How to write a first email to a business

Start with the right person and the right address

A first email to a business often goes wrong before anyone types a word, because it lands in the wrong inbox. Think about who in that business actually chooses suppliers like you. At an agency that does property management it's the property manager or the maintenance coordinator, not the principal who's out listing houses. At a function venue it's the venue or operations manager, and at a building company it's often the site supervisor or whoever looks after estimating.

Then look on the business's own website for the address it publishes for that person or that role. A contact page that lists a maintenance inbox is exactly what you want. If the site only gives a general enquiries address, use that and say in your first line who you'd like it passed to, because whoever reads the inbox will forward a clear and polite email far more readily than a vague one.

Don't guess addresses by working out the firm's pattern, and don't use a list somebody sold you. An address the business has published itself, used for something to do with its work, is what Australian spam law relies on for most first business emails (more on that below), and a guessed address hasn't been published anywhere.

Write a subject line that says what the email is

The subject line has one job, which is to tell the reader what's inside so they can decide whether to open it now or later. Something like "Electrician for your function rooms" or "Window cleaning for your Carindale properties" does that, and it reads like an email from a real person because it is one.

Leave out the tricks. "Quick question", a fake "Re:" and anything that sounds like a special offer all make the reader feel managed. Microsoft's own advice to senders asks for accurate subject lines and no deceptive headers, and readers notice when the subject and the first line don't match.

Open with them, not with you

Most first emails start with the sender's name, how many years they've been going and how much they care about quality. The reader skims all of that looking for the part that concerns them, so put that part first.

Your opening line should show you've looked at their business and explain why you're writing to them in particular. Spend five minutes on their website and pick one true and specific thing, such as the suburbs they manage in, the function room they've just opened or the townhouse project on their current jobs page. "I saw you've started the townhouses on Main Avenue" tells them this isn't the same email that went to forty other builders. Keep it factual, because praise reads as filler and a detail you got wrong does more harm than no detail at all.

Give one reason to talk

You'll be tempted to list everything you do. A list asks the reader to work out which part matters to them and most won't bother, so pick the one thing that solves a problem people in their job deal with all the time.

A property manager wants someone who answers the phone, turns up when the tenant is home and sends an invoice the landlord won't query. A venue manager wants work done around bookings rather than during them. A builder wants a subcontractor who's on site the day they said and leaves it clean for the next trade. Our pages on property managers and venues go through what each kind of buyer tends to care about. Say your one reason in a sentence or two and back it with something they can check, like your response time, your licence or the kind of client you already look after.

Leave price out unless they've asked for it. A number in a first email looks either cheap or expensive, and you don't know enough about the job yet to price it properly. The guide to quoting for commercial work covers that conversation for when it comes.

Ask for one small thing

End with a single question that's easy to say yes to. "Would it help to have my licence and insurance on file for next time?" can be answered in one line. "Can we set up a meeting to discuss your needs?" asks a stranger to give up half an hour, so it gets put off and then forgotten.

Good small asks include sending your details for their supplier list, quoting one job they have coming up, or a ten minute phone call at a time that suits them. Choose one of these rather than all three, because a reader faced with two questions tends to answer neither.

Sign off so they know exactly who you are

The signature is where a stranger checks that you're real. Give your name, your business name as it's registered (or your name and ABN), a mobile number, the area you work in and your website if you have one. Add your licence number if your trade needs one, since a property manager or builder will ask for it anyway.

Keep the signature as plain text. A big logo or a banner makes a first email look like a newsletter, and the less it looks like marketing the more it reads like a note from a person. Our guide on why business emails go to junk explains what else affects whether it arrives at all.

Make it easy to say no

A reader who knows they can say no politely is more comfortable reading to the end, and someone who isn't interested is more likely to tell you than to hit the spam button. One line at the bottom does it: "If this isn't useful, reply 'no thanks' and I'll take you off my list." Then do exactly that whatever words they use, and keep a note of the address so you don't email them again by accident.

That line also covers one of the legal basics. Under the Spam Act 2003 a marketing email needs consent (for a first business email, usually an address the business published itself and a message relevant to its work), it has to identify you and give your contact details, and it has to include a way to unsubscribe that ACMA says you must honour within five working days. Our guide on whether cold emailing is legal in Australia covers the detail, and a lawyer is the person to ask if your situation is unusual.

An example, and why it works

Here's a made-up email from a made-up electrician to a made-up function venue. The names, numbers and addresses are all invented.

Subject: Electrician for your function rooms

Hi Karen,

Your website says the new terrace room opens for bookings in March, so I thought it was worth introducing myself before your calendar fills up.

I run a small electrical business in Albion and look after a few venues and cafés nearby. I do most venue work early in the morning or on days when the rooms are empty, so a lighting fault or a round of test and tag never gets in the way of a booking.

Would it help if I sent through my licence and insurance so you have someone on file for the next time something trips?

Thanks,
Tom
Tom Nguyen, Albion Electrical (ABN 00 000 000 000)
Electrical contractor licence 00000
0400 000 000, Albion QLD, albionelectrical.example

If this isn't useful, reply 'no thanks' and I'll take you off my list.

It goes to the venue manager, who is the person that would actually call an electrician. The subject line says what it is, and the first sentence is about her venue and gives a real reason for writing now. There's one reason to talk (work done around bookings) and it's the thing a venue manager worries about. The ask is small enough to answer with "yes please". The signature lets her check the business and the licence, and the last line gives her a polite way out. Signature included, it's under 150 words and fits on a phone screen with very little scrolling.

Mistakes that sink a good first email

• Attachments. A capability statement or price list from a stranger is a file the reader has to trust before they've decided to trust you, so offer to send it instead.
• Too many links. Your website in the signature is enough.
• "Dear Sir/Madam". If you can't find a name, "Hi there" or "Hi to the property management team" is warmer and more honest.
• A long company history. One line about what you do and where you do it is plenty.
• The same email to everyone. If your opening line would make sense to any business in the suburb, it isn't doing its job.

If there's no reply, one short follow-up a week or so later is ordinary, because busy people miss things. Our follow-up email template shows one that stays polite, and after that it's best to leave it for a few months. Writing a single email like this takes ten minutes once the research is done, but researching thirty businesses a week is the part most owners never get to. Curlew does that research and writes the first email in your business name.