---
title: "How to write a letter to a CEO (10 sample letters)"
description: "Keep a letter to a CEO to one page, open with their company, and ask for something their assistant can act on. What happens to CEO mail, plus 10 samples."
canonical: https://trysincerely.com/messages/letter-to-a-ceo
last_updated: 2026-10-11
---
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# How to write a letter to a CEO (10 sample letters)

> Keep a letter to a CEO to one page, open with their company, and ask for something their assistant can act on. What happens to CEO mail, plus 10 samples.

Source: https://trysincerely.com/messages/letter-to-a-ceo

A letter to a CEO should fit on one page and say in its first two lines why you are writing to this company now. "Your annual letter named late deliveries as the thing to fix this year" is a good first line. "I'm reaching out to introduce our company" is not. After the opening, say what you think the problem costs and why you can help. Then ask for something small that the CEO, or whoever they pass the letter to, can answer in a minute. Sign with your name and a direct number. The 10 samples below are sorted by why you are writing.

![A hand holds a cream envelope over a brass wire tray of envelopes on a walnut desk, beside a brass lamp and a gold notebook, in front of a closed frosted-glass office door.](https://trysincerely.com/images/messages/letter-to-a-ceo.webp)

*A letter to a CEO is usually read by an assistant first, so write it to be forwarded to whoever owns the problem.*

## Who opens a letter addressed to a CEO

At a company of a few hundred people or more, the CEO rarely opens their own mail. An executive assistant or a chief of staff usually does, often in a batch once or twice a day. They sort it into piles: what the CEO needs to see, what another executive should handle, and what goes in recycling. Catalogs and anything that looks printed for a thousand people go straight to recycling.

That makes the assistant your first reader. Write so they can tell, in the first two sentences, who you are and what you want. A letter that names a business problem and the kind of person who owns it gives the assistant an easy move: forward it to that person, sometimes with a sticky note from the CEO. A letter that hides its purpose until the third paragraph gets sorted with the advertising.

At a smaller company the CEO may open everything. The same letter works for both readers.

## How long a letter to a CEO should be

One page, and usually under 200 words. Most CEOs decide from the first two or three lines whether to keep reading, so the opening has to carry the reason you wrote. Put supporting detail in an enclosure or a link they can open later, not in the letter.

A handwritten letter in Sincerely holds 13 to 15 lines in its default writing area, which is about 150 words. If your draft runs longer, cut the paragraph about your own company first. The CEO needs one sentence of it, not five.

## What earns a forward

A CEO forwards a letter when it is about something they already care about and someone on their team can act on it. Four things help:

- Use the company's own words. Quote the priority from their annual report, earnings call, or a recent interview, and give the source and the month.
- Include one number the reader can check, and say where it came from.
- Name the role that would own the next step: "whoever runs your plant scheduling." This tells the assistant where the letter goes.
- Make the ask small enough that someone other than the CEO can answer it, such as "May I send the two-page summary to you or to the right person?"

Leave out a request for 30 minutes of the CEO's own time, unless the two of you have met. If the letter is good, the forward gets you a meeting with the person who will run the project, and that person usually decides.

To decide which executive to write to, read [how to get the attention of a C-level buyer](https://trysincerely.com/guides/how-to-get-c-level-buyer-attention). For a full program of letters to executives at named accounts, see the [executive door-opener play](https://trysincerely.com/playbooks/executive-door-opener).

## How to address it

Use the CEO's full name and title on the envelope, at the address of the office where they actually work. That is not always the headquarters on the company's website. Look up their name in a recent press release to get the spelling right. The guide to [addressing mail to a business](https://trysincerely.com/guides/how-to-address-mail-to-a-business) shows where the title, suite, and company name go.

Skip "personal and confidential" on a business letter. Assistants open those too, and when the inside turns out to be a pitch, the label costs you trust.

## How the fields work

The fields below use the merge syntax of the Sincerely studio. `{{first_name|Hello}}` prints the first name, or "Hello" when the record has none. `{{company}}` prints the company name. A `custom.` field is a column you added yourself, and the words after the bar print when that column is blank. The people, companies, numbers, and dates in every sample are invented.

## To propose business

A cold letter to a CEO about their company's problem, typed on one page:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`,
> In your annual letter you wrote that late deliveries cost `{{company}}` two large accounts last year, and that fixing on-time delivery is the priority for this one.
> We schedule production for mid-sized food plants. At Larkfield Foods, on-time delivery went from 81 percent to 94 percent in two quarters after our planners took over the weekly schedule.
> I wrote a two-page summary of what changed at Larkfield, including what did not work. May I send it to you, or to whoever runs plant scheduling?
> Victor Hale, Planwright, 555-0119

A short letter that asks only to be pointed to the right person:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`,
> I'll keep this short, because I may be writing to the wrong person.
> We help distributors cut freight claims, and your September interview mentioned claims cost `{{company}}` more than it expected this year.
> If you could tell me who owns freight claims, I'll write to them directly and leave your desk alone.
> Irene Cho, Claimwise, 555-0163

Proposing a partnership to a company whose customers overlap with yours:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`,
> Our two companies sell to the same people. Your software runs scheduling for about 400 veterinary clinics, and our lab handles test results for 300 of them.
> Clinic managers tell us they type each result into your system by hand. A direct connection would save them that step, and we have built the receiving side already.
> I would like to show your product lead a 10-minute recording of how it would work. If it is not a priority this year, I understand.
> Paul Dunmore, CEO, Vetline Labs

## As a customer of theirs

If you buy from the company, say so in the first line. Then write about one order or one person, give dates, and save any pitch for another time.

