My last two previous blogs were on Email etiquettes, so I thought to continuing and providing some tips on improving communication in writing and speaking with client. As an Indian we are used to use some specific words while writing email or talking to clients who are belongs to America and European countries. Use of those words should be avoided in our professional communication.
If we will not improve then there will be worry whenever we have client call or dealing with customer.
Dealing with Clients/Customer:
Dealing with any clients in services is an art. In the case of IT, we usually deal with American and UK clients. It is useful to know how English language works with them. Some of us may hesitate to speak to the client, because we are not confident. ‘Practice makes you confident’
Tips with examples:
1- Do not write “the same” in an email- it makes little sense to international client.
India Context: “I will try to organize the project artifacts and inform you of the same when it is done”
It is better written simply as below.
Int’l Clients Context: “I will try to organize the project artifacts and inform you when that is done”
2- Do not write or say, "I have some doubts on this issue"
We use this term because in Indian context the word for “doubt” and a “question” is the same.
Int’l Clients Context: The term "Doubt" is used in the sense of doubting someone The correct usage (for clients) is: “I have few questions on this issue”
3- The term "regard" is not used much in American English.
Int’l Clients Context: They usually do not say "regarding this issue" or "with regard to this".
Simply use, "about this issue".
4- Do not say "Pardon" when you want someone to repeat what they said.
Int’l Clients Context: The word "Pardon" is unusual for them and is somewhat formal.
Therefore you can use “kindly repeat”
5- Try not to use shortcut terms such as “Can’t” or “Don’t”
Americans do not understand most of the Indian accent immediately, therefore try not to use shortcut terms.
They only understand 75% of what we speak and then interpret the rest. J
Int’l Clients Context: Use the expanded "Cannot" or "Do not".
6- Do not use the term "screwed up" liberally.
Also If a situation is not good, Do not use words such as "shucks“ or "pissed off".
Int’l Clients Context: It is better to say "The situation is messed up".
I will continue with some more useful tips in next blog. I hope that this will be useful to us while writing or speaking to client.
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