Customer Service

I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels during my travels. Everything from Ramadas to Mandarin Orientals with more than a few Hiltons, Hyatts, Marriotts and the occasional Peninsula in between. As a result I’ve become quite jaded concerning hotel services. On a recent trip to Austin, Texas, I was stunned by the service at our hotel, the Four Seasons. The staff did much more than just meet requests, they seemed to anticipate every need. It started with the bellman who offered to find additional luggage stands. Then it was the waiter who, after I asked for the check and told him we needed to get to the airport, he offered to call a cab for us.

The front desk clerk who not only upgraded us to a lake view (without my asking) also suggested happy hour on the hotel’s terrace overlooking Lady Bird Lake and told us about a few of the appetizers we shouldn’t miss. The doorman surveyed the directions to our dinner spot (La Condesa – my favorite Mexican restaurant in the U.S.) and recommended a better, more direct route and even told us where to park. This service extravaganza ended with the valet who provided us with bottles of water for our drive to the airport.

From the time we arrived at the hotel to the time we left, it seemed the staff anticipated our every need and went out of their way to try and beat us to the punch. I couldn’t help but contrast this with so many other experiences where the staff simply wait until you ask them for help.

Are you doing the same for your attorney-clients? Are you anticipating their needs and offering different legal nurse consulting services than you’ve provided in the past or do you just sit passively by the phone or computer waiting for the call or email? The impression you want to leave with your attorney-clients is one of superior service and the best way to achieve that is by transcending your prior service.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, you know that you can provide more than 30 different CLNC^® services to your attorney-clients. Offer them! Don’t wait for the attorney to ask you. He hasn’t seen the list and doesn’t know the full range of your nursing knowledge and experience. Show him how you can stand out by anticipating his needs, not just meeting them.

Success Is Inside!

Tom, my twin brother Vince and I were walking through the mall the other day with no particular destination on our minds. It was just one of those evenings when you just troll the mall because it’s there. Since we didn’t have a goal or focus I found myself taking in the shops from a different perspective. Normally, I’m what Tom refers to as a F&F shopper – fire and forget. I’m a laser-like focused shopper, entering the mall at a fast pace, making my purchases and coming back out just as fast, paying no attention to the in-between.

To give you a little dish, Tom and Vince can spend more time in a store than I do and still come out empty-handed. I’m always perplexed that they can spend so much time in a store (even a sporting goods store) without buying anything. I need to keep those two apart or leave them at home.

Being with Tom and Vince that evening at the mall (and nope, they didn’t buy a thing) gave me time to think about our legal nurse consulting businesses.

I walked past windows and display after display of the same lines of clothing. Mind-numbing displays of solids, stripes, plaids and every color under the sun – virtually the same from store to store. I realized that no matter where you are in the developed world, the shopping is disturbingly similar. Global brands have limited our choices from what was once a world of many selections to a world of few. Walk through Macy’s, Sak’s, Neiman’s, Nordy’s, Target or even my favorite, Walmart and they are scarily the same.

So I started to wonder what really makes one store more successful than another since it’s not really the product. Tom and Vince were still debating the merits of one brand of athletic supporter over another, so I chose a couple of stores at random and walked in. I learned more than a few things from this, both about myself and what I think Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can apply to their legal nurse consulting businesses. First of all, I noticed the few stores that had inventive window displays designed to catch my eye, did just that. Next, the stores that presented themselves in the best possible light seemed to be the most inviting.

But, the busy stores were the ones that raised my curiosity the most. If a lot of people were looking at their products, then surely I must look too. An empty store, no matter how clean and attractively laid out, tells me it’s empty for a reason. Something is clearly lacking – it might be value, quality, price or service but I’ll never know because I didn’t go in (sorry Valentino). Of the stores I did go in, the one thing that made the difference between the ones that were successful or not, was the service.

