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terminology subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Etymology_and_terminology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Client" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Client"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span>Client</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Client-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Customer" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Customer"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.2</span> <span>Customer</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Customer-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Employer" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Employer"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.3</span> <span>Employer</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Employer-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Customer_segmentation" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Customer_segmentation"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Customer segmentation</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Customer_segmentation-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Customer segmentation subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Customer_segmentation-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Arguments_against_use_of_the_term_"internal_customers"" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Arguments_against_use_of_the_term_"internal_customers""> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Arguments against use of the term "internal customers"</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Arguments_against_use_of_the_term_"internal_customers"-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Notes-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Notes subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Customer</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 48 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-48" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">48 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B2%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%86" title="زبون – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="زبون" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82" title="Клиент – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Клиент" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client_(economia)" title="Client (economia) – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Client (economia)" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%A1kazn%C3%ADk" title="Zákazník – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Zákazník" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunde" title="Kunde – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Kunde" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunde" title="Kunde – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Kunde" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klient_(majandus)" title="Klient (majandus) – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Klient (majandus)" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliente_(econom%C3%ADa)" title="Cliente (economía) – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Cliente (economía)" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezero_(ekonomia)" title="Bezero (ekonomia) – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Bezero (ekonomia)" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AE%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1" title="خریدار – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="خریدار" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client_(%C3%A9conomie)" title="Client (économie) – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Client (économie)" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fy mw-list-item"><a href="https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klant" title="Klant – Western Frisian" lang="fy" hreflang="fy" data-title="Klant" data-language-autonym="Frysk" data-language-local-name="Western Frisian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Frysk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EA%B3%A0%EA%B0%9D" title="고객 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="고객" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hr mw-list-item"><a href="https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupac" title="Kupac – Croatian" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" data-title="Kupac" data-language-autonym="Hrvatski" data-language-local-name="Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Hrvatski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-io mw-list-item"><a href="https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kliento" title="Kliento – Ido" lang="io" hreflang="io" data-title="Kliento" data-language-autonym="Ido" data-language-local-name="Ido" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ido</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelanggan" title="Pelanggan – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Pelanggan" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-is mw-list-item"><a href="https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi%C3%B0skiptavinur" title="Viðskiptavinur – Icelandic" lang="is" hreflang="is" data-title="Viðskiptavinur" data-language-autonym="Íslenska" data-language-local-name="Icelandic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Íslenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clientela_(economia)" title="Clientela (economia) – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Clientela (economia)" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sw mw-list-item"><a href="https://sw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mteja" title="Mteja – Swahili" lang="sw" hreflang="sw" data-title="Mteja" data-language-autonym="Kiswahili" data-language-local-name="Swahili" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kiswahili</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lb mw-list-item"><a href="https://lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client" title="Client – Luxembourgish" lang="lb" hreflang="lb" data-title="Client" data-language-autonym="Lëtzebuergesch" data-language-local-name="Luxembourgish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lëtzebuergesch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cgyf%C3%A9l" title="Ügyfél – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Ügyfél" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klant" title="Klant – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Klant" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-new mw-list-item"><a href="https://new.