Customer Statuses (Customer Statuses)

Depending on the service or product offered, and of course on the target market, customer definitions may vary within customer relationship management.

Generally, in my content, I frequently use visitor, user, customer, and potential customer definitions. However, when a brand/company implements a customer relationship management system, the definitions naturally become more precise. For this reason, I have included a separate article outlining the most commonly used customer definitions in customer relationship management, as discussed in Customer Relationship Management.

Visitor, User, and Customer Definitions

You can generally classify website visitors as visitors. If a targeting strategy exists and the brand’s messaging has engaged with the target audience (in Turkish: touch points, in English: touch points), the term potential customer can be applied. Broadly speaking, the definition of potential customer aligns with the micro-conversion framework. For instance, the lead generation process can serve as an example for this stage¹. On the other hand, actions such as signing up for an email newsletter, using chat, or becoming a member can also be considered under the potential customer definition. We can define the differences between a user and a visitor as follows:

User (user) is a unique individual who views your website or application. For example, Google Analytics defines a user using a client ID linked via a cookie². A visitor refers to any user currently present on your application (new visitor, returning visitor, etc.)^{3 4}. In a CRM context, a user is considered an individual. In an e-commerce context, a customer refers to a user who has completed a purchase; in a gaming context, it refers to a user who has made an in-game payment. In summary, for a user we can define a marked (membership, cookie, etc.) visitor, and for a customer, a user who has completed a payment.

Let’s now look at customer statuses that frequently appear in sales process mapping:

Customer Statuses

Customer statuses define the stages that begin with a potential customer and progress through the customer lifecycle. There are no general or precise rules governing these definitions. The following definitions represent customer statuses I have commonly encountered. Variations will certainly depend on the specific system or service used. Therefore, basing your definitions on the documentation or glossaries provided by the platform in use will lead to a more effective customer strategy.

Lead (Potential Customer / Prospective Customer)

Most commonly, a default customer status. A person or organization that has not yet made any payment but may become an active customer in the future (having met the relevant micro KPIs). Any customer that is neither “Active” nor “Canceled” will have a “Lead” (potential customer) status. Let’s create an additional header for leads and clarify the difference between the terms lead and prospect.

Prospect

While leads and prospects are described with nearly identical definitions, differences emerge based on the effort required to reach the customer stage.

Lead refers to individuals who have discovered your products or services through your marketing efforts, but who currently know little about your company and are actively seeking to learn more about your business before becoming customers. When ready, they complete the remaining process of becoming a customer. A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) refers to individuals who show interest in your products or services and have likely successfully executed transactions with other companies similar to yours in the past. You may group your competitor’s customers under this definition⁵.

Prospect, on the other hand, is similar to an MQL. They possess knowledge about your company and its products. They can complete the customer acquisition process more quickly and easily than a lead, according to the lead definition⁵. The prospect definition may also have its own nuances^{6 7}.

Current Prospect

Refers to a person who is associated with an agreement. As long as the person remains associated with the agreement—until the agreement is closed or terminated for any reason—they remain a potential customer.

Lost Prospect

Indicates that the related agreement has been marked as “Lost” or “Unqualified.” The individual remains in this status until they are associated with a new agreement.

Non Prospect

Indicates the absence of any agreement with the individual.

Active (Active Customer)

Refers to customers who are actively conducting transactions. For e-commerce websites, this describes customers who have completed purchases and often hold an account. Individuals who conduct transactions as visitors may also be classified as active customers, although their relationship with the brand is more limited and their transaction frequency is generally higher.

Inactive (Inactive Customer)

Refers to potential customers who have registered but have not yet completed any transaction (such as payment, subscription, etc.). In certain cases, this definition may be expanded to include past due, expired, or cancelled statuses^{8 9}.

Past due / Expired

Refers to customers who have not conducted any transactions for a long period of time (for subscribed customers, the subscription period has ended or the payment method has expired)^6.

Cancelled / Archived

Customers whose subscriptions have been cancelled or whose accounts have been paused or deleted are classified as cancelled.

Suspended

Refers to customers whose subscriptions or account access have been restricted, often with a subsequent suspension of further transactions. These customers have previously conducted at least one transaction.

The definitions mentioned above may vary depending on specific tools and sales strategies. However, you can generally observe certain common patterns. You may segment customers into more subcategories based on their stage, or alternatively, group existing segments under broader headings.

Gazelle

Footnotes

1. Lead generation. Wikipedia ↩
2. Carli Hanlon. Users vs. Sessions: What’s the difference? WholeWhale ↩
3. Misunderstood Metrics: New vs Returning Visitors. Analytics Edge ↩
4. Google Analytics users. Hotjar ↩
5. Difference Between a Lead and a Prospect. Engagebay ↩ ↩²
6. Sophie McMonagle. (2020). Understanding and using the prospect and customer statuses. Zendesk ↩
7. [Timothy Barnes. (2020). Overview of Customer Statuses: Prospect, New, Active, Inactive.] ↩
8. Customer status. IBM Knowledge Center ↩
9. Lez. (2019). Customer Status Definitions. Enrolmy ↩