Sometime it's the small things that make a difference. Such as a translation company always sending an acknowledgment whenever we send them back the translated files.
That way we don't have to worry whether the files have actually been received, or know that there is a problem only the day after the deadline, when the PM sends us a message asking where the files that we were supposed to send yesterday (and that we did send yesterday) are.
Of course, that cuts both ways: we also should acknowledge messages and files as they arrive, and not let the PM wonder whether we actually got what they sent us or not.
You're absolutely right. I always send a very brief acknowledgment and also expect one from clients. But the truth is, here in Germany no one seems to care about sending an acknowledgment. Apparently, people think it's a waste of time to send those kinds of e-mails. Sometimes it takes hours or days to find out that a certain document I sent by e-mail or by fax has not come through. But they do ask for a "confirmation" or a "quick reply", and usually say thank you beforehand ("vielen Dank im Voraus").
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I agree. Emails do get lost in transit or hung up for extended periods of time. Acknowledging receipt of files is not only good business courtesy, it's vital to the workflow.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Riccardo! I agree, "courtesy replies" seem to be an American thing, and personally I'm in favor of them. As Fabio commented, I have clients in Europe who almost never acknowledge receipt; presumably they're not rude people, this just isn't part of the business culture there. But I agree, I can shut the computer down and not worry if the client has simply said "We got it, thanks!"
ReplyDeleteThis is especially helpful when dealing with big time zone differences. I agree with Corinne, though, that a lot of Europeans don't seem to do this...
ReplyDeleteThis is very true. As a general manager of a translation company, I try to educate our PM to do that; and our PM try to educate out translators to do the same.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteI entirely agree that confirming the receipt of files or emails is vital to the workflow but also a very good opportunitiy to build the client's trust in your service and create an atmosphere of caring about the peace of mind of your "business partner". In addition a confirmation is also an opportunity to keep up the communication with your client which is also a vital factor in a good relationship.
ReplyDeleteAcknowledgment of receipt is very important. Too often I've sent an "urgent" delivery to a client, left the office, then discovered hours (or even days) later than the file never arrived. Thus, annoying as it may be to some clients, I've gotten into the habit of calling in most cases to confirm that the files have arrived if I don't hear anything after a while. Failures rates with e-mail are low, but even 0.5% trouble means several failed deliveries per year... usually the most urgent ones as luck would have it!
ReplyDeleteI work at ukrainian translation company AventA and I have to say that we always send back an acknowledgment when receiving the documents from our clients.
ReplyDeletenice thought
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