attorney-clients

We are bombarded with thousands of messages and communications in a single day. So how can you possibly stay in the mind of attorney-clients who are bombarded with email following them everywhere, clients calling and staffers vying for their attention? The CLNC^® Pros share 6 strategies for fun, creative and noninvasive ways to retie the connections with your attorney-clients. The goal: to remind them you are there to make the next case a little easier and more profitable.

Stay in Touch

1. After a case is finished, I stay in touch with my attorney-clients, even if they don’t have another case for me immediately. I keep it light and focus on how they are doing and how their legal practice is going. Many of them proceed to tell me about cases they are working on, which creates opportunities as well as trust.
   – Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC

Add Your Attorney-Clients to Your Gift List

2. During the holiday season, remember your attorney-clients. Mailing holiday cards will keep your name in front of them and fresh in their minds. Give special tokens of appreciation to your preferred attorneys, their secretaries and paralegals.
   – Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC

3. I always acknowledge my attorney-clients at the holiday season. The gifts are not expensive, but I always send something to acknowledge our relationship. Additionally, I send birthday cards. These small gestures create a friendly and professional relationship. It especially pays off when a new attorney-prospect calls me and tells me one of my attorney-clients has referred me and has said that not only do I do a good job, but I am easy to work with, approachable and flexible. Those are the best referrals. Then I know I have done a good job of building successful relationships with my attorney-clients.
   – Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC

4. Once a year, I take my attorney-clients out to lunch (my treat) to show them how much I appreciate their business. This not only strengthens our relationship, it often leads to more work for me!
   – Dorene Goldstein, RNC, CLNC

5. I send congratulatory notes and sometimes small gifts that have significance. I often told one of my oldest attorney-clients (not that he’s old…he’s one of my first clients) that he was a tough old attorney, and that he was one of my clients that didn’t require a lot of hand-holding. He always thought that was funny. He had a particularly large jury verdict in one of his cases. Instead of sending him a nice little note, I sent a cactus to him with a card that said “You are tough as a cactus. You thrive in adversity, and you don’t need water very often.” That was probably 15 years ago, and he still has that cactus in his office. He also tells me that it’s the only plant he hasn’t killed!
   – Jane Hurst, RN, CLNC

Feed the Attorneys Information

6. I retie the connection with information. I send out an oversized postcard with my contact information on one side and an article or fun facts on the other. I send different postcards quarterly. For example, when swine flu was the hot topic, I sent out a postcard with facts that everyone should know about how to protect themselves and stay healthy. These postcards are a big hit with the whole office staff. It reminds them that I am still out there without me calling them. If you notice something of interest to your attorney-client in a newspaper, journal or magazine, clip it out and send it with a personal FYI note.
   – Dorene Goldstein, RNC, CLNC

Thanks to all the CLNC^® Pros for sharing their strategies to retie the connection with attorney-clients.

Success Is Inside!

I recently brought an idea into a quarterly all-day executive meeting fully expecting us to spend substantial time discussing it. We did, but not in the way I expected. That one idea stimulated a discussion that took the entire meeting and led us into a completely different direction. By the end of the day, we landed on a new and improved idea, one that was much better than my original.

The kind of springboarding that happened that day rarely happens when we are communicating via email, which we certainly do a lot of here in my office. Call me old fashioned, but in my opinion only the dialog that happens when people sit around the table together and springboard ideas off one another stimulates this level of idea generation.

The same applies to you and your attorney-clients. Email works for the majority of your routine communications, but when was the last time you sat around the table with your attorney-clients and had a deep discussion about a case? Try it on your next significant case after your attorney-client has had the opportunity to review your report. I promise you will challenge, stimulate and surprise each other. Not to mention that you’ll take that case analysis to a much higher level. If you’re not springboarding with your attorney-clients regularly, it’s time to start now.

Success Is Inside!

One of the most important strategies I use to build successful attorney-client relationships is to remain available and accessible to my clients. Even when things are extremely hectic and busy, I never let my attorney-clients sense that I am too busy for them. When they request something, I respond promptly with a short answer or suggest a time to talk. Mobile devices make it easy for me to reply to all requests.

