attorneys

Phil Newman, RN, CCRN, CLNC, shares how he applies the old “lunch and learn” concept to attorneys. He also discusses how to get into the offices of attorney-prospects after meeting them at his legal conference exhibits.

 
Congratulations, Phil and thanks for sharing two effective marketing strategies for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants.

Success Is Inside!

Video conference facilities have long been used to allow witnesses to offer testimony in different types of court cases; however, use of this technology can be costly. We’re now seeing the first instances of witnesses testifying in court via Skype^®. In a Georgia criminal case, a defense witness was allowed to testify via Skype over objections from the prosecution, and in a Pennsylvania child custody case, the deported parents of two small children were allowed to testify from Mexico via Skype.

I’m sure we’ll continue to see more courtroom use of low-cost technologies such as Skype in the future. But courtrooms aside, are you using Skype in your Certified Legal Nurse Consulting business? We use Skype here at Vickie Milazzo Institute to connect with subcontractors and CLNC^® Mentors, hold meetings and cut down on long distance conference call costs.

It’s time you added Skype to your legal nurse consulting business. It’s simple to use. Once you download the Skype program, install your webcam/microphone, establish a broadband Internet connection and you’re ready to go. You can conference with attorneys on a case, discuss a case with your CLNC^® subcontractors and stay in touch with the Certified Legal Nurse Consultants in your alliance just to name a few.

Smart Certified Legal Nurse Consultants know to incorporate new technology into their legal nurse consulting businesses. It’s time to count yourself in!

Success Is Inside!

Terry Van Olst, RN, BS, CLNC explains that one of the most rewarding parts of her CLNC^® business is having attorneys thank her and praise her work-product as “exactly what I needed.”

Take a moment to watch Terry’s video and hear how being praised for her work gets her so revved up about being a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant that she feels like a Ferrari^®!

Congratulations Terry!

Success Is Inside!

There’s a small restaurant in our neighborhood that specializes in burgers. We often walk past it when we’re out cruising our hood and it’s always busy. So when we decided to try it, I had high expectations. My mouth was watering in anticipation but my reality couldn’t have been any further from my expectation. The burgers were pretty bad and even Tom, who is not that picky about hamburgers, didn’t finish his. What made the hamburger bad was the meat itself had no quality.

Last night I cooked a pork roast for dinner and Tom was raving about it, practically doing a song and dance routine. He wanted to know how I did it and I probably could have made something up or told him it was a secret, but that roast had nothing to do with me. I started with the kind of quality meat that can make anyone look like a terrific chef.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, what you can accomplish with any case is dependent on the quality of the case itself. If the case is strong, you can’t help but produce a great work product. If the case is weak, all of the manipulations in the world won’t help it or you. Just like Michelangelo believed that his sculpting merely revealed what was already inside the marble, I believe our CLNC^® work product reveals what’s already inside the case.

That’s why you want to give candid and objective opinions early on. A strong case will get stronger as it unfolds and a weak case gets weaker. For plaintiff attorneys that might mean advising the attorney the case has no merit. For defense attorneys that might mean advising the attorney that this is the worst negligence you’ve seen in your nursing practice.

If you want to serve a good burger to your attorney-clients watch the quality of the beef you’re working with. All of the techniques of the greatest chefs in the world won’t help you if you start with bad ingredients.

Success Is Inside!

Cheryl Garrison, RN, CEN, SANE, CLNC shares how volunteering her CLNC^® services to her local district attorney’s office involved her in a large elder abuse case which resulted in a quick and favorable settlement.

In this video, she explains how giving back to her community not only made a difference in that case but also gave her new confidence in her CLNC^® business and in working with attorneys.

Congratulations, Cheryl!

Success Is Inside!

In my 29 years of business experience, I’ve learned that I don’t need to take a majority vote on every issue. I can be in a meeting full of staff members and if I make a decision that’s contrary to what the majority thinks, somebody will pipe up and joke, “It’s unanimous!” But I’ve also learned that I care more about being successful than being right. That requires listening, collaborating and even seeking opposing viewpoints. When we shortchange collaboration, we’re missing an important piece of the performance process. As we discuss diverse opinions, ideas spark new thoughts and one plus one suddenly equals a lot more than two. We arrive at a place none of us would have reached alone, and the project rises to a new level. Even if I disagree with someone’s viewpoint, I try to extract something of value from it.

