Apology E-mails to Customers
Ece Yildirim
Sometimes things may not go as planned. What matters is how we deal with the unexpected. Especially when unexpected events tend to be bad. When you can’t meet the expectations of your customers, the feedback you give them can make you win or lose people who may be your customers or potential customers. Getting right along this fine line may be harder than you think.
Why do you think it might be difficult? Here are the reasons! Apologizing for the wrong done should not just be an ‘I’m sorry’. It should be sincere and meaningful.
However, it can be difficult to reflect your sincereness through email. Trying to solve a problem by talking on the phone or meeting face-to-face is easier than email as there are several difficult factors such as not using gestures and facial expressions, and unpredictability of tone of voice when writing emails.
Are there only downsides to apologizing by email? No, of course not. You have more time to respond truthfully and sincerely to an apology email. You can use this blog to make good use of this time and improve your communication with your customers.
In this blog, you will learn how to better write an apology email to a customer for a mistake, and how to change your e-mails according to the circumstances. Let’s start!
Table of Contents
- Why Should You Write an Apology Email?
- How To Write an Apology Email
- Customer Apology Email Examples
Why Should You Write an Apology Email?
Even the best businesses can make mistakes. It’s about accepting it and facing it. When your customer’s experience deteriorates or something undesirable happens, your customer support team will take care of it.
To correct your mistake, the first thing you need to do is admit your mistake. After admitting your mistake, writing an apology email to correct it is not a costly process. Turning negative experiences into good ones can be a good opportunity for your company to grow and for your customers to view you. You can also use it to increase customer loyalty.
Here are some things to consider when writing an apology email to a customer, on any subject:
- You should accept that your fault is yours and explain the reasons for it without using excuses.
- You can write that your team is sorry for the mistake and they are working to fix it.
- You can tell that this mistake will not happen again and how to prevent it and not let it happen again.
How To Write an Apology Email
Taking on a fault has never been easy, especially when it’s always human nature to defend oneself. Admitting that you made a mistake is a big step towards putting things right. But simply saying ‘I’m sorry’ is not enough.
You can learn how to use a more effective sorry e-mail!
1. Apologize Sincerely
This is the most important factor in sending an apology email to a customer, and it comes to everyone’s mind. Doing this correctly is not as easy as it seems.
You start defending yourself and making excuses and it starts being destructive as opposed to constructive.
2. Accept that the Fault is Yours
This may be the hardest part, if you can handle this part, you’ve accomplished most things. Even if it is an ego-breaking situation, accepting the mistake can provide positive development in the customer’s view of your business.
3. Explain What Went Wrong
Investigating what mistakes were made on the subject both speeds up the solution process and enables you to develop your empathy.
In this way, it will be healthy communication on behalf of your customer and your workplace to tell your customer where the mistake was made and not to find an excuse for it.
4. Suggest a Solution Plan
If you’ve acknowledged a problem and mentioned it, you need to come up with a solution. Just a sincere apology is not enough.
Telling your customer how to fix the mistake is an important factor in gaining your customer’s trust while showing you what you can do next.
It can also be shown as an indicator of how you can do your work better and more completely.
5. Don’t Take It Personally
As emphasized from the very beginning, everyone can make mistakes, so losing customers or business can be upsetting. A well-thought-out apology email is all it takes, instead of getting upset about it.
6. Ask for Forgiveness
Asking your customers for forgiveness after expressing your regret will make them more empathetic because speaking over email can be difficult because of the gestures.
7. Provide Customer Feedback
It is important to improve your relationship with the customer after making a mistake.
After your apology email, you can ask your customer for a feedback notice to let them know what he or she thinks of you and your company.
In this way, it shows how much you care about your business and that and that you will make an effort to prevent such a mistake by being more careful
Here are a few patterns you can use to email a customer an apology email for the mistake;
- ‘’I can feel that this mistake has disappointed you, so you can be sure that we will do our best.’’
- ‘’I can understand how important this is to you…’’
- ‘’I can understand why your reaction was, I would have had the same reaction…’’
- ‘’We are sorry you had such an experience.’’
Customer Apology Email Examples
- Business Apology Email
Dear (Customer Name),
We are very sorry to read your email regarding the problem you are having with our service. (explain the problem and write the date)
I apologize on behalf of (company name) for the inconvenience.
We value our customers’ opinions. We want to correct the mistake, so I request you to give us feedback.
Thank you for supporting us on this journey.
Sincerely,
(Manager Name)
(Company Name)
- Incorrect Information Apology Email
Dear (Customer Name)
We noticed that we gave you false information in the last email we sent you, and you may have noticed.
First of all, we apologize for anything that may be the result of our mistake, we are sorry.
(Problem cause) and it resulted in (Problem).
We want to offer you the best service we can. I hope you can forgive the mistake we made.
If you have any questions or you can contact us at any time.
Best regards,
(Company Name)
- Poor Service Apology Email
Dear (Customer Name),
Please accept my apology on behalf of our company. You can’t even imagine how sad and ashamed we are because of what happened.
We are very sorry to receive the email stating that you were not satisfied with your experience with (Interaction). In order to change this experience, we have defined your special discount coupon in your account and transferred the money you paid to your account.
We value our customers, your happiness is more important to us than anything else.
You can send us an e-mail or call us for the question you want to ask or the solution suggestions you want to discuss.
Best regards,
(Name)
(Company Name)
- Late Product Delivery
Dear (Customer Name),
We are very sorry about the late delivery to you.
We would like to explain to you why you are late (Describe the events that caused the delay)
You can rest assured that we will do our best to compensate for the delay in delivery.
Thank you for believing in us and walking the same path as us,
(name)
(Company Name)
- Late Email Responses
Hello (Customer Name),
Sorry for replying to you late.
(Explain why you are responding late) Thank you for being patient with us.
Please share your valuable thoughts with us.
Best regards,
(Name)
(Company Name)
- Unhelpful Customer Representative Apology Emails
Dear (Name),
On behalf of (company name), we are sorry for your bad experience. We sincerely apologize that you were unable to find the attention and resolution you wanted when talking to our customer service representatives (agent’s name).
We are sorry that you wasted your time waiting because the customer representative made you wait for a long time and directed you to many different departments for the problems you experienced.
Thank you for reaching out to us to seek your most natural right. I spoke to the customer service representative on your behalf about the mistake made. You can be sure it won’t happen again.
Also, thank you for telling us about your experience. We have defined a discount coupon for you.
You can reach us at any time via email or phone.
Best regards,
(name)
(Company Name)
Final Words
It is very important to apologize to your customers when things don’t go your way.
In this blog, we talked about the elements that you should pay attention to when apologizing to your customer. It has never been easy to take on the problem, but when you do this and give solution-oriented feedback instead of excuses, you will see that the communication between you and your customers will get stronger over time.