What is the purpose of this online database?
Research shows that the single, most important success factor is the advice and support an entrepreneur receives during his efforts to conquer a foreign market. Because there are more cultural differences than initially apparent, the best help one can get is to benefit from the expertise of others. This database provides a directory of experts who are able to provide specific knowledge about doing business abroad. Nothing is more helpful than getting advice from someone who has been there and done that.
Who is behind the PoolOfExperts?
The PoolOfExpert.ch online directory is a joint venture by four partner in a public-private partnership. The four partner are: OSEC - Business Network Switzerland, the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, and the two private companies, Fargate AG and Flare International. The project is a not-for-profit venture which heavily relies on the support of our sponsors. It is our goal to maintain the leading position as an online directory for Swiss businesses and all sponsor contributions are commited to the promotion of our site to our clientele in order to achieve that goal. For more information, please read our "About page".
What is the history of PoolOfExperts?
PoolOfExperts.ch is the result of merging two earlier, independent efforts to provide one common and comprehensive database. In 2003, a private initiative launched a web site named www.businesswiss.com which provided an expert directory to Swiss business focusing on the United States market. Simultaneously, www.osec.ch created the first version of its international directory of experts assisting businesses in foreign countries. The experiences of those two projects were combined in 2004 to create the PoolOfExperts.ch as the sole, leading directory for all Swiss SME to FIND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EXPERTS.
Who runs PoolOfExperts.ch?
Our Website is seamlessly embedded in the concept provided in a mandate by the Swiss Government to OSEC - Business Network Switzerland to provide such information service to the Swiss SME ("Exportförderungsauftrag"). The project is governed by a Steering Committee comprised of the four venture partners. The operative administration of the site is ensured by OSEC - Business Network Switzerland and technical support for our database is provided by Matchingneeds.
Top
Who qualifies as an "Expert"?
Do you, as a professional individual, offer certain core competencies and specific expertise that is essential to Swiss SME in expanding their business globally? Experts need to be individuals how wish to make themselves accessible to executives and export managers of Swiss small companies in order to answer questions, give advise and establish mutually beneficial relationships. Experts are located either in Switzerland or in a foreign country, have access to the Internet and command of the English language. A "legitimacy check" is performed on all new registrations to verify that the expert can be reached and is willing to make his complete profile, contact information and digital image publicly available on our site. However, please consult our Terms of Use to read about specific legal disclaimers concerning the business relationship between an "Expert" and a "User" of our site.
What are the Expert's benefits?
- A profile in our published directory where you can showcase your personal and your firm's expertise to Swiss SME;
- Entry in our search engine to display your profile to matching requests of Swiss SME browsing our site;
- A common gateway which is actively promoted to Swiss SME interested in a global expansion;
- Access to a network with other professionals that share their common interest in supporting Swiss SME;
- Become accessible by modern means of communication and provide answers to your potential future clients across thousands of miles;
- An option to submit qualifying event information for display on the site's home page free of charge;
- Rotating display of your picture and profile summary on the site's home page;
- Invitation to certain events organized specifically for registered members of our Pool Of Experts.
What are the Expert's costs?
A registered expert will be charged an Annual Listing Fee of Sfr. 120.00 per 12-month period. You will receive an email notification to your email address on file with a request to renew your listing 30 days prior to the expiration of your listing. There is no charge for Users to access the database and view / retrieve expert information. Payment is accepted by credit cards via our secure payment interface. Please consult our Terms of Use for more information about terms of payment.
How do I register as an Expert?
Follow the link to login > register to enter your new profile in our expert database. The registration process consists of 6 logical steps. As soon as you have completed and saved the first step, you will receive an email with additional information about your account and some tips how to best complete your entire profile. You may then come back to your saved profile at any time. Once your profile is completed, it will be subjected to a "Legitimacy Check" during which you will be contacted by one of our staff members in an effort to verify your data before it is publicly displayed. Upon completion of this process, your profile will be visible and accessible for searches in the Pool Of Expert database.
How do I complete my profile?
As with any effort to match Experts to interested Users, the better and more specific the information you provide, the higher the chances that a search will be successful. While the contact data needs to be entered in a structured field format, most qualitative descriptions can be entered into free text fields. You may use a selected number of -tags to format your text provided that you are familiar with that web language. Please note that there are a number of mandatory *-fields which need to be completed in order to display your profile - this includes a digital, low resolution picture and certain contact information. Your email address, however, will not be displayed but only available through a link. The most important information you should provide, is an accurate selection of your specific competence. There are three lists available where you must make one or more selections of: 1.) your geographical, 2.) your functional expertise and 3.) your industrial know-how.
