Thread: Business Comment : E-MAIL v TELEPHONE

After the recent loss of my husband I have spent much time writing e mails and making phones calls and both have been equally frustrating !

E-mails seem to disappear into the ether, when you do not get a reply you have no way of knowing if it reached its destination or not. Getting to the right person on the phone normally means a lot of press 1 for this 2 for that 3 for something else etc etc then the dreaded music too loud and dreadful. Then it is a call centre somewhere with non native english speakers who seem to have great difficulty in understanding/listening to your query. The amount of wrong information I have had through that source is appalling.

Originally Posted by valicante

Go for it, obtain your dream. Do a mindset...
It wont be easy but it will be for you. I spent years debating and negociating in still a very male dominated Spain. Sorry lads
In my work it is difficult to get the idea accross, people either do not know what a Virtual assistant is or they just dont understand what we do. Everyone understands the benefits they are clear, but how it works is another matter.
I was once told a very long time ago that Spain is the land of opportunity, if you have an idea go for it. If something is missing, fill the gap.
So go for it and if you ever need support, just let me know I am here.
Us female business have to stick together...lol
Make 2010 your year

Thanks ;-)) It all depends how our court case in Turkey now re-scheduled for March 2010 goes......

Originally Posted by baldilocks

Funnily enough nearly all the mail in my 'Spam Box' comes from people whose e-mail begins with a 'q' is this significant?

We have a lot of translation work and ophthalmological secretarial work that comes to us via e-mail.

Baldilocks, will you please stop using big words, my brain hurts I presume some to do with an Optician?

Originally Posted by cadiar

Baldilocks, will you please stop using big words, my brain hurts I presume some to do with an Optician?

Yes, this guy is a surgeon.

Yes, go for it!
In general I find Spanish websites awful. They are obsessed with flash and graphics and stuff. And too many of these flash introductions don't have a Skip Intro button. And a lot of the things don't work properly. In general, they seem to find it difficult to put themselves in the user's shoes. It's all about 'mira-que-guapo' (showing off). And PLEASE let them get decent translations into English.
Before anyone jumps on me for Spain-bashing, let me say I have been here for 36 years, have double nationality and love the place - I am talking about general tendencies I have noticed - also noticed in written texts and TV long before the internet existed.

Valerie

Originally Posted by JazminesII

Many businesses in Spain have no idea how to utilise the internet and market themselves. For this reason I've thought about branching out on my own to set up a BPR (Business Process Re-engineering) and Marketing company quite a lot over recent months.

I don't think the Spanish have got used to the idea of advertising much, they all know where things are and when so don't see the need to tell anyone.

Originally Posted by Val

I don't think the Spanish have got used to the idea of advertising much, they all know where things are and when so don't see the need to tell anyone.

Maybe the locals who have lived there for generations but the number of times I've heard both locals and tourists saying if only they knew about x or y in advance.....Also often when events are advertised by local businesses they are so last minute for example a Spanish friend of ours advertised events in his restaurant over the festive season about 3 - 4 weeks in advance. We'd been badgering him to do it for months but he kept saying later, later.......had he heeded our advice he could have had 3 or 4 times as many guests as he ended up with.......by the time he made his plans known many folks had alternative arrangements.

I have discussed this with many spanish friends, - a lot spanish seem to be very "blinkered" or can´t see out of the box, - and my friends all agree! If you don´t ask the right question you won´t get any help as to what it is you might be looking for. So i would imagine they are the same in their own business too. I think the importance of customer care is very very poorly rated and used out here. so seeing or finding easy advertising outlets wouldn´t come naturally to the majority.

QUOTE: "And PLEASE let them get decent translations into English. "

That means using a properly qualified translator not somebody who has done one term in a conversation class or someone who is just working from a phrase book.