Expert research
How to choose the right expert for your first research call
Choose whom to call by the work they have done and when they did it, then use what you learn to decide whose perspective you need next.
Choose the expert who has personally done the work you need to understand. If your question is about daily operations, start with someone who ran those operations. If it is about approving a purchase, look for someone who made that buying decision.
The same person does not have to answer every question. Choose a useful first conversation, then decide whom to speak to next.
Start with the question, then compare people
Imagine you are building software for commercial laundry companies. You want to understand what happens when a hotel changes its laundry pickup time at short notice.
Suppose three people have described this experience:
| Person | What they have done | When to speak to them |
|---|---|---|
| A regional operations manager | Handled dispatch and last-minute route changes | First, to understand how a pickup change gets handled |
| A former national executive | Negotiated hotel contracts and approved service policies | When you need to understand what a provider promises its customers |
| An implementation consultant | Helped companies replace scheduling software | When you need to understand how a new system would be introduced |
For the pickup question, start with the operations manager. The executive and consultant may be useful later, but their experience answers different questions.
In a real search, use the person's described responsibilities to make this comparison; the title alone is not enough. The Home Office's recruitment guidance likewise starts with what you need to find out and who has the relevant experience.
Check the details that could change your choice
For the operations manager, you want to know whether they handled changes themselves, how recently they did it, and whether their operation resembles the one you are studying.
A manager of a small regional service may cover the dispatch desk. At a national provider, dispatch may be a separate department. Both people can help, but only one may be able to describe what happened when a driver was already on the road.
If the background is unclear, keep that uncertainty in mind when deciding whether the call is worth its price. When you already have a way to contact the person, a brief question can help: “Did you personally coordinate changed pickup times, or did another team handle that?” Otherwise, explain the work you want to discuss in the invitation and confirm their role at the start of the call. The experience-checking guide gives more examples.
Current or former employee?
Choose the period of firsthand work your question needs. Someone still employed may no longer do the task; someone who left may be right for understanding an earlier process.
In the laundry example, a former dispatcher could explain pickup changes under the old scheduling system. To understand the replacement, look for someone who helped carry it out. For today’s process, look for someone who handles those changes now.
Ask when they did the work and which changes they personally took part in. Avoid asking a former operator to guess how a later system works. Choose the experience needed for your question; an equal number of current and former employees is not a goal.
Make the invitation specific
For this example, the request could say:
I’m exploring software for regional laundry services. I’d like a paid 30-minute call about how you handled changes to hotel pickup times: who received the change, how dispatch responded, and what made it difficult. Please use examples you can share without naming customers or revealing confidential information.
That gives the person enough context to judge whether the topic fits. Keep the detailed questions for the conversation.
There may also be subjects a person cannot discuss. Leaving a company does not itself establish permission to share its information. For example, GLG requires its experts to decline projects that conflict with their obligations and to avoid sharing confidential information. If your question depends on private plans they cannot share, change the question or use a different source.
Let the first call guide the second
Suppose the operations manager explains that changes often arrive without a clear deadline. A hotel employee who sends those requests could be the most useful next person: you can ask how they decide the new time and what information they pass along.
If the call instead reveals that an old scheduling system cannot accept updates, the implementation consultant becomes a better next choice.
If accounts conflict, check what each person actually experienced before arranging another call.
Write down the question that remains after the first conversation. This makes the next call serve a purpose, even when it takes you beyond your original shortlist.
In Instant Expert, search for the responsibility you need, review the person's background and shown price, and prepare an invitation around that one question. The person decides whether to accept. Start with the guide to finding people to interview if you do not yet have a shortlist.