View Full Version : Need for proper english in replies?
Duskette
08-03-2003, 19:45
With the topic in this thread, http://www.sgwebhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=12191#post12191
what do you guys think about company representatives giving official email replies with irc kind of lingos and typos?
Personally, i pay alot of attention to the replies from company. It sort of gives me a better assurance that the company i'm dealing with is of a serious note.
of coz i dun mean with typos mean they are not serious.
I think it is an important aspect of managing a business. Whats your say?
khimhong
08-03-2003, 19:52
I always use formal language in my email towards my clients. By using formal language, you instil a trust in them in their subconscious mind.
By using informal language such as "kp", "den", "arbo", "huh", "simi" etc.. you sometimes do instil fear within them and thye will lose the trsut in you too.
What i think is that by using formal language, you show a form of responsibility
Duskette
08-03-2003, 20:09
i use this email reply from maverick as an example.
"Hi,
It clearly on our website that after first 7 days we do not accept refund. And presently the down is cause by the nac noc end and is not base on our end we are contacting them to solved the problem right now. We are sorry for this "
these are the exact words from the email i received
one look and i find the wordings weird and not at place. while we do agree that perfect grammer/vocab is not mandatory but such poorly formed reply is abit of a bad image for one's company.
note: pls ignore whose reply was from, with the above-mentioned quoted message. For there is no intention to degrade them.
khimhong
08-03-2003, 20:25
The reply normall reflects the company.
Heng Chai
08-03-2003, 22:53
A good rule of the thumb is always use formal language when in doubt. When I mean formal, I mean simple courteous replies in formal english. Grammer and spelling checks are a MUST in either case. You do not want your client to be scratching his head to figure out what word it actually is.
On the other two ends, we have professional text and your typical "cannot be bothered to think" text. For example, a lawyer's letter is a professional text. You DO NOT want to email your new client in such a format. Lawyers' letters don't actually associate well with good relationships (think of when you'll receive one in your mail).
The other end is the "cannot be bothered to think" text. These are usually short, informal replies such as "okay" in a single email reply. These are rather rude if you are starting to know your client.
How you bring yourself across to your client is very important, but always make sure you keep informality and formality in check. Sometimes its much nicer to be informal to clients when you've already known them on a very personal basis, while on the other hand, if your client is a CEO who's used to reading full reports, a professional letter would be more suitable as they would want a full analysis of what they are asking for in a "super" formal and professional way.
As for the text pasted, a good re-written text to explain policies and downtime would be :
Dear Sir,
Apologies with regards to your request for a refund. Based on our company policy (which is stated in the terms and conditions on our website), we do not process refunds after the first 7 days from the start of your account. I'm afraid I am unable to provide you with any further help with regards to this issue.
There have been some reported downtime at NAC NOC (where our servers in US are located at), and the technical officers stationed there are currently looking into it. We would appreciate your kind understanding and allow us some time to get the problem sorted and fixed. Sorry for any inconvience caused.
*DISCLAIMER* The re-written text has no ulterior meaning and was meant as an example for a formal written text to explain company policies and downtime. It is not, in any event, an attempt to defame the original text and its author.
I would agree that FORMAL and PROPER English is essential in any business deal. I think the problem here in Singapore is more evident in the Web Hosting industry simply because many of the "smaller" hosts are run by non-professionals or simply by the very young.
I would be inviting lots of rebuffs here but honestly, I do have the feel that the Web Hosting industry needs a clean up. We need to educate the end-user with more details and provide a better level of professionalism and service. Replies as shown above certainly do not reflect well on the company nor the industry. Web Hosting will become an important facility / service in the future and certainly we will need to learn how to answer queries and replies in a more professional matter.
Just my view on a rather disparing topic.
SG.GS -> You're amended reply is alot better.
Well, I must say that Roy's sterotyping. What does bad english have to do with being young or being a non-professional?
However, I do agree with his stance. Good language is indeed essential.
Heng Chai
09-03-2003, 01:42
Roy:
"need to learn how to answer queries and replies in a more professional matter." You mean "manner" right? :)
Stereotyping isn't that untrue. You do realise that most secondary school students aren't able to write formal documents. Even reports are written in a very "can't be bothered" manner. It very much reflects on the "young" ones. But of course there are exceptions for people who actually bother to learn the techniques. End of the day, its up to you to actually take up a book and read/learn how to write formal english documents.
