Difference between a Prospect and a Customer
Hi,
I know that a Prospect is someone that we didn't make any business with him yet, but that potentially we will.
And I also know that a customer is someone to whom we already sold a product and a service.
What I don't know is what distinguishes one from the other technically. Are they in 2 different classes? If so, when we search by a customer that began by being a prospect but was afterwards promoted into a customer, are we going to retrieve 2 records - the customer and the prospect ones?
And speaking of which, how do we promote a prospect into a customer? Is there a case type for that or is it done by simply selling something to a prospect?
My main focus is CS for Comms but I'd like to know as well if the Prospect>Customer process is different when we speak about Sales Force Automation.
Thank you,
Duarte
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Hi Duarte,
Differentiating between prospect and a customer depends on your data structure.
As far as my knowledge goes, SA does this in a single table and differentiates between customers and prospects with a property.
The process of conversion also depends on the structure you follow.
Hope this helps.
-Ravi.
Knowledge Expert
FR
Hi Ravi,
According to the Customer Service for Comms data model - attached to this comment - the Prospects and the Customers have their own tables and act as 2 completely separated entities. Therefore I'm still trying to figure out what is the best practice on how to manage Prospects, Customers and the promotion of one into the other under the light of the standard data model.
Regards,
Duarte
A Dutch Bank
NL
@DuarteM7, did you get any answers? I decided to post your questions again and quite a few more: https://collaborate.pega.com/question/pega-marketing-82-implementation-guide-creates-prospect-mapped-customer-table
Knowledge Expert
FR