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Customer VS client?
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 6:52 pm
by riglos
Hi everybody!
I was wondering whether there was any difference between the words "customer" and "client". If there is, could you explain the different contexts in which we use each one? Are there any collocations or fixed expressions?
Thanks a lot!
Mara.
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 9:42 pm
by joshua2004
Client to me sounds more formal. Customer is more informal. That is the major difference I see.
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:39 am
by emile
'Client' is used in a corporate situation. For example, lawyers have clients, accountants have clients. 'Customer' is used in a commercial situation (someone is buying something from another person/company). Shops have customers, salesmen have customers.
When a situation is corporate AND commercial, the two words are interchangeable. In other words, a client can also be a customer.
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:10 am
by strider
Interesting question!
I think there is also the question of register. As companies try to position themselves in more lucrative parts of the market, the language they use changes.
Some years ago, my wife was the manager of a famous high street retailer. At first, the shop had customers. Then there was a change in the brand image of the shop, and the management began using the word clients. Later, another re-branding exercise took place as the management tried to make the brand more exclusive. Form that point on, people who bought products in the shop became 'guests'!
Although the people stayed pretty much the same, the term to describe them changed 3 times in just a few years.