Why can I not find my country, profession or industry?
The selection options for the three categories from which you can choose your expertise are intentionally limited to include only about 30 of the most important choices. If you don't find the exact description(s) you are looking for, select the closest alternative(s) and use the open text fields in your profile to give a more detailed description of your specialty. Countries are limited to the most important trading partners of Switzerland.
What factor(s) influences my position in the "Hitlist"?
We do not disclose the exact formula how the "Hitlist", which displays the results of a search, are sorted. However, it is important that you understand the following guideline: The more limited and specific your choice of selections in the three categories, the more relevant will be your match to a client's search. The more generic and broad your selection, the lower will be your rating. Example: If you only select United States / Commercial Law / Banking, your profile will be displayed in front of a profile with the selections United States / All / All or United States / Commercial Law, Accounting / Banking, Pharma, assuming of course that the User searches for a legal professional with knowledge in the Banking Industry in the United States. We discourage the use of the entry ALL in more than one category, if any.
Top
Who uses the database?
Our database pool is promoted to Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME) in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Of course, the directory can be accessed worldwide over the Internet by anyone. Marketing and promotional efforts, however, are limited to companies with their headquarters located in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Within that group, we expect that our database will become a helpful tool for management executives and export managers. The focus of our target are small enterprises that don't have the specific in-house expertise regarding the development of their international business and therefore require basic, initial support and advise from qualified professionals.
What are a User's benefits?
Any business can access our database of international experts free of charge. You can search for, compile, review and save a list of profiles and then contact any number of registered experts that match your requirements and appeals to your liking. It is expected that such Expert can provide some guidance and answers to your question in his/her area of expertise. However, the expert you contact may be asking to be compensated for any service he provides to you. Please refer to our Terms of Use for further information. In addition, registered users may pose general questions relating to his international business if you are unsuccessful in finding the right expert listing.
Why Swiss KMU?
Swiss Small and Medium Size Enterprises SME (or KMU) have been and continue to remain extremely dependent on export revenues. For most goods and services the domestic market offers insufficient growth potential to reach adequate economies of scale in order to compete globally. Meanwhile, Swiss goods and services carry valuable propositions to find appropriate markets worldwide. Therefore Swiss businesses are very export oriented. The image, quality and innovation offered by Swiss products is extremely competitive in the global market.
How do I find a matching Expert?
We suggest that you start your search by clicking on the Find an expert link. This will allow a user to select any one or more competencies in the three categories "country", profession" and/or "industry". If you wish, may instead also enter a search by keyword which scans through the free text fields of all expert profiles. The third option is to browse expert listings in our directory listings without defining a search. Once you have an appropriate "Hitlist" you can review the summary of expertise or review the full profile by clicking on the name of the expert(s) in your list.
How do I contact the Experts?
The Pool Of Expert database only provides you with an unqualified profile. Although we perform certain checks about the validity of the data entries, it remains a User's responsibility to establish the desired relationship with such Expert. The profile provides you with the phone and fax number, postal and email address and also more modern communication tools such as instant message address or Skype VOIP call numbers, if available. You also have the option to use a webmail form to contact the Expert directly from within the database. Your contact will always be established directly with the Expert. Therefore it is important that you review the profile of the Expert carefully and conduct some due diligence before you decide to rely on an answer or service provided by such person.
What if I can not find the right expert?
If you are unable to find the profile of an Expert that you are looking for, you may use the link Ask Any Expert. This will allow you to pose your question to the Pool Of Expert team and, depending on the nature of your question, it will either be forwarded to a number of Experts from our database or to OSEC's Information Desk.
Why is this website only available in English?
We request that the information in a profile is displayed in English because English in the common language in global trade. You have the option to indicate other, additional languages in your profile. We offer one field to indicate the preferred language to communicate with your clients and another selection where you can indicate in what local languages you possess any expertise. However, please complete all information in your profile in English.
Top
How do I become the Spotlight Expert?
The Spotlight Expert featured on the home page of our site displays the picture, name and relevant competence information from the "Legitimacy Question" of all experts registered in our database. The profiles are rotated in random order and refreshed whenever a user re-visits our home page.
Who is sponsoring the Pool?
Supporting Partners are organizations and businesses who are interested in furthering the cause of the PoolOfExperts. A Supporting Partner receives special promotional consideration on our web site and elsewhere. If you are interested in becoming a Supporting Partner, please contact us. Our site will create a platform that lends itself to international service providers, financial institutions, worldwide logistics provider and many other, larger organizations whishing to reinforce their image as an entity with international support for Swiss SME.
Top
