My first client in the United States

I had been told the Americans would be all enthusiasm and no follow-through. That was not my experience at all.

What I had not been warned about was how much of the relationship happens in the gaps.

What actually differs

Not enthusiasm. What counts as evidence. In my experience US clients will move on a compelling direction and are comfortable buying into where something is going. UK clients want to see it working, ideally somewhere that looks like them, before committing to a first phase.

Neither is better. They need different first meetings, and running the wrong one is expensive. The vision-led conversation lands badly with a British engineering firm, who will quietly conclude you are selling smoke.

The thing that nearly sank it

Time zones, but not in the way you expect. The problem was not the calls. It was that a question asked at 4pm their time landed at 9pm mine, and if I did not answer, it sat overnight and half their next morning was gone.

I ended up defining the hours I would be available and saying so plainly, rather than trying to be permanently reachable and quietly resenting it. Clients respect a stated boundary far more than an unreliable one.

Practical things that bit

• Agree the currency and who absorbs the conversion before the first invoice, not after.
• "Let's circle back" means different things in different places. Ask for a date. Always ask for a date.
• Payment terms and payment rails differ. Sort the mechanics before there is money outstanding.

What travels

A specific number about a specific problem. "You are losing roughly a day a week to this" lands identically in Birmingham and in Boston.