An Insider’s Look at the Catalant Expert Marketplace
Jeremy Greenberg has had a lot of titles, including consultant, founder, podcaster, and entrepreneur-in-residence at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s also been on both sides of the Catalant Expert Marketplace, finding client work for his boutique consulting firm as well as hiring experts to fill in knowledge gaps on projects.
The founder of Avenue Group shared a bit about his experience on Catalant’s Expert Marketplace — both as an independent consultant for hire and as a business owner looking for expertise to help drive critical projects.
How Experts Capitalize on Catalant
Avenue Group is a small consulting firm that has delivered primary research and strategic advisory services. While his firm is registered with several online marketplaces, Greenberg says the Catalant experience differs in a few key ways.
For one thing, he says, Catalant offers more high-quality projects than other marketplaces.
“We haven’t seen as much success on some of the other platforms, probably because of the lack of volume and because clients aren’t as happy with them. As a consultant, you have to trust the platform,” says Greenberg.
Greenberg also says Catalant offers Experts an easier experience by getting them in front of clients more quickly. Whereas other marketplaces might require four or five phone calls before the consultant is introduced to the client, Catalant’s rigorous pre-screening process shortens the distance between project posting and client meetings.
Finally, Greenberg says Catalant helps consultants build meaningful relationships with new clients. With access to highly-strategic buyers at some of the world’s best companies, Catalant connects experts with clients who might book multiple projects over time.
“Because Catalant is trusted, we have the ability to prove ourselves. Once we do that, we can build deeper relationships with clients,” says Greenberg.
How Customers Capitalize on Experts
Greenberg has also used the Catalant platform to find and access expertise to help serve its own clients.
For example, the Avenue Group recently worked with a private school to model different scenarios for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Needing additional help with modeling data via Microsoft Excel, Greenberg posted a project to the Catalant Expert Marketplace. Within days, he was able to find an expert with an MBA and a background in banking who was able to execute the team’s project quickly.
“You put the job post up and within minutes you’re getting applications and can start sorting through folks. We had a project recently that I posted on a Thursday and by Friday we had someone.”
When hiring experts on Catalant, Greenberg says the most important quality for success is effective communication.
“Having someone who is open, flexible, communicative, and who speaks up when they’re confused, is really important,” he says.
Overall, Greenberg says his relationship with Catalant has helped him expand his client network and deliver faster, higher-quality results by augmenting his team with additional expertise.