Why we don’t have any customers

We don’t have customers. We have clients. We only want clients and not customers.

Don’t customer and client mean the same? It doesn’t to us because there is a fundamental and practical difference between the two. This understanding that there is a difference between a Customer and a Client forms the foundation of our business deals and guides us in our business. Let me explain further our philosophy to have ONLY Clients?

Customer Definition

Customer is defined as “one that purchases a commodity or service.” The word customer connotes a one-time relationship. There is not enough trust between the buyer and the vendor.

Customer relations are based on let the buyer beware, and there is no trust between the customer and the vendor. The vendor tries to take as much money as possible and the customer tries to pay as little as possible. Price is the only major consideration.

Client Definition

Client is defined as “one that is under the protection of another” or “a person who engages the professional advice or services of another.” Client transactions are based on a relationship with a company or individual.

The word Client connotes a repetitive, or ongoing, type of relationship. The client trusts that the company, or salesperson, will provide them with what they need at the best cost possible. Clientèle transactions are profitability based, with the transaction being profitable for both supplier and client. Trust is the only major consideration.

Client vs Customer

• Customer relationships: PRICE is a primary consideration and Client relationships: TRUST is a primary consideration
• Customer relationships are easier while as Client relationships require time and patience from both sides, hence seemingly looks difficult to build.
• Completion of financial transaction ends a Customer-based relationship but for a Client-based relationship it’s a beginning.
• Customer-based relationship starts and ends with the sales people or the front line personnel but a client-based relationship encompasses the entire organization.

Clientèle relationships

Client relationships are difficult and like all relationships require work, commitment, empathy and trustworthiness. We believe in building in relationships on these values. We sell to our clients honestly. Seems a bit difficult to see sales and being honest in the same sentence. How many of us actually believe there are honest salespeople? I have personally witnessed dishonest sales people and Auriga Logic has lost sales, projects and the clients to such sales people. This has been a personal disappointment for me not only as the co-founder of Auriga Logic but to see that these kinds of dealings bring disrepute to my profession of Sales & Marketing.

Our client relationships are based on the following Philosophy which guides our business:

• We will only come at your doorstep if we sincerely believe that our services & solutions are right for you and your organization.
• We will only offer you what you truly want.
• You can trust us that we will always give you the best price in our first proposal and save your time in negotiating and thinking about the price.
• Building client relationships is the mission all of us Aurigans live by and it’s not the prerogative of only the front line personnel.
• Aurigans will be the first to tell you when/where they faulted or made a mistake on your project and steadfastly correct the same.

At the same time, I personally want to be treated as CLIENT by my suppliers and when they treat me like a CLIENT, PARTNER, I reward them with my business and loyalty.

To Our Clients (existing and prospective)

We believe that client relationships are two-way relationships. You can even term this as a partnership. We are trustworthy and hence our clients should also be trustworthy. Our trustworthiness starts even before we meet our clients (selling the right solutions, services to client at the best price) and can be seen during the negotiations. Our clients should reward trustworthy solutions providers like us by giving us their loyalty and business. This doesn’t mean that we ask you to blindly give us the business but because we treat you as a client we deserved to be treated as your partner.

This might not hold true for many businesses like commodities, etc. But this is very relevant and extremely crucial for our industry and solutions, which we provide. Our solutions are mission critical, image building, problem solving and business operations solution. Hence a partnership approach is required to define, develop, implement and maintain such solutions.

You are my client, if you agree with the above and want to avail of our services & solutions. You are under Auriga Logic’s protection and we want to include you in our esteemed client list.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 3:08 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.