B2B outbound in Türkiye: what is different
Selling into Türkiye with cold email and LinkedIn does not work as a translation of what works in English-speaking markets. Forms of address, tone, how names are written, the calendar and the law all differ. This page sums up the differences and how TechSales handles each one.
In short
- Turkish business writing addresses people by first name plus Bey or Hanım, always with the formal 'siz'; never by surname ('Yılmaz Bey').
- The tone is more formal and indirect; a short message asking about interest lands better than a direct pitch.
- Exported lists often lose Turkish letters and casing, and suffixes such as A.Ş. and Ltd. Şti. read badly in an email.
- Bayram (religious holiday) weeks, mid-August and New Year affect campaign timing.
- Commercial electronic messages to merchants and tradesmen need no prior consent, but İYS registration and opt-out checks apply. Details: KVKK and cold email.
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Address and tone
'Merhaba Ahmet Bey,' or 'Merhaba Ayşe Hanım,' is the standard opening in Turkish business email. When the gender is not known, the first name alone is far safer than a wrong honorific. 'Sayın' is usually kept for the public sector, holding-company top management or very senior executives. The full rules are on Turkish greeting rules.
For the Turkish market TechSales defaults to a formal, indirect tone. The copy avoids phrases that read as translated ('umarım bu e-posta sizi iyi bulur', 'hızlı bir soru'), clichés such as 'sinerji' and 'değer katmak', and religious greetings. A first message ends with a question about interest, not a calendar link.
Lists and data
- Turkish letters: records such as 'Esref Simsek' are restored to 'Eşref Şimşek'.
- Casing: 'İREM ÖZTÜRK' becomes İrem Öztürk; a lower-case 'ismail' becomes İsmail.
- Company names: A.Ş., Ltd. Şti. and San. ve Tic. are removed and a short name is created for the copy.
- Titles: Turkish titles such as 'İK Direktörü' and 'Genel Müdür' are read for persona and seniority; a Turkish version of an English title can be written to its own column.
- Academic titles (Prof., Dr., Doç.) are moved out of the name into their own column.
- Shared mailboxes (bilgi@, iletisim@, satis@, ik@) are flagged before a send.
Calendar
The Kurban and Ramazan Bayramı weeks, mid-August and New Year week are periods when replies drop in Türkiye. The TechSales Campaign Builder warns when a Türkiye campaign would run through them; it does not pause sending on its own, the decision stays with you. Weekends are not counted as sending days.
Replies
Reply classification works in Turkish: it recognises out-of-office messages such as 'izindeyim', dates such as 'Kasım'da tekrar yazın' and referrals such as 'insan kaynakları ile iletişime geçin'. Phrases such as 'listenizden çıkarın' or 'bir daha yazmayın' put the person on Do Not Contact on every channel; 'zaten sizinle çalışıyoruz' adds the company and its domain too. A reply that mentions KVKK is treated as high risk and waits for a person instead of being answered automatically.
Frequently asked questions
- Does cold email work in Türkiye?
- It is a common B2B channel when it goes to the right person, with the right form of address, as a short message asking about interest. List quality and copy that fits the market usually decide the outcome.
- LinkedIn or email?
- It depends on the person. TechSales sends people who are active on LinkedIn with enough connections to LinkedIn, people with a valid email to email, and those who fit both to a multi-touch sequence. See Email and LinkedIn in one sequence.
- Is the TechSales interface available in Turkish?
- Yes. Each user can use the interface in Turkish, with numbers and dates in Turkish format.
See it on your own market
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