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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 Barzuns From Dawn to Decadence and Sir Thomas
Urquharts 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. Thats 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 companys 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 dont 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 theres 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 didnt lose anyone.
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