| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: Have you ever shouted at a client? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 11:32
Member (2006)
German to English
I do not even shout at my children or anyway by that. Those that scream the loudest have the least to say. Keeping calm annoys people more and is more constructive for myself.
| | | | | Yes, In Text, Out Of Exasperation | Nov 17, 2020 |
When, more than a few years ago, a company here in the United States sent me literary samples, 8 pages worth that they wanted me to translate from my four source languages, without offering me any compensation for all that effort!
[Edited at 2020-11-17 16:51 GMT]
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 06:32
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
"Shouted" is not an accurate term. I have lost my patience with clients several times, and they knew for sure I was upset. But "shouting" is not part of business relations, or at least, it shouldn't be.
[Edited at 2020-11-17 20:07 GMT]
| | | |
unless you count yelling ARE YOU SERIOUS! or GAHHH! at my laptop.
The only time I did anything like that was on a Skype call...I did a job for a client who turned out to be a crook and didn't pay. I Skyped her and her friend answered and since the crook wasn't there, I told the friend in no uncertain terms what I thought of her friend and to pass the message on. But I didn't shout...it's not as effective that way.
Maybe I should have been less tactful and more profane b... See more unless you count yelling ARE YOU SERIOUS! or GAHHH! at my laptop.
The only time I did anything like that was on a Skype call...I did a job for a client who turned out to be a crook and didn't pay. I Skyped her and her friend answered and since the crook wasn't there, I told the friend in no uncertain terms what I thought of her friend and to pass the message on. But I didn't shout...it's not as effective that way.
Maybe I should have been less tactful and more profane because I never got paid, but doubt it would have made a difference. She scammed several other people as well! ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
| I wait until I have finished shouting before I mail | Nov 18, 2020 |
I tend to mutter rather than shout, but if I am really driven to shouting, I go out in the kitchen or somewhere else, away from the computer, and fume. My husband tells me to calm down, so I shout at him too! He should know better after all these years, but we're still together.
Finally I calm down, and compose an icily polite mail to the client, explaining how I see things.
It doesn´t happen often, and it rarely works, but it lets off steam.
Christmas is coming,... See more I tend to mutter rather than shout, but if I am really driven to shouting, I go out in the kitchen or somewhere else, away from the computer, and fume. My husband tells me to calm down, so I shout at him too! He should know better after all these years, but we're still together.
Finally I calm down, and compose an icily polite mail to the client, explaining how I see things.
It doesn´t happen often, and it rarely works, but it lets off steam.
Christmas is coming, and I make a point of telling the good clients what I like about them now and then. That is really more important than yelling at the infuriating ones. Never take a good client for granted, and let them know they are special in this business. They can disappear overnight, but make sure it is not your fault! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 11:32
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
First of all, I don't shout, neither online nor in real life.
However, there was one exception, and only after several weeks of nice and friendly hinting. A non-native German customer with little knowledge of my language tried to argue grammar and style. That, within itself, was no reason to shout at him, so I didn't. However, when he insisted to continue these, for me, fruitless "discussions" about a language he knew little about, I did use capital letters (NO) to make him understa... See more First of all, I don't shout, neither online nor in real life.
However, there was one exception, and only after several weeks of nice and friendly hinting. A non-native German customer with little knowledge of my language tried to argue grammar and style. That, within itself, was no reason to shout at him, so I didn't. However, when he insisted to continue these, for me, fruitless "discussions" about a language he knew little about, I did use capital letters (NO) to make him understand that I was working as a translator and not providing free language classes. Even that didn't work. So I offered to provide language lessons...at a pretty good rate. And these "discussions" ended without the need for shouting again.
[Edited at 2020-11-18 10:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 11:32
French to English
Thayenga wrote:
First of all, I don't shout, neither online nor in real life.
However, there was one exception, and only after several weeks of nice and friendly hinting. A non-native German customer with little knowledge of my language tried to argue grammar and style. That, within itself, was no reason to shout at him, so I didn't. However, when he insisted to continue these, for me, fruitless "discussions" about a language he knew little about, I did use capital letters (NO) to make him understand that I was working as a translator and not providing free language classes. Even that didn't work. So I offered to provide language lessons...at a pretty good rate. And these "discussions" ended without the need for shouting again.
[Edited at 2020-11-18 10:18 GMT]
I don't provide English lessons for my customers... and I tell them so. Those who insist, are told that I stopped teaching after a severe bout of burnout after being given too many problem students (I'd been labelled the patient one). I understood I was burnt out when I found myself shouting "You think one piddly little s for the third person singular is HARD? I'll tell you what's hard: FRENCH conjugation. You can fit all English irregular verbs on one A4 sheet of paper, for French verbs you need an entire BOOK."
I reckon that's the only time I've shouted at a customer, and it marked the tipping point for me to start looking for something else to do, which turned out to be translation.
The, one of the first questions I got as an in-house translator was "why did you put 'we did' when in French it's 'we have done' and I had to really make an effort not to shout while explaining that I'd never managed to get a student to understand the difference in ten years of teaching, and no longer having to explain it was one of the reasons I decided to become a translator. Believe me, this is a perfect example of why you need a professional translator rather than Marie who worked in a London pub for a bit".
