December 8, 2025

Customer vs Client

The joke from yesterday’s Ditcherville comic hinged on the difference between a customer and a client.

Several folks asked me to go into some detail about the distinction between these two terms, so here we are!

Here’s a good summary from Perplexity:

A customer is generally someone who buys a product or service in a mostly transactional, often short-term way, while a client is someone who engages in an ongoing, relationship-based use of professional or personalized services.

(Thanks, Cliff!)

In other words:

Customer is more transactional, here-and-now
Client is more personalized, long-term

So...

If you buy something like a book, you’re a customer.
If you buy something like coaching, you’re a client.

Here’s the thing...

The idea of the comic - that the customer is always right, but the client isn’t - is best represented in the medical profession.

Doctors push back on their patients (aka clients) all the time because doctors have their patients’ best interests at heart.

And patients aren't typically medical experts so they are likely to ask for the wrong things.

Which is to say...

You can’t tell your doctor to give you a triple bypass and expect them to just do it.

That would be malpractice.

The same should be true of you with your clients.

Yours,

—J