BEST PRACTICES FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Benchmark Your Financial Success to These 12 CLNC® Pros
EDITOR'S NOTE: We asked 12 CLNC® Pros to disclose key financial aspects of their CLNC® practices. Their candid responses will help you benchmark your own CLNC® practice. These CLNC® Pros provide quite an impressive yardstick against which to measure. As you can see, you have much to look forward to.
How many different attorney-clients do you consult with annually?
No. of Clients
No. of Surveyed CLNC®s
4-5
16.6%
6-10
41.7%
11-15
8.3%
16-29
0%
30-50
33.4%
Interestingly, the CLNC®s who consult with fewer attorney-clients are just as successful as those who have more clients.
How many attorney-clients represent 80% of your annual revenue?
For all the CLNC®s with 15 or fewer clients, 2-5 attorney-clients represent 80% of their annual revenue. For the CLNC®s who consult with 30-50 clients annually, 14 clients represent 80% of their revenue. The bottom line is: 80% of your revenue will come from about 30% of your attorney-clients. It pays to pay special attention to your special clients.
In the last 12 months what percentage of your clients were repeat attorney-clients and what percentage were new attorney-clients?
While every CLNC® in our survey recognizes the importance of repeat clients, all of them also acquired new clients within the last 12 months. Repeat clients represented an average of 70% of the business and new clients, 30%.
What is your hourly fee?
The hourly fee for consulting experts ranges from $90/hour to $150/hour and averages $115/hour. Four of the CLNC®s also testify, and their testifying fees are in the $200-$250/hour range and average $222/hour.
What is your annual revenue?
Annual revenue averages $105,000 and is as high as $200,000.
What is your average fee per case?
The average fee per case is $3,000.
What percentage of your revenue do you allocate to marketing?
On average the CLNC® Pros allocate 10% of their revenue to marketing. This is consistent with what marketing experts recommend.
Lou Addington, RN, CLNC co-owns Legal Nurse Associates in Florida. Lou has been a successful CLNC® since 1999 and specializes in vaccine litigation and long term care.
Suzanne E. Arragg, RN, BSN, CDONA/LTC, CLNC is the owner of SEA Consultant Company in California, specializing in long term care cases. She serves as a CLNC® Mentor for the Institute.
Linda Bandy, RN, MSN, CSPI, CLNC resides in Tennessee and has more than 20 years of nursing experience in a variety of specialties. A patient advocate, she brings all her experience to her CLNC® practice.
Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC has owned Barnes Medical Legal Services in California since 1999 and specializes in medical malpractice, bad faith insurance, general personal injury and a variety of other areas. She also serves as a CLNC® Mentor for the Institute.
Gloria A. Blackmon, RNC, BSN, LNHA is the CEO of Blackmon & Associates Medical-Legal Consulting in Kansas, specializing in long term care issues.
Susan J. Burnham, RNC, CLNC owns Burnham and Associates in Washington state. She specializes in quality of care issues. She also serves as a CLNC® Mentor for the Institute.
Rachel Cartwright, RN, MS, LHRM, CLNC, a CLNC® Mentor and guest faculty member, owns Medical-Legal Concepts in Florida. She specializes in critical care and regulatory compliance.
Nancy L. Dion, RN, MSM, CPHQ, CHCRM, LNHA, CLNC is a Florida-based CLNC® with expertise in clinical services, organizational redesign, quality improvement, risk management and executive team building and management. She serves as a CLNC® Mentor for the Institute.
Robert Erb, RN, MA, CS, CLNC, founder of Eagle Professional Management Services in California, has more than 34 years of healthcare experience, including psychiatric, emergency and long term care.
Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC is an independent CLNC® with 28 years of nursing experience. He is the founder of Spectrum Medical-Legal Consulting in central New Jersey and specializes in medical malpractice cases.
Patsy Howard, RN, CLNC is the owner of Metro Legal Nurse Consulting in Missouri. She has 23 years of nursing experience and specializes in medical malpractice litigation.
Gina I. Rogers, RN, BSN, CLNC is the founder of Medical Review Consulting, LLC in Kentucky. She serves as a CLNC® Mentor and as a guest faculty member for the Institute.
CLNC® SUCCESS STORY
Earning a 6-Figure Income Is Only the Beginning
by Marcy Robertson, RN, BBA, CLNC
When I moved to the U.S. from Canada, I wasn't able to work as a nurse for several years because I had a temporary visa. Instead, I took the opportunity to reinvent myself – I went back to school and got a business degree.
I became interested in legal nurse consulting. I had more than 15 years experience in perioperative nursing and cardiology. I also had a strong foundation running clinical trials for the FDA, NIH, Merck and Proctor & Gamble. I love research and thought both medical malpractice and products liability cases would be a good fit.
