How To Talk Human To Your Customers
Great post by my friend Jim McCarthy, CEO of the discount tix company Goldstar.com. First, he takes on a company's apology e-mail, which starts out with a brag about what a great company they are:

Here's what I hate in the first email. The first line says, "to bring our members luxury products and experiences that exceed their expectations, all at exclusive prices." If you're about to apologize, it's best not to go on about how awesome you are. "Honey, I work tirelessly to to exceed your expectations as a husband, but I completely forgot our anniversary last week." If you knew somebody who spoke to you like that, you'd slap them in the face. If you've got bad news for your customer, spit it out. Give them the facts as directly as you can, apologize fully and sincerely if you've screwed up, and save the speeches about how great you are for another time. You can tell them how you TRY always to do this or that thing, but now's not the time to brag.