How to write a pro­fes­sion­al apology email

Even the best busi­ness­es can’t avoid conflicts, mistakes and com­plaints. That makes conflict man­age­ment is one of the most important pro­fes­sion­al skills to have. Knowing how to write an apology email to angry customers, co-workers, su­per­vi­sors or business partners is a valuable skill that everyone should possess. In this article, we explain every­thing you need to know about writing a pro­fes­sion­al apology email.

Why are apology emails important?

There are clear benefits to a suc­cess­ful apology email. The right kind of sorry email can calm down angry customers, save strained business re­la­tion­ships and restore harmony among co-workers. Sincere apologies show that you take problems, mistakes and mis­un­der­stand­ings seriously and are making an active effort to improve the situation at hand. But different sit­u­a­tions will require different ap­proach­es. You’ll want to use a different tone and include different content for customers than for a business partner or su­per­vi­sor.

Below we’ll look at different sit­u­a­tions that warrant an apology email and give you tips on how to apologize pro­fes­sion­al­ly in an email. We’ll also tell you what should be in an email and include apology email examples and templates.

When and how should you write an apology email?

Once you’ve decided to write an apology email the next question is, what should that email contain? No matter how much ex­pe­ri­ence you have with pro­fes­sion­al com­mu­ni­ca­tion, apology emails don’t seem to get any easier.

Below are some tips to help you draft a suc­cess­ful apology email:

How should you apologize?

The most important aspect of an apology is the “how”. The way you express yourself will determine whether the other person believes your apology and can un­der­stand your point of view. The biggest elements of a suc­cess­ful apology are honesty, re­spon­si­bil­i­ty and trans­paren­cy. If you made a mistake, you should take ownership of it and apologize sincerely. That will show that you’re pro­fes­sion­al, earn you respect from the other person and make clear that you’re actively working towards a solution.

Some important things to pay attention to are:

1. You should never use phrases like “I’m sorry, but…”. If you’re apology reads like an excuse, you might even make the situation worse. Focus on clearly ex­press­ing that you’re sorry and showing that you un­der­stand the other person’s anger.
2. Suggest a way to solve the problem and make up for your mistake.
3. Try to use first-person for­mu­la­tions like “I apologize” rather than im­per­son­al forms like “We apologize”. However, the choice between “I” and “we” will depend on the context. In customer service, it’s more common to use “we” in apology emails.

Which sit­u­a­tions call for an apology?

There’s a wide variety of sit­u­a­tions that might call for an apology email. That makes it all the more important to develop a sense for when an apology is not only ap­pro­pri­ate but ab­solute­ly necessary. Below we give you an overview of some business sit­u­a­tions that warrant an apology.

Pro­fes­sion­al or technical mistakes

There are a number of mistakes you can make in the course of doing business that would warrant an apology:

• Missing a deadline or ap­point­ment
• Sending documents or media late
• Sending in­com­plete materials
• Not answering a message
• Sending the wrong email at­tach­ment or sending an email to the wrong person
• Ac­ci­den­tal­ly sending con­fi­den­tial in­for­ma­tion
• Mixing up ap­point­ments
• Putting the wrong email addresses in CC or BCC

Typos and other careless mistakes

Careless mistakes like typos can often be the most frus­trat­ing, because they’re so easy to avoid. If it’s too late to, for example, recall your Outlook email or correct your mistake, show the person in question that you’re pro­fes­sion­al and con­sci­en­tious by sending them an apology email. However, make sure to keep things in pro­por­tion. If you call someone by the wrong name, you should def­i­nite­ly apologize but not write an essay-length email about it. “Short but sincere” is the name of the game.

Some examples of careless mistakes that you should send a short and sincere apology email for:

• Using the wrong name
• Sending an email to the wrong person
• Writing the wrong job position or job title
• Using the wrong business name
• Mis­gen­der­ing

Technical errors

Technical errors are some of the most common mistakes and apol­o­giz­ing for them should be standard. These errors can include:

• Software or system errors
• Errors with email lists
• System failures or slow features
• Emails that weren’t sent, were mis­tak­en­ly sent or were sent multiple times
• Spam that was sent from malware-infected accounts
• Automatic con­fir­ma­tions or out-of-office emails that didn’t get sent

Apologies when you’re not to blame

Not every situation warrants a direct apology. In some cases, you should try to write an apology without apol­o­giz­ing. That’s es­pe­cial­ly true if it becomes clear that a “problem customer” is merely trying to get freebies, is blaming you for their mistakes or doesn’t un­der­stand certain con­di­tions of the sale.

