i’ve been scrolling through the community’s outreach template library and there are SO many options for cold-coffee chat messages. how do you all choose which template to adapt? tried a ‘shared alumni’ opener last week and got ghosted. feeling like bankers can sniff out templates instantly—any tips to avoid sounding robotic while still using proven frameworks? what’s your go-to tweak to make a template feel personal?
tbh most of those templates are recycled from 2010. if you’re gonna use one, at least swap out the ‘passion for markets’ line—every analyst since lehman brothers has used that. better yet, mention THEIR recent deal from earnings calls. works 2% of the time, but that’s a win here.
i used template 7b last month and got 3 replies! added a quick line about their recent post on linkedin. not perfect but better than my old messages. still figuring it out tho
The art lies in layering specificity onto templates. I teach mentees to always include 1) A concrete reference to the banker’s current deals (check earnings reports), 2) A clear ask tied to their expertise (not your job search), and 3) A subtle timeline (“If swamped now, could I circle back post-close?”). Start with the ‘Market Insights’ template but customize sections 2-3 thoroughly.
don’t give up! templates are springboards—your unique voice is what’ll land replies. you’ve got this!!
Once used a template verbatim and an MD actually replied ‘Nice template—which intern gave you this?’ Mortifying, but learned to inject my own voice. Now I take 1-2 phrases from the template and build the rest around their recent interview quotes. Way higher success rate, tbh.
In 2023 internal data, templates with 18-24% customization (measured by unique character count vs template) saw 34% reply rates vs 12% for verbatim use. Highest performers included deal-specific questions in the opener and allocated 70% of word count to the banker’s background versus the sender’s ask.