To escalate a problem the account team has not fixed:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`,
> Fernhill Pantry has bought its jars and lids from `{{company}}` since 2019. I am writing to you before I start looking for a second supplier.
> Three of our orders since July arrived eight to eleven days late. Each time your account team apologized, and each time the next order was late too. Our holiday order ships on November 4.
> I am not asking for a credit. I would like the name of one person who owns that order and will call me if it slips. My cell is below.
> Ruth Okonjo, Operations Director, Fernhill Pantry, 555-0174

Praise for one employee needs no business case and no ask, so a card is enough:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`, our system went down at 5 p.m. last Thursday. Mateo on your support line stayed with us until 7:40, when it came back. Please pass on our thanks.

## To thank or congratulate

A note to a customer's CEO after the contract is signed:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`, thank you for approving the rollout. Your CFO's list of 31 questions made our plan better. Our 90-day report reaches you in March.

A note on a company milestone, sent in the anniversary week:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`, I saw the 25th anniversary banner over your loading dock on Tuesday. We've hauled your freight for nine of those years. Congratulations.

For the anniversary of your own work with a client, the [client anniversary messages](https://trysincerely.com/messages/client-anniversary-message) have more to borrow from.

## After you met or heard them speak

A letter after the CEO spoke on a panel and you asked a question:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`,
> I was the one who asked about rural hiring at the end of your Denver panel on the 14th. You said you train your own nurses because nobody else will.
> We do that training for 22 rural clinics in Colorado and Wyoming. Of last year's 19 graduates, 17 were still at their clinic twelve months later.
> Would you like the program outline, or should I send it to whoever runs training at `{{company}}`?
> Elena Brooks, Ruralcare Training

## When the CEO is new

A letter to a new CEO at a company that already buys from you:

> `{{first_name|Hello}}`,
> Welcome to `{{company}}`. Your team has used our inventory system in all 14 stores since 2022, so we came with the job.
> You will hear plenty about us, so here is one thing from me. The system works well, but the reorder reports need fixing, and we will have them fixed by March.
> If a 20-minute call in your first quarter would help, I'll make the time. If not, I'll write again when the reports ship.
> Simon Achterberg, CEO, Stockroom

## From one chief executive to another

One founder asking another for advice. Nothing is for sale, which is why this letter can ask for the CEO's own time:

> `{{first_name|Hi}}`,
> You don't know me. I run Shelfspace, which sells to the same grocery chains you do, about two years behind you.
> In June you wrote about closing your Toronto office after 18 months. We signed a lease in Toronto in August, and I have reread your post four times since.
> If you would give me 20 minutes by phone on what you would do differently, I would be grateful. If the answer is no, the post already helped.
> Kate Moreno, CEO, Shelfspace

## Typed or handwritten

A typed letter fits a business case, a proposal, or a complaint. It looks like correspondence, so it survives the sorting pile. A handwritten note fits thanks, congratulations, and praise of an employee, where the reader expects one person to have written it. A 4x6 postcard holds only three handwritten lines, and anyone handling it can read it, so keep it to the notes above.

Every sample letter on this page fits the smallest default handwritten letter area in Sincerely with each field at its longest likely value. A typed Sincerely letter sets the body in 11-point type and allows up to 1,100 characters, so each one fits typed as well. The three short notes fit the default writing area of a handwritten 4x6 postcard.

## Sending CEO letters through Sincerely

Sincerely checks each executive's mailing address before anything prints. It drafts each letter for one recipient from your CRM records and dated public facts, and by default holds each piece until a person approves the words. Typed letters print through Lob in the United States and PostGrid in Canada, and handwritten letters are genuinely written by hand in black or blue ballpoint and sent in a hand-addressed envelope. Only the typed US letters report delivery, so plan the follow-up call for handwritten and Canadian letters from the mailing date. For letters to other people at the account, the [prospecting letter examples](https://trysincerely.com/messages/cold-prospecting-letter) follow the same three-part shape.

## Related questions

- [How to get the attention of a C-level buyer](https://trysincerely.com/guides/how-to-get-c-level-buyer-attention): Reach a C-level buyer with a timely business issue, credible messenger, concise value hypothesis, and account plan built for their role.
- [The executive door-opener play](https://trysincerely.com/playbooks/executive-door-opener): Send a serious letter to an executive at a strategic account you cannot email your way into. How to choose the moment, write it, and follow up.
- [How to write a direct mail opening line](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-opening-lines): Open a sales letter or postcard with a sourced reason for writing, not a company introduction. Includes ten adaptable examples and a review checklist.
- [Prospecting letter template and 11 cold sales letters](https://trysincerely.com/messages/cold-prospecting-letter): A prospecting letter template in three parts, then 11 cold sales letter examples sorted by situation, each short enough for one handwritten page.
- [What to write in a thank-you note after a meeting](https://trysincerely.com/messages/thank-you-note-after-a-meeting): 30 thank-you notes for after a B2B meeting, grouped by who you met, each short enough to be written by hand on a 4x6 postcard.
- [Apology letter to a customer: what to write (26 examples)](https://trysincerely.com/messages/customer-apology-letter): How to write an apology letter to a B2B customer after an outage, a missed deadline, or a billing error. 23 short notes and 3 full letters.

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