Foreign language Seller tip: Be careful how you address Buyers in English!

[tallong]

I am new to fiverr and I see a lot of posts from sellers asking how to get buyers. Well, you must make a good impression from the start.



In the English language, the salutation is important and it’s tricky. Do not address a potential buyer as ‘Dear’ or ‘Hello dear’. In English ‘dear’ by itself sounds impolite or overly-familiar, because ‘dear’ on its own is a term of endearment (like between husbands and wives). It becomes proper if you add a name or form of address, so always say ‘Dear Name’ or if you don’t know the name ‘Dear Sir’/Dear Madam (formal) or ‘Good morning/Good afternoon’ less formal or ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ (informal).



If your English language skills are not strong, keep your sentences short and clear, and use correct spelling and grammar.

[thepromogirl]

Good post!



I think one of the best ways to let the other users know that English isn’t your first language. It’s okay if you stumble with your words, but when talking to one another if you let someone know you speak x-language and English isn’t your native (or vise versa) is a key way to building a good working relationship.



I never expect someone to communicate with me perfectly if their language is not the same as mine, but it does change how I speak to them. I agree, simpler and shorter sentences are often times a great solution for both parties. 🙂

[fastcopywriter]

Sometimes we don’t know the gender of someone, that’s why I always say “Hi Fiverr name” or “Hey Fiverr name.” I agree that dear is too familiar, although on occasion I might say “Dear buyer” in the gig instruction section. Let’s also consider the cultural backgrounds of the sellers, in places that were former colonies of England, chances are people speak different than they do in America.

[dinislambds]

The post created depend on my post on forum where I asked for the solution as new and didn’t get any order yet.Also I started the post with “Hello Dear”.

Anyway thanks a lot!

[gingerwriter]

Wonderful post!



I get the whole “Hello Dear” introduction all of the time, and I must admit I have been offended on more than one occasion. I always assume they are calling me “dear” because they see I am a female. It comes across as condescending. But it is good to know that the greeting has more to do with the language barrier.



Thanks!

[itsyourthing]

I’m not new to Fiverr, but I have noticed a huge increase in ‘relevant content’ forum posts from new sellers designed to accentuate the seller’s skills in an apparently helpful-to-others way. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 😉

[accessgirl]

Reply to @gingerwriter: Yep, same here. I cringe a little when I see a buyer start with hello my dear… or replies of yes hun, thank you lovely, Hey Sweetie… So informal, sometimes I want to reply with ok snugglebuns or hey pookiebear. I try to remember that sometimes it’s a cultural thing but ghaaa…

[zeus777]

"Hello dear " will make me twitch/cringe a bit, but I tend to get the same reaction when I get a message starting with "Hello friend!"



or is it just me???



I mean, it’s nice to be called friend, buddy, pal, but not when you are sending a message the first time? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the “friend/dear” tends to be followed by a broken grammar sentence, and starting the sentence with “friend” makes the person sound desperate. maybe…? :-?

[zimamedia]

“Hello dear” makes me shudder.

[lucyagag]

Reply to @accessgirl: Wait… Hey Sweetie? Yes hun? Did you really get those ones? That is a bit overboard even for a “language barrier”, I don’t see how those 2, in particular, could be used in a professional or non-personal sense at all! It’s kind of creepy really…

[lucyagag]

Reply to @zeus777: The famous informational phrase “Hello friend” is probably a psychological tactic, you know, trying to make an ad sound less impersonal and more “friendly” by using common and informal language usually associated with good things and people we like. I dislike them because it’s obvious that they’re trying to manipulate me!

[tallong]

Reply to @dinislambds: I didn’t have anyone particular in mind, but I saw that many new sellers have questions about how to get orders. Thanks for taking my advice in the spirit in which is was meant. Best of luck to you!

[tallong]

Reply to @lucyagag: I agree; ‘Sweetie’ or ‘Hun’ would push me over the edge as well, for exactly the reasons you mention.

[ryuken]

Please for the love of god, know when to use sir or madam. And not every conversation should have to start with “dear”.



Stick with “Hi” or “hello”. Some people go to length of even addressing female as “sir” and every random person as “bro”.



English is not my native language, so I stick with “Hello” or “Hi”. Nothing more or less.

[shamodii]

I will create Personalized Facebook Themed Business Card for $5 https://www.fiverr.com/shamodii/create-personalized-facebook-themed-business-card

[tallong]

@shamodii - why would you post a huge and unrelated ad in the middle of a discussion like that?

