---
title: Client vs. Customer and Why it Matters
description: Client or Customer? Client vs. Customer and Why it Matters. StorySelling. Business storytelling. Archetypes. Gibran Nicholas
image: https://thestoryseller.com/hubfs/client-or-customer.png
---

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# Client vs. Customer and Why it Matters

Feb 22, 2023

![Client vs. Customer and Why it Matters](https://thestoryseller.com/hubfs/client-or-customer.png)

A customer is someone who buys something from you. The relationship is purely transactional. You owe them nothing other than to sell and deliver to them the product which they purchased. On the other hand, a client is a person who is under the protection of another person.

The word “client” originated in the Middle Ages and it referred to a common person who sought the protection of someone who was more powerful than them. In this sense, if we look at our clients the way we ought to look at them, we’ll start to look at ourselves very differently. That’s because if we have clients, that means that we are in the position of protecting them. That’s our mission and purpose.

Once we understand that, we’ll start to identify the specific villains or obstacles in their story. We’ll see ourselves as someone who tries to protect our clients from the villains who are trying to antagonize them, or as someone whose primary role is to help our clients overcome their obstacles.

*So here's my ridiculous question of the day:*

What are you going to do right now today to protect your clients and help them overcome their obstacles?

** ** ** [** ](mailto:?subject=Client%20vs.%20Customer%20and%20Why%20it%20Matters&body=https://thestoryseller.com/blog/client-or-customer)

![Gibran Nicholas](https://thestoryseller.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Gibran-cropped2.jpg?width=130&height=130&name=Gibran-cropped2.jpg)

##### Gibran Nicholas

 Gibran Nicholas is the best-selling author of *The StorySeller Adventures*, and the founder and CEO of Momentifi, a financial information and content marketing platform providing daily coaching and expert marketing content to thousands of housing and financial professionals. With more than ten thousand graduates, Gibran’s StorySelling coaching system creates top producers in all industries. He became a millionaire at twenty-five and lost everything two years later, only to regain it all, plus invaluable life lessons, over the next decade. He shares with you many of those lessons in his book, daily emails, blog, and weekly podcast. Gibran’s primary focus is to help you and your team use archetypes and StorySelling to stay inspired, find more meaning in your work, and grow your business. Gibran is a lifelong student of business, politics, religion, and the human experience. He lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, with his wife, Mandy, and their three children.

[** ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gibrannicholas/)

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