Customer vs. Client

Customer vs. Client Customer vs. Client Customer vs. Client By Mark Nichol What’s the difference between a customer and a client? Substantially, not much but as we all know on some level, the exchange of currency for goods and services is more about the style than the substance. Savvy merchants have blurred the distinction in the interests of encouraging business by conferring prestige on potential purchasers. First, word origins: Customer’s root word, custom, ultimately derives from the Latin verb consuescere, â€Å"to accustom,† and the sense of a person who buys something from another perhaps stems from the idea of purchasing as being a habit. Client (the plural can be clients or clientele) also comes from Latin, in the form of clientem, â€Å"follower,† which may be related to the root word of incline. This sense persists in the phrase â€Å"client state,† referring to a nation dependent on another for security or other support. The two terms have traditionally differed widely in usage: A customer is simply a recipient of products or services in exchange for money. Even though the relationship to the provider might be long lasting, the sense is of discrete exchanges. By contrast, a client is engaged in a more qualitative relationship in which the provider generally applies professional skills to offer often intangible commodities such as legal services, insurance policies, and the like. (Another distinction is that a customer is more likely to visit a retail establishment, whereas a client may more easily receive services without being physically present at the place of business. The escalation of mail-order business spurred by online retailing, however, has blurred this distinction.) Because of the greater perceived value associated with provision of professional services, businesses not normally classified as providers of such have taken to referring to their customers as clients. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with that; why shouldn’t an auto mechanic refer to people with car trouble as clients rather than customers? As I mentioned above, it’s all about the prestige: A streetwalker services customers, but an escort sees clients. Synonyms for customer and client are available, but they have their limits: A buyer is someone who pays for something, but the word also refers to someone employed by or otherwise associated with a company who purchases things wholesale to later be sold as is or as part of a retail product by that company. Patron is more limited in connotation than customer or client; it generally refers to someone purchasing an aesthetic experience such as a performance or a meal rather than carting items from a shelf to a checkout stand. It also applies, however, to a supporter (as in â€Å"a patron of the arts†) or a guardian (as in â€Å"a patron saint†). Guest is an elegant way to describe someone acquiring lodging or otherwise remaining on the business premises for an extended time but seems pretentious for other usages. Meanwhile, consumer seems too impersonal and is best reserved for referring, in singular or plural form, to connote a typical person who buys products or services or the general public in that role. Other synonyms such as user (or â€Å"end user†) are highly specific to technological products and services, and yet others are clunky (purchaser, vendee) or describe someone on the way to becoming a customer or client but not yet there (prospect, shopper). Your best bet is to weigh customer and client and, with candor, determine which is more appropriate for the context. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:25 Subordinating ConjunctionsList of Greek Words in the English LanguageIs "Number" Singular or Plural?

Call for a Blanket Ban on the Sale and Marketing of Cigarettes in the Essay

Call for a Blanket Ban on the Sale and Marketing of Cigarettes in the US - Essay Example People in the developed world and especially in the United States of America today approach the concept of health with an enhanced dedication and commitment. The food habits, lifestyles orientations and nutritional preferences are indeed altering in consonance with the guidelines and information available regarding health and healthcare. People today well understand that choosing a healthy lifestyle not only adds to the longevity, but also enables a person to be more productive and positive. However, relinquishing bad habits and making new choices does not seem easy when one intrudes into the area of addictive substances like tobacco. Moreover, the consumption of addictive substances like tobacco being legally valid and acceptable, most of the times people fail to realize that are the victims of a vicious addiction, which has the potential to take their life and to make them seriously sick. Considering this fact, the Federal Government should out with a law envisaging a pan-American ban on the sale and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products so as to reduce the healthcare costs, to save human lives and eventually to give way to a healthy and progressive society. The proposal for the coming into existence of such a law is not merely an emotive appeal, but is as much based on the existing data and information regarding the health implications of smoking. It goes without saying that to call for a blanket ban by the Federal government; it would be really pragmatic and reasonable to cull out the data from the existing government institutions and organizations regarding the mortality potential of smoking. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, â€Å"More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined (Online).† Also, smoking tobacco in any form are it cigarettes, cigars or pipe, has been found to considerably enhance the chance of dying from cancers of larynx, oral cavity, esophagus and lungs (CDC: Online). Cigarette smoking is responsible for one in every five deaths in the United States of America (CDC: Online). Cigarette smoking claims 443,000 lives every ear out of which 49,000 deaths are attributed to exposure to second hand smoke (CDC: Online). Men smoking cigarettes are 10 times more likely to die of bronchitis and emphysema and are 22 times more vulnerable to lung cancer (CDC: Online). The magnitude of the loss to human resources in the United States of America by cigarette smoking gets amply clear when one considers the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s claims that, â€Å"An estimated 46 million people, or 20.6 percent of all adults (aged 18 years and older), in the United States smoke cigarettes (Online).† Considering these figures one could also estimate the burden on the national and local healthcare systems that could be traced direct ly to cigarette smoking. So, when the government bodies are themselves aware of the health consequences of cigarette smoking on the nation’s population, considering the statistics provided by them, the Federal government should not have a problem or excuse regarding coming out with a blanket ban on the sale and marketing of cigarettes. In the

