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Email etiquette and availability
Inițiatorul discuției: Sanja Gjurova
Neil Coffey
Neil Coffey  Identity Verified
Regatul Unit
Local time: 23:43
din franceză în engleză
+ ...
A personalised out-of-office is still better IMO Nov 13, 2012

Samuel Murray wrote:
Unless you can write a sensible reply, your ability to read the mail is of little consequence.


Yes, sorry for not being clearer: I was obviously thinking that your device would allow you to reply to the e-mail. These days you can practically get a free phone in your box of cornflakes that will let you write a basic e-mail. Although realistically...

Samuel Murray wrote:
Unless your smartphone can read all the source file formats that you normally work with, and is capable of analysing the files, the ability to read a client's request for translation on the road is not helpful.


...yes, you probably do want a phone that can at least read basic Word/PDF, possibly PowerPoint files. Most smartphones will do that.

I concede that if you regularly work with some types of documents, you may not be able to open them on your smartphone.

Samuel Murray wrote:
Otherwise your reply from your smartphone is nothing more than a personalised out-of-office reply.


Yes, depending on the circumstances, what you may end up writing is basically a personalised out-of-office reply. I still think this is better. It signals to your client:

"Sorry, I can't take this document till [next week/whenever], but I am still on the pulse of what is happening, and I still care about you, and if you have any small questions I could even potentially answer them for you"

An automated out-of-office is basically saying:

"I couldn't care less about you right now, not even enough to send you a personalised message telling you when I can take the document".
 
Neil Coffey
Neil Coffey  Identity Verified
Regatul Unit
Local time: 23:43
din franceză în engleză
+ ...
Urgency (or lack thereof) Nov 13, 2012

Phil Hand wrote:
Whatever you do, don't fall into this weird modern thing of thinking that emails need to be replied to within half an hour or you're dead. Nothing is that urgent. If it is, a phone call is needed.


Don't get me wrong: making sure you still have occasional access to your e-mail from your phone isn't the same as saying you have to be constantly monitoring it.

I would disagree slightly about the phone call maybe: if I am not in a convenient position to answer an e-mail within a couple of hours, then a phone call is also not going to be convenient for me, and if it's an urgent question about a document, the same reasoning of not being able to see the document etc will also apply while making a phone call.

Phil Hand wrote:
There are two kinds of clients. If your client is an agency, they have a lot of translators they work with, and they will not miss you.


Though, don't underestimate that you may be the preferred translator for that agency/job. A good agency that values its good translators may actually miss you!

Phil Hand wrote:
But if you're trying to cultivate direct clients, it's a little bit different. Often you're the only translator they're working with, and you generally do need to make yourself available for them if you want to keep their exclusive business.


This is a good point, and maybe my point of view comes from working regularly with direct clients in addition to agencies. Also, direct clients are often actually the ones in less of a rush and happy to wait a few more days for the translation if you send them a quick personalised message explaining that you're busy just at the moment.
 
De la Vera C (X)
De la Vera C (X)
Argentina
Local time: 19:43
din engleză în spaniolă
Out of office replies Nov 13, 2012

I don't think out of office replies are the stupidest idea in the universe. There are places where you cannot have a mobile with internet acces, either because the signal is not good or simply because those mobiles are expensive.

Vero

[Edited at 2012-11-13 19:56 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-11-13 20:07 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-11-13 20:17 GMT]
 
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Email etiquette and availability







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