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%BE" title="गाहा – Newari" lang="new" hreflang="new" data-title="गाहा" data-language-autonym="नेपाल भाषा" data-language-local-name="Newari" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>नेपाल भाषा</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A1%A7%E5%AE%A2" title="顧客 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="顧客" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunde" title="Kunde – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Kunde" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunde" title="Kunde – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Kunde" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uz mw-list-item"><a href="https://uz.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mijoz" title="Mijoz – Uzbek" lang="uz" hreflang="uz" data-title="Mijoz" data-language-autonym="Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча" data-language-local-name="Uzbek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pa mw-list-item"><a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%97%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B9%E0%A8%95" title="ਗਾਹਕ – Punjabi" lang="pa" hreflang="pa" data-title="ਗਾਹਕ" data-language-autonym="ਪੰਜਾਬੀ" data-language-local-name="Punjabi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ਪੰਜਾਬੀ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ps mw-list-item"><a href="https://ps.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%DB%90%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86%DA%A9%DB%8C" title="پېرودونکی – Pashto" lang="ps" hreflang="ps" data-title="پېرودونکی" data-language-autonym="پښتو" data-language-local-name="Pashto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>پښتو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliente_(economia)" title="Cliente (economia) – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Cliente (economia)" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%BA" title="Заказчик – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Заказчик" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-szy mw-list-item"><a href="https://szy.wikipedia.org/wiki/labang" title="labang – Sakizaya" lang="szy" hreflang="szy" data-title="labang" data-language-autonym="Sakizaya" data-language-local-name="Sakizaya" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Sakizaya</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-scn mw-list-item"><a href="https://scn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crienti" title="Crienti – Sicilian" lang="scn" hreflang="scn" data-title="Crienti" data-language-autonym="Sicilianu" data-language-local-name="Sicilian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Sicilianu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%A1kazn%C3%ADk" title="Zákazník – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Zákazník" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D1%83%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%86" title="Купац – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Купац" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupac" title="Kupac – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Kupac" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiakas" title="Asiakas – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Asiakas" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kund" title="Kund – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Kund" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tl mw-list-item"><a href="https://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kustomer" title="Kustomer – Tagalog" lang="tl" hreflang="tl" data-title="Kustomer" data-language-autonym="Tagalog" data-language-local-name="Tagalog" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tagalog</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ta mw-list-item"><a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B3%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D" title="வாடிக்கையாளர் – Tamil" lang="ta" hreflang="ta" data-title="வாடிக்கையாளர்" data-language-autonym="தமிழ்" data-language-local-name="Tamil" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>தமிழ்</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kab mw-list-item"><a href="https://kab.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsa%C9%A3" title="Amsaɣ – Kabyle" lang="kab" hreflang="kab" data-title="Amsaɣ" data-language-autonym="Taqbaylit" data-language-local-name="Kabyle" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Taqbaylit</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BC%C5%9Fteri" title="Müşteri – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Müşteri" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA" title="Замовник – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Замовник" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%AF%D8%A7%DB%81%DA%A9" title="گاہک – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="گاہک" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>اردو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh%C3%A1ch_h%C3%A0ng" title="Khách hàng – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Khách hàng" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-yi mw-list-item"><a href="https://yi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94" title="קונה – Yiddish" lang="yi" hreflang="yi" data-title="קונה" data-language-autonym="ייִדיש" data-language-local-name="Yiddish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ייִדיש</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A1%A7%E5%AE%A2" title="顧客 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="顧客" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A1%A7%E5%AE%A2" title="顧客 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="顧客" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q852835#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> 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from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&oldid=1275318043" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Customer&id=1275318043&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCustomer"><span>Get shortened 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class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-commons mw-list-item"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Customers" hreflang="en"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></a></li><li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikiquote mw-list-item"><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Customer" hreflang="en"><span>Wikiquote</span></a></li><li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q852835" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Recipient of a good, service, product, or idea from a vender or seller</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/Customer_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Customer (disambiguation)">Customer (disambiguation)</a>.