Your top priority should still be to act friendly and pro­fes­sion­al. Use for­mu­la­tions like “We’re sorry to hear you were dis­sat­is­fied” to help the customer feel un­der­stood and ac­knowl­edged without ex­plic­it­ly taking blame. You might also be able to use the chance to point out any mis­un­der­stand­ings without coming across as pedantic.

Apol­o­giz­ing for mis­un­der­stand­ings

When it comes to mis­un­der­stand­ings, the most important thing is to clear them up. If you’ve expressed yourself in a mis­lead­ing way, address it directly and apologize. You should also assure the other person that you’ll be clearer in the future.

Apol­o­giz­ing when you’re both at fault

If both you and the other person made mistakes, fostered mis­un­der­stand­ings or got irritated, you shouldn’t wait for them to make the first move. Use for­mu­la­tions like the following in your apology email:

I’m sorry that we mis­un­der­stood each other. In hindsight, we could have avoided those mistakes. That makes it all the more important that we find a solution that’s sat­is­fac­to­ry for both of us, so that we can continue working well together.

What should be included in every apology email?

No matter what you’re apol­o­giz­ing for, there are certain things that are true of every pro­fes­sion­al apology email.

• Keep it short: Write a sincere apology without any ifs, ands or buts.
• Don’t make excuses: You should never find yourself writing “I’m sorry, but…”. Avoid making excuses and giving far-fetched ex­pla­na­tions. The simplest way to smooth things over is to admit your mistakes.
• Take re­spon­si­bil­i­ty: Don’t stop at an apology. You should also take re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for your mistakes. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and emphasize that you un­der­stand the in­con­ve­nience your mistake caused. Look for a solution.
• Propose solutions: Suggest a specific solution in the form of a re­place­ment, com­pen­sa­tion or something similar. In addition, com­mu­ni­cate the next steps trans­par­ent­ly and propose a timeline. That will make it clear that you’re actively working on a solution.
• Learn from your mistakes: Show that you want to learn from your mistakes and demon­strate how you’re doing that. Assure the other person that you won’t make the same mistake again.
• Ac­knowl­edge the gravity of the situation: If you’ve made a really big mistake, you should also ask for for­give­ness to show that you’re serious. This won’t be ap­pro­pri­ate in every situation so use your best judgement to make sure you don’t overdo the apology.
• Don’t take it per­son­al­ly: Es­pe­cial­ly when it comes to angry customers or business partners, it’s important not to take com­plaints per­son­al­ly. Defensive replies are a no go.
• Accept feedback and sug­ges­tions for im­prove­ment: Show that you’re in­ter­est­ed in feedback and sug­ges­tions for im­prove­ment, both in the current situation and in the future.
• Good form: In the spirit of email etiquette, make sure you use the right sign off and have a good email signature.

3 examples for pro­fes­sion­al apology emails to customers

Apology emails to customers can take a wide variety of forms depending on the customer’s complaint. Below we’ll show you three apology email examples for different sit­u­a­tions.

Apology email for large groups of customers

If you’ve ac­ci­den­tal­ly sent out an email to a large group of customers using your newslet­ter list or customer service platform, you’ll want to react as quickly as possible. That’s also true if you’ve been targeted by malware and ac­ci­den­tal­ly sent spam to customers. When it comes to large groups, a stan­dard­ized, pro­fes­sion­al email will be most ap­pro­pri­ate. The faster and more trans­par­ent your response is, the better for your company’s image.

Example: An email an­nounc­ing sales that are no longer going on was ac­ci­den­tal­ly sent to customers.

Email:

It looks like our last email an­nounc­ing the spring sale was out of date. We’re sorry about that! But don’t worry, you won’t leave empty handed. We’re offering 50% off all marked down items. Simply enter the code SALE with your next purchase.

It’s important that you explain the problem in your own words, don’t hesitate to apologize and offer a solution. By offering customers a discount, you turn the problem into an op­por­tu­ni­ty for a better brand image.

Per­son­al­ized apology emails to in­di­vid­ual customers

A mass email probably won’t have any big con­se­quences for a user’s ex­pe­ri­ence. But system errors are another story.

Example: A company that offers users in­te­grat­ed payment gateways for websites and online store ex­pe­ri­enced an outage. They want to apologize to their customers per­son­al­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly.

Email:

Dear [name of customer],

On behalf of the team at [company name], I want to sincerely apologize for the recent problems with our in­te­grat­ed payment gateway. We un­der­stand how crucial the payment system is for your business and can com­plete­ly un­der­stand your frus­tra­tion. We’re already in contact with the gateway provider and can promise a solution within the next twelve hours.