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
The S for third person singular. It's a toughie all right. But as nothing compared to the dos and don'ts and doeses and dids and doesn'ts. Why they do have to does make it so difficult to did? It's enough to make you want to shout. And thank God there's no obvious subjunctive in the language. Spanish has two past subjunctives, to give you two chances of getting it wrong when you're learning, instead of just one.
[Edited at 2020-11-18 11:45 GMT]
[Edited at 2020-11-18 ... See more The S for third person singular. It's a toughie all right. But as nothing compared to the dos and don'ts and doeses and dids and doesn'ts. Why they do have to does make it so difficult to did? It's enough to make you want to shout. And thank God there's no obvious subjunctive in the language. Spanish has two past subjunctives, to give you two chances of getting it wrong when you're learning, instead of just one.
[Edited at 2020-11-18 11:45 GMT]
[Edited at 2020-11-18 11:46 GMT]
[Edited at 2020-11-18 11:49 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
"I would have slapped them right through my screen" !!
That conjured up one very amusing image for me. It's the kind of thing you might expect to happen in Tom and Jerry, or maybe Family Guy.
It's certainly an original way of looking at productivity, too.
| | | | | The client is always right . . . | Nov 19, 2020 |
even when he is wrong
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 10:32
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| I only shout at my husband | Nov 19, 2020 |
My relationship with my husband is of course "up close and personal". If things go wrong, I do tend to lose my temper and sometimes shout at him. Not something I'm proud of, but there it is.
Clients aren't "up close and personal". There's always a certain distance in business relationships -- or there ought to be. Taking business personally is a recipe for disaster, IMO. When they do things I don't like, I become increasingly formal and firm. Then I either walk away from the relatio... See more My relationship with my husband is of course "up close and personal". If things go wrong, I do tend to lose my temper and sometimes shout at him. Not something I'm proud of, but there it is.
Clients aren't "up close and personal". There's always a certain distance in business relationships -- or there ought to be. Taking business personally is a recipe for disaster, IMO. When they do things I don't like, I become increasingly formal and firm. Then I either walk away from the relationship, or I escalate the problem through whatever channels will get a result. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
I hear you, Sheila. And I'm up here just about as north as you can get on the mainland, so that's a pretty loud shout. And you're an hour behind down there, too, so it must be the echo effect (not sure about the logic there, and of course I'm making it up, but let's not worry about details ...).
But of course you shout at him. It's what we're there for. Shouting is part of the deal. For louder, for softer. Why shout at the customer when you have a perfectly good defenceless shout-f... See more I hear you, Sheila. And I'm up here just about as north as you can get on the mainland, so that's a pretty loud shout. And you're an hour behind down there, too, so it must be the echo effect (not sure about the logic there, and of course I'm making it up, but let's not worry about details ...).
But of course you shout at him. It's what we're there for. Shouting is part of the deal. For louder, for softer. Why shout at the customer when you have a perfectly good defenceless shout-friendly mark right there? If you can't have a good honest-to-God shout at hubby every so often, I mean, how can you cope? How can you go on?
Mind you, it doesn't work the other way round. I know. Oh, I know.
Better leave it before some fool starts jumping in about diversity - you know how it gets around here.
[Edited at 2020-11-19 18:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
I don´t see what good that could do.
In my culture, if you shout at someone in a professional setting you are considered immature and certainly not someone to take seriously. I once had a boss from a different culture who shouted at me on my first day in the office and after that I decided that he was below me and I would never ever care about what he said. (Naturally I followed all directions from his boss.) He was in fact remarkably less educated, which was apparent in his mann... See more I don´t see what good that could do.
In my culture, if you shout at someone in a professional setting you are considered immature and certainly not someone to take seriously. I once had a boss from a different culture who shouted at me on my first day in the office and after that I decided that he was below me and I would never ever care about what he said. (Naturally I followed all directions from his boss.) He was in fact remarkably less educated, which was apparent in his manners and understanding of what needed to be done and how and was only my senior in age and time at the organization. I am normally a very flexible person, but if you shout at me you have lost and if you do not apologize, I will never forgive and never forget. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
I lost it yesterday. Totally.
"You pathetic prat," I spat down the phone. "You monstrous moron. You twisted twot. You wastrel wallaby [well, I had to continue the alliteration somehow, and so it came out a little odd, but when it's said, it's said, what can you do?]. You excuse for a human being ..."
Then I dialed the number to sort out a little problem that had arisen earlier with the customer. But I could feel the adrenalin kicking in, so I felt I had the upper hand ... See more I lost it yesterday. Totally.
"You pathetic prat," I spat down the phone. "You monstrous moron. You twisted twot. You wastrel wallaby [well, I had to continue the alliteration somehow, and so it came out a little odd, but when it's said, it's said, what can you do?]. You excuse for a human being ..."
Then I dialed the number to sort out a little problem that had arisen earlier with the customer. But I could feel the adrenalin kicking in, so I felt I had the upper hand from the word go.
[Edited at 2020-11-20 12:47 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Have you ever shouted at a client? | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
| | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