</div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"Clientele" redirects here. For the British rock band, see <a href="/wiki/The_Clientele" title="The Clientele">The Clientele</a>.</div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Market_Scene_with_Vendor_and_Customers_-_Zacatlan_-_Puebla_-_Mexico_(52208328324).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Market_Scene_with_Vendor_and_Customers_-_Zacatlan_-_Puebla_-_Mexico_%2852208328324%29.jpg/220px-Market_Scene_with_Vendor_and_Customers_-_Zacatlan_-_Puebla_-_Mexico_%2852208328324%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Market_Scene_with_Vendor_and_Customers_-_Zacatlan_-_Puebla_-_Mexico_%2852208328324%29.jpg/330px-Market_Scene_with_Vendor_and_Customers_-_Zacatlan_-_Puebla_-_Mexico_%2852208328324%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Market_Scene_with_Vendor_and_Customers_-_Zacatlan_-_Puebla_-_Mexico_%2852208328324%29.jpg/440px-Market_Scene_with_Vendor_and_Customers_-_Zacatlan_-_Puebla_-_Mexico_%2852208328324%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="5184" data-file-height="3888" /></a><figcaption>Customers at a market stall in <a href="/wiki/Puebla,_Mexico" class="mw-redirect" title="Puebla, Mexico">Puebla, Mexico</a></figcaption></figure> <p> In <a href="/wiki/Sales" title="Sales">sales</a>, <a href="/wiki/Commerce" title="Commerce">commerce</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Economics" title="Economics">economics</a>, a <b>customer</b> (sometimes known as a <a href="/wiki/Client_(business)" title="Client (business)">client</a>, <a href="/wiki/Buyer" class="mw-redirect" title="Buyer">buyer</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Purchaser" class="mw-redirect" title="Purchaser">purchaser</a>) is the recipient of a <a href="/wiki/Good_(economics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Good (economics)">good</a>, <a href="/wiki/Service_(economics)" title="Service (economics)">service</a>, <a href="/wiki/Product_(business)" title="Product (business)">product</a>, or an <a href="/wiki/Intellectual_property" title="Intellectual property">idea</a>, obtained from a <a href="/wiki/Seller" class="mw-redirect" title="Seller">seller</a>, <a href="/wiki/Vendor" title="Vendor">vendor</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Distribution_(business)" class="mw-redirect" title="Distribution (business)">supplier</a> via a <a href="/wiki/Financial_transaction" title="Financial transaction">financial transaction</a> or <a href="/wiki/Exchange_(economics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Exchange (economics)">an exchange</a> for <a href="/wiki/Money" title="Money">money</a> or some other valuable <a href="/wiki/Consideration" title="Consideration">consideration</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKendall20073_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKendall20073-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Etymology_and_terminology">Etymology and terminology</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Etymology and terminology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Early societies relied on a <a href="/wiki/Gift_economy" title="Gift economy">gift economy</a> based on favours. Later, as <a href="/wiki/Commerce" title="Commerce">commerce</a> developed, less permanent human relations were formed, depending more on transitory <a href="/wiki/Need" title="Need">needs</a> rather than enduring social <a href="/wiki/Desire" title="Desire">desires</a>. Customers are generally said to be the purchasers of goods and services, while clients are those who receive personalized advice and solutions.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-auto-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Although such distinctions have no contemporary semantic weight, <a href="/wiki/Employment_agency" title="Employment agency">agencies</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Law_firm" title="Law firm">law firms</a>, <a href="/wiki/Film_studio" title="Film studio">film studios</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Health_care_provider" title="Health care provider">health care providers</a> tend to prefer <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/client" class="extiw" title="wikt:client">client</a></i>, while <a href="/wiki/Grocery_store" title="Grocery store">grocery stores</a>, <a href="/wiki/Bank" title="Bank">banks</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Restaurant" title="Restaurant">restaurants</a> tend to prefer <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/customer" class="extiw" title="wikt:customer">customer</a></i> instead. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Client">Client</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Client"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Attorney_and_Client,_Fortitude_and_Impatience.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Attorney_and_Client%2C_Fortitude_and_Impatience.jpg/220px-Attorney_and_Client%2C_Fortitude_and_Impatience.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="182" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Attorney_and_Client%2C_Fortitude_and_Impatience.jpg/330px-Attorney_and_Client%2C_Fortitude_and_Impatience.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Attorney_and_Client%2C_Fortitude_and_Impatience.jpg/440px-Attorney_and_Client%2C_Fortitude_and_Impatience.jpg 2x" data-file-width="648" data-file-height="535" /></a><figcaption>A drawing of an attorney with a client</figcaption></figure> <p>The term client is derived from Latin <i>clients</i> or <i>care</i> meaning "to incline" or "to bend", and is related to the emotive idea of <a href="/wiki/Closure_(psychology)" title="Closure (psychology)">closure</a>. It is widely believed that people only change their habits when motivated by <a href="/wiki/Greed_and_fear" title="Greed and fear">greed and fear</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Winning a client is therefore a singular event, which is why professional specialists who deal with particular problems tend to attract long-term clients rather than regular customers.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-auto-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Unlike regular customers, who buy merely on price and value, long-term clients buy on experience and trust.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-auto-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Customer">Customer</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Customer"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Clients who habitually return to a seller develop <a href="/wiki/Custom_(law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Custom (law)">customs</a> that allow for regular, sustained commerce that allows the seller to develop statistical models to optimize <a href="/wiki/Production_(economics)" title="Production (economics)">production</a> processes (which change the nature or form of goods or services) and <a href="/wiki/Supply_chain" title="Supply chain">supply chains</a> (which change the location or formalize the changes of ownership or entitlement transactions). </p><p>An "end customer" denotes the person at the end of a supply chain who ultimately purchases or utilised the goods or services.