onfrontiers webinar: tips on consulting with experts
TRANSCRIPT
Tips on Conducting Expert Consultations
Thursday, 14 April 2016
Driving Progress – One Connection at a Time
Speakers
Petra Cahill Freelance Senior News
Editor at NBC News
• Petra has 13+ years of experience
producing and editing original cover-
lead stories for award-winning online
media outlet
• She has produced online content
across 15 countries
Alejandro Brenes
CEO of Enervtiva
• Alejandro is the founder of the
regional leader in renewable energy
solutions, Enertiva.
• He was named one of Costa Rica’s
40 under 40 in 2015 by Premier
Business Newspaper.
James Hoffman Strategy Consultant
• James has 10+ years of experience in
management consulting, asset
management and investment banking.
• He has prior experience at McKinsey &
Co., Morgan Stanley and Prgama
Wealth Management
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Agenda
1-5min Introductions
5-15min Types of Research interview
Stages of an Interview
Best Practices
15-40min Panelist Interviews
40-60min Q&A
3
A E
C
D
Requesting
Selecting profiles,
scheduling
Running the
interview
Post
Interview
You/Coordinator
from your team
• Prepare the interview • Conduct the interview
• Carefully screen expert profiles against your key question topics and screening criteria
• Select a range of profiles if possible • Be thoughtful about participants for the interview
• Make the expert requests very clear • Prioritize your requests • Keep all stakeholders in the loop
• If working as part of a team, select a specific team member as the dedicated interview coordinator
• Assess implications for your key research topics • Debrief with the stakeholders • Provide feedback to OF
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Stages of Research Questions
B
Best Practices – A. Requesting (1/3)
Prioritize your requests
▪ In case of urgent needs, aim to limit the high priority requests to 3-5 to assure a faster turnaround
▪ Do not change priorities too frequently (e.g. on a daily basis) to give OnFrontiers time to find the right experts
Make the expert requests very clear
▪ Provide a clear topic description (what are you looking for, why)
▪ Provide
– Vetting questions for the expert
– Company names to identify experts of interest
– Specifications on role and knowledge required (e.g., technical or
marketing)
▪ Ask your OnFrontiers contact “What else do you need to know?”
▪ Communicate the target number of expert interviews
Tip: Avoid yes and
no questions, use
questions the
screener can ask
Expert to elaborate
on
Keep all stakeholders in the loop
▪ Establish one contact person at OnFrontiers and one contact person within your own team
▪ If working on an intensive project, schedule daily check-ins with OnFrontiers
– Let OF know immediately when topics change / get deprioritized
– Follow up on scheduling or vetting of requested experts
– Give feedback on completed interviews
▪ Use fixed format to communicate requests and priorities on a daily basis
▪ Keep OF up to date on the progress and future steps of your project
▪ Call OF when needed (instead of email) for instant updates 5
Early Stage
• What are some recent changes in
Brazil’s taxi market?
• What are the primary risks of
investing in solar energy projects in
Costa Rica?
• What are government priorities for
clean water initiatives in India?
Mid Stage Late Stage
• How does market size compare
between Brazil's major cities (Sao
Paolo, Rio de Janiero, Brasilia, Belo
Horizonte?
• What are the 3 largest publicly-funded
solar energy initiatives in Costa Rica?
• What kinds of public-private
partnerships exist in the water sector
in India?
• What strategies have led some of the
key app aggregators (Uber, 99Taxis,
Easy Taxi) in Brazil to gain a
competitive edge?
• How would you describe the non-
utility water services in India/Odisha
and the competitive landscape??
• Why has the government put new
restrictions on solar developments in
Nicaragua?
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Best Practices – A. Requesting (2/3)
Identifying key issues,
themes, risks, etc.
Probing areas of particular
interest, concern, opportunity
Answering targeted questions
on a well-studied topic
Experts can better help if they know what stage you’re at in your research
Background: Client project to assess potential for a new industry park in West Ghana
Looking to speak with industry experts in consumer electronics and electrical parts, components and equipment to get a view on
viability of local assembly and manufacturing of products in West Africa
Expert Profile Request:
Professionals with knowledge of:
Manufacturing costs across consumer electronics and electrical parts, components and equipment and comparison vs. other
markets (e.g. Ghana’s competitive edge)
Key cost drivers (e.g. manufacturing, equipment, complexity, labor, tariffs)
Perspectives across products and how cost drivers vary by product (e.g. phones, computers, washing machines, dryers, cables
and wire etc.)
