All Certified Legal Nurse Consultants Should Communicate with Decision-Makers

Recently we hired a new company to supply LegalNurse.com with a specific type of software. We thought we’d done our due diligence, but despite the successful sales pitches and demonstrations, it turned out that the software wasn’t as compatible with our CRM system as the salesperson had represented.

We spent several months going back-and-forth with salespeople, trainers, support reps, plus countless hours testing and debugging. Each time we ran into an issue we were assured that the incompatibilities were minor and would be rectified. But they weren’t.

Frustrated, my executive director of IT declared that it was time to go up the chain of command and he turned up the heat. Voila – we suddenly received an invite to a phone conference with the company’s executive team.

On the call, my director asked, “Can this work or not? ” and they assured us the answer was “yes.” Our director next requested a refund for the entire period we had been unable to use the software. Suddenly their executive team of four went radio silent and, after a very long pause, said, “Well, you know we’ll have to discuss this off-line… Yada. Yada. Yada.” That’s when I chimed in, “This is Vickie, the CEO. I thought the four of you were executives. If you don’t have the authority to make any decisions here today then I don’t understand why you’ve involved me in this meeting.” Of course they instantly retracted their statement and said, “Of course we have authority to approve a refund.” My response, “Then if you do have the authority, make the decision now.”

There are two take-aways for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants.

1. For Certified Legal Nurse Consultants consulting with attorneys, it’s important to understand that you’re not always communicating with the power-player or decision-maker. You need to quickly identify who you’re communicating with and, if not with the decision-maker (preferably the lead attorney), figure out how to tactfully make that happen or how to get this player on your team. After all, nondecision-makers influence the decision-makers in countless ways.
2. When you’re in the attorney’s office you’re also a decision-maker as the lead legal nurse consultant. Be prepared to answer the attorney’s questions with confidence and clarity. Your answers should make you look strong, never weak. It pays to provide answers that represent you exactly as you want the attorney to see you, an experienced and confident Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

It pays to communicate with the decision-makers and to be a decision-maker yourself in all of your interactions with attorneys.

I’m Just Sayin’

P.S. Comment and share your strategies for communicating with the decision-makers.