However, at that time my husband became quite ill and needed my help in his business. Taking on a partner, we created an Internet company with 30 employees. Then, like most of the other Internet upstarts, our company bombed. We sold out in 2002.
I found myself unemployed, with no income, trying once again to decide what to do with my life. Should I go back into the hospital? What did I really want to do now that I was getting older?
I'd seen Vickie Milazzo Institute ads and had met another nurse who was going to the CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar. I decided to go to the National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC®) Conference to see what I could glean from other CLNC®s with more experience in this field. I loved the conference. I knew immediately that legal nurse consulting was the niche I'd been looking for. A month later I attended the Institute's CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar in Las Vegas and became certified as a CLNC®.
It Was Time to Just Get Myself Out There
My husband was restarting his consulting firm, so neither of us was making any money, but he had a San Francisco office we'd used previously. Since he's out with clients most of the time, I decided to use his office space.
However, I didn't go out and start talking to attorneys right away. Instead, I spent the first six months procrastinating. I attended conferences. I networked with other CLNC®s. I worked hard at my new "career," reading, working on my brochures, doing all the preparation.
In October I finally knew I was ready. By then my husband was asking, "How long are you going to procrastinate?"
At the NACLNC® Conference a speaker had told us to, "Just get yourself out there." One of the good things I had done while "preparing" was to join Toastmasters. After I gave a nursing-related talk, a woman came up to me and said, "You must be a nurse. We have some nurses at the law firm where I work." I told her I'd enjoy meeting them.
Vickie's FREE Mentoring Program Came to My Rescue
Two days after I gave the woman my card, I got a call. My contact turned out to be the executive assistant to the owner of a top law firm with several hundred attorneys throughout the state. I panicked. I wrestled with how to make this law firm really want my CLNC® services. I didn't know if my brochures were good enough.
With the help of the Institute's FREE CLNC® Mentoring, I improved my resume and marketing brochures. They look great! The CLNC® Mentor also helped me decide on my fee.
I had several interviews with attorneys in the firm. They do a lot of products liability work, which, with my background, was an instant fit. I helped them recognize the fit and they hired me as an independent CLNC®.
Providing Excellent Service Is Deeply Satisfying
As an independent CLNC®, I work in my own office, not at their firm. That's turned out beautifully because I've come to understand the word "service." For example, I received a call on a Thursday night and learned one of the attorneys needed a case summarized by Monday morning. I didn't hesitate. I knew I could do it. I worked 18 hours a day for three days in a row, staying up all night Sunday night to finish.
Once I stayed at my office late and got so focused on a case that I missed the last commuter train out of the city. I had to stay in the city all night, but I got my report to the attorney by nine o'clock the next morning – hours ahead of schedule. Providing excellent service for an attorney-client is deeply satisfying.
My Goal Is to Keep Growing
Vickie and the other speakers at the NACLNC® Conference and the CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar provide the best kick-start anyone could get into a career transition. Vickie fosters an atmosphere of total sharing, for which I'm grateful. The Institute's FREE Mentoring program is another tremendous benefit I highly recommend. I appreciate the quality of support and encouragement I receive.
For continued growth, Vickie teaches us to keep marketing. I have a website. I can tell an attorney who doesn't know me to go to my website, and that gives me credibility. Attorneys see that I'm serious about my profession.
I bill 40 hours a week and I have a bookkeeper who comes in every two weeks for half a day to help me keep up with my growing business. I've been working almost non-stop since I started with this firm. At this pace, I'll make a substantial six-figure income this year. My goal for the end of this year is to hire one CLNC® subcontractor. I want to add one CLNC® subcontractor a year, building strong relationships.
This year I attended the NACLNC® Conference again. I think it's important to re-energize. Meeting with other successful CLNC®s helps me stick with my long-term goals. My fellow CLNC®s remind me that I can do this and that earning a six-figure income is only the beginning.
Marcy Robertson, RN, BBA, CLNC, founder of The Robertson Group, Inc. in California, has more than 15 years of healthcare experience, including cardiology and perioperative care.
CLNC® Q&A
Should I Obtain a W-9 from Each CLNC® Subcontractor?
Yes, any CLNC® subcontractor whom you pay should be required to fill out a W-9 form. Require a completed form before you pay their invoice. Keep blank forms on hand and have your subcontractors fill them out when you contract with them. Pay your sub within 30 days of their invoice date.
If you have paid your subcontractors more than $600 during the calendar year, you are required to provide the subcontractor with a Form 1099. This information form must be submitted to the subcontractor no later than the following January 31st. You must also submit a copy of each Form 1099 along with a summary form (Form 1096) to the IRS no later than the following February 28.
Also, remember to submit your W-9 with your first invoice to each new attorney-client.
