4. 4
Dealing with clients……..
Dealing with any clients in services is an art. In the
case of IT, we primarily deal with American and
UK clients. It is useful to know how English
language works with them. Some of us may
hesitate to speak to the client, because we are
not confident. ‘Practice makes you confident’
“Practice these tips…….”
5. 5
Tips…..
Indian Context
Do not write "the same" in
an email - it makes little
sense to them.
Example - I will try to
organize the project
artifacts and inform you of
the same when it is done
Int’nl Clients Context
It is better written simply
as:
Example: I will try to
organize the project
artifacts and inform you
when that is done
6. 6
Tips contd….
Indian Context
Do not write or say, "I have
some doubts on this
issue"
…..We use this term ‘coz
in Indian context
the word for "doubt“ and
a "question" is the same.
Int’nl Clients Context
…. The term "Doubt" is
used in the sense of
doubting someone The
correct usage (for clients)
is:
I have few questions on
this issue
7. 7
Tips contd….
Indian Context
The term "regard" is
not used much in
American English.
Int’nl Clients Context
They usually do not say
"regarding this issue"
or "with regard to
this". Simply use,
"about this issue".
8. 8
Tips contd….
Indian Context
Do not say "Pardon"
when you want
someone to repeat
what they said.
Int’nl Clients Context
The word "Pardon" is
unusual for them and
is somewhat formal.
Therefore you can use
“kindly repeat”
9. 9
Tips contd….
Indian Context
Americans do not
understand most of the
Indian accent
immediately
Therefore try not to use
shortcut terms such as
"Can't" or "Don't".
Int’nl Clients Context
They only understand 75%
of what we speak and
then interpret the rest.
Use the expanded
"Cannot" or "Do not".
10. 10
Indian Context
Do not use the term
"screwed up"
liberally. If a situation
is not good,
Do not use words
such as "shucks“ or
"pissed off".
Int’nl Clients Context
It is better to say "The
situation is messed
up".
Tips contd….
11. 11
Int’nl Clients Context
As a general matter of form, Indians
interrupt each other constantly
in meetings - DO NOT INTERRUPT a
client when they are speaking.
Over the phone, there could be delays but
wait for a short time before responding.
Tips contd….
12. 12
When explaining some complex issue, stop
occasionally and ask "Does that
make sense?".
This is preferable than "Did you understand
me?"
Tips contd….
13. 13
Indian Context
In email communications,
use proper punctuation.
To explain something,
without breaking your
flow use semicolons,
hyphens or parentheses.
Int’nl Clients Context
Eg:-You have entered a
new bug (the popup not
showing up) in the
defect tracking system;
we could not reproduce it
- although, a screenshot
would help.
(Notice that a reference to the
actual bug is added in
parenthesis so that the
sentence flow is not broken.
Break a long sentence
using such punctuation).
Tips contd….
14. 14
Indian Context
When you say,
"I have mailed the
information to you", it
means you’ve sent an
actual letter or package
through the postal
system.
Int’nl Clients Context
In American English, a mail
is a posted letter. An
email is electronic mail.
The correct usage is:
"I have emailed the
information to you"
Tips contd….
15. 15
Tips contd….
Indian Context
To "prepone" an
appointment is an
Indian usage.
Int’nl Clients Context
There is no actual word
called prepone.
You can "advance" an
appointment
16. 16
Indian Context
In the term "N-tier
Architecture" or "3-tier
Architecture", the
word "tier" is NOT
pronounced as
"Tyre".
Int’nl Clients Context
The correct
pronunciation is "tea-
yar".
The "ti" is pronounced
as "tea".
Tips contd….
17. 17
Tips contd….
Indian Context
The usages
"September End",
"Month End", "Day
End" are not
understood well by
Americans.
Int’nl Clients Context
They use these as
"End of September",
"End of Month“ or
"End of Day".
18. 18
Indian Context
For time - when they
say the time is….
Int’nl Clients Context
"Quarter Of One”….
…. they mean the
time is 1:15. Better
to ask them the
exact time and time
zone.
Tips contd….
19. 19
Indian Context
We commonly use the
terms
"Today Evening"
"Today Night"
"Yesterday Night" and
"Yesterday Evening".
Int’nl Clients Context
These are not correct;
"Today" means "This
Day" where the Day
stands for Daytime.
Therefore "Today Night"
is confusing.
The correct usages are:
"This Evening", "Tonight”
"Last Night" and
"Last Evening".
Tips contd….
20. 20
Tips contd….
Indian Context
There is no word called
"Updation". Avoid
saying "Updation".
Int’nl Clients Context
You “update”
somebody.
Eg:-You wait for
updates to happen to
the database.
21. 21
Tips contd….
Indian Context
Do not say "Sir". Do not call
women "Madam".
Int’nl Clients Context
When you talk to someone
for the first time, refer to
them as they refer to you.
In America, the first
conversation usually
starts by using the first
name. Therefore you can
use the “first name” of a
client.
22. 22
Tips contd….
It is usual convention in initial emails (particularly
technical) to expand abbreviations,
Eg: We are planning to use the Java API For
Registry (JAXR).
After mentioning the expanded form once,
subsequently you can use the abbreviation.
23. 23
Tips contd….
Make sure you always have a subject in
your emails and that the “subject is
relevant”.
Do not use a subject line such as HI .
24. 24
Tips contd….
Indian Context
Avoid using back,
instead of "Back“….
Int’nl Clients Context
…Use "ago".
Back is the worst word
for American.
(For Days use "Ago",
For hours use "before")
26. 26
Tips contd….
Read English news papers
Watch English Movies
Watch International English News
Channels
Communicate in English to your
colleagues while at work.
….These medium helps you to improve your
diction as well as confidence.
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