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  1. #1

    How important is proper grammar in customer responses?

    Howdy,

    Forgive me if this has been discussed before.

    Obviously sales materials, your website, etc. should be professional looking, but I notice that a lot of companies (not just hosting companies) send me email or forum responses that are not grammatically correct: They use commas when there should be periods. They don't capitalize the beginning of sentences.

    While it's not enough for me to take my business elsewhere, it does irk me. I also like getting a salutation at the beginning of the message (unless we're on the third or fourth email of the thread). I don't like just getting a link (no matter how useful the link may be). I don't expect every customer service representative to be Saul Bellow, but, just like I wouldn't want a customer service representative to call me "bro" over the phone, I'd like email to look, well, you know, intelligent.

    I wonder, though, if this is something that most people care about (especially in the hosting industry where there aren't many English majors, I think).

    Cheers,

    m
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  2. #2
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    It's enough to make me host elsewhere, unless it's with a rep that I have spoken to quite a bit.
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  3. #3
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    It's not professional, nor ethical, much less serious. Probably reflects the way they handle the entire business operations.

  4. #4
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    "How important is proper grammar in customer responses?"


    This shouldn't even be a question. Grammar is always important. I only give exceptions when I know English is not their first language. It's those little homework skills (or as they are called now "transferable skills") that you learn in life through different jobs and assignments...and through common sense. But as I've said before, sense is not common and humans are becoming dumber year by year.

    I enjoy throwing people off when I answer a business call. My "business" voice is very corporate.

    Anyone writing emails without capitals is probably a twitter fiend...LOL...CU L8R....IDK....IMHO....and abbreviating words that only had 5-10 letters to begin with.

  5. #5
    Ahhhhh... Thank you all. I'm not alone...

    I agree, of course, when English is not someone's first language. I love when people apologize for their English at the end of a ticket (they've submitted to us). It's endearing. There's no need to apologize. My Turkish/Hindi/Russian/Indonesian/Spanish/Portuguese is much worse than your English, I assure you.

    m
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  6. #6
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    Any time a company is communicating with a customer or in public, they should take every step possible to use proper spelling and punctuation. In a forum environment, I would not expect customers to use the same care with their communication.

  7. #7
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    Very important, for me at least. 12 or so mths back, I was in the hunt for some carbon racing wheels. I contacted an Aussie wheel maker that had a great reputation, and the emails I received from them had terrible punctuation and spelling. It was pretty much the worst I have ever seen. Put me right off buying their product.
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by rits View Post
    It's enough to make me host elsewhere, unless it's with a rep that I have spoken to quite a bit.

    What he/she said.
    --

  9. #9
    It is important ..it shows your sincerity
    Plus bad grammar probably indicates that you are not English/any language speaking person
    And hence implies that your company might not be able to provide suppprt in that language..in future

  10. #10
    Well, it's obviously important, but didn't realize people here fussed about it as much. We're not talking about people going: "OMGWTFBBQ 1337 HAX0RZ" in responses.

    OP raises the question with stuff like capitalization and periods.

    well, period is located right beside a comma, a very plausible typo and who cares if i don't capitalize things or make run on sentences as long as it's obvious and clear whats being communicated?

    I think it one thing to write so not professional that it annoying.
    but it's another to complan about capitalzation and typos. it happens,


    p.s. Typos, grammatical errors and missing words in this post are intentional.
    I have no sig to spam.

  11. #11
    See? That's what I'm wondering about. Where is your threshold?

    The above message doesn't bother me that much in this setting, but if I'm emailing you for clarification about your hosting services and you reply like that, you may have just lost my business.

    A period next to a comma is nothing and a forgotten "a" or "you" for "your" is understandable, but disregard for capitalization and obviously not looking over the email before you send it just puts me off.

    It seems like other people's thresholds are similar...

    m
    Last edited by lsmichael; 01-03-2014 at 12:38 PM. Reason: Better punctuation... :)
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  12. #12
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    I feel that proper grammar is very important in all aspects of business. You don't have to be snooty, you can be fun and witty, but at least spell things right and don't leave out words.

    Now, I know the technical community has people who don't have english as a first language, so I can let a few slide. But there is a limit.

    That being said..
    I once had a tech reply to a customer's email with "OK". Seriously? FIRED.
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  13. #13
    Ewll sa uyo anc ese ew'er masrt rectuares nad uor riabn si bale ot dasujt nsihtg.

    Although I'm not a native English speaker/writer and thus most of the mistakes man can made are well known to me, I still got amused from time to time.

    I'm feeling sorry for you people who are "forced" to listen and read broken English as far as it is your native language.

    As far as it concerns support staff... Well knowledge how to communicate properly with your customers shows at least respect.

  14. #14
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    I believe that proper grammar is very important but only to the point of being easily readable in support tickets and billing communication. I guess my point is that although we should expect public facing content to be grammatically correct we should not expect that Support and Customer Service departments be staffed by employees holding a language degree.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by dave - just199 View Post
    I believe that proper grammar is very important but only to the point of being easily readable in support tickets and billing communication. I guess my point is that although we should expect public facing content to be grammatically correct we should not expect that Support and Customer Service departments be staffed by employees holding a language degree.
    Though an occasional haiku would go a long way when an insurance company/online retailer/hosting provider/utility provider messes things up.

