I decided to do some internal research in order to decide. I went back and looked at the sales I’ve made from website leads and checked on how I began the relationship. I also checked on how my after-sale relationship was with each person. The results were unanimous. I will use first names most of the time.

I work with customers who have enough money to buy a vacation home and at times even pay cash, but still I found that my relationships are better with the customers I approached by their first name.

Also, my website is rather new and the sales I’ve had so far from it have all been from leads that I approached with their first name in my first contact email.

I think there are other ways to show professionalism, while still approaching a customer by their first name. That will give me a chance to establish a better relationship at the end and hopefully get some referrals.