Certified Legal Nurse Consultant Certification Program

10 Easy-to-Use Exhibiting Strategies for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants

September 2, 2010 in CLNC Consultant, Legal Nurse Consultant, Legal Nurse Consulting, Marketing, Vickie Milazzo by Vickie | 3 comments

I asked the CLNC^® Pros to share their favorite easy-to-use exhibiting strategies for gaining new attorney-clients. Add these top 10 marketing ideas to your next exhibit with attorneys.

1. Make your legal nurse consulting exhibit eye popping, big and colorful. Not too busy, not too much information. You don’t want the attorneys to be confused or put off by having to read too much. Make sure you have enough light on the exhibit so that it can be easily seen, even from a distance. The display does not have to be huge. If done well, a simple table top display can be very effective and easier to manage.

“I have banners that hang in front of or behind my booth that include my business name, logo, phone number and website. They have grommet holes for easy attachment and they roll up easily for storage. They get the essential information out visibly, look great and aren’t expensive.

Last year I exhibited at a local event. It was small and not costly to exhibit. Although the attendee list was small, I ended up gaining two excellent attorney-clients from that event. I never sat down and made an effort to draw in every attorney that walked by my booth. One attorney told me that large exhibits did not impress him. He was much more interested in the personal touch and the conversation in which we engaged. He thought I had a lot of “guts” and that’s what drew him to me. He actually didn’t even live in my city. He lived 120 miles away and I now get every one of his cases. He is a very busy personal injury attorney, and he has referred many of his colleagues to me.”

Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, PHN, CLNC

2. Get the best location in the exhibit hall that your advertising dollars will buy. Your CLNC^® business will benefit when you are on a main aisle close to the entrance…or the food!
3. Promote your risk-free guarantee as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant on your display and when talking to attorney-prospects.
4. If you are exhibiting at a conference that has 500-1,000 attorneys attending, take someone with you so you don’t miss a single opportunity to promote your CLNC^® business.
5. Dress professionally and maintain a high level of energy. Energy is contagious. Having fun and being professional are not mutually exclusive. Stand in front of the booth, not behind the table and don’t sit down. This creates the space for the attorney-prospects to easily approach you. Even if you have to move out into the aisle approach the attorneys to invite them into your space.
6. Give attorney-prospects promotional materials or items that have your contact information and promote your legal nurse consulting business. People like to get free things to take with them (pens, Post It^® notes, audio CDs on topics such as electronic medical records, etc.). These are items that they will be using well into the future and when the day comes that they just can’t figure something out on one of their cases, they will remember you, and right at their fingertips will be your contact information. As they sit there twirling their pen, they will see that the answer to their prayers is right in their hand.

“One attorney told me that he couldn’t remember my name when he was struggling with a case, but when he took his pen out of his mouth, there I was. He always says that that was the best pen he has ever had.”

Nikki Chuml, RNC, FMC, PRN, CLNC

“Give away fortune cookies that have a catchy fortune and your contact information. The fortune can read, ‘Confucius says lawyers that understand the value of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants succeed where others fail!’”

Dorene Goldstein, RNC, CLNC


7. Include a drawing for a free case screening in exchange for the attorney-prospects’ business cards. This gives them a reason to stay connected. You can have as many winners as you have time for. Many Certified Legal Nurse Consultants use this strategy as a way to get their foot in the door. Most tell us that when they call the law firm to announce the free screening they get through to the attorney with ease. As one CLNC^® consultant says, “It works every time.” You can also have a drawing for an in-house presentation on a topic relevant to the law firm’s medical-related cases and again have as many winners as you have time for.
8. Never leave your CLNC^® booth and always exhibit to the very end. You’ll meet some of the best attorney-prospects near the end of the day. Also, stay during session time for the attorneys who skip a session to get an edge on the exhibits.
9. Attend all social functions sponsored by the association to which exhibitors are invited. Make it your goal to meet at least 5-8 attorneys at each function.
10. Stay off your cell phone and computer at all times when attorneys are in the exhibit space.

Use these top 10 exhibiting strategies from these CLNC^® Pros the next time you are in front of attorneys to guarantee you take home a new attorney-client every time.

Success Is Inside!

I have 33 years of nursing experience in several different fields. A few years ago my husband saw an advertisement for Vickie Milazzo Institute in one of the nursing magazines and said I’d be good at legal nurse consulting.

