I think the issue is that you're thinking of the customer as being a person, who you move along the sales process. think of "Customer" in this context as being

I think the issue is that you're thinking of the customer as being a person, who you move along the sales process. think of "Customer" in this context as being Customer with a Capital "C". The General idea of customers. As in, "Who's your Customer". In this case it's almost interchangable with "Market". What you're developing is who the customer of your product is. You're making a model of what the customer is like, what they want, and why. And you're manipulating that model as you learn more things about real people who might actually be a customer of your company later on. Think of it as Developing the Customer section of your [business plan](http://www.ashmaurya.com/2010/08/businessmodelcanvas/ http://www.ashmaurya.com/2010/08/businessmodelcanvas/)