A Secret World of $500 Per Hour Consulting Calls

What do you think it takes to bill $500 an hour as an independent business strategy consultant?

A Harvard MBA? Deep knowledge of a hot science field? Several years of investment banking and strategic consulting experience? An unlimited expense account and an epic pile of pictures?

How about a decade of experience in a relatively boring niche industry?

During peak periods, I was earning several thousand dollars per month delivering a basic “industry orientation” talk to new management consultants and professional investors. With zero marketing / selling and prompt payment. All of these gigs were performed at nosebleed rates: up to $500 per hour.

Working With Expert Networks

Welcome to the wonderful world of expert networks, a platform for short “consulting calls” between experts in an industry and clients in consulting, professional services, and investment management. The client is generally trying to rapidly get up to speed on an industry for an acquisition or corporate strategy project. The calls are focused on one of your areas of expertise. The client is looking for a fast download on how the industry works at a strategic level along with a commentary on any significant current events. These paid consulting calls are fast and intellectually stimulating.

So why do you get paid so much? Simple – there’s a lot of money on the table and time is of the essence for these clients. These folks don’t care about money, they care about speed and accuracy. They need to be able to persuade their own clients and bosses they are 100% plugged into the space and can be trusted not to screw up a multi-billion dollar mega deal. They are paid thousands of dollars per hour to know the business. Except in this specific situation… they don’t.

Top Side Hustles For Executives

You’re being hired to fix this problem – and quickly. So they pay a lot of money ($1000+ per session) to the expert network to be assured the person on the other end of the line knows their stuff and can share ideas with them in a professional manner. This can all be billed back to THEIR clients, who are paying millions of dollars for advice on how to make a multi-billion dollar decisions.

Incidentally, you’ve got a ton of latitude on your consulting fees. Jerking your rate to $500 per hour is a non-existent speed bump in these people’s project budget. “What, the network’s top rated expert in our target industry wants an extra $400 for her time? No, really, why are you asking? Just get them on the phone!” Yeah, that kind of money. You’re a rounding error.

How To Succeed As an Expert Network Consultant

There are three keys to success here: being found, expertise, and communications skills.

The first is the hardest. These people come to you. Having a complete LinkedIn profile helps, especially one which features deep expertise in a particular industry. They also target recent alumni of leading companies in a particular industry. They will collect feedback from their clients on how you performed and will call you back if you are especially helpful. Two key tips here:

  • Focus on what you know vs. what you can do. They’re looking for people can spit facts.
  • Make it really easy for a LinkedIn reader to figure out you know about Industry X

The second key – subject matter expertise – is basically your product. And there are several things you can do to really stand out here. As I said before, most of these calls are about “knowing” vs. “doing”. You’re not going to be solving anything on the fly. The bulk of the call is generally data dumping about a particular business and explaining key trends to a smart but new person. While you can certainly “wing it”, it pays to have your information organized and ready to go.

A little preparation goes long way towards in getting you a top rating and call backs. I invested a few hours assembling my notes about the industry, reading recent news, and researching anything that looked like a gap. I also did some research on business models and market sizing, to identify quotable public sources. By the time call number three arrived, I was in beast mode, nailing every question. My phone blew up after that and I became that network’s top expert for that industry.

This audience expects their advisors to deliver concise, well thought out answers. Some experience in senior level finance or strategy roles is helpful. The people you are speaking regularly talk to CEO’s and Corporate Boards. A direct communications style seems to work extremely well with this audience. Don’t play games with what you know or don’t know. If you don’t know something, be open and suggest they move the conversation to other topics. This will generally be respected by the client.

Things To Watch Out For

First – the obvious. If you know material non-public information about a prior employer, such as their future plans or confidential information, this needs to remain confidential. The same goes for anything you know about trade secrets, strategic plans, current operations, or personnel. None of this is appropriate to share or discuss in these calls.

That being said, you’re certainly free to discuss anything which has already been publicly disclosed or published. This includes investor briefings, trade journal articles, industry statistical reports, and various published consulting studies. Plus anything someone brags about on their LinkedIn profile or online resume. In fact, you can even cite these publications as sources, adding more credibility to your contributions.