    But that's just me. I'm assuming most people wouldn't think that was funny.

    m
    Disclaimer: I work for LiteSpeed Technologies. Cut load. Add speed. Save money. LiteSpeed Web Server

    We're hiring (New Jersey based) C/C++ developers!

  16. #16
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    I agree that to me without proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation I would be turned off from a company. It would make me question their maturity and how they will be able to accommodate my business needs going forward.
    Doug
    Finance, Operations, and Business Executive

  17. #17
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    Sometimes we got ticket replies with spelling mistakes from USA Data centers , may be there grammar mistakes too.It seems they not thinking much about that but there first language is English.
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  18. #18
    I think it's an incredible turn-off if you're not using correct spelling & grammar for customer / professional interaction. If you're just talking amongst your team, who cares, but any other environment isn't really acceptable.

    From a consumer standpoint, if a business is replying to my emails with spelling / grammar errors or broken English, I immediately lose confidence in dealing with them and will probably question whether they are even US-based.

  19. #19
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    English being a second language is not an excuse. Work in a field using your own primary language before you work for a company that uses it as a primary means of communication.
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  20. #20
    Truth of the matter is that Customer Service is still lacking in most companies I've checked via mail or Live Chat. And the sad thing is its not just outsourced support but supposedly "native" speakers too. Now I'd also like to point out that while I understand the idea of some clients that "US Based" immediately means more quality of support, being a non-US gives me even more enjoyment to show that proper behavior and knowledgeability far surpass a simple geolocation. What concerns me more is not a missed letter or misspelled word, but receiving slow, one-word responses to pretty simple questions. And that's just still too common.

    Passing multiple training sessions in the companies I've worked with is what taught me of proper business etiquette and this is what holds many companies back. It is the company responsibility to train and monitor their staff and ensure that they represent their image properly - the customer service representatives are the first people a potential client is bumping into and if they fail to act adequately its a partnership lost in the making.

    And finally, language is not an excuse. Even if its not your native language, English is probably the easiest language to learn, with the least grammar specifics. During my education I've tried my fair share of German, Italian, Spanish, a little French and Russian, and all those are FAR harder than English
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  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by rits View Post
    English being a second language is not an excuse. Work in a field using your own primary language before you work for a company that uses it as a primary means of communication.
    Quote Originally Posted by Rado_Ch View Post
    And finally, language is not an excuse. Even if its not your native language, English is probably the easiest language to learn, with the least grammar specifics. During my education I've tried my fair share of German, Italian, Spanish, a little French and Russian, and all those are FAR harder than English

    I'm sorry, but these must be the MOST racist comments I've seen. These comments already top 2014...and were only 5 days in. Now I'm throwing abbv...OMG OMG OMG!!!!

    Let's stay in this mindset, shall we ( since we hurdled back to 1920 );

    - Indians can only speak about Bollywood...in hini
    - Italians can only speak about pizza and mafia...in one dialect on Italian
    - Chinese can only speak about rice...in mandarin
    - all black people can only speak coconuts...or in my case Hip Hop, which has been replaced with Urban. Come on down yo and get a fly server for your blazing website that's all gee'd out with spinning platinum icons. WOW. Keyboard Gangsters.



    I was going to support the comment in regards of communication training, and the fact that some "hosts", tech's, or CSR's never worked a job to understand how to communicate efficiently...written or verbally....and the fact that writing, especially cursive writing, is a lost art...and replaced with keyboard and keypads.

    But these comments just overshadowed any positive direction this thread was going. Again I say WOW

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by lsmichael View Post
    it does irk me.
    Same here, it shows carelessness.

    Quote Originally Posted by lsmichael View Post
    I wouldn't want a customer service representative to call me "bro" over the phone,
    wow, that would be taking it to the next level.
    I guess you could always answer "Yo sis"

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by 48-14 View Post
    I'm sorry, but these must be the MOST racist comments I've seen. These comments already top 2014...and were only 5 days in. Now I'm throwing abbv...OMG OMG OMG!!!!

    Let's stay in this mindset, shall we ( since we hurdled back to 1920 );
    Hold on here, now, I think you have misconstrued what I was trying to say as it was as far from racially intolerant as possible. I don't divide anyone by ethnicity, race, color or any other form. In fact I remember seeing an older thread, a couple of months ago, about racism and there were huge arguments inside, mostly fueled by misinterpreting the term "racism". So let me rephrase myself...

    I am all about proper and adequate assistance. One of the factor that influences that is your target audience. If my business is in India and I am going for a local approach I would expect my staff to speak proper Hindi so they can better understand and help the potential customer. Same applies for a global approach - if I want to target clients in Germany and decide to offer customer support in German, I would want to make sure all my employees can speak/write on a level that is enough for that person to help with any issues and inquiries.

    The English language was just an example, as one of the most commonly spoken, I don't aim at anyone who doesn't speak it, we are solely discussing proper service here.
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  24. #24
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    I personally just care if they actually answer my question or correct my issue. It amazes me how many times I have had to send 3, 4 tickets before my issue is resolved. I really don't care how the message is typed. I just want the issue corrected .

  25. #25
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    Doesn't matter what business you are in, good manners, correct grammar and an ability to keep a lid on your opinions even if you are about to bite through your tongue is imperative. However, sometimes with clients whom say don't have English as their first language, you need to be really simple and to the point using as many easy to understand words as possible.
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