VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Lizden · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:04 pm Post subject: A question of "tone"

Question to all my telephony peeps:

Whenever I see a prompt that ends with "....and we'll get back to you at our earliest convenience." it always seems to me a bit like saying "we'll get back to you whenever we damn well please / whenever we get around to it."
I know it's supposed to be a "polite" phrasing but it sounds wrong to me.

Is it just me?
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todd ellis · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:13 pm Post subject:

i take it the same way - especially when i'm on the line and here it as a customer. i like "as soon as possible" better.

then again - i don't write 'em - i just say them out loud!
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Lizden · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:27 pm Post subject:

Yep, I say 'em as I see 'em, but it just always rings "off" to me.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:35 pm Post subject:

I agree that it sounds wrong, Liz. 'At our earliest convenience' literally says they'll return the call when they've cleared every other little thing from their plate, no matter how trivial.

From some scripts I've seen here and there, it sometimes appears business communication pieces are written by folks who really don't have a good grasp on the meaning of their phraseology, saying things they perhaps don't really mean*. If the owner or president of the company whose messages you're recording were to see or hear that 'our earliest convenience' bit, they'd probably hit the ceiling. That is, unless it's a company (like Verizon) that doesn't seem to care what customers or clients think.

*Not quite the same thing, but on the radio station I work for on weekends, a script written for one of the air personalities to promote a personal appearance they were doing had the personality beginning the spot: "Hi, I'm {air personality}. Join myself this Thursday at..."

I was embarrassed that it aired during my shift.

"Join myself?!?!" Gee, I'm sorry you were dismembered. This was clearly written by someone who is NOT a writer, but someone who was merely (and obviously barely) capable of putting words on paper. There's a big difference, and there's a lot of that kind of thing these days.
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Lizden · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:47 pm Post subject:

Ha!
I'm glad it's not me!
Laugh

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Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
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ccpetersen · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:02 pm Post subject:

I always grit my teeth at "Please stay on the line, we'll be with you momentarily."

I think that this does not mean what they think it means.

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:22 pm Post subject:

You're right, Liz, and the phrase was not meant to be used in the way they are using it. It's meant for the requestor to say, "Please get back to me at your earliest convenience." In other words, I'm being polite by not demanding your immediate attention to this matter, but merely when it's convenient for you.
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Lizden · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:29 pm Post subject:

I KNOW, right, Jeff?
THAT'S the way it's SUPPOSED to be used!

I feel like a dinosaur sometimes.
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Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
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Frank F · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:45 pm Post subject:

"I'll get back to you on that" Liz.

Any better?

Or, "When you are old enough we will discuss it further." We all use these lines and it does not matter what "tone" we use; it just sounds bad.

Try this one out for size; "I will call you back as soon as possible". Someday (or as Three Dog Night put it: Someday Never Comes), maybe, when I get around to it,

Talk to you next year if not sooner.

Frank F
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heyguido · Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:56 am Post subject:

Mike's right. There are just too many people these days who can't put two words together and complete a thought well enough to communicate it to someone else....

and the twit/faces aren't helping, either.

Let us salute the wordsmiths.... sadly, a vanishing breed.
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:15 am Post subject:

Lee Gordon · Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:17 am Post subject:

Yep, Mike, your prolly right. Wink

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melissa eX · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:56 pm Post subject:

Lee Gordon · Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 1:27 am Post subject:

"Your call is very important to us." (But not important enough for us to have a real, live person answer it.)
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mcm · Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:41 am Post subject:

Liz, I also would like to rewrite this sript: "All of our associates are assisting other customers".

I don't want to hear about "other customers" - I am the only one who matters!

"All of our associates are scrambling to see who can get to you first; please hold while we sort out this tangle of arms and legs" would be preferable.