Introduction to Expert Networks: What Are They and How Do They Work?

First emerging in the late 1990s as a way for investors and consultants to get better and quicker insights into industries, expert networks now play a crucial role in helping businesses gain access to specialized knowledge and professional expertise.

Today, expert networks serve to efficiently connect businesses with expert professionals with in-depth knowledge and experience in a given industry, sector, or field. Many companies now rely on expert networks to help them make better-informed decisions, develop business strategies, guide investment decisions, and gain an advantage over competitors.

What Is an Expert Network?

These days, the term “expert network” is used to describe a specialized service that connects businesses, consultancies, and investors with people who have specialized expertise or knowledge in a particular field or industry sector.

An “expert” could be an academic scholar, an industry professional, a retired or former executive, and/or a consultant, and these experts offer invaluable insights, advice, and analysis to companies in order to help them develop their business strategies.

An academic scholar, an industry professional, a retired or former executive, and/or a consultant are experts who can offer invaluable insights, advice, and analysis to companies in order to help them develop their business strategies.

What sets apart an expert network from more traditional research methods is that they directly connect a client with individuals that have expertise in a given field or sector, and who were sourced by the expert network’s staff, rather than relying on secondary sources of information such as published reports or market analyses.

The primary function of an expert network is to allow a corporate client to ask the expert targeted questions and receive advice about business operations and industry trends, whereas more traditional research methods involve analyzing published reports, journals, and databases and then drawing conclusions to form their business strategies.

The Benefits of Using an Expert Network

In the past, companies and investors had to rely on published reports, market analyses, and in-house research in order to develop insights into business trends. Some of them also had Rolodexes (revolutionary filing systems, often used to store business contacts).

Nowadays, expert networks vastly improve upon these avenues of research by allowing companies and investors to directly connect with people who have practical knowledge and who can provide educated advice and information in order to make business decisions.

Expert networks these days also offer a wide variety of powerful tools to help streamline the process of connecting with industry professionals, including advanced filtering and searches, digital recordings of conversations, and real-time analysis metrics. In addition, expert networks offer businesses a faster and more cost-efficient way to gain insights as opposed to hiring consultants or performing a lot of research in-house. Furthermore, because of their twenty-four-hour availability, expert networks make it a lot simpler to find experts from different parts of the world.

The Drawbacks of using Expert Networks and how to avoid them

Although expert networks certainly serve to provide companies and investors with valuable insights and expertise from industry insiders, there are also a few potential drawbacks to be aware of. For one, the relative lack of transparency concerning their use and other potential conflicts of interest may lead to legal and ethical ramifications, including allegations of insider trading.

In addition, expert networks are not suitable for every type of research analysis, including topics that may require a broader depth of knowledge or larger sample size in order to deliver useful results. Finally, every client must be wary of becoming over-reliant on expert networks at the risk of ignoring other types of research and analysis.

* However, these and other drawbacks are overcome by professional ENs through compliance regimes and proper employee training.

* To avoid situations when an expert offers knowledge derived from current employment, ENs vet their consultants, prior to connecting them with clients. Nonetheless, the beneficiary still ought to perform some due diligence and should also keep an appropriate record of the inquiry (EN typically are recording the discussions, as a risk prevention measure);

* EN personnel are to be taught to spot the allowable limits of expert information gathering;

* EN employees should also be trained that receiving confidential information about a public company is inappropriate;

* Another important thing for those who interact with ENs is a permanent reminder that insider trading is a serious issue with severe penalties.

Conclusion

While companies should approach experts with due diligence, expert networks serve to help companies from around the world gain valuable insight into industry trends and help develop business strategies. As the demand for this type of specialized expert knowledge continues to grow, so too will expert networks continue to play an increasingly important role in determining how companies, consultancies, and investors make their business decisions.