A suggestion can be a recommendation or advice.
In order to understand the meaning of the term suggestion , we have to undertake, first of all, what is the establishment of its etymological origin. In this sense, we can say that it is a word that derives from Latin, specifically from the verb “suggerere”, which can be translated as “produce” or “put under”.
A suggestion is something that is proposed, implied or suggested . The term is usually used as equivalent to advice or recommendation . For example: “Can I make a suggestion? I recommend ordering the palmetto salad, it is exquisite” , “Taking into account my father-in-law's suggestion, I am going to buy an oak table for the dining room” , “I am not interested in your suggestions, leave me alone” .
Suggestions in restaurants and companies
In restaurants , the menu or card usually includes suggestions for diners. In this case, the establishment mentions those dishes that are its specialties , so that the client takes them into account. It is also common for the waiter or waiter to comment on the suggestions to the diners.
Many companies , on the other hand, have mechanisms for customers to send them suggestions regarding the products and services they offer. A brewery can include a telephone number on the label of its bottles so that people can communicate and pass on their suggestions, to name one possibility. A cleaning products company, for its part, can include a section on its website that allows you to fill out a form and thus send suggestions, complaints or other types of messages.
The importance of the Internet
As expected, the most used medium for sending suggestions is the Internet, since it offers endless possibilities, such as forums, email services and chat .
While some companies are still reluctant to heed their customers' feedback and go about their business like the old days, trusting that customers will value their ideas once they have the opportunity to try their products and services first-hand, each time More people accept that nowadays it is not possible to succeed by ignoring user demands.
Suggestions are usually opinions; therefore, they are subjective.
compulsive suggestions
One of the problems that has arisen with the convenience that customers have today in expressing their opinions to companies is that many do so compulsively, without thinking twice before writing, and often reject products or services before knowing its features in depth, simply because they didn't like a promotional video, or because they didn't understand it.
On the other hand, given the success of virtual signature campaigns to make requests, their use has also extended to communication between clients and companies , and there do not seem to be rules that establish limits for the seriousness of the demands : for example, if A person is not convinced by the description of the next video game in their favorite series, perhaps they decide to ignore their right to send a suggestion to the company by email and go straight to creating a campaign to request the cancellation of the project.
Claims in public organizations
In the same way, we cannot ignore that there are public organizations and institutions that have what is called “Book of Suggestions and Complaints”, which can be found by the citizen both in the physical offices and through the websites of the same ones.
A clear example would be, to mention one case, the Junta de Andalucía that offers citizens the possibility of submitting any claim either with the relevant form in person or through its web portal. Of course, in this one it also gives two alternatives: using the digital certificate or without the corresponding certificate.
Difference between suggestions and orders
It is important to highlight that the suggestion, as we said previously, proposes something: that is, it does not impose it . If a man suggests to his son that he fold his clothes better before putting them in the closet but he ignores him, the first will not be in a position to make a complaint, since his words were just a suggestion, and not an order.
It should be noted that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish an order from a suggestion , since various nuances come into play, both in the words chosen and in intonation, without leaving aside the context. A sarcastic tone, on the other hand, can disguise a suggestion command, even though the sender expects the interlocutor to interpret the message correctly; for example: "I recommend that you clean your room before I look again," "In my opinion you should go shopping right now, before you miss the opportunity to go out this weekend."
The notion in social networks
In addition to all of the above, we cannot ignore that, on a daily basis, the term at hand takes on special prominence within the field of social networks.
Specifically, we are referring to Facebook and what happens is that each of its users constantly receives the suggestion that there are other people on the network that they may know and that they may want to include among their group of friends. To do this, what the aforementioned platform does is to base itself, above all, on the number of contacts that they have in common.