Lighthouse customer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A lighthouse customer is an early customer of a given company, product, or technology.
Typically this will be a large, sophisticated customer that, in addition to using the vendor's product or technology, will also provide considerable and candid feedback to help the vendor refine its future product releases, as well as the associated means of distribution, service, and support.
The relationship is synergistic, with the customer having early (and sometimes unique, or at least uniquely early) access to an advantageous new product or technology.
In exchange for being an early adopter, and thus being exposed to the problems, risks, and annoyances common to early-stage product testing and deployment, the lighthouse customer is given especially attentive vendor assistance and support, even to the point of having personnel at the customer's work site to assist with implementation. The customer is often given preferential pricing, terms, and conditions.
The vendor, on the other hand, benefits from receiving early revenues, and also from a lighthouse customer's endorsement and assistance in further developing the product and its go-to-market mechanisms. Acquiring lighthouse customers is a common step in new product development and implementation.
