The forwardable note, line by line

The forwardable note is the short message your connector sends to the buyer on your behalf. Get it right, and the intro takes them two minutes. Get it wrong, and it never leaves their inbox.

Asking for an intro is easy. Making it easy to give is the craft. Here's how I'd build one, line by line.

The setup to your connector

Before the forwardable note, write a short ask to the connector. Two or three sentences.

Say who you want to meet and why. Say that you've written a note they can forward as-is. And give them an easy out.

"Hi, hope you're well. I'd like to reach the new CFO at the logistics company you worked at, since I think we could help with something they're likely facing. I've written a short note below you could forward if you're comfortable. No pressure if the timing's wrong."

That's it. Respect their time and make no means no.

Line one, the reason

The forwardable note starts with why you're writing. Not who you are. The buyer opens a forwarded email from someone they trust and wants to know one thing first. Why is this in my inbox?

"Saw you recently joined as CFO."

That's the research hook. Plain and specific. It tells the buyer this note is about them, not a mass email.

Line two, the connection to them

Next, why it matters to them right now. The personal trigger.

"New CFOs usually get asked for a margin story in the first quarter."

Short. True of their situation. Not a claim about their feelings or their boss.

Line three, your guess

Then the misery hypothesis. What you suspect they're dealing with.

"My guess is the cost-per-shipment numbers live in a few systems that don't agree, so every answer takes a week."

One problem. Specific enough to confirm or correct. No mention of your service yet.

Line four, who you are

Now introduce yourself. One sentence.

"I run a firm that helps mid-size logistics companies get operational cost data into one place."

Not your history. Not your client list. Just enough for the buyer to know why you might be useful.

Line five, the soft ask

Close with an easy question or a light offer.

"Happy to share what we've seen work, if that's useful."

Or use a binary exit, a question that's easy to answer and easy to correct. "Is that close, or is the bigger issue something else?" In a forwarded note, the softer offer often fits better, since the buyer didn't choose to hear from you yet.

The full note

Here's the forwardable note assembled.

Saw you recently joined as CFO. New CFOs usually get asked for a margin story in the first quarter. My guess is the cost-per-shipment numbers live in a few systems that don't agree, so every answer takes a week. I run a firm that helps mid-size logistics companies get operational cost data into one place. Happy to share what we've seen work, if that's useful.

Five sentences. Under eighty words. The connector can read it, agree with it and forward it without editing.

What to leave out

Leave out links. Decks, case studies and calendar links make the connector feel like they're forwarding a sales email.

Leave out praise for the connector or the buyer. "Our mutual friend speaks so highly of you" is a claim the connector might not want to make.

Leave out a long bio. The buyer will look you up if they're interested.

And leave out urgency. "Would love to connect this week" pressures two people at once.

After it's sent

Thank the connector right away. Then wait.

If the buyer replies, keep the connector posted, briefly. They want to know their favor landed. If nothing happens after a week or two, you can go direct with a version of the same note and mention the shared connection honestly.

I wrote about finding the right connector in second-degree connections are a pipeline. The forwardable note is the part that turns a path into a meeting.

Keep it short, make it about them and make it easy to send. A good forwardable note does the connector's job for them, so they're glad to do it.