Styleforum › Forums › General › General Chat › Got told by my boss to not use such formal wording in client communications...
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Got told by my boss to not use such formal wording in client communications...

post #1 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:11pm
Thread Starter 
"I might recommend that you refrain from the use of such formal business wording. I know that this is both comfortable and familiar to you, but to [client] and [client], I can assure you that it is not." So I have to make myself sound dumber to avoid alienating clients (and I'm in wholesaling, by the way).
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:18pm
damn yeah that sucks care to post a snippet, or at least some of the words s/he wants you not to use?
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:26pm
Perhaps in the course of your next engagement with your superior, you might consider presenting a cost-benefit analysis contrasting both methods of communication - the one preferred by the person we refer to as "unjung's boss", and the one preferred by the person we refer to as "unjung's boss's b!tch".
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:32pm
Sometimes it's gotta be done. I had to loose my accent and educate myself on ... well everything you would learn at finishing school to get ahead in the Art industry, now I'm too posh to work in garages or supermarkets.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:34pm
One of the most important lessons I learned during law school was to stop talking and writing like a lawyer. The most effective communication really is simple, direct communication.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherman90 View Post
One of the most important lessons I learned during law school was to stop talking and writing like a lawyer. The most effective communication really is simple, direct communication.

+1. Formal does not mean better.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:45pm
if you can walk among kings but not lose the common touch... effective communication is about conveying the messages in a way that will make sense to who you're talking to, not just you. probably not the answer you wanted, so if it'll make you feel better: Your boss is an idiot, you're smart and the clients are impressed
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 66
3/24/10 at 12:50pm
dammit, don't gimme none of that medical jargon!
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 66
3/24/10 at 1:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark from Plano View Post
+1. Formal does not mean better.
Agreed, but it does not mean worse, either. I am considered very formal in manner and diction, but I've never been called unclear. ~ H
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 66
3/24/10 at 1:08pm
Thread Starter 
I think this actually stems from an internal policy draft I produced that was never intended for external clients, but my boss didn't realize that (we have some internal communication issues). However, I do tend to talk a little "uppity."
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 66
3/24/10 at 1:09pm
Keep your eye on the prize. That thing you get every second Friday.

None of us like having a boss but 99% of us have one. Even a CEO has to answer the Board.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 66
3/24/10 at 1:11pm
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 66
3/24/10 at 1:16pm
My very first job outta college I had the same thing happen on like my first day at the job. I had to make a simple memo for our warehouse workers and I used the words accomodate, accordingly, comply and responsibility (or something very similar). Printed, distributed and really thought I made it in this world.

My boss came to me the next day and was like "Yea, you realize we have a warehouse full of people who barely have a high school degree and/or dont speak native english. Think of your audience" I felt like such a dipshit and learned more that first day on the job than in 4 years of college.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 66
3/24/10 at 1:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by unjung View Post
"I might recommend that you refrain from the use of such formal business wording. I know that this is both comfortable and familiar to you, but to [client] and [client], I can assure you that it is not."

So I have to make myself sound dumber to avoid alienating clients (and I'm in wholesaling, by the way).


I promise you in my experience I have found overlly formal correspondence to be impersonal and cold. You don't have to sound dumber but you don't want to sound like you don't know who you are corresponding with. It's a fine balance.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 66
3/24/10 at 1:20pm
sorry, I am with your boss on this one. language is for communicating, if it doens't communicate accuratly with the intended target audience, it is failing at its job. if your customers don't like or understand what you write, then you are not communicating correctly (and it pains me to say that)

I have, over the years, significanlty changed the language that I am comfortable with, too.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: General Chat
Styleforum › Forums › General › General Chat › Got told by my boss to not use such formal wording in client communications...