Have you ever been at crossroads? Actual crossroads are not confusing if you know where you are going.
Have you ever been to a point in your life where you have to make a decision and your list of possible decisions is before you?
Dealing with an annoying client may not be as intense but you can consider it crossroads when you have to keep the business alive but are constantly getting pissed off.
If your client apologizes after offending you, what do you say in response?
You may be finding it hard to forgive but you also have to consider your business. If you are willing to keep the relationship with your client alive, you have found the right article with the answer you need.
20 Ways To Respond When Client Says Sorry
- Don’t worry about it.
- I’m not offended.
- It was my mistake.
- I should be the one apologizing.
- That is okay.
- We can get past that.
- It happens.
- No problem.
- You are forgiven.
- I appreciate the apology.
- It was equally my fault.
- I understand
- I’m sorry too.
- Apology accepted
- Taken
- Thank you.
- I also apologize for…
- That’s unnecessary.
- It wasn’t your fault.
- It’s totally fine
Don’t worry about it
As mentioned earlier, you have to treat this situation as crossroads and make the right decisions since you want to keep your business.
If you are not willing to keep the business relationship alive, you may not be bothered about this. However, if you are, you will have to keep the anger aside.
That is if you feel the reluctance to forget about whatever issue caused the rift.
You can tell the client to not worry about it. This is much easier if you’ve forgiven your client.
To make sure this doesn’t sound dismissive, you can address the rift between the both of you and make sure you are not expressing anger in any way. Then you can change the topic and start talking about business.
I’m not offended
You may have heard the saying which goes ‘Customers are always tight’. We have to keep it in mind in this case.
You may have contrary ideas to it but we have to give that respect to our customers since they are important variables in our business.
This explains why you have to be extremely tolerant and fight the urge to be angry about your client’s misbehavior.
In response to your client’s apology, you can say you are not offended You have to be able to say why you are not offended also.
Without that, this response may sound untrue and dismissive. In your next few words, you may even choose to blame yourself for the rift between the both of you.
Whatever you are saying, you have to make sure it makes sense for the situation. Don’t just say so because you got a piece of advice from here.
After mentioning why you are not offended, you can end the chat in a polite manner or even talk about business.
It was my mistake
You can take the blame if you can. If you are choosing to do this, you must make sure you have a story that actually shows you should take a bit of the blame. If not, this response may just sound childish.
After giving this response, you may also add your apology if it fits in. This depends on whether the rift has also affected your customer in any way. If it hasn’t, you don’t need to give an apology.
An apology would sound weird in that case. You should just say this and tell your client not to worry about it since you can get past the problems the rift may have caused you or the business.
I should be the one apologizing.
This is a way of accepting the apology and also clearing the doubts of your client. The rift between you may have been a misunderstanding and neither of you is at fault in the situation.
You may want to point that out. Saying so will show that you are not just forgiving the client. Rather, you were never even angry with him or her.
You can also say this statement if you have your own clear faults in the issue. You can talk about things you should have done to prevent the rift from happening.
Your client’s apology shows that he or she is ready to put the matter aside. This response shows understanding and it will help you move forward faster.
That is okay
This is the usual response to an apology. It shows that a person is no longer angry. When you say this, you are telling your client not to worry about the issue anymore.
You probably don’t think the client has to apologize for the issue or you have forgiven the client and you are ready to move past it.
This response is used to calm a repentant person. When you say this, you are showing that you are not worried about the issue and you are not holding grudges.
To prove to your client that you are not pissed anymore, you can change the topic quickly and discuss business or just anything else that doesn’t have to do with the rift.
We can get past that
There may be an issue that you both are yet to address. This may be because you don’t consider it a big deal or you are just not taking it up with your client.
However, he or she may feel the need to apologize to you. In this case, this response is suitable.
The client may be apologizing because he or she thinks you are holding grudges without talking about it. When you give this response, you can give reasons why you are not angry.
Then you can change the topic to show you don’t care about the issue.
It happens
This is another statement that implies you don’t consider the issue important. You will be showing your understanding of the situation with this response and also showing that you are not offended by your client.
Saying ‘it happens’ means it is not a new thing and it shouldn’t be taken personally. You are saying it is not a big deal and you understand how the issue arose.
