# client / customer



## fetchezlavache

What's the difference between _client_ and _customer_ please ?

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## stevenality

*What a brilliant question!*

In this user-pays-post-modern society, it seems to me that anyone using a service has been turned into a _customer_.

I detest how English has been debased by commercialised newspeak with everything commodified as much as possible.

Does anyone recall how you once got on a plane and you were a passenger, now it's *customer*. The parents of school children are also termed the school's *customers*.

It seems that in most circles the word _client_ is almost archaic.

Does anyone out there apart from me remember with fondness and nostalgia a time before Reagan/Thatcher, globalisation, level playing fields and free trade agreements?

Sorry if I have digressed a little ... [...]


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## scarmanus

Ok, these ones I use them at random, but what is the difference? The same as in entreprise et compagnie?

Thank you in advance.


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## RODGER

this is a tough one but :
a shop has a customer
a bank has a client. There is in the idea of client a notion of regularity,fidelity,professionalism,trust even. The next one down on the scale would be "punter" (somewhat scornful)


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## semiller

A "client" is more of a formal word, usually used to show respect in a professional setting.  Saying a "client" is more politically correct.  A "customer" is a very colloquial, very casual word usually used to mean in a store or retail setting.  You can call someone a "client" in a retail setting, but it's just more formal.  I hope this helps.


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## claude123

Client = Person/organization who 
secures professional services over 
time, to carry out a specific function.

Customer = Organization or person that 
receives a product


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## zinc

semiller said:
			
		

> A "client" is more of a formal word, usually used to show respect in a professional setting. Saying a "client" is more politically correct. A "customer" is a very colloquial, very casual word usually used to mean in a store or retail setting.


 Not sure about the politically correct part, but I agree that "client" is more formal. But there is no golden rule; it's generally just a matter of what sounds best in terms of customary usage. That doesn't help you much I know, sorry. But my bank, for example, calls me a 'customer', while my plumber calls me a 'client'. My accountant calls me a 'customer', but my financial planner calls me a 'client'.


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## cel_d

Hello !

The difference between client and customer is quite hard to get in French, but maybe it could be translated by "client" and "usager"...


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## doodlebugger

"Usager" is typical of France and addresses the users of public services.
An "usager" is a client that does not have a choice!


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## baldrian

Hi Everybody,

Can somenone explain to me what the difference is between "client" and "customer"? Even is some people use those words interchangeably, it seems to be a very big difference in business. But as the translation for both words is "client" in French, it is hard for me to really understand the difference.

Thanks for your help


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Although There may be exceptions to this rule, in most cases a client buys services (rather than goods).


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## Azzu

Bonjour! 
Malgré les différents forums à ce sujet j'ai toujours du mal à comprendre la différence entre ces deux notions!! 
En milieu industriel, y-at-il une grande différence si l'on utilise indifféremment _client_ ou _customer _pour désigner celui qui  achète un produit???
Merci de votre aide!!


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## Moon Palace

_Client_ more specifically refers to a customer who is provided with professional services, so that I believe in an industrial context, it would be preferrable to use _client. _


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## Azzu

Ok, so when talking about B-to-B business we can use client, whereas when it's B-to-C it's better to use customer. I think I understand better now! Thanks


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## alisonp

I would use "client" predominantly for someone receiving e.g. legal services, in that sense of professional services.  Possibly also, in an industrial context, for someone who has instructed you to, perhaps, design something to their own specifications, although I think the situation would be less clear there.  I think if they were just buying something "off the peg" you'd be more likely to call them a customer.

Perhaps there is actually a distinction between someone buying goods and someone purchasing services?  But then I know translators who refer to them as clients, and others who call them customers ...


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## oakaziz

A client is someone you work for and a customer is someone you work with. A client may receive expert advice but a customer may only receive factual information, no expert advise. Client is owed more confidentiality than a customer.


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## Muggle

Hi everyone, 

do you use the word 'customer' or the word 'client' for banks?
I know you use 'client' with sollicitors and such and 'customer' in shops, but what about banks? 
Thanks in advance


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## Procol

Hi

You would use customer in a front-desk context, i.e. the general public, but client in the other financial and business contexts.