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Employer">Employer</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Employer"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A client paying for construction work is often referred to as an "employer".<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Customer_segmentation">Customer segmentation</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Customer segmentation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Customer_segmentation" class="mw-redirect" title="Customer segmentation">Customer segmentation</a></div> <p>In the 21st century, customers are generally categorized into two types: </p> <ul><li>an <a href="/wiki/Entrepreneur" class="mw-redirect" title="Entrepreneur">entrepreneur</a> or <a href="/wiki/Trade" title="Trade">trader</a> (sometimes a <a href="/wiki/Intermediary" title="Intermediary">commercial Intermediary</a>) - a dealer who purchases goods for re-sale.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>an <a href="/wiki/End_user" title="End user">end user</a> or ultimate customer who does not re-sell the things bought but is the actual <a href="/wiki/Consumer" title="Consumer">consumer</a> or an agent such as a <a href="/wiki/Purchasing" title="Purchasing">Purchasing officer</a> for the consumer.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <p>A customer may or may not also be a <a href="/wiki/Consumer" title="Consumer">consumer</a>, but the two notions are distinct.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A customer <i>purchases</i> goods; a consumer <i>uses</i> them.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBlythe200818_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBlythe200818-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKansalRao200661_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKansalRao200661-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> An ultimate customer <i>may</i> be a consumer as well, but just as equally may have purchased items for someone else to consume. An intermediate customer is not a consumer at all.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The situation is somewhat complicated in that ultimate customers of so-called <i>industrial</i> goods and services (who are entities such as government bodies, manufacturers, and educational and medical institutions) either themselves use up the goods and services that they buy, or incorporate them into other finished products, and so are technically consumers, too. However, they are rarely called that, but are rather called industrial customers or business-to-business customers.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Similarly, customers who buy services rather than goods are rarely called consumers.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p><a href="/wiki/Six_Sigma" title="Six Sigma">Six Sigma</a> doctrine places (active) customers in opposition to two other classes of people: <i>not-</i>customers and <i>non-</i>customers: </p> <ul><li>Customers of a given <a href="/wiki/Business" title="Business">business</a> have actively dealt with that business within a particular recent period that depends on the product sold.</li> <li>Not-customers are either past customers who are no longer customers or potential customers who choose to interact with <a href="/wiki/Competition_(economics)" title="Competition (economics)">the competition</a>.</li> <li>Non-customers are people who are active in a different <a href="/wiki/Market_segment" class="mw-redirect" title="Market segment">market segment</a> entirely.</li></ul> <p>Geoff Tennant, a Six Sigma consultant from the United Kingdom, uses the following <a href="/wiki/Analogy" title="Analogy">analogy</a> to explain the difference: A supermarket's customer is the person buying milk at that supermarket; a not-customer buys milk from a competing supermarket, whereas a non-customer does not buy milk from supermarkets at all but rather "has milk delivered to the door in the traditional British way".<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200152_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTETennant200152-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Tennant also categorizes customers in another way that is employed outside the fields of <a href="/wiki/Marketing" title="Marketing">marketing</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200152–53_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTETennant200152–53-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> While marketers, market regulation, and economists use the intermediate/ultimate categorization, the field of <a href="/wiki/Customer_service" title="Customer service">customer service</a> more often<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers"><span title="This term requires quantification. (August 2016)">quantify</span></a></i>]</sup> categorizes customers into two classes: </p> <ol><li>An external customer of an organization is a customer who is not directly connected to that organization.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200152–53_12-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTETennant200152–53-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKendall20073,_9_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKendall20073,_9-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>An internal customer is a customer who is directly connected to an organization, and is usually (but not necessarily) internal to the organization. Internal customers are usually <a href="/wiki/Stakeholder_(corporate)" title="Stakeholder (corporate)">stakeholders</a>, <a href="/wiki/Employee" class="mw-redirect" title="Employee">employees</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Shareholder" title="Shareholder">shareholders</a>, but the definition also encompasses <a href="/wiki/Creditor" title="Creditor">creditors</a> and <a href="/wiki/Regulator_(economics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Regulator (economics)">external regulators</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200153_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTETennant200153-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKendall20073,_9_13-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKendall20073,_9-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ol> <p>Before the introduction of the notion of an internal customer, external customers were, simply, customers.