Why legal nurse consultants need a business coach

Today’s competitive environment demands that every LNC who wants to succeed as an independent consultant have a business coach. Why now?

The economic downturn in the economy has affected large and small businesses. It has resulted in downsizing of some law firms, and for some very experienced attorneys to leave firms and start their own practices. Although the need for experienced lawyers continues, some of their clients have cut back on hiring attorneys to save money. This means legal nurse consultants are competing for the attention of a diminishing pool of attorneys.

Some of the clients who hired attorneys are putting pressure on the attorneys for discounts. This may affect the billable work that the law firm performs, which subsidizes the contingent fee arrangement prevalent for plaintiff personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys. Insurance companies are scrutinizing legal bills and setting control procedures in place. Attorneys are also increasingly affected by technology that helps firms do work faster, better, and less expensively than if attorneys did the same tasks themselves. This means that legal nurse consultants are competing for a shrinking dollar.

Making mistakes is expensive. Consider the costs of:
• charging fees that the market will not bear,
• missing deadlines,
• turning in inferior work product,
• not being responsive to an attorney’s request,
• not knowing how to attract the attention of attorneys, or
• not using sound business practices to manage cash flow.

A business coach understands your goals, dreams and strengths. A coach is part advisor, part cheerleader, and part manager. A coach helps you set goals and achieve them. A coach provides advice, support, focus and guidance.

These are some of the benefits of working with a coach:
• Identify prospects and referral sources.
• Get an objective perspective on your marketing methods and materials.
• Set measurable goals and learn specific strategies to achieve them.
• Make a commitment to specific activities and be held accountable to achieve them.
• Move your marketing activities to a higher level by embracing new tools and techniques.
• Practice your marketing activities in a safe environment before implementing them.
• An experienced coach works in your niche and understands how to market to attorneys.
• Avoid making expensive mistakes in marketing and business management.

A coach is like a business partner, without the entanglements, who gives you insight, direction, and a new perspective.

Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC has over 28 years of experience as an expert witness, independent legal nurse consultant, and author of numerous texts on legal nurse consulting. She is past president of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consulting. She coaches legal nurse consultants through the LNCAcademy.com

Modified from Dee Schiavelli, Why lawyers need a business coach, New Jersey Law Journal, August 13, 2012, p. 31