Expert call rate: how to pick the one number you quote every network

Your expert call rate is the hourly number you quote to every expert network and direct buyer, and the simplest way to pick it is to start from what the networks themselves publish, adjust it for your seniority, how hard you are to find and how much compliance work each call brings, then keep that one number everywhere. Most networks pay that rate pro rata, so also work out what a short call actually puts in your account. This post is the method, with a made-up worked example at the end.

1. Start from the few numbers networks actually publish

Expert networks rarely print a rate card for experts. A handful of public statements exist, and each is a different kind of number, so label them before you lean on one.

The AlphaSense figure is the handiest anchor because it is one number rather than a range. It is still a sales page aimed at buyers, it does not say which experts or calls the average covers, and it describes one platform, so treat $450 as a reference point and not a promise.

Anonymous forum threads also trade hourly figures. Nobody can check them, so this post leaves them out.

2. Pick your seniority band first, because it moves the number most

Place yourself in a band before you adjust anything. Arbolus says on the same page that a former C-suite executive or highly specialised operator "will usually command more than someone earlier in their career," and its senior band starts at $300 an hour, where the standard band ends.

Use the band that matches the job you can speak to firsthand, not your most impressive title. A former CFO answering questions about a warehouse system they once approved is, for that call, a buyer of warehouse systems.

If you want a floor that has nothing to do with networks, the consulting rate calculator turns a salary into an hourly figure. Quote above that floor, since a single call carries scheduling and context switching with no follow-on work.

3. Add for scarcity, because a rare background is easier to sell at a high rate

Move up within your band when few people could take the call. Arbolus says the harder an expert is to find, the more clients will pay, and that experts in fast-moving or high-interest sectors tend to get more frequent, better-paid requests.

The test is simple: how many other people could answer this client's questions as well as you? If the answer is "anyone who worked in retail," stay near the bottom of the band. If it is "the six people who ran this exact process at a public company," move toward the top.

4. Add for compliance load, because some calls cost you unpaid time and risk

Price in the work each call brings before the meter starts. GLG's compliance page says experts sign and annually re-sign its terms, complete an interactive tutorial every year, and that employed experts "are prohibited from participating in projects about their employer." For written, in-depth or ongoing projects, employed experts must obtain "written confirmation of employer consent."

If you still have a job in the industry you are asked about, every invitation needs a careful read for overlap with your employer, and some calls will end early. GLG says that if a project moves into subjects you cannot discuss and you end it and tell GLG, it will "pay them for the time they set aside." Third Bridge's expert terms say that if you end a consultation early because of a conflict, you are paid for the time actually spent "plus an additional 15 minutes." Neither covers the time you spend screening invitations you decline, so a modest add-on for that work is fair. Our guide to how much GLG pays covers GLG's rules in more detail.

Short version: seniority sets the band, scarcity moves you within it, and compliance load adds a little on top.

5. Quote one rate to every network

Use the same number with every network and every direct buyer. Networks are not exclusive: GLG's IPO filing says its network members "are almost always non-exclusively contracted," so the same client can meet you through two of them. Different rates for the same hour invite an awkward question.

You also cannot use one network's rate to bargain with another. Third Bridge's expert terms say you must keep "the rates agreed by you with Third Bridge" confidential.

The exception is format. Arbolus says surveys usually pay a fixed fee, often $40 to $150. Tegus calls are published to subscribers after an embargo, as our post on Tegus expert calls explains, so set a separate, higher figure for any call that becomes a transcript many people will read. Third Bridge runs a similar published format, covered in our Third Bridge expert post.

6. Raise the rate when you turn down more calls than you take

Review your number after every 10 calls. If invitations arrive faster than you can take them and clients come back for second calls, raise it by $50 to $100 for new projects. Arbolus says rates tend to rise as you complete more consultations and earn better feedback.

Networks expect this pressure. GLG wrote in its IPO filing that "it may be necessary for us to increase the hourly rate we pay our Network Members" to keep them responding. Lower the rate only if months go by and clients keep choosing someone else for projects you were qualified for. For how a rate change works at AlphaSights, see AlphaSights expert pay.

7. Proration decides what a short call actually pays

The hourly rate is what you quote. The rounding rule is what you get paid. Three rules from the networks' own pages:

• By the minute: GLG's IPO filing says members are paid "a fixed hourly rate for Member Interactions, prorated for the minutes spent on the interaction."
• By the minute, rounded to whole units: Third Bridge's expert terms pro-rate pay on time with the client "calculated in minutes," and say "payment will be rounded to the nearest whole number." They also say nothing is due for consultations that do not take place, for any reason.
• In 15-minute blocks: Tegus for Experts says payment is "rounded up to the nearest 15-minute increment," with a 5-minute grace period: under 5 minutes past a 15-minute mark rounds down, 5 or more rounds up.

Here is a made-up example. Marisol ran sterilization logistics for an orthopedic implant maker for 12 years and now runs operations at another medical device company. She keeps her rate on a sticky note on her monitor so she quotes the same number every time.

• Band: she is senior and specialised, so she starts at $350, near the bottom of the Arbolus $300 to $800 band.
• Scarcity: few people have run that exact function, so she adds $100, to $450.
• Compliance load: she is still employed in the industry and screens every invitation against her employer's business, so she adds $50, to $500.

Our arithmetic for one client who books an hour and finishes in 40 minutes:

A 33-minute call on the Tegus rule is 3 minutes past the 30 mark, so it rounds down to 30 minutes and pays $250, against $275 by the minute.

Now count her real time on the 40-minute GLG-style call: 15 minutes reading the brief, 10 minutes on the compliance questions and 40 minutes on the call, 65 minutes in all. $333.33 for 65 minutes is about $307.69 an hour. That gap is why a quoted rate should sit above the hourly figure you would actually accept.

Where Instant Expert fits

On Instant Expert, a buyer invites you to a specific paid call or a written or voice answer and sets the amount up front. You receive the full amount offered, and you can reply with a higher price. You can claim your profile or see open paid requests on the request board.

Write your one number on a sticky note today, quote it to every network, and look at it again after your tenth call.