We had recently adopted a special needs infant and it was three years before I could feel comfortable being away from home. Then I enrolled in the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Program and became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

My husband, who’s always my motivating factor, started sending out the promotional materials from my CLNC^® Marketing LaunchBox to attorneys. He said, “You need to start answering your phone with Susan Porter and Associates.”

One week after my letters and brochures went out, I was taking my daughter to school when my phone rang. I answered “Susan Porter and Associates.” The voice on the other end said, “This is Mary Sue. I'm an attorney. I received your CLNC^® information packet and I have a home health case that I think you’d be perfect for.”

I had to pull over to the side of the road and take a deep breath – she was actually interviewing me on the phone. Thanks to the CLNC^® Certification Program, I knew exactly what to say so when the attorney asked what my fees were – I said $150.00 an hour. She said, “That’s perfect.” We set up a meeting the following week, and in the meantime, she sent me the records to review.

When I went to her office, I learned that this was the largest defense firm in my hometown in South Carolina. The firm has five partners and 14 attorneys. I left with two more cases from their office, and another attorney from the firm soon called me on a new case.

After my first case, I cut back to one day every two weeks at the hospital. In just months my CLNC^® practice mushroomed. A defense attorney who switched to plaintiff work asked me to continue reviewing his cases.

In one of the cases, the hospital involved was sold. A different law firm took over their case and asked me to send my final bill. I thought the case was dead for me, but the attorney who picked it up called from North Carolina and asked if he could meet with me. We met, and he asked me to continue reviewing the case, which settled two days before going to court. He also referred me to a colleague in North Carolina.

I just got another referral from an attorney in the original law firm whom I hadn’t even met.

My CLNC^® practice was mushrooming and I was exhilarated. It only took my first two cases to pay for the VIP CLNC^® Success System.

I don’t know how anybody could be a legal nurse consultant without taking the CLNC^® Certification Program. Without it I would not have known what to do or where to begin. I still review the Core Curriculum for Legal Nurse Consulting^® textbook with every case.

The CLNC^® Mentors are invaluable. I had so many things to ask and I wanted to make sure I was on the right track. The CLNC^® Mentors are always there to help, and every question is handled professionally.

I also attended the 2-Day NACLNC^® Apprenticeship, where I learned to apply the principles in the CLNC^® Certification Program and the Core Curriculum. The Apprenticeship gave me the skills to think on my feet with attorneys. Role playing was especially helpful. I was able to see a case in action and experience what it would be like before I went home and tried it myself.

From the time I received that first phone call, I made a point of being visible to the attorneys, like Vickie taught us. Even when they gave me the job over the phone I still went in, introduced myself and made face-to-face contact. I’ve met all the attorneys I’ve worked with and know their assistants by name. When I offered to send my CV to the attorney on my latest case, he said, “That’s okay. If you’re good enough for Mary Sue, that’s all I need.” But I’ll still go by and introduce myself so he’ll know who he’s working with.

Consistent marketing means better visibility. Because I market myself consistently, I know exactly what’s in the presentation packet I send to each attorney. Even when I talk to an attorney on the phone, I can visualize what’s in front of him and I can discuss my CLNC^® services effectively.

I also stay visible by following up after I start my review. I call to let the attorney know what I’ve accomplished. That way, if there’s some time between contacts, she knows I’m still out there working on the case.

The CLNC^® Certification Program taught me that staying visible often presents unexpected marketing opportunities. So, as Vickie teaches us, I took some time out of my schedule to go to the courthouse to watch a malpractice case one of my defense attorney-clients was trying. During the lunch break the plaintiff attorney approached me and asked why I was there. I explained what I did, and he said, “I could have used your services on this case,” which he eventually lost. I gave him my card and offered to help on his next case. Every situation is an opportunity to market and courthouses are where the attorneys are.

My favorite part of being a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is reviewing the chart and determining if the standards of care have been adhered to. The Institute’s training and my years of experience as a nurse give me the confidence to know I’m doing the job right. Working as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant is fascinating and exciting. I also feel like I’m making a difference by determining whether the case has merit and by educating the attorney about the medical issues of the case so he can present it to the jury in a way they can understand.

I like the independence of setting my own hours and working at my own pace. Often I’m working after my children go to sleep at night and after I take them to school during the day. This flexibility allows me to accomplish everything I need to do.

Vickie’s teaching style is very entertaining and motivating, yet easy to understand. Vickie presents the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminar in a way that you never lose interest. When you have completed the program, you’re ready to get started. She makes you believe you can do it because you’re a nurse. And she’s right when she says, "We are nurses and we can do anything!^®"