In my early legal nurse consulting business practice I was sitting in a conference room with two high-powered attorney-clients. We were discussing a medical malpractice case and one of the attorneys disagreed with me. There was a cloud of cigar smoke in the air, my knees were shaking under the table and my first impulse was to argue and defend my position. But I couldn’t so I didn’t. Instead I listened to the attorney’s point of view and agreed that he was on to something significant. Surprise – he didn’t take me to task or talk down to me. We just moved on with our discussion and to years of many more cases together. If at that moment I had needed to be right I would have failed to be successful with those two attorneys. They didn’t expect perfection, but they did expect me to have the insight to know and admit when I was wrong.

Think about your communications with your attorney-clients, CLNC^® colleagues, friends, family and co-workers and ask: Is it more important to be right or to be successful? Think hard about your answer.

Success Is Unarguably Inside!

My staff at Vickie Milazzo Institute is strong, opinionated and sometimes even mouthy – just the way I like them. When we hire a new employee I sometimes notice that at first they’re reluctant to give an opinion that’s different from the majority of the outspoken staffers. They are often a little slow to speak up and when they do it’s obvious they’re just tagging onto the others. It’s like the new person is afraid to get off the fence and jump down onto either side until they know what side everybody else is on. Here in Texas, if you’re sitting on a fence in a pasture full of longhorn cattle that may be a good idea. But when you’re in my conference room, it’s not a tactic for success with me or with the rest of the staff.

Here’s what happens when someone is just sucking up to me or a manager or the group at large and not really speaking for themselves; they get zero credit for their input. Their light, if any, may as well be under a bushel. If I wanted to hear a parrot, I would have hired one. Instead, I hired them for their expertise and I want to hear their opinion – whether I agree with it or not.

This sucking up temptation also applies to you as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. When you’re in an attorney’s office discussing a case, that attorney doesn’t want you to be a “yes” person.

Attorneys are used to thinking for themselves and they expect the same of their CLNC^® consultants. They are used to intelligent disagreement and are trained to see both sides of an issue. They don’t need you to suck up; they need you to give them your professional opinion which should include both the strengths and weaknesses of the case (what I call “the good, the bad and the ugly”). That will help them cover all the issues and give them the ability to make their own intelligent decisions and judgments about the case. Knowing the strengths of the case is of little value if the attorney is blindsided by the “bad” side of the case at trial or in settlement conference.

When your attorney-clients get to trial, they’ll thank you for being your own person, even if that means sometimes giving opinions they clearly did not want to hear.

At Vickie Milazzo Institute I encourage people to speak up. New attorney-clients might not be as kind in helping you to develop your confidence. Don’t keep your light under a bushel – speak up and speak out.

Success Is Inside!

One of the first things all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants learn in the CLNC^® Certification Program is the 30 CLNC^® services you can and do provide to your attorney-clients. In today’s video blog, one of our CLNC^® Mentors shares a brand new CLNC^® service she is providing to attorneys. Watch this video to add one more service to your own CLNC^® business.

Success Is Inside!

Purchasing any service or product is an emotional event. A customer buys not primarily to own the item or have the service, but to meet emotional needs: to seek comfort, reduce stress, fulfill social needs, achieve something significant, change status or lifestyle or even invest in the future.

Your attorney-prospects are no different from any other retail shopper. For example, a woman shopping for lipstick at a makeup counter is satisfying the emotional need to feel good, look pretty or just indulge herself after a hard week at her job. When attorneys purchase your CLNC^® services, they are satisfying emotional needs that are high-stake such as:

• Properly representing their client,
• Winning the case,
• Attaining partnership status,
• Garnering referral business from other attorneys,
• Maintaining their comfortable lifestyle, and
• Fulfilling a deep desire to be a winner, not a loser.

They need to believe and validate that they are making a wise choice when they hire you. Your attorney-prospect is shopping and shopping is legal.

Understanding that successful attorneys use emotion in buying decisions just like the rest of us gives you an edge in marketing to them. Credentials and qualifications are nice, but that’s not why attorneys buy. What does sell is getting the attorney-prospect to connect emotionally with how your nursing experience and credentials will make a difference in his medical-related cases.

So how do you get the attorney to shop ’til he drops on your next interview? By tapping into the five senses.

1. Sight. First impressions are everything. As much as 55% of a decision is made before either person says a word. Fair or not, people size you up and form an impression of you within seconds of meeting you. We all do this. Remember that blind date you had years ago? You knew instantly, and before words were exchanged, whether you would have a good time or even go out again.