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (August 2016)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> <a href="/wiki/Quality_management" title="Quality management">Quality-management</a> writer <a href="/wiki/Joseph_M._Juran" title="Joseph M. Juran">Joseph M. Juran</a> popularized the concept, introducing it in 1988 in the fourth edition of his <i>Quality Control Handbook</i> (<a href="#CITEREFJuran1988">Juran 1988</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKelemen200328_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKelemen200328-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEStracke200687_16-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEStracke200687-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReevesBednar2005335_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReevesBednar2005335-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The idea has since gained wide acceptance in the literature on <a href="/wiki/Total_quality_management" title="Total quality management">total quality management</a> and service marketing;<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKelemen200328_15-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKelemen200328-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and many organizations as of 2016<sup class="plainlinks noexcerpt noprint asof-tag update" style="display:none;"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit">[update]</a></sup> recognize the <a href="/wiki/Customer_satisfaction" title="Customer satisfaction">customer satisfaction</a> of internal customers as a precursor to, and a prerequisite for, external customer satisfaction, with authors such as <a href="#CITEREFTansuhajRandallMcCullough1991">Tansuhaj, Randall & McCullough 1991</a> regarding service organizations which design products for internal customer satisfaction as better able to satisfy the needs of external customers.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPapasolomou-Doukakis200171_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPapasolomou-Doukakis200171-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Research on the theory and practice of managing the internal customer continues as of 2016<sup class="plainlinks noexcerpt noprint asof-tag update" style="display:none;"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit">[update]</a></sup> in a variety of <a href="/wiki/Service_sector" class="mw-redirect" title="Service sector">service-sector</a> <a href="/wiki/Industry_(economics)" title="Industry (economics)">industries</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability"><span title="Quotation needed from source to verify. (August 2016)">need quotation to verify</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Arguments_against_use_of_the_term_"internal_customers""><span id="Arguments_against_use_of_the_term_.22internal_customers.22"></span>Arguments against use of the term "internal customers"</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Arguments against use of the term "internal customers""><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Leading authors in management and marketing, like <a href="/wiki/Peter_Drucker" title="Peter Drucker">Peter Drucker</a>, <a href="/wiki/Philip_Kotler" title="Philip Kotler">Philip Kotler</a>, <a href="/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming" title="W. Edwards Deming">W. Edwards Deming</a>, etc., have not used the term "internal customer" in their works. They consider the "customer" as a very specific role in society which represents a crucial part in the relationship between the demand and the supply. Some of the most important characteristics of any customer are that: any customer is never in a subordination line with any supplier; any customer has equal positions with the supplier within negotiations, and any customer can accept or reject any offer for a service or a product. Peter Drucker wrote, "They are all people who can say no, people who have the choice to accept or reject what you offer."<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In opposition to the stated customer's characteristics, relationships between colleagues in a company are always based on subordination – direct or indirect. Company employees are obliged to follow the processes of their companies. Company employees do not have the authority to choose a unit/colleague to fulfill any task. Company employees are obliged to use an existing unit/colleague by using the company's structure and approved processes, therefore these internal relationships are not considered as an option. </p><p>Many authors in <a href="/wiki/ITIL" title="ITIL">ITIL</a> and <a href="/wiki/Six_Sigma" title="Six Sigma">Six Sigma</a> methodologies define "internal customer" as an internal part of a company that uses the output of another part of a company as its input. But actually, this definition describes better a classical internal process rather than a relationship between a customer and a supplier. Peter Drucker considers that there are no customers inside organizations. He wrote "Inside an organization, there are only cost centers. The only profit center is a customer whose check has not bounced."<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In addition, William Deming advises managers, in his 9th point, to "Break down barriers between departments. They must work as a team",<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which means that there have to be teamwork in a company rather than a supplier/customer relationship. One more argument, even the ITIL methodology admits that "the term 'colleague' may be more accurate in describing how two internal groups are related to one another.".<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Client_(business)" title="Client (business)">Client (business)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Customer_centricity" class="mw-redirect" title="Customer centricity">Customer centricity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Customer_data_integration" class="mw-redirect" title="Customer data integration">Customer data integration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Customer_delight" title="Customer delight">Customer delight</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Customer_relationship_management" title="Customer relationship management">Customer relationship management</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Early_adopter" title="Early adopter">Early adopter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guided_selling" title="Guided selling">Guided selling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Procurement" title="Procurement">Procurement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Service_level_agreement" class="mw-redirect" title="Service level agreement">Service level agreement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_customer_is_always_right" title="The customer is always right">The customer is always right</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReizenstein2004119_1-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFReizenstein2004">Reizenstein 2004</a>, pp. 119.