Customer

The term client is derived from Latin clientem or clinare meaning “to incline” or “to bend”, and is related to the emotive idea of closure. It is widely believed that people only change their habits when motivated by greed and fear. Winning a client is therefore a singular event, which is why professional specialists who deal with particular problems tend to attract one-time clients rather than regular customers.

Clients who habitually return to a seller develop customs that allow for regular, sustained commerce that allows the seller to develop statistical models to optimize production processes (which change the nature or form of goods or services) and supply chains (which changes the location or formalizes the changes of ownership or entitlement transactions).