The second strategy I use for building and maintaining successful relationships with my attorney clients is a “courtesy call”. This comes in very handy with my existing clients and doubles as a marketing strategy! I am in various stages of litigation with my cases, so if there is a lapse in workload on a case I make a courtesy call. Checking in with a friendly hello and calling for a status update on the case reminds the attorney that I am committed and thorough, and it is one of the best ways to discuss new cases and referrals to other attorneys. I love it when the attorney says, “I was just going to call you about a new case that I want you to review.” I would say eight out of ten times the “courtesy call” results in more work on the existing case, a new case or a referral to a new client. It’s a win-win situation, which brings me to my third strategy.

My third strategy is to update my communication on a case even if I’ve already written the report. No matter how much you research a case, you will wake up with those bright ideas and ah-ha moments. When I get those bright ideas, I communicate them to my attorney-clients. They are always grateful to know that I am still thinking about their cases, keeping them current and guiding them down the right path.

Guest Blogger Profile

Julie Somen-Becker, RN, BSN, CLNC owns and operates Chicago Legal Nurse Consultants, Inc. She has been a nurse for 14 years specializing in neonatal intensive care, clinical education and management. Julie’s CLNC^® business specializes in neonatal cases and resuscitation issues.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, you will frequently give attorney-clients verbal opinions on medical-related cases, but you will also render written opinions on cases. When it’s time to sit down and compose your written report, you want to do so fast and you want that report to be the best it can be.

I love writing reports. Let me qualify that statement. Once I’m writing, I love writing. Sometimes I’m challenged to get into the writing and I will find all kinds of excuses to avoid getting into the writing process – urgent emails, seminar preparation, the toilets need cleaning…you get the idea.

Here is a five-step writing process for composing reports of all lengths from brief to comprehensive. These five steps will help you jump in fast and never again choose a toilet over a report.

Step 1 – Start with a Preset Pattern

The pattern-seeking logical brain likes to know the order of things, so start with a preset pattern for the result you want to achieve. Picture the result. Define the result. Walk through the result mentally. Look at one of the Institute’s sample reports to use as a template. If you have a model, image or pattern in mind, it’s easier to get started.

Step 2 – Stuff Your Brain

Stuff your brain with all the information you can get on the subject. Research relevant standards and scientific literature. Talk to essential players such as the attorney, a CLNC^® subcontractor, a plaintiff or defendant. Don’t focus on formulating opinions; just take it all in until your brain feels thoroughly saturated. The more information you take in and the more you absorb, the more likely you are to reach the correct conclusions.

Step 3 – Buzz Off

Take a break. Sleep on it, when possible. At least take a walk. Incubation is an essential step in any creative process. During this time, think about anything except what you’re working on. Likewise, capture those brilliant thoughts you have when you’re not supposed to be thinking about the case report. I find that I reach my best analysis after sleeping on a case or situation overnight (not at my desk). Sometimes I’ll reach my “eureka” moment in the shower or while cleaning that toilet.

Step 4 – Pour It Out

This is a no-wrong-answers brainstorming dump. Let the creative right brain take over to synthesize the material and develop a raw first draft. Suspend judgment. Don’t get it right, get it written.

• Put on slow (60 beats a minute), low-volume music. This will stimulate your mind without the overstimulation of Lady Gaga-esque dance music.
• Turn off the phones, children, spouses and other interruptions (no email either).
• Spill the beans. Dump everything out of your brain without editing, simply write, type or talk into a recorder.
• Don’t think about what you’re doing; ignore misspelled words and incomplete sentences. They’ll only move you from productive to editing mode. If you catch your left brain trying to muscle in to add logic, push it away and keep pouring out the raw material.
• Go until you’re empty. Spend 20-50 minutes, or until your brain feels drained and the ideas dwindle to nothing (it may happen sooner).

Repeat this brain dump as many times as needed with breaks in between. If you do take a break, make sure it supports the creative process. For example – grabbing a bite to eat, taking a walk or stretching, all support your goal by keeping the creative process free (unless you’re making a Dagwood sandwich). Interruptive processes like checking email and voicemail have the potential of disrupting your goal big time by focusing you on other issues or problems.

Step 5 – Structure and polish

Go back and assess your work product to see whether you agree with the content of what you’ve written. Ask yourself, have you said all you need to say? Is your opinion the same? If not, make the necessary change. When you’re done, move to structure and polish. Now it’s time to haul out the left brain and set it loose to create the stellar report you want to produce.

• Select the ideas that work.
• Arrange them in a logical order that fits the pattern your left brain thinks will work best.
• When you’re 90% satisfied, lay it aside (overnight, if possible). Let that “mulling” process think it over once more.
• Return to your report later for a final polish.
• Finally, proof a printed copy of the report.