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEKendall20073-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKendall20073_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFKendall2007">Kendall 2007</a>, pp. 3.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-auto-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-auto_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-auto_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-auto_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-customer-vs-client-56387.html">"What Is the Difference Between a Customer Vs. a Client?"</a>. <i>Chron</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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(2003), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1826/377/SWP0103.pdf">Responsive Supply Chains: An Exploratory Study of Performance Management</a>, Cranfield School of Management, accessed 4 March 2023</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Evolution 5, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://evolution5.co.uk/what-is-an-employers-agent/">What is an Employer’s Agent in construction?</a>, published 17 May 2021, accessed 25 April 2023</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Blackstone Solicitors Ltd., <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://blackstonesolicitorsltd.co.uk/category/construction/jct-contracts-explained-blackstone-solicitors/">JCT Contracts Explained</a>, published 6 September 2021, accessed 25 April 2023</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFrain1999161_8-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFFrain1999">Frain 1999</a>, p. 161.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEBlythe200818-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBlythe200818_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBlythe2008">Blythe 2008</a>, pp. 18.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEKansalRao200661-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKansalRao200661_10-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFKansalRao2006">Kansal & Rao 2006</a>, pp. 61.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTETennant200152-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200152_11-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFTennant2001">Tennant 2001</a>, pp. 52.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTETennant200152–53-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200152–53_12-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200152–53_12-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFTennant2001">Tennant 2001</a>, pp. 52–53.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEKendall20073,_9-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKendall20073,_9_13-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKendall20073,_9_13-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFKendall2007">Kendall 2007</a>, pp. 3, 9.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTETennant200153-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETennant200153_14-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFTennant2001">Tennant 2001</a>, pp. 53.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEKelemen200328-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKelemen200328_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKelemen200328_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFKelemen2003">Kelemen 2003</a>, pp. 28.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEStracke200687-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEStracke200687_16-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFStracke2006">Stracke 2006</a>, p. 87.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEReevesBednar2005335-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEReevesBednar2005335_17-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFReevesBednar2005">Reeves & Bednar 2005</a>, pp. 335.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEPapasolomou-Doukakis200171-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPapasolomou-Doukakis200171_18-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFPapasolomou-Doukakis2001">Papasolomou-Doukakis 2001</a>, pp. 71.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.internalcustomer.com/ongoing-research/">"Referred page"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140222060247/http://www.internalcustomer.com/ongoing-research/">Archived</a> from the original on 22 February 2014<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">22 November</span> 2013</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Referred+page&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.internalcustomer.com%2Fongoing-research%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2009&q=internal+customer+service+industry&hl=en&as_sdt=1,16">"Google Scholar"</a>. <i>scholar.google.com</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=scholar.google.com&rft.atitle=Google+Scholar&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fas_ylo%3D2009%26q%3Dinternal%2Bcustomer%2Bservice%2Bindustry%26hl%3Den%26as_sdt%3D1%2C16&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFDruckerCollinsKotlerKouzes2008" class="citation book cs1">Drucker, Peter F.; Collins, Jim; Kotler, Philip; Kouzes, James; Rodin, Judith; Rangan, V. Kasturi; Hesselbein, Frances (2008). <i>The five most important questions you will ever ask about your organization</i> (Third ed.). Jossey-Bass. Under the chapter "Question 2: Who Is Our Customer?", p. 25. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-470-22756-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-470-22756-5"><bdi>978-0-470-22756-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+five+most+important+questions+you+will+ever+ask+about+your+organization&rft.pages=Under+the+chapter+%22Question+2%3A+Who+Is+Our+Customer%3F%22%2C+p.+25&rft.edition=Third&rft.pub=Jossey-Bass&rft.date=2008&rft.isbn=978-0-470-22756-5&rft.aulast=Drucker&rft.aufirst=Peter+F.&rft.au=Collins%2C+Jim&rft.au=Kotler%2C+Philip&rft.au=Kouzes%2C+James&rft.au=Rodin%2C+Judith&rft.au=Rangan%2C+V.+Kasturi&rft.au=Hesselbein%2C+Frances&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFDrucker2002" class="citation book cs1">Drucker, Peter F. (2002). <i>Management Challenges for the 21st Century</i>. PerfectBound™, HarperCollins. 4 Information Challenges, under the topic "Where the Results Are". <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-06-0546794" title="Special:BookSources/0-06-0546794"><bdi>0-06-0546794</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Management+Challenges+for+the+21st+Century&rft.pages=4+Information+Challenges%2C+under+the+topic+%22Where+the+Results+Are%22&rft.pub=PerfectBound%E2%84%A2%2C+HarperCollins&rft.date=2002&rft.isbn=0-06-0546794&rft.aulast=Drucker&rft.aufirst=Peter+F.