The Most Common Mistakes Companies Make During Expert Calls

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Team Nextyn
July 7, 2025
July 7, 2025

In an increasingly fast-paced business environment, the ability to access on-demand experts has significantly improved how teams gather insight, validate assumptions, and shape strategic direction. A well-run expert call can accelerate decisions and deliver clarity that traditional methods may not offer quickly enough.

However, while more companies are turning to expert conversations as part of their decision-making process, not all are maximizing the value these interactions can bring.

 At Nextyn, we’ve supported hundreds of clients through rapid research engagements. And through that, we’ve seen a few recurring missteps small oversights that can impact the effectiveness of even the most well-intentioned expert calls.

 

Here are the most common mistakes we see and how to avoid them.

1. Going In Without a Clear Purpose

What happens: Teams join a call without specific objectives, hoping the expert will “just share useful insights.”

Why it matters: Without direction, conversations tend to stay surface-level or drift off-track. You may miss the opportunity to probe on high-impact issues.

What to do instead: Identify 2–3 specific goals ahead of the call whether it’s understanding buying behaviors, validating market size, or pressure-testing a pricing strategy.

At Nextyn, we help clients define these focal points clearly, so the call is purposeful from the start.

An illustration of an iceberg titled “Unclear Purpose Leads to Ineffective Expert Calls.” The iceberg is split by a horizontal dashed line:  Above the line (visible tip): Labeled Surface-Level Conversation, with a note: “Call lacks specific objectives.”  Below the line (larger hidden portion): Shows tangled lines and arrows with the note: “Conversation drifts off-track easily.”  On both sides of the dashed line, arrows point away from the iceberg, symbolizing a lack of direction. The visual metaphor highlights that without a clear objective, expert calls stay superficial and lose focus, missing deeper insights.

2. Asking Basic or Easily Searchable Questions

What happens: Valuable time is spent on introductory or general market information.

Why it matters: Experts bring the most value when sharing what’s not easily found online practical, experience-based insight that reflects lived realities.

What to do instead: Use prior research as a foundation. Come prepared with context, and focus the conversation on nuance what’s working in the market, what’s changed recently, or what the expert would do differently inyour shoes. That’s where expert insights shine.

A visual diagram titled “Maximizing Expert Insights” shows a circular, five-step process arranged clockwise around a central icon of a person speaking. Each step includes an icon and label:  Define Clear Objectives – Identify what decisions the insights will support.  Prepare Focused Questions – Craft specific, goal-driven queries.  Engage the Right Experts – Select individuals with relevant, actionable experience.  Structure the Conversation – Guide the call with a logical flow to stay on-topic.  Extract Key Takeaways – Summarize insights and align them with decision-making needs.  The image emphasizes a structured approach to extracting maximum value from expert calls.

3. Having Too Many Stakeholders on the Call

What happens: A large internal group joins the call, each with their own priorities.

Why it matters: The discussion can become fragmented, and the expert may struggle to engage meaningfully with everyone.

What to do instead: Keep the group lean ideally two or three attendees. Designate one person to lead the discussion, while others listen in or follow up separately. This ensures a more structured, focused conversation.

A 2x2 matrix titled “Stakeholder Engagement in Expert Calls,” showing how the quality of expert conversations varies based on two factors: Stakeholder Involvement (horizontal axis) and Discussion Focus (vertical axis).  Top Left (Blue) – Focused Listening:  High discussion focus, low stakeholder involvement.  Icon: Three people with a light bulb overhead.  Represents efficient listening with minimal distractions.  Top Right (Green) – Structured Discussion:  High discussion focus, high stakeholder involvement.  Icon: Group of people with structured layout.  Represents an ideal expert call setup with active yet focused participation.  Bottom Left (Yellow) – Fragmented Listening:  Low discussion focus, low stakeholder involvement.  Icon: A person with disconnected audio/music notes.  Represents low engagement and poor outcomes.  Bottom Right (Red) – Overcrowded Discussion:  Low discussion focus, high stakeholder involvement.  Icon: Four people with an “X” symbol.  Represents too many voices, leading to diluted conversation quality.  Axes labels:  Left to Right: Low to High Stakeholder Involvement  Bottom to Top: Low to High Discussion Focus

4. Skipping Pre-Call Preparation

What happens: Teams rely solely on spontaneous questions.

