Cover letters are one of the most important parts of your proposals. Clients only see the first sentence or two before deciding whether to click in and read more. If your opening doesn't grab attention, your chances of winning the job drop dramatically.
Good cover letters are short, clear, and personalized to the project. On Lancer, you have powerful tools to make this process easier: cover letter templates and instructions.
Setting Up a Cover Letter
Cover Letter Template
This is the main text of your proposal.
Keep it short: 3–4 paragraphs maximum.
Focus on the client: their problem, their goals, and how you can help.
Avoid long essays or marketing fluff.
End with a call to action (example: invite them to a quick chat or mention what you'd do in the first step).
If possible, add a simple, relevant question about their project to increase reply rates.
You can also use double curly braces ( {{ }} ) to add personalization directly from the project description. For example, {{client_name}}, {{job_title}}, or {{project_goal}}. Lancer will replace these with the right details automatically.
Write your own lines as plain text, and save the braces for what actually changes per job. Anything outside {{ }} goes out exactly as you typed it — you review it once, and it's sent the same way on every proposal. Anything inside {{ }} is rewritten by the AI fresh for each job, which is the point when the content has to change (the client's name, a one-line paraphrase of their ask, which case study fits, a job-specific question) but a risk otherwise. If a sentence reads the same in every proposal you'd send by hand, type it as plain text — don't wrap it in braces "for consistency."
Managing Your Templates
Every organization starts with a seeded "Example Template" showing how to mix your own static sentences with {{ }} placeholders for the handful of things that change per job — most of the template is plain text, not placeholders. It can't be deleted or archived, and always sorts last in your template list — keep it as a reference, or duplicate it to start your own (duplicating clears the example flag and lets you delete the copy).
Each template card shows how it's performing: how many campaigns use it (and how many of those are currently active), plus its all-time sent, open rate, and reply rate. Templates are sorted by usage, so your best performers rise to the top of the list — handy when you're A/B testing multiple templates (see Best Practices below).
Cover Letter Instructions
Here you can set rules for how Lancer generates or adapts the cover letter. Think of it as a reinforcement layer.
Use instructions to highlight your tone, style, or points you always want mentioned.
Example: "Always keep answers brief and professional," or "Always reference ROI-driven outcomes."
Don't worry about tricky prompts like "start with this keyword" — Lancer handles those in the background.
This field auto-saves as you type — there's no Save button, changes apply about a second after you stop typing.
Best Practices for Winning Cover Letters
Nail the opening line — since clients only see a sentence and a half at first glance.
Personalize using job details (not generic introductions).
Keep it client-focused instead of writing about yourself at length.
Make it clear what's unique about you or your approach.
Add a project-related question to encourage replies.
Use A/B testing inside Lancer by creating multiple templates and seeing which performs better — each template card's sent/open/reply stats make this easy to compare.
Question Handling in Lancer
Beyond the cover letter, clients often send follow-up questions. Lancer gives you two options to manage them:
1. General Question Guidelines
Here you set rules for how all questions should be answered.
Example: "Always keep answers under 3–4 sentences."
Example: "Always emphasize ROI and automation benefits."
Like cover letter instructions, this field auto-saves as you type.
2. Specific Question Templates
You can create answers for common questions in your niche.
Example: If clients often ask "How do you manage ad spend?", you can provide a set answer template.
Whenever a question matches, Lancer will reply according to your template.
Best Practices for Question Handling
Keep answers clear and direct, no long essays.
Anticipate FAQs in your niche (e.g., budget handling, timelines, collaboration style).
Treat the Q&A section as a way to build trust, not to oversell.
Remember: if you don't set answers, Lancer will still reply decently on its own, but custom instructions improve accuracy.