Just something quick and probably pedantic! :) But the wordage on the empeg website constantly refers to 'clients', whether they're working on additional stuff for irda or whatever! This is not correct, it should be customers. Clients are something that come from a service-business relationship, not a product-consumer relationship. Clients in this context should be referred to as customers.

My 2c

M

I thought the same thing. Although it makes us all sound very official!

Perhaps it's another one of those British things...

DiGNAN

Everybody run! It's the grammar police!

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Tony Fabris

lol! I'd prefer to think of it as an observation ;)

That's OK- As I recall, I got on Rob's case for improper use of "its/it's" when I proofread the site. You know what they say about glass houses.

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Tony Fabris

Client is also what Gateway uses to refer to the people who buy their computers. Using Client over Customer is taught in their training, and Gateway has "Client Relations" and "Client Care" instead of "Customer Support" and "Tech Support". The way they explained it is that they want to maintain a sales relationship with every client to extend things like upgrades or internet servcies to people instead of concluding busniess at the time the person buys the computer.

The term client is used very frequently in conservative US East Coast businesses as well. It isn't incorrect to use it, they are synonymous. In fact, use of the word client lends some professionalism to the business-customer relationship. There are many terms they could have chosen ("user" "buyer" "customer" "client") and I for one think that client is better than others for this particular context ("high end stereo company that deals with the customers on a one-to-one basis with a great deal of professionalism and attention to detail"). The connotation for customer is similar, but then in the world of business, customers get screwed from time to time. Clients are held much closer to the core of a business than that.

That's my psychoword analysis!

Calvin

OK, well here's my more in-depth take on it! I work for an Enterprise Software company who's 'customers' are made up of almost entirely global 2000 companies. We always refer to the people we sell our software to as customers. In technical support, they service the customer. In professional services/consultancy they service the customer. This is because to utilise these services you must already have bought the product.

It just does not sound 'right' to use the word client in the empeg context. Although the company is still in the early adopter phase, they will soon be facing the chasm, as defined by Moore in 'Crossing the Chasm'. Once over the chasm and into a more general marketplace I feel that the client metaphor will not serve the company well.

PR Answer:

Although we develop, manufacture and retail goods for the consumer market, we nonetheless consider ourselves to be a service driven company. Those who purchase our products mean more to us than entries on a daily sales report. The purchase is the beginning of a relationship in which we will strive to maintain excellent customer contact, regular product updates and a service that is second to none. The term "client" is more widely recognised to reflect this greater level of service.

Alternate Answer:

I originally named our customer table in the sales database "Clients" and it stuck.

Rob

Hey, that's a fantastic answer! You should post this question and answer somewhere on the empeg site for publicity

DiGNAN

but what about 'wordage' ;-)
The Collins dictionary doesn't have it although dictionary.com does
Is this another one of those strange yankie wordages;-)

Its more like how a lawyer has clients and not customers. Because there is that one to one relationship. empeg strives to have that type of relationship with their clients and so far have been excellent with that choice. When you buy your main stream car stereo from Best Buy you are a customer, there is practically no relationship with the manufacturer.

I think you are being too closed minded. Not every company is the same, and empeg is absolutely a step above the rest. I applaud their client relations and look forward to becoming a client again with the purchase of a Mark2.

Rob, could you put me in the front of the list for that obvious plug.

-Waiting to replace the hole in my truck with a Mark2

What mkaye is essentially trying to say is that after empeg strikes it rich and becomes a booming high end stereo company and contractor, they will wish to buffer themselves from the end-buyer. In other words, better to lay down the "Chasm" early before the buyers have an expectation of a closer relationship. (In that way, it will be easier "to screw" the end buyers without feeling too badly later. ) The typical model of the manufacturer has a distinct degree of separation accentuated by a manufacturer to end buyer distribution chain (also known as middlemen, or bureaucracy and so on) often appearing on the scene with such features as ivrs ("press 1 for customer service") and lengthy hold times where they run you around and around.

Luckily in the age of e-business, most of this fat is cut out and the manufacturer can finally reap the benefits of a client relationship without uncontrollable costs or the inability to distribute the product.

Calvin ("I am a meanie")