Are you neat or sloppy? Do you stand tall or slouch? Are you carrying an organizer or a handful of loose papers?

Before you go on any interview, take the time to check out your physical appearance. Dress professionally and conservatively. Pay attention to details – trim your nails, polish your shoes, and buy one powerful business outfit. Then stand tall and walk with confidence.

Pay equal attention to the appearance of your promotional package. A sloppy or amateur promotional package suggests that you are an amateur legal nurse consultant who will submit a poor quality work product. Use the promotional package developed by the Institute or hire a professional designer and copywriter. Your promotional package must look as good as you do.

2. Sound. Another 38% of a first impression comes from how we speak. When we’re nervous, we naturally tighten up and our voices turn squeaky. We talk too fast, stumble over our words or forget entirely what we intended to say.

Have a written checklist of points you want to make. Rehearse these main points well in advance of the interview. Read them again shortly before you enter the meeting. Then relax and concentrate on listening to the attorney. Taking your mind off yourself to pay attention to what the attorney is saying will help you relax. Focus on the attorney, not your state of discomfort and you will conduct a much stronger interview.

3. Taste. How do you respond when a prospect offers you coffee, tea or a soft drink? If the attorney is having something, I recommend you have something too. People associate positive feelings and emotions with their favorite drink, so go ahead and have the same drink unless it’s just not palatable to you. For example, a cup of hot tea symbolizes both relaxation and renewed energy to me. While accepting a drink may seem like you are imposing, it will not only relax you, but will also create an immediate bond between you and the attorney-prospect.

4. Smell. Avoid heavy perfumes and colognes. A scent you find delightful might turn another person’s stomach. Any heavily applied scent will be distracting. Usually, the best choice is to avoid perfume and cologne altogether.

5. Touch. Offer a firm handshake. Once you’ve finished with the introductions, confidently place your promotional package and sample work product in the attorney-prospect’s hands. Like trying on a lipstick color, sampling any product makes the buying decision easier. When the attorney touches your business card, introductory letter, brochure and sample work product, he sees and feels the professional quality you deliver.

One of the biggest mistakes I see beginning legal nurse consultants make is neglecting to put together hypothetical report samples. With your sample in the attorney’s hands, that attorney holds a report similar in size, weight, texture and content to the reports he needs and you can provide to help win cases.

The ability to give your attorney-prospect this hands-on, multi-sensory experience of your work product is the advantage of one-on-one selling. A smart CLNC^® consultant takes every opportunity to capitalize on this advantage to help the attorney-prospect make a positive decision.

Yes, shopping is legal, but make your next interview more than a shopping experience. Make it an emotional confirmation of the attorney’s need for your CLNC^® services and validate that you are an investment in the attorney’s legal practice. If you succeed in doing so, the attorney will shop ’til he drops with you and smile while he does so.

Shopping anyone?

Success Is Inside!

Hi Vickie, I just had to tell you the great news. I just finished my taxes and I am happy, no make that thrilled, no make that “over the moon with joy” to tell you that I earned more than $100,000.00. I went ahead and incorporated and named my CLNC^® business when the work started coming in faster than I could keep up. I just keep working hard trying to keep up with all of the work and make sure that I still put out top-quality work product. I was so happy when one of my attorney-clients forwarded my information to another law firm. I did a case for them and they were so happy with the “excellent CLNC^® work product” that I provided that they immediately forwarded another case to me.

I have been keeping so busy and I absolutely love being able to work for myself. I still have the law firm that I first started working for, and I had originally worked for the pharmaceutical attorneys, but from there I have also gotten cases from the medical-malpractice attorneys, nursing home negligence and more. I am keeping so busy that I am going to have to start hiring CLNC^® subcontractors. Luckily I met this incredible nurse and I convinced her to go through your CLNC^® Certification Program, which she just recently completed. Now that she is a CLNC^® consultant, I am ready to ask her to subcontract with me on my huge case load.

I now have cases going to trial. I am working with three attorney-clients that are in the first round of trials and two attorney-clients in the second group of trials. These cases all need detailed chronological summaries – something that I have been providing to these law firms for deposition preps.

Anyway, I just thought I would let you know how happy I am that I became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. I love the way that I can combine my love and knowledge of nursing with my love of law. Thank you, Vickie, a hundred times over for helping me become a successful Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. You rock!

I hope my positive experiences will help other Certified Legal Nurse Consultants go for that BIG success. I feel honored to share my CLNC^® successes.