Even when you have only an hour for the entire job, this process works (just take shorter breaks). Encourage both sides of your brain to do their best work, and the result is a fresh, creative approach presented in a pattern that makes sense – to you and to others.

Success Is Inside!

Marketing your CLNC^® business successfully to attorney-prospects and attorney-clients requires that you provide a safety net and build trust. Here are some strategies for achieving both:

1. Make a professional first impression. In doing so, you have begun to construct a safety net for the attorney-prospect, ensuring the attorney that he is making the right decision in hiring you for his medical-related cases.

2. Communicate. Listen carefully to the attorney-client’s needs and demonstrate your understanding of those needs as you proceed through the meeting. Ask questions to clarify specific points. Confirm the attorney-client’s expectations regarding the CLNC^® services you will provide and the schedule for its completion.

Stay in touch. Provide an easy way for the attorney to reach you and notify you of any changes in needs or the case. When you deliver your work product, make it clear that you are available to collaborate on any necessary additions or amendments.

3. Guarantee. This step may seem risky, but think about how much more secure you feel about purchasing when you know you can return a product that fails to meet your expectations. For example, if your report failed to meet your attorney-client’s expectations, wouldn’t you be eager to correct any problems? Then why not offer that guarantee up front, thus satisfying your client’s psychological need for security?

Guaranteeing satisfaction does not mean you would compromise the integrity of your opinion or work product by adding something you know is incorrect or misleading or by making inappropriate changes. Nor does it mean you guarantee your work product will win their case. It means you will make any corrections or additions needed to the research, wording or format to guarantee the client gets value for the dollars invested. You aren’t offering to revise your work product endlessly either. State a specific time period, say two weeks from the date of delivery, during which the guarantee is in effect.

4. Start Small. Before you get to those bigger projects and cases, you may have to build trust step-by-step. Customers generally are more comfortable starting a new relationship on a small scale. When a woman buys a new line of makeup, in addition to being sure the color is right for her, she wants to know if the makeup suits her skin type, contains sun protection and holds up during the day. Likewise, a new attorney-client wants to make sure your product will perform as expected. The attorney wants to know:
• Will your work product meet expectations?
• Will your report be supported by appropriate standards and research?
• How conscientiously will you meet deadlines?

A woman at the makeup counter might start out with a smaller container or trial size of a new product. Similarly, an attorney might suggest beginning with a brief report and ask for a quick turnaround. Recognize this as an important step in building a long-term relationship.

5. Deliver. Actions sell and quality counts. Your attorney-clients often deal with people who talk a good game but who don’t deliver on promises. By turning in a quality product on time, or even ahead of deadline, you reinforce that the attorney has made a wise buying decision and can depend on you for bigger and bigger projects and more medical-related cases.

When you provide a safety net and build trust, hard-sell is never necessary.

• Every time you present yourself with professionalism, you sell.
• Every time you listen intently and affirm the attorney-client’s expectations, you sell.
• Every time you deliver a quality product, you sell.

Every step of the way, you build into your attorney-client relationship a sense of trust and dependability – a safety net.

Beginning with that initial interview and that first small project, you can create a mutually satisfying, long-term business relationship. And a few loyal, lifetime attorney-clients will make your legal nurse consulting business prosper. You won’t need dozens. Soon you will find attorney-clients relying on you, recognizing your CLNC^® and nursing expertise and your ability to make them look good. They will begin to trust that without your help and expertise they could miss significant issues and even lose cases.

Success Is Inside!

Like most women, I’m a sucker for a gift with purchase (GWP) at a makeup counter. I never met a GWP offer I could refuse, so I try to steer clear of the mall when I know they’re being offered. Tom’s been shopping with me so many times that if I forget to ask for my GWP, he’ll often pipe in before we close the transaction with “is there a gift with that?”

I have a great sales rep, Lisa, who I’ve known for a long time. Once, she tried to sell me a new product which I refused. To my surprise, when I got home that very product was in my bag! That’s right, the actual product, not the small sample of it. She’d even tucked in a note telling me she was sure I would love it. I had no choice but to experience it and now I’m a believer. That free gift turned out not to be free at all because I love this product so much I’ll probably be buying it for the rest of my life or its life.

