If you’re going to try to sell to an English speaking market, it’s helpful to actually speak English.

A few minutes ago I received an email from a company I’ve insulted here before, many times. It’s not that they’re a particularly nasty bunch of people, it’s just that they are a bit clueless, and causing more confusion in the marketplace than I typically like to clean up on a regular basis, kind of like my daughter’s nine month old Labrador retriever that stayed with me for a month last weekend and now I have to refinish the hardwood floor in a spare bedroom. You know what I mean.

Here’s a slightly redacted excerpt from the email.

 

As you can read, their offer cannot be clubbed. We know, ‘cause we tried, to no avail.

Look, guys. To an English speaking market, “Avail this offer now” is not only poor grammar, it borders on meaningless and makes you look like idiots. If we can’t understand you, what kind of misunderstandings can we expect if we “avail your offer” and then need technical support?

Rob Cosgrove is the President of Remote Backup Systems, founder of the Online Backup Industry, and a vocal advocate for maintaining the highest standards in Online Backup software. His latest book, the Online Backup Guide for Service Providers: How to Start and Operate an Online Backup Service, is available online now, on Amazon.com, and at bookstores.

 Remote Backup Systems provides brandable, scalable software and solutions to MSPs and VARs enabling them to offer Online Backup Services.