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## CG78

Hello,
That's a coincidence. I was wondering the same yesterday when translating a report for a bank. On googling, it seems that "customer" gets top hits though I agree with Procol that "client" is more appropriate within financial circles.


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## ascoltate

I would say that in the bank context there is a slight distinction - somebody who comes into the bank once (let's say, to change money from a foreign country) is a "customer" (not a "client"!) - but someone who regularly does business at that institution and has an account there can be called either (a "regular customer" or a "(regular) client")...


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## Procol

I'd agree with Asco...


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## MmePitchounette

Bonjour,

j'hésite toujours entre ces deux mots... Par exemple, est-ce que les salons de coiffure ont des "clients" or "customers"?

Merci.


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## chogall

I would use customers.


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## xaipete

To me, _client_ implies a more continuing relationship than _customer_, and also implies that the person is buying services, not just goods.   (It always bothers me when my public library talks about its customers, as if they were buying the books.)


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## dena07

Hi there! 

I am translating a document and I don't really get the difference between customer and client...

Which one should I use in the context of a client/customer of a real estate agency?

Thank you in advance for your anwers!


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## franc 91

A client tends to be more used in American English and a customer is more usual in British English (a real estate agency is also American - we would call it an estate agent's)


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## Keith Bradford

In Britain the distinction is, broadly:

*Customer *= person buying goods from a retailer
*Client *= person or company buying goods or services from a professional
So we'd say _there were a lot of customers at the supermarket till_, but that _the architect invited his clients into the office_.

Of course there are cases when both will do; perhaps yours is one of them.


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## LART01

Hi
In this context ( estate) I see the_ client _as a company/institution the realtor works with or for ( a university for students' accomodation for instance) and a_ customer _as the one who actually rents or buys


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## aljoram

Hi all,

I have a question regarding the translation of c*ustomer/client i*nto French.

I know what is the difference between c*ustomer *and *client* but it is hard to find a right word in French.


I have these words in this context:

*Ranked top decile by corporate clients and customers.*


Here is my translation
Classé décile supérieur par les *clients d'entreprise *et les *clients*.....

Thank you

Can anybody help with some suggestion.

Thank you


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## Weblinguist

Just put "client", there is not distinction in French. And it's irrelevant in this context.


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## Astilbe

To translate this in French: could I use client for client  and consommateur for customer?


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## Wordsmyth

In modern usage, the two are used virtually synonymously, so there's no point in looking for tangential or approximate alternative words in French. Some professions prefer 'client', others 'customer', but even within a given profession the usage is variable. In all cases, the normal French word is _"client"_.
_Consommateur_ is _consume_r, not _customer_.  

There is a semantic argument that suggests that _customer_ relates to _custom_, and that _custom_ means regular ('customary') dealings : hence such statements as "I'll take my custom elsewhere". However, that's rare usage these days. If you go into a shop for the first time, you're still considered to be a _customer_.

Ws


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## claude123

If your concern is about what to say in French (target language), you can use client in either case, we don't make such a fine distinction in general.


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## Keith Bradford

My pennyworth:

If you're buying items in a shop, you're always a customer.
If you're buying services in an office, you're more likely to be a client.
But there is a great deal of overlap in between.


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## .marguerite.

After reading all the threads about client and customer, I'd say that if you really need to translate both words, maybe you could use "clients réguliers/fidèles" (for clients) and "clients occasionnels" (for customers).


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## Weblinguist

It's true, but I'd say the distinction is not really important, even in English. Writers use it for rythm, whereas if you were to write directly in French, you wouldn't phrase it like that. In French, the word "client" is an inclusive generic. I think that using "clients réguliers/fidèles" (for clients) and "clients réguliers/fidèles" (for clients) and "clients occasionnels" (for customers) would be ver-translation. However, you're right when you say that if, for whatever reason, the distinction is important, then your suggestion seems very accurate.


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