Sample Ideal Profile: General Manager of a manufacturing plant; or decision maker for setting up a new manufacturing facility in Ghana / West Africa
Current or past employee of large multinational (e.g. Samsung, LG, Phillips, GE) who is knowledgeable on local market 7
Best Practices – A. Requesting (3/3)
Target Industry: Consumer Electronics
Industry Expertise: Consumer Electronics; electrical parts,
components & equipment
Target Region(s): Africa (West Africa)
Target Country(s): Ghana, Nigeria
Client Name: Strategic Consulting Firm
Request Date: 4/14/2016
Deadline Date: 4/30/2016
Timeline: Expert interviews within next 1-2 weeks
Research Stage: Mid-stage
Timing Section What to cover
0-5 min. Introduction • Expert: Background, areas he/she knows best
• Interviewer: Context for call, what you know
already
5-30 min. Cover main questions
• Try to cover most of your main questions, to
understand answer at high level
• As you discuss at high level, flag topics of greatest
interest where you want to go into in more detail
in 2nd half of call
30-55 min.
Probe deeper on most important areas
• Probe Expert more deeply on 2-3 topics of
greatest importance
• Address additional topics of interest that may
have come up
55-60 min. Wrap up
• “Was there anything else we should have asked?”
• Agree on any action items discussed (e.g., any
data to exchange, other people to contact)
• Thank Expert!
Best Practice tips…
1. Send written questions in advance
2. Meet for 5 minutes beforehand to agree main
questions/objectives [if more than 2 people
conducting call]
3. Feel free to interrupt Expert and guide them towards
most important topics
4. Ask Expert to provide data by email where helpful (e.g.
key figures, documents, articles mentioned during call)
5. Spend 5 minutes after call to discuss and write down
key takeaways [if more than 2 people conducting call]
6. Give direct feedback to OnFrontiers on what was
helpful/not helpful about call or Expert
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Best Practices – C. Running the Interview
Case Study – Solar Energy
Is Costa Rica a desirable market for developing solar energy projects?
Client objectives:
The client wanted to get comfortable with
the business environment for developing
privately-owned solar projects in Costa
Rica. This included
• Understand the impact of current
/expected regulatory, policy and
economic factors on smaller scale
distributed generation (DG) solar in Costa Rica
• Understand how the market may
develop in the future e.g. tariff structure; energy pricing; restrictions
“Getting quick access to local insights helped our team
accelerate the due diligence process by several weeks.”
Renewable Energy Director,
Investment Firm
Sample Experts:
Costa Rica • CFO & Founding Partner at Flex
Energy Group
• +25 years experience in venture
capital and project finance of
renewable energy in LatAm
Costa Rica • CEO & Co-Founder at Enertiva
Costa Rica (small scale
renewable energy projects)
• +8 years experience in
renewable energy and
cogeneration
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Speakers
Petra Cahill Freelance Senior News
Editor at NBC News
• Petra has 13+ years of experience
producing and editing original cover-
lead stories for award-winning online
media outlet
• She has produced online content
across 15 countries
Alejandro Brenes
CEO of Enervtiva
• Alejandro is the founder of the
regional leader in renewable energy
solutions, Enertiva.
• He was named one of Costa Rica’s
40 under 40 in 2015 by Premier
Business Newspaper.
James Hoffman Strategy Consultant
• James has 10+ years of experience in
management consulting, asset
management and investment banking.
• He has prior experience at McKinsey &
Co., Morgan Stanley and Prgama
Wealth Management
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Questions?
Submit questions using the GoToWebinar forum via the questions box
Additional Resources
Anne Kroijer Relationship Manager
• +1.617.953.4221
Brian Caouette Relationship Manager
• +1.617.803.8515
Bashair Al Hanai Relationship Manager
• +1.857.350.7130
Get in touch three ways:
1) Email us at [email protected]
2) Directly request an expert at
www.onfrontiers.com/requests
3) Call your closest regional contact
• New York: +1 212 203 9005
• Johannesburg: +27 875 518 331
• Rio de Janeiro: +55 213 958 1081
• Hong Kong: +852 58 082 482
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