Interview 2005
Is English a commodity?

Mr. Wentz, What have you been concentrating on over the past year?
Daniel Wentz: I have been working on improving my English style, studying two more books on writing: Style by F.L. Lucas and Verbatim edited by Erin McKean. I have also been reading the best writing I can find — to learn by example. Among these books are Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence and Sir Thomas Urquhart’s translation of Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel. The inspiration I gain and the tricks I learn I apply in my daily work as I strive to give my customers texts that speak with freshness, economy, and lucidity.

Is English a commodity?
Yes and no. Yes because you can get it anywhere. No because excellent English is rare treasure. An analogy: wine is a commodity, but Chateau Figeac 1990 is an exceptional pleasure and an exquisitely expressive wine that stays in the memory — it cannot be easily replaced by another. We try to achieve that quality with English.

Is the difference in quality really that great? After all, an adequate text says the same thing as an outstanding text.
My customers work hard to develop, produce, and market excellent products and services. This excellence can be conveyed only when the presentation exhibits the same level of competence and professionalism as the product. Now if you take a great product and advertise it with a mediocre text, it will probably sell. But if you advertise that product with an outstanding text, you might generate overwhelming demand that greatly exceeds your expectations. That’s the kind of contribution we aim to make for our customers.

Give us an example.
Felix Zulauf manufactures pfeil woodcarving tools. For decades these tools have ranked among the finest in the world. When we were translating the company’s latest brochure I called Mr. Zulauf to talk about the text. The deadline was short, so we decided to meet on the next day at his plant in Langenthal. There we discussed the text in detail and we agreed on many improvements. We held the tools in our hands, walked through the factory, and got to know each other better as collaborators, woodworking enthusiasts, and friends. The final brochure turned out better than expected. Worldwide demand has increased every year since, requiring several plant expansions. As a special thank you for the work I did on the brochure Felix Zulauf gave me a 25-piece set of professional carving tools in a beautiful beechwood case — the value of which easily exceeds the sum of my invoice for the work.

What can your customers do to improve their teamwork with WentzWords?
Three things. First, please give us feedback. Tell us what you like and what you don’t like. Let us know if you are satisfied, disappointed, or delighted. Tell us if you prefer different terminology, whether you find the tone appropriate. When you review a text, if you have a question, ask, and we will explain it. If there’s a mistake we will correct it immediately.

Second
, if you have a big job (50 pages or more) coming up please discuss this with us in advance. We can coordinate our schedules and cut your waiting time.

And third
, when you send us a text by e-mail without discussing it with me, expect to receive a confirmation of receipt — an Autragsbestätigung — whether you request it or not. We promptly confirm orders. If you receive no confirmation, it could mean that your e-mail was lost by an e-mail server. This does happen in cyberspace! Last December a client sent me an e-mail and his mail program showed that the mail was sent, but I never received it. Only when the client called to ask about the translation did we find out the e-mail transmission had failed. At that late point in time, the customer had to wait until after the holidays for the translation. This delay could have been avoided had he contacted me promptly after failing to receive an Autragsbestätigung. Some customers use the e-mail option of automatically requesting a delivery receipt for their e-mail messages. This is the best way. 

Why did you change the name of your domain from wentzwords.ch to wentzwords.com last year?
We were changing our hosting provider, and the easiest way to make the transition was to create a new domain while the old one was still in effect. During the overlap period we informed all our customers, partners, and friends of the new website and e-mail addresses. It appears we didn’t lose anyone.


 

 


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last update: 30 January 2005