I’m not a fan of the hide and seek game that some salespeople play. If I have to hunt all over for a salesperson just to ask if they have a particular blouse in a size 2 (just kidding), I’m going to lose interest fast. Even more disturbing to me is when I do find a salesperson (or two) and they’re either talking on their cell phones or chatting it up with each other and can’t be interrupted to service a customer. That’s a quick way to lose a sale, sister.

Okay, so let’s look at the lessons for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. First of all, present yourself in the best possible manner. Dress neatly and professionally. No one likes sloppy looking salespeople. If you can’t be bothered to dress appropriately for work, how do you think attorneys can trust you to help them? Attorneys and other professionals are drawn to successful-looking people. Although some of the rules from the old “Dress for Success” book don’t apply, the basic one does – dress like you’re part of your market.

Second, how are you displaying your products? Is your line sloppily presented or do your marketing materials practically snap with crispness? Start with your cover letter, is it on good quality bond paper? Do you use a letterhead that matches your other materials? Is your message congruent throughout? I see business cards that look like they’ve been hand-printed and sales brochures that look like they’ve been pasted together from ransom notes. You have seconds to get your attorney-prospect’s attention and catch their eye. Think of the way you sort your own mail and make sure your materials represent the professional you are. Too cute, too poorly done and too cheaply done send the same message. One your attorney-prospect won’t be receptive to.

Third, are you on your feet marketing or are you passively waiting for your market to find you? In the stores that I enjoyed shopping the most, the sales clerks didn’t wait for me to walk up to them, they were all over me from the minute I walked in. Not in a clinging manner, but in a professional “how may I help you find something” manner. There’s a certain salesperson in the shoe department of one of my favorite stores who always makes a point of acknowledging me no matter how busy he is. He checks to see if I need something in particular and lets me in on any upcoming sales – all while juggling other customers and an armful of shoe boxes.

He makes me think of one of the CLNC^® Mentors who exhibits at legal conferences. She positions herself in front of her booth and walks up to the attorneys as they come by, offering descriptions of her CLNC^® services. She’s got a super high success rate. I can contrast her to another legal nurse consultant (not a CLNC^® consultant) who she often sees at many of the same conferences. That woman sits inside her booth (a total no-no) and waits for attorneys to approach her. She has commented that she’s surprised she doesn’t do as well as the CLNC^® Mentor at attracting new business.

The salespeople who earn my business are often the ones that offer the business – not the ones that earn their commission simply by ringing me up. If I know something is likely to be available in that product line at another store with better service, guess where I’ll go to buy it. Even if I end up having to order the item, I’d rather do it where I experience good service and have the commission go to someone who’s earned it, than someone who hasn’t. Attorneys are the same way. They’re crazy busy and don’t have time to go looking for you. You need to get out there and, as one Certified Legal Nurse Consultant once said, if they don’t know why they need my CLNC^® services, I just explain it to them until they do!

Fourth, the best salespeople are the ones who not only help you find the perfect item, but also help you accessorize it or supplement it. You can always find the perfect jacket, but blouses, earrings or a purse that compliment it and extend its range are great. Make yourself indispensible. You’re not there to sell the attorney-client just one service. Certified Legal Nurse Consultants know how to deliver over thirty different CLNC^® services to attorneys. Don’t be the store with just one pair of shoes on the shelf. If they’re not the shoes the attorney-client is looking for (or they don’t fit) they’ll go elsewhere.

Remember, ultimately you may be offering the same services as the next legal nurse consultant so you need to distinguish yourself in the eyes of your market and make sure that you offer them what they want and what they need. The best performing Certified Legal Nurse Consultants deliver quality service when they say they will.

Next time you’re in the mall, zero in on what attracts you to a particular store or salesperson. Ask yourself what makes you loyal to a particular line of products or store. Then apply these insights to your own legal nurse consulting business. I know I bring home something different every time I go to the mall and I don’t mean purchases – I’m talking about new ideas I discover for improving my own business.

Success Is Inside!