Art and Materiality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Art and Materiality - Essay Example However, some scholars and critiques of art settle on the 1970s as the cut-off period for the definition of the beginning of contemporary art. Contemporary art vividly integrates life because of its formalization of novel real life practices through artistry. It is widely admissible that contemporary artwork appreciates life practices by the conveyance of diverse notions that are inherent in most artworks. There are distinction between things and objects as applied in artworks but none of them solely dominates the materiality of art. Things are expressions of human relations to the world while objects express the extent of performance of the relationship expressed in an artwork. Objects, as used in art, best perform the role of an intermediary and a catalyst that communicate the assertion of the artist. In as much as different artist choose one of the two forms of materiality, objects or things, they may change from one to another. Art criticism is the comprehensive judgment of artwo rks based on diverse aspects. The vast dominance of a variety of art renders art criticism as one of the most interesting themes in exploring art and materiality. The criticism explores diverse facts about art including their qualitative judgments and determining whether artworks are objects or things. It allows the evaluation of art based on qualitative methods and an understanding of the quality of the artworks that determines the artists’ level of success. The diverse materiality aspects of visual arts addresses in art criticism include its conservation and the decorative value. The argument as to whether art is an expression that uses objects or things, however, may vary extensively. Artworks are a means of communicating ideas and thoughts of the artists. In some instances, it is to create social change and political transitions in another. Other artists, through their artworks, intend to explore the theme of social diversity among communities. Some artworks also inspire and empower historical issues through their cultural values. The role of the artwork dictates the consideration of art as an object or things. Cultural expressions, as a role of artwork would be achievable, best, by the use of objects that are representative of the culture depicted. Although the materiality of things can show value when used to express culture, artists prefer objects to things. In contemporary art, artists appreciate the existence of materiality as an important reason for their effort to explore nature and other aspects of life, in totality, through creativity. Contemporary art serves as the factor that combines human imagination to reality. The artworks of Jean Tinguely, a Swiss, attracted plausible interest in the 20th century. The exemplary manifestation of decline of modern industries and of species extinction of species remains an appreciation of things that exist in world as well as objects. The kinetic artwork that Tinguely displayed concentrated on the theme of destruction. He created artwork that displayed mechanical structures and dominated by objects that are part of human’s daily interactions. Most of his artworks experienced the predominating of the consequences of malfunctioning of objects. Chaos I is one of the most remarkable and historic arts by Tinguely. Damien Hirst’s shark forms one of the greatest artworks that attract massive numbers in most museums, to date. The controversial artwork by Hirst is unquestionably an impression of thoughts. This renders

Management and Team-working in a Large Organisation Essay

Management and Team-working in a Large Organisation - Essay Example y activity may be utilised to demonstrate the efficacy of these management principles to understand its functioning in the light how transformational leadership can bring about changes in the employees (Jacobs et al. 2006: 211-217). This would thus demonstrate the roles of managers in large organisations and also demonstrate how an employee in the NHS can self-manage him or herself. The overall aim of NHS is directly responsible for providing health services to the population of the United Kingdom. One of the major activities is to oversee the performance of the NHS organizations, primarily Primary Care Trusts and NHS Hospital Trusts. For any organisation of large magnitude, such as, NHS, it is important to achieve financial balance along with achievement of agreed performance targets. These are usually included in the local delivery plans, which may be termed as business plan (McNulty and Ferlie, 2004, 1389-1412). This indicates the necessity of management, and indeed smooth running of the complex functions of the NHS need managers their management skills to be utilised maximally to result into best outputs in terms of service provision and efficiency (Bolton, 2005: 5-23). In this assignment, Gibbs reflective cycle will be used to explore my knowledge on role of managers in my organisation. While doing this, I would also present an account of how I manage myself as an employee. Moreover, this will also demonstrate my abilities to work as a team member and my understanding on the utility and importance of working as a team member. In health care profession, utilization of reflective practice is becoming of paramount importance for continuing professional development. Gibbs cycle reflection comprises of few steps, the first is thought and/or feeling about an incident in practice. This would follow an evaluation about whether it is good or bad. This would follow an analysis to critically evaluate about the incidence. Then a conclusion can be reached through a