This same marketing strategy works for your legal nurse consulting business too. You should be educating your attorney-clients about every one of the 32 CLNC^® services you offer. If they’re stuck on using the same 3-5 CLNC^® services, gift them, and I don’t just mean a small sample. Go ahead and do that whole set of requests for production, (not just 5 examples of what you are able to do). Remember not to bill them for it, but remember the small note that reminds them that this time it’s a gift. And this is a gift that should bring you a huge return. If you do it well, the attorney will be hooked and expecting it (for your regular fee of course) on the next case and every case thereafter.

I am certain that if Lisa had never given me the product, I would never have tried it. She is smart enough to know that sometimes even a sample is not good enough. I had to fully experience the product to fully appreciate it. One of those tiny two-use samples wouldn’t have converted me like having the full-blown experience.

If you believe strongly in what you have to offer, you’ll find a way to get a CLNC^® GWP into the hands of your attorney-clients. Create and deliver your CLNC^® GWP today. Warning – if your attorney-clients like it too much, you may not have time for your own shopping anymore.

Success Is Inside!

I am at the airport getting ready to leave for Paris with my Starbucks^® coffee in hand. After this long flight, I’ll be ready for that glass of red wine that always accompanies my Parisian breakfast. Click on the video to find out what legal nurse consulting, comprehensive reports for your attorney-clients and Paris have in common.

Success Is Inside!

First off, if you have not yet heard of Facebook, thanks for exiting your cave. I’d like to heartily welcome you to the Internet. I think you’ll like it here.

But seriously, here are some quick stats on Facebook which should be of interest to you as a CLNC^® business owner.

1. There are more than 150 million active Facebook users.
2. The number of active users has doubled in the last year.
3. About 34% of users work as professionals. This includes attorneys, sales people, executives, educators and techies.
4. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook consists of users 25 and older.

Though Facebook started in the student demographic, it’s quickly grown out of it. So, my guess is that at least a few of those 150 million active users (active users spend about 20 minutes a day on the site) are prospective attorney-clients for your legal nurse consulting business. The question is, what do you do about it?

All you have to do is sign up for an account…then start joining relevant Facebook groups to find attorney-clients for your CLNC^® business.

While you are signing up, you’ll have many options to customize and flesh out your CLNC^® profile page. Include as many details about your CLNC^® business as possible…and don’t forget all your business contact information (you want to make it easy for the attorneys to contact you).

Joining Facebook Groups

Joining Facebook Groups is easy. Simply log in to your Facebook account, and on the left tab, you will see a list of applications.

Click Groups, and once you are there, you will see two tabs, one indicating groups recently joined by your friends and the other indicating your recently updated groups.

Browse the groups and you will find more than a thousand groups available.

There is no limit to the number of groups that you can join. The more groups you join, the bigger your social network becomes.

While browsing through the groups, you can find the name of the group, its population, its type or category, the latest number of new members, the latest number of members who left the group and any updates to the group.

Even though you can offer your CLNC^® services across the country, let’s start by narrowing your focus to find local attorneys. All you need to do to find local groups is to click the Search for Groups box, enter your city (or state, if you are in a small town) and the word attorney or lawyer. Hit Enter and Facebook will give you a list of local Facebook groups for attorneys.

If you see a group name that looks interesting, view the group and read the information about it. If you feel you want to join the group, look for the Join This Group button. You automatically become a member of the group if it is a public group. If it is a private group, you’ll have to wait to be approved by the group’s admin.

Join as many groups as you can that are relevant to your quest to find more attorney-clients for your CLNC^® business.

Once you become a member of a group, you have the option to upload photos and videos for the group, write on The Wall and join discussions in the discussion board or perhaps start your own topic. Joining these different Facebook groups is not only fun but it expands your network, giving you more opportunities to market your expertise.

After you join a group, you should post a comment on their wall. Do not…I repeat…DO NOT promote yourself at this time. Simply compliment their group and thank them for creating it. Then invite the group’s admin to be your Friend.

Try to interact with others in the group by participating in the conversation on The Wall, commenting on pictures/videos and joining discussions in the discussion board. Once you interact with another member, feel free to invite them to become your Friend. When someone makes an interesting post, send that person a “Friend invitation” mentioning that you enjoyed what they had to say on the topic.

As a member of a group, you can see a list of all the group’s members. You can also send Friend invitations to people who haven’t participated, just as you did with the people who have participated. These connections won’t be as powerful as ones with people you’ve had a dialogue with, but they’ll still be your target market.

Once you have a few key people in the group as Friends, feel free to start adding a promotion to their wall every now and then.