I just got home from the Great Christmas Migration of 2008. Tom and I are bicoastal. His family is in Pennsylvania and mine is in San Diego. Both demand our presence (and presents) at Christmas. This gives us plenty of chances to enjoy the fun of air travel and to meet interesting and helpful people along the way. This year instead of emulating the executives from the auto industry we decided to forgo taking the VMI company jet (Southwest, in our case), and instead flew our various journeys on a mainstream airline.

Christmas and the holidays are supposed to be the merriest time of year – so why is airline customer service the gloomiest? It starts with the smiling (not) faces at the airport check-in. The check-in staff is the frontline of the airline. They’re the first impression you get of the service you’re about to receive (or not). I’m sure that everyone has some part of their job they don’t like, but excuse me, sir, your job is to help me check in, tag my bags for the right airport, get them on the belt and tell me my gate number. If you don’t like that portion of your job, rotate to something else. Don’t make a face because my bag looks heavy or because I have two of them. Yes, I know you’re going to charge me to check them, but you don’t have to be so stern about it. I’m a customer not a prisoner (at least not until I board).

I think that being a nurse makes it difficult to sympathize with someone who’s upset about the fact that you asked for a second 4-ounce glass of lukewarm water. Look at what nurses do every day – change catheters, clean suppurating wounds and get sprayed by bodily fluids we shouldn’t discuss in mixed company (but still do). Some flight attendants really make me want to take their blood or at least stick them with an oversized needle. I feel like saying “Look lady, I asked you for a napkin – not to wipe my ass. Don’t act like you’re doing me a favor after taking 20 minutes to bring it. Yes, I know there are other passengers onboard, but right now you’re standing in the back of the plane kvetching about your upcoming layover in Poughkeepsie.”

It’s not just airlines that have bad service. Retail sales are down everywhere you go. ‘Blame the economy,’ you may say. If these retail employees keep it up, there won’t be any retail economy. I don’t know about you but I’m sick and tired of trying to give my hard-earned money to the lethargic, tattooed, multi-pierced cashier who’s on her cell phone. Or, the two salespeople talking to each other who act put out when you ask one of them to look in the back for a size 4. Try getting away with that type of behavior as a nurse. Can you imagine a patient saying, “Excuse me ma’am, I’m truly sorry to bother you, but I’m in desperate need of defibrillation. Would you please stop chatting about your ex and shock me back to life?”

In contrast, here I am at the Mecca of customer service – the Apple store on 5^th Avenue in New York City. Like an airline, this store is open 24 hours a day and there’s usually a line to get inside. Unlike an airline, people wait patiently, even expectantly, because they know that once they get inside, the experience will be extraordinary. When’s the last time you heard someone say their flight or shopping experience was extraordinary unless they were talking about the extraordinary prices?

Apple sets the highest bar for customer service (plus the store is mad cool inside). Sales staff help you with your purchase and stay with you until you’re done shopping. They accompany you to the checkout line or point out one of the roaming check-out staffers who comes conveniently equipped with a wireless credit card machine. You walk up to any one with your purchase, joyfully swipe your credit card and get on your way without a hassle. My receipt is emailed to my BlackBerry^® before I’m out the door!

Even if you don’t buy anything, staffers will patiently answer any question about all the cool stuff on display (and you get to play with it as long as you want). You can even make an appointment to bring in your computer, iPod or iPhone that you already paid for to get whatever service or training you need, including how to turn it on. The entire experience is exhilarating from the time you walk in until you leave. It makes me want to turn my whole office into Mac users. (Just kidding, Tom.)

I live by my rule, “do what’s right, not what’s easy.” A legal nurse consultant was complaining to me about something her attorney-client wanted her to research. He was off-base but demanding about it. She got angry with him and it may have cost her the relationship. I wanted to support her, but I couldn’t agree with her and said, “Remember, the attorney-client isn’t always right, but he’s still the attorney-client. Just be grateful he didn’t ask you to wipe his butt. If he’s paying you to do a job, it’s your job to do it and your duty to do it with a smile on your face (if not in your soul).”

Certified Legal Nurse Consultants exist because of our customers, attorneys. Aim to be more like an Apple store than a lemon airline.

Success Is Inside!