By Edoardo Tosti (Boston University) and Carlo Leopardi.
Picture by Pedro Lastra (Unsplash)
Walkthrough
Once an effective cold email is able to connect you to a finance professional, your next goal is to try to make an impression on your upcoming phone call. As a typical networking call lasts between 15-30 minutes, a strong preparation is needed:
1) Research – To be able to approach the call, you should know what the professional’s company and deal team does
2) Prepare questions – Before the conversation, prepare questions on specific sectors themes by analyzing market trends and drivers, to show your interest in the industry. In addition, questions should be aimed to gain information that you can later use to prepare yourself for interviews
3) Introduction – Effectively introducing yourself at the beginning of the call is crucial as that is going to be the first impression that you are going to make. Your intro shouldn’t be a walkthrough of the resume, but rather a quick 1-2 minutes description of your background, interests, and story
4) Listen – Despite having prepared questions, it is important to adapt to the discussion by listening and following up on relevant questions on topic points brought up by the professional
5) Thank you note – At the end of the call, thank the professional for their precious time and ask them to stay in touch by sending them a thank you email within the next 24 hours
Ultimately, the goal of the phone call should be learning more about the firm and the sector of interest, building and expanding a network within the company for potential referrals, sponsor M&A or Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).