[itsyourthing]

tallong said: @shamodii - why would you post a huge and unrelated ad in the middle of a discussion like that?

I think it's called "spam". ;)

 

 

[wordsmth]

shamodii perfectly illustrates the problems encountered when someone doesn’t understand English.



Here’s the person’s primary entry:

Hi, Hello.. This is Shamodii ready to serve you,, :) DO you need, Banner, Covers, Photoshop edits, this is a perfect gig for you Please order a gig. and i'm ready to serve you.. you can leave a message too... :) If you like my services please COLLECT my Gigs.<br />Speaks: English<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />We begin with "Hi, Hello.." No, Shamodii. You can say "Hi." You can say "Hello." But "Hi, Hello" is not correct.<br /><br />Two periods after "Hello" is not correct.<br /><br />"This is Shamodii ready to serve you,, :)" No, Shamodii. Correct English is: "I am Shamodii and I am ready to serve you." There is no reason for even one comma after "you," much less two commas. And no emoticons.<br /><br />"DO you need, Banner, Covers, Photoshop edits, this is a perfect gig for you " No, Shamodii. Fix your capitalization problems. Remove the comma after "need." Make "banner" plural. End your sentence after "edits" with a question mark. Capitalize the "t" in "this." Put a period after "you."<br /><br />"Please order a gig. and i'm ready to serve you.. you can leave a message too... :)" No, Shamodii. Remove the word "and." The contraction "I'm" is always capitalized. Remove the second period after "you." Capitalize the next "You." Put a comma after "message." Just put a single period after "too." Remove the emoticon.<br /><br />"If you like my services please COLLECT my Gigs." No, Shamodii. Put a comma after "services." Lower-case the word "collect."<br /><br />"Speaks: English" No, Shamodii. Not really.<br /><br />Am I being too hard on Shamodii? Nope! Not when Shamodii chooses to spam in a category headed "Foreign language Seller tip: Be careful how you address Buyers in English!"<br />

[top_site]

Reply to @wordsmth: Excellent explanation

[itsyourthing]

wordsmth said: Am I being too hard on Shamodii? Nope! Not when Shamodii chooses to spam in a category headed "Foreign language Seller tip: Be careful how you address Buyers in English!"

Shamodii doesn't care. :) It's spam and Shamodii would have put it anywhere.

 

Based on the quotes, Shamodii does speak English - not fluently, but well enough to conduct business. Not well enough to offer gigs that utilize that language perhaps, but come on guys, this is Fiverr. Many buyers aren't fluent in English, many buyers looking for English-language gigs aren't overly concerned with how grammatically accurate they are and again, Shimodii's post was plain old non-category-specific spam. So yes, @wordsmith, a bit harsh considering that your criticisms are on display for anyone who may be a foreign language speaker not in the habit of spamming.

 

P.S. It's cute that the assumption of the OP is that languages other than English are "foreign"... there are probably tens of thousands of Fiverr users who disagree. :)

 

[alliemadison12]

Everything about this post is perfect. I’d like to add onto it, saying that “hey sister” and “friend” and “love you” are offensive to English speakers with whom you don’t have any sort of relationship with. I realize that those who use these words don’t mean harm, but it’s important to understand that this sort of language is not appreciated.

[itsyourthing]

alliemadison12 said: "hey sister"

You must get messages from folks who took ESL classes in the 1970s!

 

[itsyourthing]

Reply to @jenniferdetar: There’s a woman who works at a local shop who calls everyone “Sweetie”, “Hon” (I just can’t bring myself to spell it incorrectly as “Hun” 🙂 ), “Darling”, etc… Within a five minute exchange she uses just about every pet name you can think of. Offense aside, it’s almost like she’s a thesaurus for terms of endearment!

[dtongsports]

If it starts with ‘Hello Dear’ in the inbox, I mark as Spam immediately. If you can’t address me by name or screen name, I’m assuming you’re just copy/pasting so I don’t even read it.

[itsyourthing]

dtongsports said: If it starts with 'Hello Dear' in the inbox, I mark as Spam immediately. If you can't address me by name or screen name, I'm assuming you're just copy/pasting so I don't even read it.

Wow, that's a strict policy! On an international platform that offers so many similar gigs, I'm surprised you'd ignore copy & paste messages without even reading them.

 

But hey, it obviously works for you!