You can tell him or her not to worry about the issue. Then you can start talking about business again to show that you are not holding any grudge.
No problem
This shows that you have forgiven your client. Saying ‘no problem’ is like saying ‘alright’.
You are implying that you have no objections to what a person has said and you will probably do what the person has asked of you.
In this context, ‘No problem’ means you have heard your client’s apology and you have no objections to settling the issue at the moment.
When you say this, you are confirming that you were pissed about the issue even if you no longer are. You are also saying you are ready to move past the issue, that is if you haven’t already.
You are forgiven
This is straightforward and should calm your client immediately. However, to ensure the client heaves a sigh of relief, you can smile and ask about his or her well-being.
In addition to talking about the person, you can talk about your business relationship and share information.
By initiating your old practices and using the same energy you always used, you will be showing the client that the rift has not affected the relationship between the both of you and you are no longer angry with him or her.
In this case, it must be clear that your client is the sole cause of the rift between you both. If not, you can show your understanding by talking about other things that contributed to your rift.
I appreciate the apology
This sounds quite weird but it is a formal way of accepting an apology. However, you may want to say this in a text message or email, rather than in person or on a phone call. It would definitely sound weird in your voice.
After saying this, you can mention that you accept the apology and you are sure you both can move past the rift.
You can also mention that you trust the rift not to repeat itself. You should change the discussion to a business topic so your client doesn’t have to keep going on and on about the apology.
It was equally my fault
A good way to show full understanding and relieve the situation is by talking about it in a way that shows you are not holding a grudge.
This is a much better option than simply giving a short response and saying nothing else. You can talk about your own faults in the issue.
With this, you are not only accepting your client’s apology but also indirectly saying sorry to your client also.
When the client hears this and gets the hint, you can expect him or her to be relieved, then the business can proceed with neither of you holding grudges or worrying about anything.
I understand
When you say you understand, you are telling your client that you are not holding a grudge simply because it’s either not the first time it happened or you expect it to happen.
You can smile while saying this. Then you can tell your client not to be bothered about it since you are not offended.
I’m sorry too
Just in case you both have actually been at war for a while, this may be the time to let it go. If you have faults in creating the rift or prolonging it, you can mention it.
While you may not actually bear the bulk of the blame, saying an apology will show your client that you both are in the same shoes. That way, he or she will not be bothered about how you feel anymore.
Apology accepted
This is another formal way of accepting an apology. If you are saying this while talking to your client in person, you should follow it with a handshake.
You are telling him or her that you have accepted the apology and you are no longer angry. To make this clear to your client, you should talk about the business and stop talking about the issue.
Taken
‘Taken’ is another way of telling your client that you have accepted the apology. However, you may not actually accept the apology while saying this.
It is a very short one and you won’t want to leave an attitude while settling things with your client. It is advisable to clearly say you have accepted the apology and you are no longer bothered about the issue.
Saying ‘Taken’ alone may sound dismissive.
Alright. Thank you
This statement is often used by people to acknowledge the kind gestures shown to them. When a person gives you important information, you can respond by saying ‘alright. Thank you.’ This means you have heard the person.
In this context also, this implies that you have heard the apology and you appreciate it. It sounds better in a text message or email.
I also apologize for…
Once your partner has shown remorse and apologized, it is about time you also dump your pride. You may have your faults in the issue. It may be something you did or failed to do.
It may also be your reaction to the rift. You should apologize for whatever it is you think you did wrong.
This will show that you have forgiven him or her.
That’s unnecessary
This is not often the right response to an apology. It may sound like you are pretending and actually holding a grudge. However, there are situations where this response is perfectly correct.
When you say this, you can explain why you think the apology is unnecessary and why you are not angry with your client.
It wasn’t your fault
There may not actually be a rift between you yet. It may be a problem that may have been caused by your client.
Your client may apologize immediately and you can tell him or her not to worry about it.
If it’s not his or her fault, you can point that out.
It’s totally fine
Your client may have put you in trouble or in some difficult situation. If he or she apologizes to you, you can say it’s fine.
You can ask for the person’s help in getting out of the situation or you can say why he or she shouldn’t worry about it.