Poll: Are you on a first-name basis with most or all of your clients?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Dec 24, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you on a first-name basis with most or all of your clients?".

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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:28
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Dec 24, 2018

I live in California. Californians are on first-name basis with everyone. Even doctors! It has been this way for decades, and I see that the trend is drifting eastward.

Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Davide Leone
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 01:28
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Dec 24, 2018

With most of my clients I’m on a first-name basis, but it depends on the client’s nationality. Francophone people tend to be more formal at first and then change quickly to a more informal tone. My long-standing Belgian client still calls me Mme Borges though we have been nurturing a beautiful (business) relationship of over 20 years…

Yetta Jensen Bogarde
 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:28
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
It depends Dec 24, 2018

With most clients I'm on first-name terms. A few, especially the French, are more formal and always address me (and I them) as Madame (or Monsieur). I follow the client's lead regarding the degree of formality.

Laura Nagle (X)
 
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 02:28
English to German
In memoriam
Yes Dec 24, 2018

While first-name basis is rather unusual in Germany except for actual friends, it seems to be the standard in the agencies I am working with (only one of my agencies is located in Germany). When I meet someone online, I normally mirror the way they are addressing me, so if they address me as Kay-Viktor, I will address them as Jill or Jack. (And they get extra points if they do not misspell my first name and if they realize I'm a guy... See more
While first-name basis is rather unusual in Germany except for actual friends, it seems to be the standard in the agencies I am working with (only one of my agencies is located in Germany). When I meet someone online, I normally mirror the way they are addressing me, so if they address me as Kay-Viktor, I will address them as Jill or Jack. (And they get extra points if they do not misspell my first name and if they realize I'm a guyCollapse


 
EvaVer (X)
EvaVer (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 02:28
Czech to French
+ ...
No Dec 25, 2018

I live in Eastern Europe, where this is not normal practice in business relations. So not with my local clients, yes with most foreign clients. As my family name is complicated, some of my local clients call me the equivalent of "Mrs. Eva", which is rather ridiculous. But I don't call them by their first names.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 22:28
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes, all of them Dec 25, 2018

The only clients or potential clients that ever call me Mr. Freitas are a few that do not know me yet, i.e. on a first contact (very rare, though). This type of formality surely does not help the relationship at all. I always try to become less formal and a bit more friendly, and it works well every time. The raltionship becomes a lot better, as well as troubleshooting, once you drop the Mr., Mrs., Dr., and the like. First name ends up being efficient and productive, as opposed to the formality.

 


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Poll: Are you on a first-name basis with most or all of your clients?






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