BNET Business Dictionary
Business Definition for: Customer
- a purchaser of a product or service. A customer is a person or organization that purchases or obtains goods or services from other organizations such as manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, or service providers. A customer is not necessarily the same person as the consumer, as a product or service can be paid for by one party, the customer, and used by another, the consumer.
Wiktionary Definition for: Customer
- #a patron; one who purchases or receives a product or service from a business or merchant, or plans to
- Ex:''Every person who passes by is a potential '''customer'''.''
Additional Resources
- Dealing with a Customer Incident
- It’s definitely a moment of tension: A customer is unhappy, perhaps irate, and is seeking both attention and satisfaction. Or perhaps a customer has suffered a major setback, perhaps from a storm or fire—and the customer is looking to you to rescue his business. If a company employee tries to...
- Articles 2007-02-28
- Building a 360-degree View of the Customer
- Customers typically interact with many different departments or contacts in a company. To build the most effective and profitable relationship with a customer, it's essential for everyone in a company to have access to the full 360-degree view of customer transactions. Putting all customer details, purchases, contacts, inquiries, and service...
- Articles 2007-10-30
- Improving Customer Loyalty
- Retaining customer loyalty is vital to the long-term success and profitability of your business. With industry consolidation, increasing competition, and changes in the marketplace, you need to work harder than ever to maintain a strong customer base. Improving customer loyalty is an essential element in customer retention. What You...
- Articles 2007-10-10
- Measuring and Growing Customer Lifetime Value
- Customer lifetime value CLV is a way of measuring how much your customers are worth to your business over the time they buy your products and services. A well-run CLV program can help you identify which customers are worth your greatest attention – and can help you make the most...
- Articles 2007-02-28
- Dealing with Customer Inquiries
- Businesses need mechanisms to respond to inquiries or requests for help from existing and potential customers. These customer helplines are essential for delivering support, service, advice, and information—and they add value to a business.To make sure your helpline is effective, staff it with knowledgeable people who have good interpersonal skills...
- Articles 2007-05-01
- Producing Customer Magazines
- Customer magazines help companies build credibility and strengthen customer relationships by offering regular channels of communication that focus on issues relevant to customers. "Relationship publishing" should incorporate a powerful mix of opinion, product information, and attitude. This may require journalistic skills, as well as design and production resources. What...
- Articles 2007-11-27
- How to Cope with a Rude Customer
- A reader writes: I started my morning off with a customer chewing my rear off about a product. We're talking rude, degrading, disrespectful insults flying out of this man's mouth! I put on my best smile and worked to "pop" his balloon. But to no avail. He hung...
- Blog posts 2008-08-20
- Would You Have Sex with a Potential Customer?
- Would You Have Sex with a Potential Customer?Wow......you are WAY overthinking this one.OutsourcingYou forgot the option, "Outsource the job to one or more professionals." It's an especially good one for married and celibate sales people, or for sales people of different orientations than their prospects.RE: Would You Have Sex with...
- Discussion threads 2008-02-05
- How to Cope with a Rude Customer
- How to Cope with a Rude CustomerRE: How to Cope with a Rude CustomerI Firmly believe in the article. It Is a great write up. I have always delt with customers like that, unfortunatly upper management, is expecting all smiles from the sales individuals, unless of course, the roles have...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-20
- Improving Customer Service on the Phone
- A customer's first contact with an organization is often by telephone. That's why it's helpful to periodically evaluate how your organization receives and manages phone contact and identify opportunities to improve the quality and accuracy of communications.What You Need to KnowInteractive Voice Response IVR and similar services appear impersonal. Isn't...
- Articles 2007-05-08
- Would YOU Sell to a Clueless Customer?
- Scenario: You've got a customer who really wants to buy your product. There are no competitors, because your product is unique. However, you believe that your product can't help the customer. In fact, it may make the customer's problems worse. Here's a poll: [poll id="282"] ...
- Blog posts 2009-06-12
- Seven Steps to Strong Customer Relationships.
- Want to build strong customer relationships? Yesterday I explained the importance of being trustworthy, but that's only half the picture. If you're going to develop strong relationships, your actions and day-to-day behavior must reflect your character. Here's are seven action items that, if followed, will definitely result in...
- Blog posts 2007-12-07
- How to Interview a Customer, Pt. 2
- Last week, in the post "How to Interview a Customer," I explained that you must have the right attitude when meeting with a customer. That attitude, however, is not enough. If you're going to learn something useful from your customer you need to ask effective questions. Here are six steps...
- Blog posts 2009-06-08
- Three Ways to Boost Customer Loyalty
- The ability to fall back on a loyal and dependable customer base has undoubtedly helped many businesses weather the economic storm, but how do you go about establishing and then maintaining the loyalty of your customers? The legendary US business guru and public speaker, Jeffrey Gitomer said: "Customer satisfaction is worthless,...
- Blog posts 2009-10-21
- Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile garner top customer care ratings
- Computerworld - Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA and Alltel today tied for the highest ranking in wireless customer care awarded by J.D. Power and Associates. But AT&T and Sprint Nextel finished no better than average, even as the overall industry rating improved. J.D. Power based its ranking on feedback from more...
- News items 2009-08-13
- How to Uncover Customer Needs
- One of the biggest challenges that any sales pro faces is figuring out what the customer really needs. The only way to do this is to ask questions, but that can be challenging, especially if the customer isn't being very helpful or doesn't have much time. During a...
- Blog posts 2007-08-09
- Three Approaches to Customer-Centric Understanding
- Customer segmentation is the foundation of customer insight. It is the core organizing structure from which all else springs. Truth is an elusive thing, and nowhere is that more evident than in understanding the value — and values — of a customer. Becoming customer-centric is an increasingly popular goal...
- White papers 2001-06-15
- How to Cope With a Freaked-Out Customer
- Scenario: you're on a sales call. The first words out of your customer's mouth are: "I'm gonna have trouble focusing because I just that there's going to be layoffs in our department." The way you respond will set the tone of your relationship with that customer,...
- Blog posts 2009-03-30
- NEVER Suck Up To a Customer
- My BNET blogging colleague Stanley Bing recently received an inquiry from ad agency employee about the smarmy behavior of his coworkers. In response, Bing trotted out a variation of the "customer is always right" canard and then suggested that the guy was stupid for not truckling. That's not just bad...
- Blog posts 2009-05-14
- How to Interview a Customer
- The sales pitch is dead. Today, selling means understanding the customer's needs and crafting a solution to meet them. This requires you to ask effective questions and then listen -- really listen -- to the answers. Here's a simple 5 step process for making sure that you get the...
- Blog posts 2009-06-03