Pro-Tip: Pay close attention to any industry surveys and public company “investor day” presentations. These are often chock-full of facts about topics such as sales mix, selling margins, and industry operating challenges. This information can be easily recombined to answer questions about sensitive topics such as sales mix and margins. For example, in my industry, I’ve got a public survey which gives sales mix by product and average selling margins. Along with another public published report from a boutique consultant that shares a reasonable P&L by account type. A rather beefy – and completely “ethics safe” – answer to what would otherwise be some very sensitive questions…

You also have the option of doing a little post-employment market research or customer interviews. In addition to padding your files for consulting discussions, you may spot other business opportunities in the process… You’re a free agent for the time being – make the most of it!

For those of you who are actively looking for a job, I found the expert networks were a great way to stay current and prepare for high level job interviews. These conversations regularly exercise your ability to explain strategic topics to an executive audience.

One area to pay close attention to: unpaid time you spend filling out surveys or worse, speaking on the phone with junior members of the expert network attempting to “qualify” for opportunities. Some of these “qualifying” surveys verge on abusive with the level of unpaid insight they ask for. My advice is to have basic stuff you can share to show expertise but punt anything else to a phone call.

Setting A Expert Network Hourly Rate

Rates are a tricky subject. I’d start at $150 to $300. Remember, you’re only getting paid for time on the phone. Missed appointments are not uncommon and some pre-call research is advisable. You’re going to bill at 50% of the true hours you invest in the process. One network has been pushing me to cut my rates but this hasn’t increased my business; my perception is the client either wants you or they don’t. Invest your time in getting your LinkedIn profile on point and preparing for the calls themselves.

Good Listening skills are important at this level. Be careful to let the consultant finish speaking and make sure you’re answering their point. These folks tend to be very direct and precise.

Where Should Expert Networks Fit In Your Plan?

Since the return per hour invested was extremely high and they paid promptly (often within a week), expert network requests were always a welcome addition to my schedule. However, activity within this industry appears to be very “deal driven”. My industry “went hot” for a couple of months while a mega-merger was going through. Requests were a bit more sporadic after that (a few per month). I’d advise aggressively preparing for any calls you are scheduled for, delivering a great performance, and focusing any additional effort on tuning your LinkedIn profile and increasing your exposure.

Perhaps reach out to other expert networks to make sure you’re listed in their databases.

Expert Networks – Potential Next Steps

With regards to getting started. If you’re reading this article after getting a call from an expert network: Congratulations, you’ve arrived. Take the phone consulting appointment and do a good job.

As for the rest of you, try reaching out to a few of the standard expert networks to see if you can get into their database.

Raise Your Profile – Other Expert Networks (Signup Links)

If you’re interested in raising your profile as an expert, run through the list below and sign up for the networks which are relevant to your skills and geography. This is a mix of smaller / regional expert networks and new expert network models.

FAQ: Expert Network Consulting

Who Are The Largest Expert Networks?

The expert network industry is split by region, by virtue of the need to recruit local consultants in that country. Within the American market, some of the largest expert networks are GLG Consulting, Alphasights, and Guidepoint Research. Dialectica is a leading player within the European markets.

There are also a wide variety of industry boutiques that operating in niches below the top expert network firms. This includes specialists in biotechnology and emerging areas of computer science such as artificial intelligence. For example, a technical expert network firm may be engaged to help research venture capital investments.

How Much Do Expert Networks Pay?

As a expert network consultant you have the ability to set your own hourly rate. Most networks recommend a rate of around $150 – $300 to start but they can increase sharply from there, particularly if you happen to have specialized expertise. Try googling “alphasights hourly rate”, “third bridge consulting rate”, or “guidepoint consulting rates” and look at the various chatboards and posts on reddit for recent information. I’d advise quickly moving to $300 an hour and testing some higher rates ($500 – $750) once you start getting some decent reviews on the network.

Expert Networks & Insider Trading

After some early scandals, guarding against insider trading and outright corporate espionage are key concerns at the leading expert networks. There are a variety of safeguards to keep this from occuring. First, a reputable expert network group will not allow you to consult for a competitors of a current employer or faciliate insider discussions about your current company. Second, calls are usually recorded and monitored by client compliance personnel to prevent inappropriate disclosures.

Additional safeguards are in place for conversations with buy side investment management groups, especially hedge funds. Insider trading is generally less of a risk with management consultants (not trading) or private equity firms (less benefit from inside information). Read your terms and conditions closely.

In any event, most of the conversations I’ve had have steered well away from these topics and the few exceptions were generally the result of a clumsily worded question rather than deliberate intent to request inside information. Simple demur and answer on terms which you are comfortable discussing (or decline the question outright).

Or Do You Want To Hunt Your Own Clients?