A potential customer is an individual who could become a buyer, consumer or user of a certain product or service.
A potential customer is a subject who, according to a market analysis or marketing study, could become a buyer, consumer or user of a specific product or service. Potentiality, in this case, refers to a behavior that has not yet materialized.
It should be noted that customer is a concept that comes from the Latin cliens and refers to the person who accesses a certain product or service after making a payment. Although occasional customers exist, the term usually applies to those who access the product or service regularly.
A customer, therefore, can be a buyer (who buys a product), a user (the subject who uses a service) or a consumer (the person who consumes a product or service).
Potential , on the other hand, is that which contains power, that can exist or that has the virtue of other things. The term is also used to name the available power or force of a certain order.
What are potential clients
Potential customers, therefore, are those people, companies or organizations that have not yet made purchases from a certain company but are considered potential customers in the future since they have the financial resources and the appropriate profile.
By considering potential customers as a variable , it is possible to estimate certain sales volumes for the future. In other words: Leads are a possible source of future income. For example: a man who, in the last five years, has contracted three mobile phone promotions provided by company X, is a potential client of this company when it comes to a new promotion .
But like any concept related to markets, since the mid-90s, the potential customer paradigm has been affected by a series of changes in the relationship that consumers have with their preferred products. What up to a certain point in history was a dynamic in which buyers acted blindly, "controlled" by large multinationals, without significant power of opinion, has transformed into a race in which both parties try to come before the competition. another: on the one hand, the giants, who are increasingly losing body volume; on the other, a growing legion of consumers who are informed and shout from the rooftops about their experiences with the former.
Companies try to seduce potential customers.
The current trend
The Internet has turned the consumer into an active component of the industry : they no longer just look and decide, but they inform themselves and demand, and do not usually accept "no" for an answer. If a company doesn't give you what you ask for, then keep walking until you find it. This freedom, this free will of customers, did not enter into the potential equation, which is why companies' efforts to keep buyers interested have had to be increased.
Returning to the example presented a few paragraphs above, it is likely that this man who is a regular at company X's promotions could be considered a potential client. However, these days, between the time of your last transaction and the company's next move, a lot can happen. One possibility is that a group Y appears, with offers that captivate you more, and that make you quickly forget about X.
This does not mean that the same situation could not have arisen two decades ago, but today it takes a fraction of the time and money to create a business, so future plans are no longer as certain. It is essential to act at every moment, reminding those potential clients that we exist and that we will always have new products and services that will surprise and satisfy them.