Why it matters: Calls without preparation often miss critical opportunities for deeper insight.

What to do instead: Review the expert’s background in advance and align internally on your key questions. Good preparation leads to better conversations and faster learning enhancing research efficiency across the board.

A funnel-shaped diagram titled “Enhancing Expert Conversations Through Preparation” illustrates how preparation leads to deeper insights from expert calls. The funnel moves from left to right, narrowing as it progresses:  Left side (wide end): Labeled Spontaneous Questions – representing unstructured or unprepared conversations.  Middle segments: Include three labeled steps:  Review Expert Background  Align Key Questions  Conduct Prepared Call  Right side (narrow end): Labeled Deeper Insights – indicating that a more focused and structured approach yields better outcomes.  The diagram emphasizes that strategic preparation improves the quality and depth of expert insights.

5. Not Capturing and Sharing Takeaways Effectively

What happens: Insights are lost in unorganized notes or scattered across teams.

Why it matters: Without a clear process for capturing and sharing learnings, it becomes difficult to turn insight into action.

What to do instead: Use a standardized format to capture insights after each call, ideally linked to your project’s key focus areas like customer behavior, competitive landscape, or go-to-market risks. At Nextyn, many clients integrate these notes into internal decision-making frameworks, enabling quick market validation across multiple conversations.

A circular flowchart titled “Cycle of Insight Capture and Application” visualizes a five-step process for leveraging expert insights, represented by icons within a segmented circle ending in an arrow pointing forward. Each step is numbered and color-coded:  Capture Insights (Yellow): Record key learnings from conversations. Represented with a thought bubble icon.  Organize Notes (Orange): Structure insights for clarity. Represented with a data storage icon.  Share Learnings (Red): Distribute insights across teams. Represented with a notepad and user icon.  Integrate into Frameworks (Pink): Apply insights to decision-making. Represented with gear and tool icons.  Validate Market (Purple): Test insights in real-world scenarios. Represented with a magnifying glass and arrow icon.  The diagram emphasizes that capturing, refining, sharing, and testing insights creates a continuous, effective decision-making cycle.

6. Dismissing Contradictory Opinions

What happens: Feedback that conflicts with internal thinking is ignored or over looked.

Why it matters: Expert calls are most valuable when they challenge assumptions not when they simply reinforce them.

What to do instead: When you hear something unexpected, explore it further. Ask for examples, context, or contrasting viewpoints. These moments often uncover important blind spots and help refine strategy more effectively.

A two-path decision diagram answering the question: “How to handle contradictory feedback from expert calls?”  Left side: A question icon with two speech bubbles introduces the scenario.  The flow splits into two responses:  Top Path – Ignore Feedback (Red):  Icon: Person walking away.  Text: “Reinforces existing assumptions but may miss critical insights.”  Bottom Path – Explore Feedback (Green):  Icon: Magnifying glass over a person.  Text: “Challenges assumptions and uncovers blind spots, leading to refined strategy.”  The graphic emphasizes the value of engaging with contradictory feedback instead of disregarding it, as doing so leads to more informed and strategic decisions.


Making Expert Conversations Work Harder for You

Expert calls are one of the most efficient ways to gain directional insight especially when you’re short on time or navigating uncertain ground. Whether you’re exploring a new market, evaluating a product pivot, or shaping a sales motion, expert conversations enable rapid research without the wait.

At Nextyn, we work closely with clients to streamline this process from identifying the right experts, to structuring the discussion, to ensuring insight translates into action. We believe that speed and depth don’t have to be mutually exclusive and that well-executed expert conversations can strike that balance.

 

Final Thought

The value of an expert call doesn’t lie in simply having one it’s in how well it’s used.
When approached with clarity, structure, and the right mindset, expert conversations can dramatically improve the quality of decisions, reduce research cycles, and help companies move with confidence.
Avoiding a few common pitfalls is all it takes to unlock that potential.