What’s the difference you ask? Well let’s look at the proper definition first:
Customer:
1. a person who purchases goods or services from a store or business.
Client:
1. a person or group using the professional advice or services of a lawyer, accountant, advertising agency, architect, etc.
To us, the choice is clear. We are looking for “clients”. If YOU want to present your business in the best light and have truly creative solutions that propel you in the marketplace, you should be looking for an agency that wants a relationship and not just someone out to do what you tell them (no matter how wrong or misguided it may be) then snatch your money and run.
Still unclear?
Let me tell you a little fable:
Once upon a time, a small creative services firm had someone approach them asking for a logo, marketing materials and a website. Being a small agency it’s difficult to turn away work, so the firm took the job. Right away the customer was negotiating and him-hawing about the rate they quoted and then the client claimed he/she was a graphic designer and photographer so he/she knew exactly what he/she was doing and what he/she wanted—he/she just didn’t have time to do it him/herself. All the while this client is degrading what the creative firm does for a living and keeps saying “no offense” after every offensive thing he/she says. Ever hopeful they would prove him wrong, the creative firm kept steering the ship into rough waters. Then the client’s spouse gets involved… BUM BUM BUM BUMMMMMM.
So long story short, the firm provides several different logo options because the client was wanting to update their image. And then the client changes his/her mind and decides he/she likes elements of the old, horrendous logo and wants to merge the two. Then, after the creative firm spends several hours on the option that merged the old and new, the client tells the firm he/she wants all new options “just to be sure”.
This is an example of a customer. If that firm were a restaurant, this customer would be the complainer that sends everything back and then bellyaches to management in hopes of getting a free meal.
We provide creative services and advice on marketing tactics, etc. We really want the relationship between us and the client to be mutual and respectful. That way we can learn about your business, your needs and challenges and how to solve them. If you just want a logo created from a sketch you’ve done on a receipt for a Big Mac, we are probably not going to be a good fit for you and you are probably not going to benefit as much as you could if you were open to the advice and solutions we can provide.