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFDeming2000" class="citation book cs1">Deming, W. Edwards (2000). <i>Out of the crisis</i>. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Out+of+the+crisis&rft.place=Cambridge%2C+Mass.&rft.pub=MIT+Press&rft.date=2000&rft.aulast=Deming&rft.aufirst=W.+Edwards&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation book cs1"><i>ITIL® Service Strategy</i> (Second ed.). TSO (The Stationery Office). 2011. Table 3.1 Differences between internal and external customers; under the line “Link to business strategy and objectives”. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780113313044" title="Special:BookSources/9780113313044"><bdi>9780113313044</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=ITIL%C2%AE+Service+Strategy&rft.pages=Table+3.1+Differences+between+internal+and+external+customers%3B+under+the+line+%E2%80%9CLink+to+business+strategy+and+objectives%E2%80%9D&rft.edition=Second&rft.pub=TSO+%28The+Stationery+Office%29&rft.date=2011&rft.isbn=9780113313044&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="References">References</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFBlythe2008" class="citation book cs1">Blythe, Jim (2008). <i>Essentials of Marketing</i> (4th ed.). Pearson Education. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-273-71736-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-273-71736-2"><bdi>978-0-273-71736-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Essentials+of+Marketing&rft.edition=4th&rft.pub=Pearson+Education&rft.date=2008&rft.isbn=978-0-273-71736-2&rft.aulast=Blythe&rft.aufirst=Jim&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFFrain1999" class="citation book cs1">Frain, John (1999). "Customers and customer buying behaviour". <i>Introduction to marketing</i> (4th ed.). Cengage Learning EMEA. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-86152-147-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-86152-147-7"><bdi>978-1-86152-147-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Customers+and+customer+buying+behaviour&rft.btitle=Introduction+to+marketing&rft.edition=4th&rft.pub=Cengage+Learning+EMEA&rft.date=1999&rft.isbn=978-1-86152-147-7&rft.aulast=Frain&rft.aufirst=John&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFKansalRao2006" class="citation book cs1">Kansal, B.B.; Rao, P.C.K. (2006). "Environmental Factors in Management". <i>Preface to Management (Parragon Books)</i>. Ganga Dhar Chaudhary. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-81-89091-00-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-81-89091-00-2"><bdi>978-81-89091-00-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Environmental+Factors+in+Management&rft.btitle=Preface+to+Management+%28Parragon+Books%29&rft.pub=Ganga+Dhar+Chaudhary&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=978-81-89091-00-2&rft.aulast=Kansal&rft.aufirst=B.B.&rft.au=Rao%2C+P.C.K.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFKendall2007" class="citation book cs1">Kendall, Stephanie D. (2007). "Customer Service from the Customer's Perspective". In Fogli, Lawrence (ed.). <i>Customer Service Delivery: Research and Best Practices</i>. J-B SIOP Professional Practice Series. Vol. 20. John Wiley and Sons. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7879-8310-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7879-8310-9"><bdi>978-0-7879-8310-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Customer+Service+from+the+Customer%27s+Perspective&rft.btitle=Customer+Service+Delivery%3A+Research+and+Best+Practices&rft.series=J-B+SIOP+Professional+Practice+Series&rft.pub=John+Wiley+and+Sons&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0-7879-8310-9&rft.aulast=Kendall&rft.aufirst=Stephanie+D.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFKelemen2003" class="citation book cs1">Kelemen, Mihaela (2003). <i>Managing quality: managerial and critical perspectives</i>. SAGE. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7619-6904-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7619-6904-4"><bdi>978-0-7619-6904-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Managing+quality%3A+managerial+and+critical+perspectives&rft.pub=SAGE&rft.date=2003&rft.isbn=978-0-7619-6904-4&rft.aulast=Kelemen&rft.aufirst=Mihaela&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFPapasolomou-Doukakis2001" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1">Papasolomou-Doukakis, Ioanna (2001). "Customer satisfaction". In Kitchen, Philip J.; Proctor, Tony (eds.). <i>The informed student guide to marketing</i>. ITBP Textbooks Series. Cengage Learning EMEA. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-86152-546-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-86152-546-8"><bdi>978-1-86152-546-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Customer+satisfaction&rft.btitle=The+informed+student+guide+to+marketing&rft.series=ITBP+Textbooks+Series&rft.pub=Cengage+Learning+EMEA&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-1-86152-546-8&rft.aulast=Papasolomou-Doukakis&rft.aufirst=Ioanna&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFReevesBednar2005" class="citation book cs1">Reeves, Carol A.; Bednar, David A. (2005). "Defining Quality". In <a href="/wiki/John_Cunningham_Wood" title="John Cunningham Wood">Wood, John Cunningham</a>; Wood, Michael C. (eds.). <i>Joseph M. Juran: critical evaluations in business and management</i>. Routledge. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-32571-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-415-32571-4"><bdi>978-0-415-32571-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Defining+Quality&rft.btitle=Joseph+M.+Juran%3A+critical+evaluations+in+business+and+management&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=978-0-415-32571-4&rft.aulast=Reeves&rft.aufirst=Carol+A.&rft.au=Bednar%2C+David+A.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFReizenstein2004" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1">Reizenstein, Richard C. (2004). "Customer". In Stahl, Michael J. (ed.). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofhe0000unse_f8p9"><i>Encyclopedia of health care management</i></a></span>. Sage eReference. SAGE. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7619-2674-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7619-2674-0"><bdi>978-0-7619-2674-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Customer&rft.btitle=Encyclopedia+of+health+care+management&rft.series=Sage+eReference&rft.pub=SAGE&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=978-0-7619-2674-0&rft.aulast=Reizenstein&rft.aufirst=Richard+C.