A client in Denver told me to stop saying 'sorry' in emails

We were going over a project update last month and he pointed out I'd said 'sorry for the delay' three times in one message. He said it made our team sound weak when we were actually on track. That small talk changed how I write all my work notes now. Has anyone else had a client give them blunt feedback that actually helped?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara_palmer22d ago

Got told to swap "sorry" for "thanks for your patience.

abby_palmer22d ago

Heard about that trick a while back. It's supposed to shift the blame away from you, right? Makes the other person feel like they're helping instead of you messing up. Seems a bit fake if you overuse it though. Like if you're actually late, just own it sometimes.

the_daniel17d ago

My boss at the coffee shop made us try that last year, @tara_palmer. It felt weird thanking a customer for their patience when we'd clearly forgotten their whole order... like we were pretending it was their idea to wait.