When running a business, your primary goal is to ensure your customers have the best experience. You may make a few mistakes here and there. You may send a customer the wrong package, inconvenience them with a delay, or serve them poorly. It’s okay. Everyone makes mistakes, even companies, and corporations. Accepting and owning up to your mistakes is what matters.
The best way to apologize to a customer is with an apology letter. A simple “I’m sorry” or “It won’t happen again” isn’t sincere enough. Writing a heartfelt apology letter makes you seem empathetic, and it wins you more points with the client.
How to Write a Customer Apology Letter That Delivers Results
Taking the time to write an apology letter shows your customers that you value and appreciate them and their business. Read on to learn how to write an apology letter that delivers results and gets your customers to give you another chance.
Common Reasons to Issue a Customer Apology Letter
When should you issue an apology letter to a customer?
Well, the short answer is anytime you serve them in a way or standard that doesn’t meet their expectations. When customers buy your product or service, they usually expect it to provide a certain value or be delivered in a satisfactory way. Their expectations may stem from what your business promises them or trends in the industry.
For example, if you manage a restaurant, your customers expect good quality dishes, friendly and timely service, and a hygienic environment.
Here are a few instances when to issue an apology letter:
- When you delay the product or service;
- When the customer complaints about your product or service;
- When the client has a negative experience with your business;
- When you offer damaged or defective products;
- When your product or service doesn’t meet client’s needs;
- Hidden costs that the customer was unaware of.
Let’s get into how to write a customer apology letter that works.
Look at the Customer’s Issue
Before you apologize to a customer, take some time to understand their problem or complaint. Why is the customer upset with your business? Did one of your team members talk to them rudely, or did you sell them a damaged product? Understanding the customer’s problem will enable you to put together a sincere apology.
If you don’t understand the client’s complaint, you may end up writing a vague apology letter that revolves around the problem but does not address it. You don’t want the letter to sound scripted or filled with shallow phrases like “I regret to hear what happened” or “We are sorry you suffered this experience.” Instead, look into the customer’s problem so that you can address it precisely.
Explain the Problem
Once you look into the client’s complaint, explain it as you understand it in the apology letter. Writing a detailed explanation shows the customer that you get what they are going through. In addition, it enables your company to come off as genuinely concerned. Explaining the problem also allows you to clarify what happened.
Acknowledge the Problem
Acknowledging one’s mistakes is a skill that comes in handy in both business and life. If you are at fault, admit it and take ownership of your mistakes.
Accepting that you were in the wrong may hurt your ego a little bit. However, it will enable the customer to trust you more. They will appreciate your sincerity.
When acknowledging the problem, try and validate the customer’s emotions. Mention how your mistake inconvenienced or affected them.
You can say something like, “I know our failure to supply your order in time may have hurt your sale. I would be upset too.” Validating the client’s feelings portrays you as empathetic. It shows the customer that you took the time to listen to their concern. Again, remember to acknowledge the exact problem. Don’t use shallow words.
Choose Your Voice
When writing the apology letter, show some personality. Use the first-person point of view instead of the third person. For example, you can use “I” to represent yourself or “we” to write on behalf of your company. Also, address the customer by mentioning their name. You can as well use the second-person point of view (you).
Here are examples of the voice to use in an apology letter:
Bad Example
This letter has been sent to you to apologize for the inconvenience we caused you by delaying your order.
In this example, the company seems to be distancing itself from its mistake. The apology feels disingenuous.
Good Example
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience we caused you by delaying your order.
This example is more genuine.
Sincerity is Key
Whether your company was at fault or not, the customer had a negative experience. Try not to think of it in terms of right or wrong. Instead, take an empathetic approach and apologize for the bad experience. The goal of the apology letter is to retain the customer and get them to trust you again. It’s not to defend yourself or prove who’s right or wrong.
Offer an Explanation with Your Apology
Once you describe the problem to the customer, be honest with them on what happened. Explaining the issue doesn’t mean you are being defensive or making excuses. It just proves that your company is transparent.
Give the customer a sincere explanation of why things went down the way they did. Let them know what happened. Clarifying the problem shows the customer that you took the time to trace the cause.
Here is a brief example. Assume you are a couch manufacturer and you failed to deliver a couch on time. Your explanation may look like this:
We apologize for the delay in delivering your new couch. We understand that this must have caused you stress and inconvenience. During the trip, the truck blew a radiator hose, so another was dispatched to assist. Unfortunately, the second truck couldn’t get there fast enough to deliver your couch on time. Please accept a 100 dollar discount on your bill.