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fencyclopediaofhe0000unse_f8p9&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFStracke2006" class="citation book cs1">Stracke, Christian (2006). "Process-oriented quality management". In Ehlers, Ulf-Daniel; Pawlowski, Jan Martin (eds.). <i>Handbook on quality and standardisation in e-learning</i>. Springer. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-540-32787-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-3-540-32787-5"><bdi>978-3-540-32787-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Process-oriented+quality+management&rft.btitle=Handbook+on+quality+and+standardisation+in+e-learning&rft.pub=Springer&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=978-3-540-32787-5&rft.aulast=Stracke&rft.aufirst=Christian&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFTennant2001" class="citation book cs1">Tennant, Geoff (2001). <i>Six Sigma: SPC and TQM in manufacturing and services</i>. Gower Publishing. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-566-08374-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-566-08374-7"><bdi>978-0-566-08374-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Six+Sigma%3A+SPC+and+TQM+in+manufacturing+and+services&rft.pub=Gower+Publishing&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-0-566-08374-7&rft.aulast=Tennant&rft.aufirst=Geoff&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFJuran1988" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Joseph_M._Juran" title="Joseph M. Juran">Juran, Joseph M.</a> (1988). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/juransqualitycon00jmju"><i>Quality Control Handbook</i></a></span> (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-07-033176-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-07-033176-1"><bdi>978-0-07-033176-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Quality+Control+Handbook&rft.place=New+York%2C+NY&rft.edition=4th&rft.pub=McGraw-Hill&rft.date=1988&rft.isbn=978-0-07-033176-1&rft.aulast=Juran&rft.aufirst=Joseph+M.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fjuransqualitycon00jmju&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFTansuhajRandallMcCullough1991" class="citation journal cs1">Tansuhaj, Patriya; Randall, Donna; McCullough, Jim (1991). "Applying the Internal Marketing Concept Within Large Organizations: As Applied to a Credit Union". <i>Journal of Professional Services Marketing</i>. <b>6</b> (2). Taylor & Francis: <span class="nowrap">193–</span>202. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1300%2FJ090v06n02_14">10.1300/J090v06n02_14</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Professional+Services+Marketing&rft.atitle=Applying+the+Internal+Marketing+Concept+Within+Large+Organizations%3A+As+Applied+to+a+Credit+Union&rft.volume=6&rft.issue=2&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E193-%3C%2Fspan%3E202&rft.date=1991&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1300%2FJ090v06n02_14&rft.aulast=Tansuhaj&rft.aufirst=Patriya&rft.au=Randall%2C+Donna&rft.au=McCullough%2C+Jim&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACustomer" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130202004458/http://www.pidesc.com/forget-demographics-target-communities-instead/">Forget Demographics. Target Communities Instead (Marketing)</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Customer&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output 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class="mw-valign-middle" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/06/Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg/27px-Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg.png" decoding="async" width="27" height="27" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/06/Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg/41px-Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/06/Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg/54px-Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="391" data-file-height="391" /></span></span></span><span class="sister-link"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/Customer" class="extiw" title="wikt:Special:Search/Customer">Definitions</a> from Wiktionary</span></li><li><span class="sister-logo"><span class="mw-valign-middle" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/20px-Commons-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="27" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/40px-Commons-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="1376" /></span></span></span><span class="sister-link"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Customers" class="extiw" title="c:Category:Customers">Media</a> from Commons</span></li><li><span class="sister-logo"><span class="mw-valign-middle" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Wikinews-logo.svg/27px-Wikinews-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="27" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Wikinews-logo.svg/41px-Wikinews-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Wikinews-logo.svg/54px-Wikinews-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="759" data-file-height="415" /></span></span></span><span class="sister-link"><a href="https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Special:Search/Customer" class="extiw" title="n:Special:Search/Customer">News</a> from Wikinews</span></li><li><span class="sister-logo"><span class="mw-valign-middle" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/23px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="27" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/35px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/46px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="300" data-file-height="355" /></span></span></span><span class="sister-link"><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Customer" class="extiw" title="q:Customer">Quotations</a> from Wikiquote</span></li><li><span class="sister-logo"><span class="mw-valign-middle" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikibooks-logo.svg/27px-Wikibooks-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="27" height="27" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikibooks-logo.svg/41px-Wikibooks-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikibooks-logo.svg/54px-Wikibooks-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="300" data-file-height="300" /></span></span></span><span class="sister-link"><a href="https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Special:Search/Customer" class="extiw" title="b:Special:Search/Customer">Textbooks</a> from Wikibooks</span></li><li><span class="sister-logo"><span class="mw-valign-middle" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Wikiversity_logo_2017.svg/27px-Wikiversity_logo_2017.svg.png" decoding="async" width="27" height="22" class="mw-file-element" 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