Until the problem with the gateway is solved, we can offer you one of our al­ter­na­tive gateway solutions. Since setting up a new gateway can involve extra work, we’re here to help integrate it into your site, so that your business can go on without any further in­ter­rup­tions.

We’d also like to assure you that we’re making efforts to prevent similar problems in the future.

Thank you!

[Name of company/Customer service agent]

Apology emails to angry customers or business partners

There are a number of reasons a customer or business partner might be angry — delays, late replies and bad service are just a few. You’ll want to apologize to them quickly and honestly.

Example: There were long delays in the delivery of an order or the arrival of important documents, due to a problem with the postal service.

Email:

Dear [name],

We sincerely apologize for the delayed delivery. We un­der­stand the in­con­ve­nience the delay caused for you and assure you that it won’t happen again.

We very much value our long-standing re­la­tion­ship and your loyalty over the years, and hope that you continue to place your trust in our services. To make up for this in­con­ve­nience, we’d like to offer you [sug­ges­tion/offer].

If you have any sug­ges­tions or ad­di­tion­al feedback for us, do not hesitate to get in touch.

Sincerely, [Name of sender or team leader]

Templates of apology emails for different sit­u­a­tions

Below we include a number of templates for different apologies.

Apology email to employees

Example 1:

Dear [name],

Un­for­tu­nate­ly we’ve en­coun­tered some problems in de­liv­er­ing the contract documents. We un­der­stand that you won’t be able to meet the project deadline now. To avoid any further issues, we’re happy to push the deadline back by a week. We apologize for the situation!

Best, [Name]

Example 2:

Hi team,

Due to un­ex­pect­ed absences, there’s been a delay in pro­cess­ing invoices. We apologize for any in­con­ve­nience that’s given rise to. We’re working on finding a better solution for these kinds of sit­u­a­tions in the future, and ask for your un­der­stand­ing this time around. Checks will be ready within the next two days. Thank you for your hard work!

Best,

[Name]

Apology email to managers/su­per­vi­sors

Example 1:

Dear [name of manager],

This kind of mistake should never have slipped past me. I sincerely apologize and take full re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for it. I started working on a solution right away and can assure you that the situation is already taken care of. I can also assure you that I will reflect on how this happened and be more con­sci­en­tious in the future.

Sincerely,

[Name]

Example 2:

Dear [name of su­per­vi­sor],

I sincerely apologize for my un­pro­fes­sion­al behavior in the con­sul­ta­tion with [name of customer]. In ret­ro­spect, it’s clear to me how my behavior has a negative effect not only on our business re­la­tion­ships but also on the company’s image. I have also sent [name of customer] an email with my sincere apologies for acting un­pro­fes­sion­al­ly and in­ap­pro­pri­ate­ly. I assure you that I will work on this and act as a proper rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the company in the future.

Sincerely,

[Name]

Apology email to co-workers or business partners

Example 1:

Hi [name of co-worker],

I’m sorry that I missed our meeting. My previous meeting un­ex­pect­ed­ly ran over. I already left you a little note in your office, but I also wanted to send you an email to per­son­al­ly apologize for any in­con­ve­nience.

Of course an apology can’t get you back the time you lost, but I can assure you that re­li­a­bil­i­ty and punc­tu­al­i­ty are top pri­or­i­ties for me. This won’t happen again.

It would be great if we could resched­ule the meeting. I hope to hear from you soon.

Best,

[Name]

Example 2:

Dear [name of business partner],

I was very troubled to hear about the problem you had with our services. [Summary of problem]. On behalf of the company, I sincerely apologize for the in­con­ve­nience. To make up for it as much as possible, I can offer you the following solution: [Describe suggested solution]. In addition, we’re already in contact with IT and assure you that our service will be up and running again within six hours.

Sincerely,

[Name]

Apology email to customers

Example 1:

Hi [name of customer],

We’ve received your email about shipping delays and sincerely apologize. Your order should def­i­nite­ly have arrived by now, so we’ll send you a free re­place­ment right away. Since this is the second time you’ve ex­pe­ri­enced delays, we’ll upgrade your shipping next time to make sure you get your order on time. Thank you for your patience!

Best,

[Name]

Example 2:

Hi [name of customer],

We’re sorry to hear that you aren’t satisfied with our product. We’re always looking to improve our customers’ ex­pe­ri­ence, so we’d like to propose two possible solutions:

Solution 1: We reimburse you the full price of the item. You won’t need to send us back the product.

Solution 2: You send us back the product and choose a re­place­ment from our store that would better suit your needs. We’ll of course pay for return shipping.

Just let us know which solution you prefer. We’ll take care of every­thing else, and hope that you shop with us again soon.

Best,

[Name]