Poll: Formal or friendly: which do you most use with new clients? Autor wątku: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Formal or friendly: which do you most use with new clients?".
View the poll results »
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Joohee Kim 
Korea Południowa
Local time: 12:02
Członek ProZ.com
od 2017
angielski > koreański
+ ...
The client is a business partner, not my friend. So I think I should be formal.
Also, it is important for Asian people to be polite. As you know, a lot of Asian languages have honorifics...
[Edited at 2017-12-15 08:22 GMT]
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I'm not sure that formal and friendly are opposites.
But I get the point. I would say formal with direct customers, informal with serious agencies, and unprofessional bordering on the abusive with the spammers and cheapskates I only seem to get through ProZ.
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The first contact with a new client is always formal. Later, we may go to somewhere in between or sometimes even to a "friendly" style. But on this stage I can't call such client a new one.
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| Somewhere in between | Dec 15, 2017 |
It depends. We tend to be more formal in Portugal than in other countries. I learned some years ago (a public relations course) that the golden rule in communication is reciprocity. So, I treat each message on its own merits and answer accordingly using my common sense...
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| Somewhere in between | Dec 15, 2017 |
But formal is often clearer. Attempts to be too friendly can be confusing. My best-paying client, an international organization, is *very* formal. I feel respected, yet I know they won't take any nonsense.
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Christine Andersen
Dania
Local time: 05:02
Członek ProZ.com
od 2003
duński > angielski
+ ...
| I voted friendly, but it depends what you mean | Dec 15, 2017 |
Straightforward and courteous, without standing on ceremony.
To some extent I try to reflect the client's approach. If a German opens the mail with 'Sehr geehrte Frau Andersen...' my answer is a little more formal than an answer to one of my favourite clients/colleagues who typically writes:
Hi Christine
Can you translate this file sometime next week?
When and how much?
Regards H
Most of my clients are Scandinavian or from the UK, a... See more Straightforward and courteous, without standing on ceremony.
To some extent I try to reflect the client's approach. If a German opens the mail with 'Sehr geehrte Frau Andersen...' my answer is a little more formal than an answer to one of my favourite clients/colleagues who typically writes:
Hi Christine
Can you translate this file sometime next week?
When and how much?
Regards H
Most of my clients are Scandinavian or from the UK, and they may address me as 'Dear Ms Andersen', but most use my first name, at least when we get past the introductions, and Danes in particular use an informal tone and go straight to the point.
It is not quite the style I use with my real friends, but a sort of 'business friendly'. ▲ Collapse
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Nina Khmielnitzky
Kanada
Local time: 23:02
Członek ProZ.com
od 2004
angielski > francuski
While still being polite, I will follow my client's lead. Since 99.9999% of my exchanges are made by email, if they address me by my first name, I do so too.
It's formal but friendly.
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Dénis Wettmann
Irlandia
Local time: 05:02
Członek ProZ.com
od 2016
niemiecki > angielski
+ ...
| They are not opposites. | Dec 16, 2017 |
Chris S wrote:
I'm not sure that formal and friendly are opposites.
I concur. Both are the standard in my communication style.
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Mario Freitas
Brazylia
Local time: 00:02
Członek ProZ.com
od 2014
angielski > portugalski
+ ...
| Balance is everything | Dec 17, 2017 |
Chris S wrote:
I'm not sure that formal and friendly are opposites.
A certain level of formality is necessary for professional purposes. If you exceed that level, you sound pedantic and it is quite unpleasant.
A certain level of friendliness is adviseable, but if you exceed that level, you'll sound 'artificial' and it is quite unpleasant.
Balance is everything.
[Edited at 2017-12-17 16:18 GMT]
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