Make a Peace Offering
Offer the client a plan of action for how you will address their problem. Do not just say it won’t happen again or that you are resolving it. Show the customer the steps your company plans to take to prevent a recurrence.
Offering a solution demonstrates you are proactive. You can demonstrate your commitment to a client by making a change. Use this section as your opportunity to win back the customer’s confidence in you. Your aim should be to fix the problem in the long term.
Have a look at this solution for the truck breakdown example:
To ensure it does not happen again, we have created an additional SOP for inspecting trucks before dispatch. The SOP will cover tire pressure, cargo weight, fuel capacity, engine performance, and the truck’s general condition.
If your mistake caused the customer to lose time or money, you can reimburse them or offer a discount. You can also offer coupons and promotion codes.
Ask for Feedback
You want to make sure the customer has accepted your apology. Offer them a way to contact you or your customer service team to provide feedback. They may have a few pointers for how you can prevent a recurrence.
You can invite the customer to offer feedback with phrases like:
If you have any comments or questions, you can reach out to me through this contact.
or
Feel free to call us or send an email if you have any comments.
Follow Up
Once you send your apology letter, reach out to the customer after a decent amount of time, for example, a couple of weeks. Ask them if they’ve faced any similar problems as before and if there is a way you can help them. Tell the customer about the changes you’ve made to ensure the issue that happened never happens again.
Following up can be as simple as calling the customer or checking in with an email. Going this extra mile demonstrates to the customer that you care and that you value their business. It improves the experience of your patrons and compels them to always come back to you.
What to Do Before Writing an Apology Letter
The one thing you should do before writing the apology letter is to consult your company’s legal department. Some companies dread sending an apology letter because they are afraid a legal consequence might follow. They fear that admitting their mistake might compel the client to sue for damages.
It’s best to check in with your lawyer or legal department on the information to include or not to include in the apology letter. In most cases, however, the customer has no intention of suing. They just want an explanation for what happened.
Mistakes to Avoid when Writing a Customer Apology Letter
Aside from sounding vague and minimizing the impact of your mistakes, here are a few other things to stay away from.
Don’t Overpromise
As much as you want the customer to keep buying your product or service, try not to make promises you don’t intend to keep. For example, don’t say it will never happen again if you have no control over whether it happens or not. Overpromising is a double-edged sword. It may help you retain the customer, but you may lose credibility if the mistake occurs again.
Don’t Push Blame or Make Excuses
Maybe your company was not at fault. The mistake could have been caused by one of your partners or a third-party vendor.
You may feel tempted to push the blame to them to defend yourself, although it’s best not to do so. You might come off as trying to avoid taking responsibility for your actions. Instead of blaming others, focus on retaining and offering the customer a solution.
Don’t Over-apologize
Your apology may lose meaning if you say it too many times. Two to three times is enough. Also, don’t apologize for the same issue every time. Instead, fix the problem so that your apology feels more genuine.
An Example of a Customer Apology Letter
Dear Jake,
First off, I need to apologize for the unplanned server downtime that you had to endure two days ago. It pains us to hear that you lost a significant amount of revenue while our servers were down. I am sorry that our failure to notice and fix the problem in time affected your e-commerce site so negatively.
I understand how frustrating it can be to explain to your vendors and customers that they couldn’t order or use your store due to a failure on our side. This mistake is unacceptable. I’d be upset too.
On that day, five of our servers crashed due to a hardware failure. The servers that host your applications and data were part of the affected ones. It took us three hours to replace the old servers with new ones.
To prevent this from happening again, we have set up backup servers. If the main servers crash again, the backups will kick in and thus prevent downtime. We have also set measures to inspect and replace our servers every year to ensure they don’t fail us again.
As compensation, I have requested the finance department to waive your website hosting fee for the next six months. I hope this is satisfactory for your lost revenue.
Again, I am sincerely sorry for the inconvenience we caused you and your customers. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can call me through my company line or reach out via my email address.
Thank you,
Acey Gaspard
Customer Support.
In Closing
A sincere apology can turn an angry client into a happy and loyal one. When they’re unhappy or disappointed with your service, pick up a pen and write them an apology letter to acknowledge your mistakes.
Writing an apology letter demonstrates that you value the customer. It offers you a chance to rebuild trust and confidence with them.
When writing the apology letter, first ensure you understand the client’s problem. Then, proceed to explain it to them as you comprehend it and own up to your faults. Write the letter in the first person and second-person point of view.
Be honest with the customer on what caused the problem and offer them a solution or a peace offering for the inconvenience.
Wrap up your apology letter by inviting the customer to give you feedback. Then, you can check with them in a month or so to ask about their experience.