Legal nurse consultants react to this statement. “What do you mean no one cares about my legal nurse consulting services? I have trifolds, a brochure, and a website, all telling the attorney about my services. That is how I am supposed to market myself. What are you saying?”
How are You Unique as a Legal Nurse Consultant?
What I am saying is that when you put too much emphasis on the service you sell, you don’t differentiate yourself from other legal nurse consultants. The prospect (potential client) who reads a list of your services may be saying, “Blah, blah, blah, I’ve read this a hundred times. What makes her stand out? What can she do for me?”
Let’s say your marketing material says,
- “I locate expert witnesses”
- “I do summaries of medical records”
- “I analyze medical records”
“I, I, I” is the surest way to turn a prospect off. The attorney is concerned with his needs and what you can do for him.
Selling to attorneys should be reduced to the most basic level. Every legal nurse consultant is ultimately selling the same outcome of legal nurse consulting services: the results of what your service will do for the attorney. Attorneys buy what they get from your services:
- A well qualified expert witness who can help her win her case
- A summary of a medical record that enables her to quickly located details of injuries and treatment
- An analysis of records that highlights strengths and weaknesses of a case so that the attorney is not surprised
Usually legal nurse consultants rely too much on a list of services and don’t sell what attorneys really want to buy: what they get from the services.
Attorneys retain legal nurse consultants to help them with their cases because
- they are overwhelmed by medical records and afraid they will miss something.
- they are afraid if they try to communicate with a potential expert, they may not be able to answer the expert’s questions.
- they want a medical intermediary who can effectively communicate with healthcare providers.
- they want to concentrate on the legal parts of the case and delegate the medical issues to the LNC.
Create Emotional Descriptions that Highlight the Results of Your Legal Nurse Consulting Services
Sales are made based on emotion. Here’s a way to get at the results of working with you. Sit down with a few of your clients and ask, “What value to I provide to you?”
Ask about their emotions. How do they feel when they get reports from you?
Use this feedback to come up with descriptive words, terms, and phrases that help prospects to actually understand the results of working with you before they send you a case. Get the senses involved. Can they see, feel, touch, or hear the results of your services? If so, how?
Ask questions of your clients to get at the emotional benefits:
- “When you receive organized medical records back from me, what do you see?”
- “How does it make you feel when I supply a really good expert?”
- “How do you feel when you read my analysis of cases?”
You may be delighted by what you hear. Or you may hear opportunities for improvement. When you put yourself in your client’s position, you will be able to gather information to help you create images that evoke emotion. Help them understand the benefits of using your legal nurse consulting services. Don’t talk about what they get when they buy your services.
If possible, demonstrate how your legal nurse consulting services help the prospect. Tell stories, give examples. Seek to convey the emotions behind the story. Show the prospect how he can achieve the great feelings he wants when he works with you.
Pat Iyer is the president of The Pat Iyer Group. She spent from 1987 to 2015 marketing her company’s legal nurse consulting services.