4 business introduction email samples and templates to land new clients

One of the most difficult parts of the sales process is reaching out to your prospects with a business introduction email.

Without a great strategy to entice your leads to open your introductory email, your emails will written off as spam and you may even fall foul of GDPR.

But don’t worry; once you know how to pitch your business introduction emails, you won’t have to worry about any of the repercussions of bad email marketing practices. You’ll see a dramatic increase in the success of your introductory emails by making a great first impression.

Personalization will help you get your company introduction emails to where they need to be and increase open rates. With a message personalized to each specific lead, you’ll stand a far greater chance of making a positive impression than sending bulk emails.

It’s important to remember that your leads are just like you. If you receive an email from a source you don’t recognize, with a generic subject line that makes no effort to appeal to you and your specific issues, chances are it’s going to be ignored or discarded.

So why should your leads expect any different? We’re bombarded with constant distractions in our inboxes and we’ve become very good at tuning out the noise.

The way you stand out, therefore, is by giving your leads something they can’t ignore – something to keep in mind when choosing a subject for introduction emails you write.

What is a business introduction email?

A business introduction email is essentially a cold email. It’s the initial introductory email you send to a potential client with a view to sell your product or service.

The main purpose of a business introduction email is to establish the beginnings of a mutually beneficial, long-term business relationship by building trust and goodwill between you and your lead.

Not all professional introduction emails are sent with the same degree of anonymity, so when writing your introduction email reference any prior contact. Leads may have previously interacted with your brand, such as on social media or at an event, a fact you can use to stand out from the crowd.

However, there’s a good chance your leads won’t know who you are before your introductory email, but that’s okay. With a strong introduction email strategy, you’ll be able to engage your leads and bring them into your sales pipeline.

Wondering “What is a professional introduction email and how is it different?” Business introduction emails make up the majority of this category, but a professional introduction email could also be one sent by a jobseeker to a business or vice versa, for example.

What does a business introduction email look like?

Each introductory email you send will be different, but they should all follow a similar structure.

The subject Line

The most important part of your introductory email, your cold email subject lines, are what your leads see first. These help them decide whether they open your message or throw it in the trash.

Your email’s personalization should begin here. You need to appeal to your lead and address their pain point, while also encouraging them to open the email to find out more. Even using your lead’s name in the subject line increases open rates by 26%.

You don’t want to be mysterious or vague when reaching out for the first time, as you’ll just sound like the subject line of a bulk email.

Instead, try to keep your subject line short and sweet. Get to the point, use your lead’s name and let them know why you’re making contact.

You don’t want to muddy the water with extra calls to action here either. The only job of the subject line is to get the email opened, so focus on that by being clear about what you can do for your specific lead.

Finally, if you’ve already met or been introduced to your lead by an industry contact, then using that information here is a great way to boost your chances of having your email opened.

The opening line

Next comes the introduction, which, like the subject line, should be to the point.

You’ll need to know how formal to make your greeting. “Dear Mr/Ms X” is appropriate for more traditional industries, such as universities, banking, government and financial institutions, but might sound odd in a more modern style of business.

When introducing yourself, you need to think about what your prospect needs to know about you. The goal isn’t to sell you, it’s to sell your solution, so a simple explanation consisting of your name, position, company and solution is all they need for now. You can introduce yourself properly once your lead has responded.

If you’ve met your contact before, or have been introduced by an industry contact, then mention it in a more in-depth way than in your subject line.

The core value proposition

The most important part of the body of your email is the proposition.

First of all, you’ll want to lead with a compliment or express your interest in what your lead does. This shows that you’ve done your research and taken your time to get to know their business.

Next comes your pitch; your core value proposition. This is another chance for you to show off your research to prospective clients by illustrating that you know how their business works, as well as to show off your expertise by isolating what could be done better.

A great strategy here is to share an example of when you’ve helped another business achieve what you’re pitching to your current lead. Use numbers and KPIs your lead will be interested in to prove that your product could make a big difference for them, but don’t sell it too hard.

Just let them know what you can do for their business. You don’t need them to commit to anything now; what you’re after is a positive reply. You’ll leave a much better impression if you give them an exciting proposition, but let them make the choice to follow it up.

Adding a little extra

This isn’t a necessary step, but if there’s a way you can add value for your lead without it costing them anything, then this is a great place to offer it.

You don’t even have to provide that freebie right now, just let your lead know it’s on the table if they’re interested. You could link to free content, or provide a few pointers on best industry practices or some advice you think could be helpful. If they’re interested, they can follow up with you and then they’re in your pipeline.

A call to action

Finish off your professional introduction with a small call to action before your sign-off and contact information to make sure your lead responds to you. Let them know you’re ready to talk to them and encourage them to contact you through your chosen channel if they’re interested to learn more.

Why personalization matters

Now we’ve gone over the structure of your introductory business emails, we need to understand what’s meant by personalization and just how personalized your messages need to be for outreach purposes.

Building a relationship

You’re not going to make lasting business relationships by treating your leads as faceless money-making opportunities. In fact, you’re far more likely to put people off your brand for good by using this tactic.

Instead, you want to treat your leads as the individual humans they are. Automations are fantastic for saving time, but they make a poor replacement for human interactions. Personalization brings that much-needed connection to your automated sales emails.

By taking the time to research what your leads are going through and the issues they’re facing, you can empathize with them, giving you a much stronger platform to build a relationship.

Understanding your leads’ needs proves that you’re ready to listen to them and you’re willing to create a solution that fits their exact needs.

Encourage engagement

If you can demonstrate you understand the power of personalization in your email subject lines, then you’re giving yourself far better chances of getting clicks.

One study found that 72% of recipients say they only respond to messages aimed directly at them, so it’s clear that leads have gotten wise to bulk emails, and they can tell from the subject line.

