The first email to an importer

The first email to an importer should be readable in under a minute. It holds two lines on who we are, one reason we are writing to them in particular, two or three products that fit the range they already sell, one specific question, and a single attachment. It does not hold the founding story, all 20 of our products, a price list, or eight certificate files. This piece describes how we rewrote that email, so that someone new to B2B sales has a template and an importer knows what to expect from us.

How the reader reads it

A buyer at an importer receives a great many unsolicited emails. They open one, skim for a few seconds, and answer two questions for themselves: does this fit what I am looking for, and is it worth five minutes to reply? A long email does not help them answer faster. A short one aimed at the right spot does.

So the first task, before writing a word, is to read about them. The categories they import, the channels they sell into, the gaps in their range, and the name of the category manager if it can be found. Fifteen minutes of reading usually saves a week of waiting for a reply that never comes.

What a good first email contains

We keep the first email to five parts, each one to three sentences:

• Who we are: Color of Vietnam, a Hanoi company with four snack and nutrition bar brands, produced at partner facilities holding ISO 22000:2018, Halal and US FDA food facility registration.
• Why them: one sentence that shows we have read about them, such as the category they distribute or the channel they are strong in.
• Products that fit: two or three specific products, one line each, chosen against their range rather than by what we like best.
• One question: a single thing that is easy to answer, for example whether they accept samples for the nut bar category.
• Next step: we are ready to send samples and the full product sheet, and the name of the contact on our side.

The attachment is a one-page product sheet for the items mentioned: photo, ingredients, relevant certifications, carton specification, shelf life. One page, not a dossier.

What we leave out

The hardest part of a first email is the cutting. We leave out:

• The company story. A buyer does not yet need to know how we began.
• The full list of 20 products. Too many options and the reader picks none.
• Prices. A price needs delivery terms, quantity and destination port, so sending it early only creates confusion.
• Certificate files. One line naming them is enough. The full documents go when requested.
• Adjectives. High quality, delicious and unique say nothing. Ingredient names say more.

And one thing we never write: that our products can be found in this market or that one. Color of Vietnam is preparing for export and has not announced a market. In the email we say exactly that. A careful importer treats that directness as a plus, because it tells them they will be told the truth about everything else.

Before and after

Our first draft to an importer in a market we are studying ran to almost a page. It opened with two paragraphs about the company, listed all four brands with every flavour, and attached copies of three certificates and a preliminary price list. Reading it back, we could see it was written for us rather than for the recipient.

The second draft came down to five short paragraphs. The product section named two Natural & Healthy nut bars, because their range had a nut bar segment but nothing built on cashew, and one Let's PLAY rice cracker, because they were expanding their rice snack shelf. The only question was whether they accept samples for those two categories and what information they usually want alongside. One page attached. That version went out, and the lesson was somewhere else entirely: the second draft took longer to write than the first, because choosing is harder than listing.

After pressing send

A first email only opens the door. The rest is seeing it through:

• Log the date and content in the prospect tracking sheet.
• If there is no reply after about a week, send a short follow-up with one new piece of information, such as a product that now has a sample ready, rather than asking whether they have read the email.
• If they reply, send samples and the full sheet within the time promised, and answer every question with real data.
• If they decline, thank them and ask one question: what about the product or the terms did not fit. That answer is worth more than the email that preceded it.

People doing B2B sales on our team are judged here more than on their prose: did they follow the whole chain, and did they write down what they learned for next time.

If you would like to learn to write emails like this and see them through, keep an eye on our Careers page. If you are an importer who would like to receive exactly that five-paragraph email with samples, write to us through the Contact page.