Turkish greeting rules: Bey, Hanım and getting it right in cold email
In a Turkish business email, the first line shows whether it was written by hand or sent in bulk. 'Merhaba Ahmet Bey' is polite and normal; 'Merhaba Ayşe Bey' (a male honorific for a woman) means the rest of the email goes unread. This page covers the rules and how TechSales prevents a wrong greeting.
In short
- The correct form is first name plus Bey (Mr.) or Hanım (Ms.): 'Merhaba Ahmet Bey,' and 'Merhaba Ayşe Hanım,'. Never with the surname ('Yılmaz Bey').
- 'Sayın' (a formal 'Dear') is usually kept for the public sector, holding-company top management or very senior executives. The formal 'siz' is used throughout.
- When the gender is not known, the first name alone is safer than a wrong guess. Names such as Deniz, Evren, Umut and Derya are unisex.
- TechSales guesses gender from first names, splits lists into Women, Men and Unisex or unclear, and refuses any step or A/B version that uses Bey or Hanım on a list where it does not fit.
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The basic rules
| Situation | Correct | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Man, gender known | Merhaba Ahmet Bey, | Merhaba Yılmaz Bey, / Sayın Ahmet, |
| Woman, gender known | Merhaba Ayşe Hanım, | Merhaba Ayşe Bey, / Sevgili Ayşe, |
| Gender unknown or a unisex name | Merhaba Deniz, | Adding Bey or Hanım on a guess |
| Public sector, holding top management, very senior executive | Sayın Ahmet Bey, | An informal opening |
'İyi çalışmalar dilerim,' or 'Saygılarımla,' are normal closings. The formal 'siz' is used throughout; the informal 'sen' is never right in a cold email.
Where bulk sending goes wrong
The moment a sequence says 'Merhaba {{firstName}} Bey,' that step goes to everyone on the list with the male form. On a mixed list, every woman gets the wrong greeting. The fix is not to personalise each email by hand but to split the list by gender and give each group its own greeting, with a version without an honorific for unclear names.
How TechSales handles it
- The list is prepared with the Turkey market pack: Turkish letters restored and casing fixed (İREM ÖZTÜRK becomes İrem Öztürk).
- The gender step uses an AI model to mark each first name as male, female, unisex or unknown. A gender you correct by hand is kept and never guessed again.
- Split by gender creates Women, Men and Unisex or unclear lists. Small groups are not merged.
- Bey or Hanım is only added on single-gender lists. The unclear list gets the same copy without the honorific.
- Before sending, the copy check reads every step, the subject, the LinkedIn message and every A/B version. Bey and Hanım in the same copy, a male form on a women's list, or an honorific for anyone whose gender is unknown stops the campaign from starting.
The check matches Turkish letters correctly: 'Bey' is not caught inside 'Beyaz', nor 'Hanım' inside 'Hanımeli'. The same guard covers German Herr/Frau, French Monsieur/Madame and English Mr./Ms.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Bey or Hanım used with the first name or the surname?
- With the first name: 'Ahmet Bey', 'Ayşe Hanım'. Using it with the surname ('Yılmaz Bey') is not normal in business email.
- What should I write if I am not sure of the gender?
- The first name alone: 'Merhaba Deniz,'. A wrong Bey or Hanım does far more damage than an opening without one.
- When is 'Sayın' used?
- Usually for public institutions, holding-company top management or very senior executives. For most B2B cold email, 'Merhaba Ahmet Bey,' is enough and natural.
- How does TechSales guess gender?
- An AI model reads the first name and returns male, female, unisex or unknown. Unisex and unknown names get copy without an honorific, and your manual corrections are kept.
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