your high-value customers who will eventually become clients. If a customer has not purchased a professional service from your company, they are a customer rather than a client.
Your mind is probably racing now as you consider other terms to describe your customers and wonder what the differences are. In fact, you’ve most likely heard the term “consumer.” So, what exactly is the distinction between a customer and a consumer? Let’s get started.
Consumer vs. Customer
A customer is someone who purchases goods or services from a business, whereas a consumer is someone who purchases goods or services for personal use. Consider consumers to be a more specific type of customer for B2C businesses, whereas a customer can buy from either a B2C or a B2B company. Consider this: Consumers are the end-users of a product who may or may not have been the original customer who purchased the product.
Client Services vs. Customer Service
The distinction between client services and customer service is analogous to the distinction between professional services and your customer support organization. While your customer service team will handle a large number of phone calls, emails, and chats, your professional services team will handle a smaller number of customers so that they can provide more personalized attention.
Now that you know the distinctions between these terms and the various types of services, you may be wondering, “Why does this matter?”
All businesses have customers, but not all businesses have clients. By having a dedicated customer success manager or case manager, clients will receive more personalized attention and have greater access to employees.
When developing your customer service strategy, it’s critical to keep these distinctions in mind. You will provide customer service if you have customers. However, if you have clients, you will provide a specific CSM to assist your most valuable customers in achieving greater success. In many cases, you may provide both client services and customer service.
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CLIENT, CUSTOMER OR PATRON AND THE DIFFERENCE
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