The value of expert consultations
For those who are not experts and who need to find advice or research, identifying a leader in a field is extremely difficult without help. Traditional expert networks handle the search and setup of expert consultations.
Companies that need to routinely gather primary research or make informed business decisions typically use expert calls.
Whether a Fortune 500 innovation department, a consulting firm, a startup, or a hedge fund — businesses of all kinds benefit from talking to an expert in the field. Such expert calls can help provide an edge for any major business decision. Expert advice can also provide an outside view, helping illuminate blind spots in current thinking.
While most companies have used traditional expert network services, there is a rising opportunity in creating one’s own knowledge management platform.
Building your own knowledge platform
A knowledge platform helps generate added value for the larger organization. If such consulting practices are left unregulated and unorganized, only individual participants would benefit — while the company at large would gain nothing.
Large institutional users of expert networks may find that building their knowledge network of advisors is the best way to:
- Capitalize on existing knowledge assets
- Cultivate longer-term relationships
- Easily access repeat engagements with experts whom they find most informative
Both individuals and organizations stand to benefit from a streamlined and organized way to market and conduct expert consultations, as well as share in the revenue generated.
Internal knowledge-sharing
Companies can transform existing employees and the valuable experiences they have acquired into knowledge assets.
These employees’ knowledge can be leveraged by asking for their input in business decisions, when those working on the front lines of a project may have insight that higher up managers do not.
Another use case is to improve internal access to shared knowledge. There is a large volume of acquired knowledge in every team and department, but it can be difficult for other employees to access this knowledge when it is outside their area of expertise.
Employee-consultants
An added potential of building your own expert network is not just for internal knowledge-sharing, but sharing knowledge externally.
This can position existing employees as industry thought leaders. Employees become revenue-generating expert consultants, which brings in another revenue stream and promotes the company to others in the field, potentially bringing in more clients.
As many employees — especially those with a high level of expert knowledge — may already be consulting or freelancing outside of their regular role, companies can both help promote and share in the pay for consultation opportunities.
Software platforms — the key to managing an expert network
It’s essential that knowledge management platforms are properly managed and supported. Using a software platform can make the difference between a vibrant and active network of knowledge-sharing, versus a culture of untapped, underutilized, or simply under-the-radar knowledge-sharing.
A company can best oversee these operations if they can coordinate all the compliance, scheduling, billing, project management, and visibility to display and market their knowledge.
An ideal software platform for knowledge sharing should be able to handle functions like:
- Cross-department crowdsourcing for problem solving
- Managing and performing introductions with potential resources
- Facilitating budget transfer between teams who are sharing resources
- AI-powered keyword and skill search so that people can find internal experts quickly and easily
With these capabilities, a software platform can best support your internal knowledge management, and in turn unlock deeper insights, streamlined knowledge-sharing, and incremental revenue.
Conclusion
Having access to a network of advisors is an invaluable resource for any business to make better decisions.
DeepBench’s enterprise platform uniquely provides a suite of tools that cover all these features in order to make it easy to set up a knowledge sharing network, and allow management to gain an overview of team member activity and compliance for expert consulting engagements.
To find out more about using DeepBench’s software platform to build your own network of advisors, visit https://deepbench.io/enterprise.
