3 ms·

Okay, so the "RE:" was a very very nice addition. Did you ever get metrics without teh mispelling?

by thinkbohemian 17y ago

lanstein 17y ago
Had the same thought, 'taht' would make me _less_ likely to buy.
- bhousel 17y ago
  Think about this: If the email ended with something like "Sent from my iPhone", I would probably overlook certain spelling errors and assume that the mail was a real message from a real person, not a form letter. The real goal, to make the message seem personal and trick the receiver into seeing it as a positive interaction, is surprisingly easy to achieve.
- maxklein 17y ago
  You sure about that? Imagine there are 6 or 7 vendors selling a component you need for your software. Most are sending you form replies. With one you are talking to a real person who emails you and answers your questions promptly, and speaks in a normal way and made a spelling mistake in his rush to email you, but otherwise spellt correctly. Would you not feel reassured that someone will fix your problems when you have them? Would that spelling mistake be so critical in your choice?
  - codexon 17y ago
    While your theory makes sense, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't statistically significant.
  - sjs 17y ago
    It might be to me, but I can be somewhat pedantic. Professional correspondence should be just that: professional. It doesn't need to be rushed. Get rid of the red squiggly underlines. It's so easy to spot mistakes when typing on a computer that it seems extremely lazy not to correct them.
  - lanstein 17y ago
    Positive. Max, you're selling developer tools, right? My instinct would be "how good could your tools be if you can't be bothered to spell-check?" To me, it just shows a lack of attention to detail which puts any detail-oriented product like the one you're selling in a poor light.
    - lanstein 17y ago
      However, let me add that the 'Re:' business is an excellent idea IMHO.
maxklein 17y ago
Yes, roughly in the middle of both of them. I don't do the misspelling anymore, just for sake of proper grammar, but it was always the best converter with.
- eru 17y ago
  So you let grammar trump your profit?
  - maxklein 17y ago
    The income stream from new customers in this business is not so high anymore (I think maybe $700 or a bit less a month), and I firmly believe that even though it's okay to play dirty when breaking into something new, afterwards go back and clean up your act. I have a long list of customers now, and I don't want them rerequesting the pricelist and seeing that same mistake. It's obvious then - and when your client list is long enough it is more profitable to target old clients instead of new ones. Upgrades, customisations, etc.
    - eru 17y ago
      Thanks for the thoughtful reply to my snarky comment.

Okay, so the "RE:" was a very very nice addition. Did you ever get metrics without teh mispelling?

lanstein 17y ago

Had the same thought, 'taht' would make me _less_ likely to buy.

bhousel 17y ago
Think about this: If the email ended with something like "Sent from my iPhone", I would probably overlook certain spelling errors and assume that the mail was a real message from a real person, not a form letter. The real goal, to make the message seem personal and trick the receiver into seeing it as a positive interaction, is surprisingly easy to achieve.
maxklein 17y ago
You sure about that? Imagine there are 6 or 7 vendors selling a component you need for your software. Most are sending you form replies. With one you are talking to a real person who emails you and answers your questions promptly, and speaks in a normal way and made a spelling mistake in his rush to email you, but otherwise spellt correctly. Would you not feel reassured that someone will fix your problems when you have them? Would that spelling mistake be so critical in your choice?
- codexon 17y ago
  While your theory makes sense, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't statistically significant.
- sjs 17y ago
  It might be to me, but I can be somewhat pedantic. Professional correspondence should be just that: professional. It doesn't need to be rushed. Get rid of the red squiggly underlines. It's so easy to spot mistakes when typing on a computer that it seems extremely lazy not to correct them.
- lanstein 17y ago
  Positive. Max, you're selling developer tools, right? My instinct would be "how good could your tools be if you can't be bothered to spell-check?" To me, it just shows a lack of attention to detail which puts any detail-oriented product like the one you're selling in a poor light.
  - lanstein 17y ago
    However, let me add that the 'Re:' business is an excellent idea IMHO.

maxklein 17y ago

Yes, roughly in the middle of both of them. I don't do the misspelling anymore, just for sake of proper grammar, but it was always the best converter with.

eru 17y ago
So you let grammar trump your profit?
- maxklein 17y ago
  The income stream from new customers in this business is not so high anymore (I think maybe $700 or a bit less a month), and I firmly believe that even though it's okay to play dirty when breaking into something new, afterwards go back and clean up your act. I have a long list of customers now, and I don't want them rerequesting the pricelist and seeing that same mistake. It's obvious then - and when your client list is long enough it is more profitable to target old clients instead of new ones. Upgrades, customisations, etc.
  - eru 17y ago
    Thanks for the thoughtful reply to my snarky comment.