After a service outage: an annotated email example
Restore John's trust.
The situation
Yesterday your platform was down for 4 hours because of a server failure. You've set up redundant hosting. You're offering a 10% credit on this month's invoice.
Cold and factual. He reports to his own leadership and wants cause, measures and compensation, without spin.
The winning structure
A good email for this situation includes these elements, in this order:
- A greeting with the recipient's first name.
- An apology
- The cause (server failure, 4h)
- The measures (redundant hosting)
- The compensation (10% credit)
- A clear ask at the end: a question or an action with a deadline.
- A short sign-off, then your name.
Common mistakes
- Leaving out an apology : « No apology? Seriously? »
- Leaving out the cause (server failure, 4h) : « What actually happened? »
- Leaving out the measures (redundant hosting) : « And what guarantees it won't happen again? »
- Leaving out the compensation (10% credit) : « And nothing for the damage? »
- Getting defensive before acknowledging the problem.
- Sharing bad news with no solution and no next step.
Write your own version: the recipient reacts and you get a score out of 100.
The annotated example
Try it yourself first: you'll remember more. Click to show the example.
Hi John,
- Greeting by first name: the reader knows it's for them.
Yesterday our platform was down for 4 hours because of a server failure. I apologise.
- Includes: an apology.
- Includes: the cause (server failure, 4h).
We've set up redundant hosting so this doesn't happen again. We're also applying a 10% credit to this month's invoice.
- Includes: the measures (redundant hosting).
- Includes: the compensation (10% credit).
Would a quick call to discuss it be helpful?
- Clear ask: the reader knows what to do.
Best regards,
Alex
- Short sign-off, then the name.
Why it works : 49 words against a target of 110, 6 words per sentence on average, no filler phrases.