Another skill that should be picked up is understanding human behaviour. Sometimes getting too formal will irk your customers. I already had a couple of them drop me an email asking me to call them by name. Usually that signals that formality can (and should be!) be dropped and I should be more open and informal. Some customers like that, some customers don't. Its mainly by experience on how to tell all these. Not possible to learn off-hand. I have my shares of talking to customers in singlish. Its a matter of how comfortable the other party is with the communication language.
As I respect my customers, I will always start off formal. I will drop the down as necessary.
Marcus Lau
12-03-2003, 04:25
From my point of view is proper English is essential because that shows your professionalism and uphold your company image as most clients will think that they are working with the right company. Beside that you also leave a good impression to them as they you are representing your company. Unless some clients has problem communicating or do not understand then slowly approached them in their comfortable language.
AddValue
12-03-2003, 05:27
It will be better off using a proper English. Not a need to be posh but at least understandable.
We have many clients and enquiries from Europe and many non-English speaking countries. Albeit they ain't good in both oral and written. But writing in proper English or at its simplest form, it will faciliates them to understand without any hassle.
As for Singapore market, that goes without saying. Singaporean are much fortunate than many residing outside. Most Singaporean are able to understand English.
Not only the image and professionalism that counts, afterall, what you need is communication. A mean to get two or more parties to communicate.
khimhong
12-03-2003, 05:51
I've changed my style of replying to clients' email. Nowadays, I will reply in several short paragraphs all answering their queries. No longer in the formal format although language is still format. I realise that customers understand this better.
AddValue
12-03-2003, 06:53
Agreed! Enquiries should be short and sweet. Get right into the salient point.
By doing so, it saves your time and clients hassle.
I personally think that the use of proper english in any conversation with the customers is very very important.
I sometimes have to check and double check my emails before sending them to any queries or support tickets. Even questions asked on ICQ are checked and I also use the ICQ's dictionary function :D
Outlook Express also has a nice spell checker. My sales reps have no problem with english as they are from the States and sometimes when i talk to them on AIM they correct me.... :eeknew:
Looks like need to go back to learning english :book:
yeah, i do agree that replies should be formal, be it email, irc, icq, or through other ways. The way someone speaks, sure goes towards their professionalism. :D
irishblue
13-03-2003, 02:15
Originally posted by SG.GS
Another skill that should be picked up is understanding human behaviour. Sometimes getting too formal will irk your customers. I already had a couple of them drop me an email asking me to call them by name. Usually that signals that formality can (and should be!) be dropped and I should be more open and informal. Some customers like that, some customers don't. Its mainly by experience on how to tell all these. Not possible to learn off-hand. I have my shares of talking to customers in singlish. Its a matter of how comfortable the other party is with the communication language.
I agree with SG.GS. Being slightly informal doesn't entirely mean you aren't being professional. Like when talking to a market auntie, she'll think you're nuts if you speak to her with the queen's english. It's more of a case of move with the flow and see which your customers are comfortable with. I personally am more comfortable when my provider is less formal but yet gets straight to the point :)
I think that being informal in any reply should only happen when you are on very personal terms with your client. Like after chatting with him on IM for a few weeks or so and many exchanges, if you feel that he is comfortable with being more personal and on being addressed on a first name basis, I feel it's alright to reply to an email with just 'Hi John!' rather than 'Dear Sir,' or "Dear John,'
Of course you shouldn't try 'Aye John!' or "Hello Brotherrrrrr!' in them. :D
Heng Chai
13-03-2003, 20:50
Imagine singlish style professional text.
"You know hor, you now using a lot of bandwidth leh... Bandwidth expensive, cannot use so much."
:evil
Ha!
Well, SG.GS, firstly I have to agree with your stereotyping of children being not able to type in a formal way.
However, I feel that Formal English conversations are important to someone, perhaps your CEO client. Sometimes, you have a perspective client, perhaps a young 20 year IT manager working in a company and his English, isn't up to standard in a sense, you don't suppose you speak to him in his matter
"With regards to the downtime, .....etc...."
Perhaps, one would say
"Our server was down lor, but dun worry, its caused by our data center and our policy is to refund u etc... "
Something like that.
Golden Rule: Know your client before you choose what sort of language and tone before hand. That's a major golden rule.
Hostings
19-03-2003, 18:27
I do agree that we should know them before we choose what sort of language we should use. But this might not always be the case. What if you met a proud CEO of a BIG company and is just too proud to tell you who he is? Or even the person might want to keep his own privacy..
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