Why is Pilgrimage an Important aspect of the Hindu Religion ? :: essays papers

Why is Pilgrimage an Important aspect of the Hindu Religion ? The following essay addresses that of the Hindu pilgrimage as to why pilgrimage is an important aspect of Hindu religion? Firstly, the essay focusses on points which support pilgrimage as a fundamental and key aspect of the Hindu community. Secondly, a perspective denying pilgrimages have any significant role for Hindu and their religion is discussed. It does seem though, to me, that without the aspect of pilgrimage, the Hindu religion would still function quite noramally because although the pilgrimage sites give darsan, they do not seem to be able to assist people with their day to day problems, whereas holy men do. First though we need to know exactly what darsan means to Hindus. Darsan means seeing in Hindu religion and when people go to a temple, they say they do not go to worship but rather for darsan - they go to see the image of the deity. The pinacle act of Hindu worship, is to stand in the presence of the deity and to look upon the image with their eyes, so as to see and be seen by the deity. The deity is believed to actually be within the image, and beholding the deity image is a form of worship where through the eyes one gains blessings. A pilgrimage is a religious journey; people undertake pilgrimages so they can worship at special places which are connected to their religion. Journeying to holy places of pilgrimage are generally carried out as acts of faith and devotion in accummulating religious merit or to atone for sins. Pilgrimages are also regarded by Hindus as a religious duty from which darsan can be attained. There are thousands of pilgrimage sites - tirthas (sacred, fords or crossings) in India, where many places of pilgrimage are renowned for their divine images. And it is the darsan of these divine images that are sought , because the darsan is believed by Hindus to be far greater and significant than that which can be granted and given by holy men i.e. sadhus. It entails then, that holy places of pilgrimages are an extension of additional darsan, of which can be given and received by travelling on a pilgrimage. For example, pilgrims go to the sacred hill of Tirupati for the darsan of Sri Venkatesvara, an ancient icon believed to be a form of Visnu. According to legend, the Lord came to bless a particular devotee who was faithful in his duties towards his parents. The devotee took no time

My Cross-Cultural Experiences

1. First cross-cultural experiences that I have had in my life * The first culture clash I had was on my first trip to Germany. It was when my friend and me went on a ski trip with our school. We arrived a town called Innsbruck where we stayed at a hotel. I got very surprised when I first got there, the first thing I recognized was the houses they lived in, they all had names on their houses. It was painted on their front wall. This didn’t make any sense for me but I was told that it was because some of the houses where family houses.And that they rented out rooms. At the same day when we went for dinner at our hotel we got served 4 meals. We first got soup, then salad, the main meal and dessert. This didn’t make any sense for me, because back home I was not used to get 4 meals at a restaurant. That night I went to take a shower but I couldn't figure out how to turn on the water in the shower. There were three knobs above the tub, so I assumed that they were for hot, wa rm, and cold water. I twisted the â€Å"warm† knob, but no water came out.Then I tried the two others, and I did get some water, but it was either too cold or too warm. I was too embarrassed to ask anyone for help with such a simple thing, so after making several unsuccessful attempts, I gave up. I had a cold bath instead. 2. Second cross-cultural experiences that I have had in my life – The second experience I had was when I first visited the United States. When I first arrived Westminster College I was so excited and scared at the same time.I have never lived in a community called â€Å"dorms† before and I was not sure how it would work and I had no clue how my roommates would be. The first thing I recognized was how much they talked and their conversation was at a very loud level. The next day I recognized how nice the people were, they smiled and they even said hi to me. I got shocked when people even hold the door open when I was far away they would stand t here and wait for me.When we went out for dinner that night I was also surprised when I ordered a coke, when I finished the coke the waitress came out with another one I got confused and told her that it has to be a misunderstanding because I didn’t ordered another one. She told me that it was free refuel. I felt kind of stupid, and my roommates started laughing at me because they thought it was funny. I told my roommates that in Norway we have to pay for the refuel and after that they taught me more about their culture so I could be more able to adapt to their culture.

The Threat Of Global Warming - 1779 Words

We are paying the consequences from past generation’s inability to make the right but hard choices, in order to protect and preserve our environment. The NRDC website lists the top global warming symptoms as melting glaciers, rising sea levels, severe weather patterns, the human health, and wildlife. (Consequences of Global Warming). Drilling in ANWR would cause horrifying situations for the wildlife ecosystem and inescapable affects on life in America and around the world, as we know it. In the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s annual report and recommendations to the US Congress, they revealed the astounding fact that, â€Å"The Artic Refuge is the only conservation system unit that protects, in an undisturbed condition, a complete†¦show more content†¦8). The wildlife and undisrupted wilderness is interwoven in their culture, daily lives, and sense of themselves (Inkley, Kolton, p. 8). Sarah James, a member of the Neets’all Gwich’in, Art ic Village Gwich’in Steering committee, emphasized this connection, stating, â€Å"We are the Caribou People†¦Caribou are not just what we eat; they are who we are. They are in our stories and songs and the whole way we see the world. Caribou are our life. Without caribou we wouldn’t exist† (Inkley, Kolton, p. 8). As oil drilling in ANWR would inevitably disrupt and threaten the safety and existence of the caribou, it would disrupt and threaten the safety and, as Sarah emphasizes in her last statement, herself and her villages’ existence. The abundance of wildlife within the diverse ANWR ecosystem is the beating heart of our natural global environment, with an immeasurable amount of importance with regards to our environments interconnectivity. With over 8 marine mammal species and 42 species of fish, the robust ANWR ecosystem provides the uninterrupted conservation and preservation required for these species spawning rituals, in order to maintain the fish population necessary for our mass fishing industry, that we have become so accustomed to in the lower 48 (Inkley, Kolton, p. 8). An enormous portion of the fish we consume is Alaskan salmon; whose spawning ground environment ANWR oil