If you are apologizing, it is because you or your company may have done something wrong, failed to communicate properly, or simply be involved in a misunderstanding. Whatever the case may be, the first step is recognizing and stating there is a problem. Be clear and specific when talking about what went wrong. This lets the recipient (your boss, customers, coworker) know that you see the problem, and understand it., It seems simple enough, but your apology will go a long way if you actually say that you are sorry for what happened.Use “I” statements to get the apology across. “I’m sorry,” or “I deeply regret what I did.” This puts the focus on you, and what you did. Otherwise, it might sound as if you are blaming the other person.
Make sure to avoid the non-apology, or apologizing for how someone else feels. Avoid statements like “I’m sorry if what I did upset you” or “I’m sorry you took that the wrong way.” When you do that, you aren’t actually apologizing for your actions, just the result, which suggests you didn’t so anything wrong., Try to help the recipient understand how the mistake happened. Even if it was just an oversight or error on your part, identifying the cause of your mistake is a way to tell the other person that you know what happened and can avoid doing it again in the future.


One important part of this is to make sure the apology and explanation are separate from one another. While you want to make sure the recipient understands your intentions, the important thing is that you apologize first. Once that has been accepted, then you can move on to explaining yourself., If you are apologizing, then something has gone wrong. While your apology is a nice start, in order to maintain a good professional relationship it is important that you work with the recipient on finding a solution to the issue. The way you go about doing this depends on the nature of your mistake.


If you are a company apologizing to your customers, explain how you intend to resolve the problem. Make sure you include specifics related to the original problem. Avoid generic statements like “we are doing everything possible to prevent problems like this in the future” will come off as insincere without details.When dealing with customers, resolving the problem can mean giving the customer a discount on their next order if the mistake was a pricing error, or shipping the next order for free if it was a shipping or delivery mistake, or paying for damages that occurred as a result of mishandling. It is important to provide options like this as a way to keep customers.
If you are apologizing person-to-person, such as to a co-worker, you may consider asking for discussion and input on the way to resolve the issue. The recipient may not want to discuss it further, but you should give them the option. Offer by saying, “I am open to discussing what happened so we can work on avoiding this again in the future,” or something similar., Depending on the setting, an apology may be seen as an admission of guilt, especially if you are apologizing on behalf of your company to customers. If you or your company is not at fault for what happened, you do not need to issue an apology.Don’t take responsibility for things that are not your fault, and you will avoid over-apologizing, which can weaken your image with co-workers or customers. It is certainly appropriate to express empathy, but you should avoid taking responsibility. You can tell people “I’m disappointed to hear that,” and offer to help resolve the problem, but avoid saying “I’m sorry.”
If you are apologizing on behalf of a business to your customers, this may be seen as an admission of responsibility, and you may be held legally and financially liable. Make sure you discuss what happened with a lawyer to discuss any potential legal difficulties before apologizing. This isn’t effective for lots of the smaller mistakes that may happen with customers daily, so you may consider creating company policies for certain mistakes, and how your employees should handle them.
 If your customers are angry or upset with something your business has done, you need to move quickly. They are more likely to listen to an explanation if you issue it as soon as possible. The longer you delay saying anything, the more angry the future recipient will be.While there are times when you should delay apologizing in order to consult with other people, such as a lawyer, it is important that you get on that as quickly as possible so you can get your message out as soon as you can.
 Depending on the nature of your error, including what you did and who it was against, there are different mediums you can use to respond. If your mistake was one that affected all of your clients, an email is a good choice. If your error was posting an offensive or inappropriate message through social media, using that platform as a place to express your contrition.
If you need to apologize to someone in your own company, or to a specific client, try to arrange for a face-to-face meeting. If you can’t be in the same place, try video-conferencing, then a phone call. The closer you are able to get to the person you are apologizing to, the better. This will make you look more serious when offering your apology., Once you have apologized, and the apology has been accepted, you both need to be prepared to move past it. Hanging on to the issue will only make the situation more difficult to handle.This goes for recipients too. If someone apologizes to you, and you accept it, there is no need to dwell on the mistake any longer. Bringing it up again will look petty or unprofessional.
Acknowledge the problem.
Make sure you say “I’m sorry.” Acknowledging that you were responsible is the most important part of the apology.
Offer an explanation.
Offer to fix the problem.
Make sure it is appropriate.
Act quickly.
Find the appropriate medium for your apology.
Move on after apologizing.
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