How to Write a Letter of Introduction (with Examples)

Across the business world, people are gaining access to jobs, contracts, and networking opportunities by sending an important piece of document. This document is called a letter of introduction, and it is different from cover letters, letters of recommendation, reference letters, and even job application letters.

A letter of introduction is just as important, and sometimes, depending on your industry and the purpose of the letter, more important than the above-mentioned letters. In this article, we will go over the definition of a letter of introduction, the importance of a letter of introduction, and how to write a letter of introduction.

A letter of introduction is a document written to someone in your industry to introduce yourself or another person to them to try to build a business relationship with them or to see if they can assist you in getting a job opportunity or connecting you with other people in your industry in relationships that could be mutually beneficial to both parties.

By this definition, a letter of introduction is a formal way of getting yourself known by people in your industry (usually influential people) without trying to run into them at the mall or in a coffee shop when they are trying to spend some time alone.

Impact of a Well-Written Letter of Introduction

Many people are so focused on other types of letters like cover letters and job application letters that they ignore the equally powerful letter of introduction. A letter of introduction, when done well, can have a lot of impact on how the person on the other side views you.

A good letter of introduction can tell the receiver, with a few words, that you are the right person for a job or that working with you could yield tremendous benefits for them. Either way, it helps the person makes a key decision.

On the other hand, a poorly written letter of introduction could be a serious hit on your credibility and show the person you are looking to work with that you are a terrible fit for them. So how do you write a proper letter of introduction for the best benefit available?

Writing a good letter of introduction is just like cooking: even if you don’t know how to do it, you can pull it off with the right recipe.

You can write a good letter of introduction by following a few key steps:

Write a suitable greeting

A letter of introduction should be treated as a serious document, and as such, should not have lengthy greetings. A very short greeting like “Dear Jacob. Hope you are doing well” should be fine. Don’t start talking about families or golf in an effort to sound friendly. Many serious business people will dump your letter in the trash if you ramble too much.

A brief introduction about yourself

Think about what you do that is beneficial to the reader and focus on that for your introduction about yourself. Don’t add your hobbies or birthplace, or mother’s maiden name unless you are sure it is important to build the relationship you wish to build.

For example, let’s say you are a freelance graphic designer, writing to the head of graphic design in a video game company you wish to work for. You can say:

“My name is Jill West, and I am a freelance graphic designer with over 2 years’ experience in character design and cover art creation for video games.”

An explanation about why you are writing the letter

This part is very important, and you should spend most of your time here. When writing an explanation, you need to think deeply about why the person on the other end would need your services or your relationship as a business acquaintance. If you are a graphic designer, and you have noticed some errors in the current design of the company you are writing to, you might want to make a slight reference to it. Or maybe you have seen something that their competitors are doing that they are missing out on.

Whatever it is, try writing in such a way that shows that you are a person of value and that meeting with you would be a valuable one.

Information and links to reach you

A letter of introduction is written to prompt the person on the other end to want to meet with you, not to make the person hire you immediately. When written properly, the person on the other end will feel the need to contact you to get further information about you and your services. For this reason, you need to include your information like a phone number or email address. You can also include a website of your portfolio for a quick review.

End with an appropriate closing remark

A remark like “Best regards,” “Warm regards,” or “Looking forward to hearing from you” is a good closing remark to end a letter of introduction.

Pro tip: Avoid writing generic letters and copying all of them to various people. Try to write a customized letter for every company executive you send addressing specific problems in the company and how you plan to use your skills to solve them. You will get more responses that way.

An introduction letter gives the reader an idea about the person that you’re introducing. The good thing about an introductory letter is that it can be as elaborate as you choose, having no restrictions. You can introduce yourself, a second person, or even your company and services to the reader, giving them an overview of who you are and what you do.

There are different types of introduction letters as discussed below :

Introduction on your behalf

This type of introduction letter is written to introduce yourself to a business person you wish to help you get opportunities or make their acquaintance with. In this letter type, you can give detailed information about your qualifications, services and promote your ideas that may be beneficial to the reader. You must be able to describe yourself in the best light and also capture the reader’s attention.

An example of such a letter is given below:

Introduction on behalf of someone else

This type is written by one party to another on behalf of someone else. The writer serves as a guarantor for the person on whose behalf they are writing. To write an excellent introduction letter on behalf of someone else, you must know that person’s best traits of that person of interest to the reader, and polish these to captivate the reader’s attention.

An example is given below:

Email introduction

When writing an email, you have to pay specific attention to the headline of the email. Write a headline that will prompt the reader to open it.
For the example we’ve been using, you can write a headline like “Graphic design for XXXX company” to get the attention of the receiver.

An introduction letter is important to the following set of people:

Job Seekers

Job Seekers can build solid connections and even get jobs directly by attaching a good letter of introduction. A letter of introduction is also very powerful for job seekers when it is done by a person of authority in an attempt to link them to other major players in the industry.

Real Estate

Real estate agencies can send letters of introduction to leads in an attempt to get them to work with them to buy, sell and rent properties for the customer. If you have been able to generate powerful leads in the industry, the next thing you should consider doing is sending them a letter of introduction to open the lines of communication between you and the prospective customer.

Freelancers

As seen in the example above, freelancers can get great jobs and opportunities by sending letters of introduction to companies and agencies they wish to work with. They can also rely on help from big influences in the industry to help them get introduced to other major players in the industry they work in.

Business to Business Sales

Business executives can open lines of communication with one another by sending letters of introduction. These letters are aimed at other executives in companies they wish to work with and can help build great business relationships.

Searching for New Distributors

For companies that wish to expand their sales into new states or cities, sending a letter of introduction to established distributors is a good way to start a business relationship between both parties. The distributors can help you sell more of your products in the new city you wish to venture into.

We realize that writing an introduction letter is much of a brain teaser, and you can easily lose the letter’s outline. And for this reason, we have so many templates of well-written introduction letters on our websites. The most amazing catch is that these templates are completely free and accessible at all times.

There are some additional spices or trick you can add to your recipe to make it tastier to the recipient:

Do a proper analysis

Before you send a letter of introduction, try to analyze why your services are needed in the company. Learn more about the company you wish to work for and try to identify the key people to send your letter to. If possible, call to find out who is in charge of the department you want to work in and try to send that person the letter directly.

Try to know the company culture

Knowledge of the company culture can be really helpful in writing a specific letter that will resonate with the person you are writing it to.

Keep it brief and to the point

Many company executives are busy people. They don’t have time to read about your family history or why your mother, who needs surgery, needs the money. Be brief and remove everything that does not directly address why you are sending them a letter of introduction.

Tell about your purpose first

Hit the nail on the head. Tell them the reason why you are writing the letter to them as soon as possible because many executives will scan your letter quickly, and if they don’t find a purpose, they will dump it.

If you follow the steps as outlined in this article, you should have no problem writing a killer letter of introduction. Remember to spend some time researching the company and the company executive you wish to write to. It also helps to outline the services you can provide and how you think they can be helpful to the company.