A Word of Caution

Don’t get too gung ho about inviting every attorney you can find in your area to join your group on day one.

Facebook has a limit of how many new invitations you can send in a given day or week. The exact number isn’t posted anywhere, but if you exceed this amount you can get a warning and could get cut off from Facebook. If you stick to no more than twenty invitations a day you should be safe.

When you are sending invitations, don’t copy and paste a standard message. This can lead to a warning from Facebook. Be sure to customize each invitation you send.

Don’t Just Limit Yourself to Connecting with Attorneys

Connect with your high school, college and nursing friends also. You never know where you’ll find an attorney-prospect. I got three clients off Facebook from old high school friends…without even trying.

I think you’ll have fun with it also!

Guest Blogger Profile

Brian Horn is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in search engine marketing, site optimization, social media marketing, link building and web data analytics. Brian has consulted with Vickie Milazzo Institute for over three years.

Brian also speaks at seminars and conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada on how to use the Internet to improve business.

A lot is being said now about the newest form of laptops – the netbook. Laptops were originally designed to be semi-lightweight, portable computers that a legal nurse consultant could easily carry from home to the medical library, to work, to wherever. Soon form was forgotten and notebooks became larger, more powerful and screens became wider. Before long, laptops were “desktop” replacements and almost as heavy to carry.

My old Compaq laptop had such a small form factor that I could easily open it on an airplane and work even if the hospital administrator slacker in front of me decided to crank his seat all the way back and sleep on the flight from Poughkeepsie to Sioux City. My new Dell hardly fits on the seat tray and Vickie has to belt my elbows to my waistline before I can type. Sure I’m envious of your Apple^® MacBook^®, but I can’t wait to see you try and open it up while seated next to me in steerage.

Netbooks and mini-notebooks are the backlash. These are tiny laptops usually weighing under three pounds with 10-inch screens, Windows^® XP and Microsoft^® Works (Linux and OpenOffice, if you’re daring), a relatively small hard drive, 80 GB or so, or a 40GB SSD (solid state drive), 1GB of RAM and a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom processor. They are priced at just over $400. That sounds like a pretty good deal – but is it? Sure, it is a computer but they’re not designed to be used by a hard-working, multi-tasking Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. These are designed with one purpose in mind – portability.

They’re great if all you want to do is surf the web. You can do research for your legal nurse consulting business, stay in touch with your attorney-clients via email and maybe do a little word processing (such as drafting that report at the library or taking notes while interviewing a potential plaintiff). Do not, however, expect much performance from one of these. They’re better than trying to surf the Internet on a smart phone, but don’t try to edit photos, include graphics in a report or render a report into a PDF. Netbooks generally do those tasks – but you’ll spend a long time watching the onscreen hourglass. And, if you’ve got big hands or thick fingers, the tiny keyboard will make you crazy. You may also need to consider an external CD/DVD drive if you plan on installing software other than what’s preinstalled.

But, you can tuck the netbook in a backpack or purse and travel fast and loose. We have an old Fujitsu P-series Lifebook (yeah – it’s old and slow) that’s about the same size and weight as a netbook that we carry on vacation. With my Verizon Wireless Internet card or the hotel’s wireless, it keeps me on the Web, in the know and weighs a little over three pounds (and it’s paid for).

If you’re considering a netbook purchase, here’s some basic specs:

• Windows^® XP.
• 80-120 GB hard drive (not solid state) running at 5,400 rpm or higher.
• 1-1.5 GB of RAM.
• Largest keyboard supplied by that maker (92% is great!)
• Built in Wi-Fi card (802.11b/g) and an 10/100 Fast Ethernet jack.
• 6-cell battery, if you’ll be traveling or using your netbook away from your office.
• Built-in speakers.
• VGA-out so you can plug in an external monitor at home.
• Two or more USB inputs/jacks (one for your USB hub at home).
• Microsoft^® Works with the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack.
• Norton or MacAfee Internet security software.

If you have money for just one computer this year – buy yourself a full-fledged notebook as a desktop replacement and skip the netbook. Then get yourself a dock and all the other stuff discussed in my earlier Tuesday Tech Tip Extend Yourself with a Hub, published December 23, 2008. You’ll have a better experience and get more out of it.

If you have the money and the need to buy yourself a $400 convenience – consider a netbook. It’s a convenience you won’t regret.

Keep on techin’,

Tom