Why Do People Talk to Experts Anyway?
Some of the questions I’m frequently asked are, “Why do your clients ask you to find experts for them? Who are your clients, anyway?”
Having been a customer of Expert Network services in my previous life as a financial analyst, I can tell you that primary research – in particular, “expert consultations” – is one of the most important aspects of the job. Anyone can read annual reports, browse websites, listen to earnings conference calls, and filter through published research. What’s more, everyone already does those things, so in order to be smarter than your neighbor, you need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and do some first-hand research.
Here’s an example. One of my first research projects was to better understand the online real estate brokerage industry – the leader at the time was a company called ZipRealty. After reading through the published Wall Street research reports and the SEC filings, I had an idea of the what the industry was about – but I didn’t have a good grasp on where it was headed. A few years out, would they be like online travel agents, or online pet stores? To help answer that, I needed to talk to people in the field. That’s where the real knowledge always is, and that’s where I could test out my hypotheses. As good as books or reports are – I couldn’t ask them any questions.
To further my understanding and perspectives, I conducted primary research and talked to a number of real estate brokers and consumers who were shopping for homes. I asked them all types of questions like “Where do you go to look for listings? What value do you find in a real estate broker? How much do you pay to advertise listings in a newspaper? Do your customers come to you with the exact properties they want to see, or, do they ask you to drive them around?” This was much more work than reading a research report – but it was also far more valuable. Primarily with the help of conversations with a group of knowledgeable (and very helpful!) experts who had spent years in the field, I was able to quickly develop an independent and thorough understanding of an industry. This, in turn, helped shape our investments in that space.
Today, our clients include investment firms, corporations, non-profits and startups! As many of you are aware, starting a company can be daunting. You’re out there pursuing a dream, but at the same time you’re also flying without a safety net. Entrepreneurs often encounter obstacles they need to solve by themselves – there’s no one else to turn to. Here’s when an expert consultation might help. What type of online marketing will be most effective for my product? Which recruiting tools/websites should I rely on? These valuable pieces of advice can save not only time, but also money – two things almost always in short supply at a startup!
Libster
March 17th, 2009 at 10:05 pm #
Could not agree with you more. No matter how much you know about an industry, there’s always an expert out there who knows something you don’t.
The kind of value I get from meeting a new expert goes beyond taking a class (where I’ll learn boring old stuff) or asking from my own personal network of contacts (because my own personal contact networks think like me (which is not always a good place to get advice)).
What is an Expert Network, Anyway? - The Insight Scoop
April 6th, 2009 at 3:29 pm #
[...] have first-hand industry experience – since, no matter how much academic material is available, there’s nothing so efficient and accurate as culling opinions from combined decades of experience …. These companies come to us to source these qualified experts (that’s you!) for [...]