A client told me my emails sounded robotic and I had to fix it

I got a freelance project from a small business in Austin last month. The owner called me after three email exchanges and said straight up: "You sound like a customer service bot, not a person." I was just trying to be professional. But she was right. So I started adding one personal thing per email like "hope your kid's soccer game went well" or a quick joke about the weather. Now replies come way faster. Does anyone else get told they come across too stiff in business messages?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaeld483d ago

Huh, I mean it's nice and all but are people really that sensitive about a professional tone? Seems like a weird thing to get hung up on.

parker_palmer4423h agoMost Upvoted

Oh come on, it's not about being sensitive. It's about not wanting to sound like a robot wrote your email. When everything is "per your request" and "we appreciate your patience" it just feels fake. Real talk is way better than that polished nonsense. People can tell when you're being genuine versus just copying from a script.

west.richard2d ago

Guess I'm just that guy who gets hung up on weird stuff then (like how my tire rotation schedule is two days overdue, which is a whole other crisis). It's not about being sensitive though, it's more like when someone emails me "per your request" and I'm sitting there thinking I don't even know who "per" is. Professional tone can be a crutch, you know? Like people use it to sound smart when really they're just hiding behind big words and fancy formatting. I'd rather get a honest "hey this is a mess" than a polished "we are currently experiencing operational challenges.