But also because clients often confuse these two very similar words.

And what I found was, well, it's kind of normal if you confuse these words, too.

Hi, I'm your English coach, Christina, and welcome to Speak English with Christina, where we eliminate your blockages and increase your confidence in business English communication step by step.

Customer or client?

Two words, basically, to indicate a person who pays money for something.

Simple, right?

Nah, this is English; it's never simple.

And, as I explored the explanations on the Internet, I found things like, "It's best to think of a client as a particular type of customer."

"A client buys services, so, in some sense, he or she is a customer. And customers can buy services, too, instead of physical goods."

Client vs. customer is one of the biggest mysteries in the business world.

Well, I love a good challenge, so, let's try to demystify the difference.

To make the difference between client and customer, there are two things to consider:

What the person buys and the relationship between the seller and the buyer.

So, for example, a client buys personalized or highly professional services, like legal advice, coaching, graphic design, real estate, consultations, etc.

And the seller-buyer relationship for a client, there's a notion of relationship, accompaniment, help, and support.

Now, a customer, what they buy is products or services that they choose at the moment and pay for with an immediate money transaction.

The seller-buyer relationship for a customer, there's a notion of immediate financial exchange, where the customer pays money and gets a product or service immediately.

So that adds some clarification, but what if you're still not sure if you have clients or customers?

Let's go a step further in trying to solve one of the biggest mysteries in the business world.

So, you have clients if your business is a law firm, a coaching or consulting business, a web or design agency, a real estate agency, an insurance agency, or an advertising agency.

You have customers if your business is a retail store, a supermarket, a restaurant, software-as-a-service products, a bakery, cafe, or other similar business, or a service station or garage.

And let's take it one step further:

Is one word more formal or sophisticated than the other?

No.

Don't think that the word customer is more general, shallower, or less sophisticated.

No, you can still make your services personalized and have lawyer-buyers, even if you're dealing with customers.

What's important is how you treat your buyers, whether they are customers or clients.

And, the final step:

What if you still confuse the two and use the wrong word?

Now, no one will throw rotten tomatoes at you.

They won't feel insulted and they won't think that you speak bad English.

I promise.

And I think we did it.

In about five minutes, we solved one of the biggest mysteries in the business world.

So, I think that you and I both deserve a coffee.

Oh, wait, before you go, can I ask you two things?

Go to christinarebuffet.com and sign up for my free newsletter so that I can continue helping you become more confident in business English.

And the second thing, let's take a few more steps together to continue increasing your confidence.

I created a playlist for you where you'll discover why "they" is a singular pronoun, how to use the infinitive and -ing correctly, and we'll clarify how to use prepositions like "at", "in", or "on".

Just click over there to continue learning with me and I'll see you in the next video.

See ya.