Letters of aplogise

Why do we need an opening line in a business letter or email?

– to make reference to previous correspondence

– to say how you found the recipient’s name/address

– to say why you are writing to the recipient.

10 Good Opening Lines:

With reference to your letter of 8 June, I .

I am writing to enquire about .

After having seen your advertisement in . , I would like .

After having received your address from . , I .

I received your aaddress from . and would like .

We/I recently wrote to you about .

Thank you for your letter of 8 May.

Thank you for your letter regarding .

Thank you for your letter/e-mail about .

In reply to your letter of 8 May, .

Closing lines

Why do we need a closing line in a business letter or email?

– to make a reference to a future event

– to repeat an apology

– to offer help

10 Good Closing Lines:

If you require aany further information, feel free to contact me.

I look forward to your reply.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I look forward to seeing you.

Please advise as necessary.

We look forward to a successful working relationship in the ffuture.

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience.

We hope that we may continue to rely on your valued custom.

I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.

When ‘Yours faithfully’ and when ‘Yours sincerely’ in a business letter?

When the recipient’s name is unknown to you:

Dear Sir . Yours faithfully

Dear Madam . Yours faithfully

Dear Sir or Madam . Yours faithfully

When you know the recipient’s name:

Dear Mr Hanson . Yours sincerely

Dear Mrs Hanson . Yours sincerely

Dear Miss Hanson . Yours sincerely

Dear Ms Hanson . Yours sincerely

When addressing a good friend or colleague:

Dear Jack . Best wishes/Best regards

Addressing whole ddepartments:

Dear Sirs . Yours faithfully

Dear Larry,

We are haunted by the fact that you are angry with us. We have always valued our relationship and would never intentionally do anything to jeopardize that. Please accept our sincere apology for anything we said or did to hurt or destroy the relationship we have had over the last 5 years.

We don’t know what we did specifically, but we want you to know how much we care that you have disassociated yyourself from us. We hope that you can forgive us for what we have done. We both feel a great loss with the absence of your friendship in our lives.

Please let us know how we can make this right.

Sincerely,

Why an apology letter is so important:

1. Writing an apology letter shortly after the offense can usually help save a relationship before a wound becomes a scar and the damage becomes irreparable.

2. You can usually find forgiveness and understanding if you freely acknowledge what you did wrong and express sincere regret in your apology letter.

3. Depending on the situation, if you offer the injured party the appropriate material restitution for whatever loss they incurred because of you, this will also help to repair your relationship.

4. You can help to rebuild your credulity in your apology letter if you promise not to repeat the offense and assure the injured party that they will see a definite change in your behavior.

5. You can use your apology letter to assure the injured party that you truly value their friendship and do not want to lose it.

6. Just writing an apology letter shows the injured party that you realize you were wrong and that you value the relationship.

7. You may find that iif you freely apologize and accept responsibility for what you did, the injured party may also accept some responsibility for the problem and apologize to you in return.

6 tips for writing a personal apology letter:

1. Write this apology letter carefully on a piece of stationery; don’t type it on a computer.

2. Express your apology in the beginning of your letter: “I am so sorry. . . .” or “I want to apologize. . . .”

3. State exactly what you did wrong early in the apology letter: “I shouldn’t have lost my temper when. . . . ” or “I have looked all over, but I’m afraid I have lost your book. . . .”

4. Accept responsibility for what you did and don’t blame the other person: “I accept full responsibility for what happened. . . .” or “I know this was completely my fault. . . .”

5. Promise in your apology letter not to repeat your offensive action and ask the injured party to give you an opportunity to prove this to them.

6. Suggest that the two of you get together at a restaurant or some other non-threatening place so that you can apologize in person and begin to rebuild your relationship.

7 tips for writing a bbusiness apology letter:

1. Type this apology letter on your computer using a serif font such as Times Roman or Georgia and print it on good quality, bright-white inkjet paper.

2. Use a formal business letter format such as full block or semi-block.

3. Offer your apology in the beginning of the letter and clearly state the problem: “Please accept my apology for being unable to give you a definitive answer at this time. . . . ” or “We apologize for whatever inconvenience this may cause you, but. . . .”

4. Give some explanation for what happened: “Our committee has not yet completed its investigation into. . . . ” or “In order to err on the side of caution, this toy has been recalled by the manufacturer. . . .”

5. Focus on what actions you are taking to rectify the problem: “We are happy to offer you a full refund. . . . ” or “We will be happy to notify you as soon as we receive the information you requested. . . . ”

6. Hand-sign the apology letter with a black pen.

7. Remember: Say you are sorry as soon as wisdom dictates! You will find that an apology letter will not only help save

your friendships and your business associates, it can also dissolve a small

June 28, 2003

Ms. Rebecca Winston

2595 Dewdrop Circle

Unit No. 29

Birmingham, AL 35233

Dear Ms. Winston:

The purpose of this is to convey to you my sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced last month with respect to the installation

of your Internet high speed service.

I just returned from vacation this week and found your file in my in-basket. As soon as I reviewed yyour case it was clear that somehow your May 20th request

for a change in service had somehow slipped through the cracks. The only possible explanation I can give is that we have recently had a number of key staff

changes which might have resulted in your letter being overlooked.

Consequently, I have directed our Installation Group to contact you by the end of this week to set up a time convenient to you when they could go to your <

house and install your new router and make the necessary adjustments to your software.

Because of this serious oversight, and as a testament to our appreciation of you as our customer, we are going to provide you with your first tthree months

of high speed service free of charge. Therefore, your account will not be billed until October of this year.

Ms. Quinlan, let me assure you that what happened in your case is not typical of CableNet’s level of customer service. We continue to be committed to providing

you and all of our customers with the highest standards of service in the industry.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call me at 754-9785.

Yours in service,

Paul Cordero

Manager, Customer Solutions