customer

1. General: (1) Entity that receives or consumes products (goods or services) and has the ability to choose between different products and suppliers. See also buyer. (2) Entity directly served by an organization.

2. Quality control: Entity within a firm who establishes the requirement of a process (accounting, for example) and receives the output of that process (a financial statement, for example) from one or more internal or external suppliers.

One useful but fairly uncommon type of contract stipulation is a most-favored-customer clause. Under such an arrangement, no one gets a better price than this customer, or if someone else does then this customer's price drops to that level. This affects future negotiations (it makes things tougher on that customer's competition, and it gives the vendor an excuse not to negotiate with them, if that's what the vendor wants, since its hands are tied.) But it's then easier for that vendors rivals to target its customers, and harder for it to do the reverse. Sometimes this raises the price the vendor can charge, because each customer doesn't negotiate as much, assuming future customers will.

• Identify the Most Profitable Clients
• Charging Customers Different Prices for the Same Product or Service
• How much power do your suppliers have?
• How should you sell your product?
• The 20/80 Rule Applied to Customers
• How much power do your buyers have?
• Locking In Customers
• Focus Marketing on Perception Management
• Gathering Market Research for Upcoming Products and Services