Who's the customer?

'Josh Bush' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:09:20 GMT, sez:

Don't you know? Everyone is the customer. Well, they all think they are anyway. When you are the middle man, you get the whining and complaining from both sides. Everyone wants you to accommodate their needs. Just make sure when you are fixing everyone's problems you take better care of the people who take care of you.

'don2' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:18:52 GMT, sez:

in the first question the people who perform the searches are the real customer.

in the second question the staff at the pharmacies are the real customer.

'eNTy' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:50:24 GMT, sez:

Well, the customer is everyone, who gives you money :-)

'John Satta' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:01:48 GMT, sez:

OK, I'll bite - it all depends on the definition of "customer", who "you" refers to and the cynicism level of the answerer.

If by "customer" we mean "the person who puts money in your pocket" and "you" means an individual (as opposed to a team or a company) then the cynical answer is "the boss".

But I suspect you are asking a broader and less cynical question, in which case the answer in both cases is "all of the above and more".

When I worked in the defense industry, there was the notion of addressing the needs of our customer's customer - that is, looking beyond the immediate "payer" to the person actually depending on the product. In the end it all came down to a comprehensive set of requirements that balanced the needs & wants of everyone directly involved.

One could argue that the broadest definition of customer includes "anyone who is affected by the product". In the diagnosis software example, a variety of people within the vendor company are affected. From the perspective of a developer that could include other developers, the QA/test team, the documentation folks, the sales people, the marketing gang and the customer support staff. (We could also include accounting and even the janitors - because, they are affected also by the product's success)

Beyond the vendor, there are all the people in the purchasing company who are typically called "the users" - those who directly interact with the product. But then many other people in the buying company are also affected.

Finally the "customer's customers" - the people being diagnosed - are also affected. An easy to use diagnosis package would probably make the users happy initially. But bad diagnoses would make their customers unhappy (eventually) and ultimately could affect the fortunes of the pharmacies… which could come back to bite the software development company.

In summary, the narrow and cynical answer is "the customer is whoever is signing the check I personally cash".

The broad answer is "the customers are everyone affected by the product".

The practical answer lies somewhere in between, depending on your point of view and level of responsibility / ability to affect the product's success.

In most cases, the pragmatic answer is (theoretically) encapsulated in the agreed requirements and the quality standards embraced / imposed / contracted for.

'Jonas' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:15:58 GMT, sez:

The answer doesn't matter!!

"Is the question that drives us..."

'turbine' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:03:46 GMT, sez:

>In summary, the narrow and cynical answer
>is "the customer is whoever is signing the
>check I personally cash".

>The broad answer is "the customers are >everyone affected by the product".

very intelligent answer!

i can't top that.

But i would say the first example looks like Google.

And Google are great because they realised that the real customer is the people doing the searching.

Looking at the second example it's harder to say.

If you are a programmer then your real customer is "The staff at the pharmacies" because they are the people who make a custom of using your product.

But if you are actually a domain expert at the type of diagnosis that the software performs then your real customer is the people who are being diagnosed: because they are developing a custom of using your expertise.

What matters in all these cases is:

"Where are my most valued skills being applied to make the most difference"

Or in google-speak

"how am I adding value to the world"

As long as you work out where you are adding value and you maximise that, people will line up to give you cheques, don't worry.

'lb' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:29:29 GMT, sez:

Loving the discussion!

'Jeff Atwood' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:16:42 GMT, sez:

All the above, obviously.

'Mike Gale' on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:31:30 GMT, sez:

As the designer of the product (software) you're free to choose your customer.

Some choices are going to be plain dumb, but that's your choice.

To be successful while still enjoying your work life "everbody is the customer" is pure poison. Rather define a nice clean cut single person. Then think of this person (Joe, Jeff, Vlad, always think of them as a real person) when working on the product. It makes things clean, simple and actually doable.

If you really need another customer, how about another product?

'marcin' on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:26:44 GMT, sez:

For Google, the advertiser is the customer. The searcher is the asset.

'Matthew Martin' on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:10:31 GMT, sez:

The boss is the customer. If he's unhappy, you get fired. Whoever can fire the firm is the boss's customer, so the boss of the pharmacy is a more important customer. Now in *the long run*, the pharmacy's customers are the customer, but you aren't going to make it to the long run if you don't keep the people important in the short run happy.

'jomark' on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:32:07 GMT, sez:

=)customer is a person who think is buy the product,anything that's product,it depends on you you think you might be able to conversation right!!

'Mat Roberts' on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:06:13 GMT, sez:

The customer is the guy who pays the money. So in your examples the Advertisers and the Pharmacies.

The users are the guys who actually use the product.

The user and customer are often not the same person, which is why lots of products are slightly sucky....

For example when you watch the TV, when the adverts come on it gets louder. This is annoying to the user, but what the customer wants.

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