The chance of a bulk email product being the exact fit for a lead’s business is slim. Your leads don’t have the time to sift through emails to find solutions, especially if they’re busy decision-makers, which is why you need to use personalization to target your leads.

Proving up-front that you’re offering a service tailored to your lead saves them time and helps them identify what might be a great opportunity at very little risk to them.

What’s the right level of personalization to use?

To know how your product/service can help your leads, you need to know a lot about their business and whether they’re a good fit for your organization.

When prospecting for leads, use an ideal sales prospect template to make sure your leads are qualified for the service you offer.

You need to find the right person to send your business introduction email to, generally the head of a department or a key decision-maker in the business.

Find out how your product can be useful to them. If you’ve identified your lead as an ideal sales prospect for your business, then you probably have a good idea of the pain points of your leads and how your product can serve them.

Still, if it’s possible, providing concrete recommendations can be a fantastic way of proving you understand your leads and the industry they work in.

For example, if your business works in e-commerce marketing and you notice your lead’s website lacks an opportunity to grow their customer base, then including that detail and letting them know your business can provide a solution shows you’ve taken an interest in their business, while also establishing your expertise in the area.

Good areas to look for initial pain points are:

• Technical issues you can solve

• Digital marketing shortcomings

• Mistakes caused by a lack of experience in your specialization

• Industry-specific issues your leads might not be fully aware of

You need to make sure you’ve done enough research to understand who your lead is and how your business can provide an actual solution to the pain points you know they’re facing (ideally by demonstrating this with evidence).

That’s quite a lot of research per lead, and certainly a lot more time-consuming than sending out bulk emails, but narrowing down your leads and pitching to them individually will lead to greater success.

3 business introduction email examples

Here are some example business introduction emails that illustrate the ideas we established.

Follow-up introduction to a meeting in person

If you’ve met your lead in person at an event, then this is a great business introduction email sample reminding them of the occasion and also getting quickly into the business proposition.

Notice how the email opens in a friendly tone without being overly wordy, helping to quickly establish trust and putting the lead at ease.

Next is a quick reminder of what the sender does and how that relates to the lead’s business, followed by how that was touched upon in the first meeting (which again helps to ground the email in an existing relationship).

Then comes the evidence of what the sender’s company has already done for a similar company, demonstrating that they have expertise in the field and that their advice is valuable.

Then, the the sample business introductory letter adds value by offering some free advice if the lead responds. Notice that there’s no hard sell here and the tone is much more about providing guidance than it is about acquiring another sale.

Finally, the email rounds off with a call to action, where the lead can take the sender up on their value proposition. Again, no mention of a sale; the goal is simply to get a response, set up another meeting and build on the relationship. The selling can come later!

2. Cold email example

In this business introduction email sample, the sender is reaching out to a lead they’ve never met before, but the principles are still the same.

The sender begins with a quick introduction of who they are, what they do and what their business does. The sender then compliments the lead’s business in an industry-specific way, showing that they understand the industry and have done their research on the lead’s company.

What’s interesting about this email is how the core value proposition appears to be the building of a mutually beneficial relationship. The sender recognizes that the lead is an expert in their field, and uses that as a way to compliment them and open them up to a two-way learning relationship.

This strategy could easily be reworked to begin your lead down a sales pipeline by offering free industry advice.

3. Introduction from a referral

Finally, let’s look at a business introduction email sample based on a referral by a mutual contact.

Again, this email gets straight to the point, letting the lead know who they are, why they’re contacting them (in this case, been given the lead’s name from a mutual contact) and what the sender’s business does.

Right after the introduction comes the compliment, which helps set the tone for a friendly environment, and also establishes the sender’s understanding of the lead’s industry.

In this email, the sender aims to establish a relationship with the lead, where ideas can be exchanged for mutual benefit, serving as a free value proposition.

For businesses looking to make a sale as a result of the relationship, bringing your lead onside like this is a great way of building trust before offering your product. Further knowledge-sharing conversations can give you more information to work with when the time comes to begin pitching business.

The email rounds off with a friendly call to action, offering coffee in person, or a phone/video call if that’s more convenient for the lead.

4 business introduction email templates

Now we’ve looked at a business introduction email examples, here are some templates that bring together what you can use in your email marketing software to save time, while still retaining the personalization you need to make an immediate impact with your leads.

1. Follow-up to meeting in person template

Check out our post of follow-up email templates if you’re looking for more examples of making contact with a lead you’ve already met in person.

2. Cold business introduction email template

For more inspiration on reaching out to new leads, check out our cold email templates post.

3. Introduction from a referral template

4. An introduction email template between two parties

Final thoughts

While the idea of writing a business introduction email can be quite daunting, once you understand the formula for success, you’ll have a much easier time constructing your own amazing emails.

By following the structure below, you’ll have the foundations of a great email that can be adapted for use in a variety of situations:

1. Personalized subject line

2. Friendly greeting and introduction

3. Compliment of lead’s business

4. Personalized core value proposition

5. Adding free value for your lead

6. Ending with a call to action and your email signature

Alternatively, you can simply adapt one of the templates above so it works perfectly in your industry!

Crafting the best email introduction is critical to establishing a positive first impression and building a successful business relationship.

An effective introduction should be concise, clear and compelling, highlighting your value proposition and expressing genuine interest in connecting with the recipient. To create a strong opening, it’s helpful to personalize your message and show an understanding of the recipient’s needs and goals.

By keeping your emails short and focusing on how you can provide value for your lead’s business, you ticking a lot of boxes while avoiding all the red flags.

By writing the sort of email you’d actually like to receive, that proves an understanding of your business and how it can be improved, you’ll be setting yourself up for success.