How do you call the people you sell to?
There has been a discussion at Marketing Profs on how the marketing people call the individuals, using their products or services.
As noted, each word has its own connotation and some (like user) may be even derogatory, as it treats a person like a mindless being. On a related note, here is how people of different professions may call people:
- Software developers: users
- Search Engine marketers: visitors
- Executives: Consumers
- Sales department: Customers
- Marketing department: clients
- Paul Mcenany: custconsumers
Though some of the terms may be too technical, they all highlight a certain aspect of how a person is related to the company. Of course, we could call people people, as well.
Sure, when dealing with so huge masses of people, it is tempting to invent a technological word to avoid any emotional relation. But do we have to do that? Why not just recognize that people who visit our websites have their own interests, passions, hobbies and problems? They are the same people like the those on the other part of the fence.
How about using more palatable words, when describing the people you deal with, such as: ‘people’, ‘a person’, ‘individual’, ‘human’ (when comparing to search engine spiders), etc.
Some day, you’ll be that very ‘customer’ too - so you’d rather treat the people you deal with with care, because someday you’ll be one of them.
Related posts:
- Designing for people with various reading speed
- Designing cross-browser friendly websites
- Social search - another approach to internet marketing