Communicating with management of public companies as an equity analyst

Hi All,

I am interested in some or your experiences in talking with management of companies, a-level or c-level execs, you are researching or covering.

As an equity analyst, buy side or sell side, how do you approach these contacts within these companies that you cover or research and what type of questions do you ask them? Do you reach out to them cold or is there a relationship already established between your companies?

Obviously they cannot divulge sensitive information, I just want to know what type of information is gathered and how it is used. This is for a project I am currently working on.

Thanks in advance