Customer

In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or an idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or an exchange for money or some other valuable consideration.

Later, as commerce developed, less permanent human relations were formed, depending more on transitory needs rather than enduring social desires.

Customers are generally said to be the purchasers of goods and services, while clients are those who receive personalized advice and solutions.

[18] Research on the theory and practice of managing the internal customer continues as of 2016[update] in a variety of service-sector industries.

[19][20][need quotation to verify] Leading authors in management and marketing, like Peter Drucker, Philip Kotler, W. Edwards Deming, etc., have not used the term "internal customer" in their works.

They consider the "customer" as a very specific role in society which represents a crucial part in the relationship between the demand and the supply.

"[21] In opposition to the stated customer's characteristics, relationships between colleagues in a company are always based on subordination – direct or indirect.

One more argument, even the ITIL methodology admits that "the term 'colleague' may be more accurate in describing how two internal groups are related to one another.".