During my time as a chartered accountant and senior statutory auditor in professional practice in the UK, the people and companies I was advising were always referred to as clients. “Well of course, what else?”, I hear you say.

After selling my professional practice to concentrate on financial translation work full-time, I was amazed to find that many freelance translators refer to the people they provide their services to as their “customers” and not their “clients”.

A good language services provider acts as adviser and consultant, much in the same way as an accountant or lawyer does. And, as in accountancy or law, it is the client’s privilege to accept or reject the advice given!

To me, the use of the term “customer” devalues the nature of the relationship – if someone is “only” a customer, they will probably regard language services as a commodity.

The use of this term may be a sad reflection of the poor image that some language services providers have of themselves and their chosen profession.

Be bold – and provide a great service to your CLIENTS!