The first way to become an expert is to receive some formal schooling or training. The advantage of this method of becoming an expert is that it provides you with an official endorsement: you’re getting a seal of approval. The disadvantage of pursuing such formal endorsement is that it’s time-consuming. In all honesty, such an approach is rarely used by my clients, since it takes such a long time.

Most of my clients come to me “in extremis” and therefore can’t rely on a long-term educational program to help them turn a no into a yes. The handful of times I’ve encouraged a client to use this technique have been when I was consulting with a young person, just out of college, who was looking to develop a strategic career plan. For most of my clients, two months, let alone two years, is too long.

The second way to become an expert is through public research. This involves going to the library and looking through books and periodicals, doing searches of online databases, and gathering any other already public information you can. It’s truly incredible how much free intelligence you can gather on a specific person or a company simply by consulting the public record. If you’re willing to pay for research, say by purchasing a report on a private company or individual from an organization like Dun & Bradstreet, you can obtain even more.

The advantages of public research as a method of becoming an expert are that it’s quick and relatively easy to do. For the cost of an hour online and an hour of their time anyone who’s computer literate can come up with a great deal of information. The disadvantage of this approach is that it’s not likely to yield any surprising or unique information. Public research will let you become as much of an expert as anyone else . . . but not more. It’s a defensive technique: it insures you won’t be surprised. However, it’s not going to give you the information to spring any surprises of your own.

The third method of obtaining expertise is to conduct private research. This involves working the telephone and turning your personal network into an information network. Remember, no man (or woman) is an island: there are ways to reach everyone. And bear in mind that, even though it has become a clich, there really does seem to be only six degrees of separation between any two people. In other words, it may take you at least six telephone calls, but you should be able to get information on anyone by expanding your own network.

Let’s say you’re looking for information on that banker you’re asking for a line of credit. Private research would involve calling your accountant and attorney and asking if they or anyone they knew had any information on the banker. It would include putting out feelers at the chamber of commerce and Kiwanis Club meetings, asking if anyone had relevant information, or if they could steer you to other sources of information. The advantage of private research is that it can provide you with unique and possibly very valuable information.

The disadvantage is that it’s not easy to do and can be time-consuming. Private research works wonders when it comes to one-on-one negotiations or problems that seem to defy logic. It’s an aggressive technique that can provide you with the key to make a personal connection or to solve a stubborn puzzle.