Paid consultation? Any experience?

[moustachebandit]

I have been approached about a paid consultation where a company wants to ask me a few questions regarding a specific market / product sector.

This isn't something I have done previously, but interested to know from others what have.

The area they want to speak to me about isn't one that I would claim to have any direct knowledge but could be tenuously linked to a sector I have worked in and do have knowledge of. Are they expecting cutting insight from the paid consultation or is it just an information collecting excercise?

Regards

[RC1807]

I currently work with,
AlphaSights
Stream Research Group
Dialectica

My advice, don't be afraid to push for as much as you can get for an hour's consultation time.
Depending on which of the above I work with, my rates are between £300-375 / hour.
I get a couple of calls each month.

You need to know your stuff.

Don't share any non-public information.
Decline calls if there's a conflict of interest.

Don't forget to include any payments you receive in your tax return .....

[jonesey]

Be clear that they are actually going to pay you for the questions. Often groups like GLG talk about paid consultation, ask a load of questions to be sure of your expertise and then you don’t hear from them again- they just wanted to gather the base intelligence.

[moustachebandit]

Thanks for the insight guys, much appreciated!

Went back to the company enquiring, and have had no response back so assuming its not serious. Information will come in handy for the future if another requests comes through.

Regards

[Collectingbrass]

I've only been involved in one, and as Jonesey says it was an initial sound out more than anything else. I didn't tell them anything they shouldn't have already known, given what they said they were exploring, but by the nature of the questions it evidently was. I didn't get paid and TBH unless such opportunities come via a referral I don't give them any time.

[magic360]

jonesey said:

Be clear that they are actually going to pay you for the questions. Often groups like GLG talk about paid consultation, ask a load of questions to be sure of your expertise and then you don’t hear from them again- they just wanted to gather the base intelligence.

Do listen to the above.
I get approached quite a bit but now honestly i dont bother responding. Most bit not all ask you pre-qualifying questions and then you never hear from them again, which pretty much means they’ve got what they wanted. That said the US ones seem to be better and pay out quite promptly too although some of the PE companies come across as being a bit tight.

[bqf]

I have only done one of these where it actually resulted in a payment - £400 or so for an hour discussion on a very niche topic.

I find that the 'pre-eligibility' questions seem very much to be gathering a lot of free information. I don't bother with them now.