Do you have a expert call lined up this week?

If so, you may be wondering what to expect in a consulting call with an expert network? There are various types of conversations that typically occur through a one-hour consulting interaction. The below is non exhaustive list but some of the most recurring examples of what to expect.

(1) Industry Overview – As part of their business models and origination efforts, clients on the buy side and sell side, namely private equity, investment management firms and hedge funds conduct a thematic exploration of a particular sector and tend to focus on obtaining a hollistic overview and deep understanding of a specific industry.

They dive into the most prominent suppliers and customers in the segment, the economics, and trends within the industry to uncover new deals in the market. The idea is to contrast and validate their opinions on leading and revolutionary companies impacting the industry. Clients usually take various insights and calls from expert network companies to accumulate knowledge while conducting due diligence and a market sizing to determine the direction for their decision making. 

(2) Deep evaluation of a specific company  – Strategy and investment professionals use expert networks to gain knowledge and understand the position a specific company. They conduct interviews with all stakeholders: leading experts such as former employees, key influencers, suppliers, manufacturers, customers and competitors. These calls are typically done with multiple experts on private and public companies to acquire deep insights on the market and to detect potential red flags on deals they may be considering.

(3) Management Consultants conducting due diligence for their potential clients – The third category of calls are usually done by the second most significant users of expert network firms. Consulting firms are major power players when conducting due diligence on new business lines, new products, along with acquisitions and divestments.

These studies revolve around processes to evaluate current or new products and services that customers may consider. Usually experts are asked for public information and qualitative and quantative insights on these interactions to support the clients understanding. 

Overall, this is just a snippet of what to expect in a consulting call with an expert network. The most important aspects to consider are if you can resolve the clients queries and their vetting questions as per your area of expertise. Consider if the project requires a market or customer perspective.

If a Market perspective – can you discuss competitors that exist in the market? Comment on the ones that are thriving, and which are performing worst by providing specific examples? Provide a future outlook for the sector?

If a Customer perspective – Can you comment on specific product and provide your opinion on the decision making criterias for choosing a certain provider over another? 

The best expert network consultants are those that not only provide value to clients by their reseach but those who also focus on KPI’s to provide detailed analysis of a certain sector. These experts tend to charge the highest hourly rate for the benefit they provide to the end users.

Golden Apple is an expert network firm operating in Dubai, UAE that sources subject matter experts and facilitates expert interactions across the globe. If you are interested in joining the expert network industry, click on the button below to join our network. Find out your consulting rate and start sharing insights through expert network calls.