Shaking Loose Your Imposter Syndrome 1 year ago

How Attorneys Like You Easily Justify Their Value with iQualify

Lawyers are just like any other entrepreneur in one key way: they likely suffer from imposter syndrome. Simply defined, imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern in which one doubts one’s accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. Imposter syndrome reveals itself and plays out in a variety of ways within our professional lives. For lawyers, imposter syndrome often involves the mind obsessing over this “fear sequence”: Did I earn it? Am I worth it? Will my client pay me? 

Imposter syndrome speaks to the sub-conscience mind and, even though we all experience it, there’s a shame in admitting it. Why is that? Because it is a shame! Going over the fear sequence in your mind, feeling like you secretly don’t belong, or don’t add the value needed to a case, is a shameful feeling. 

We recently wrote about nailing your pitch. This goes right alongside defeating your imposter syndrome. Our brains chase what we want (in this case, a certain retainer fee) so it feels good to state that in our pitch, confidently. But as soon as a client points out all the problems with the pitch and starts playing a mental chess game with us, the other part of our brain takes over: What will they pay me? What am I willing to offer them to receive as much money as I can upfront (knowing that might be the only money I get because it’s money I don’t have to chase over time)? 

If you put your client on a payment plan, hopefully, everything goes well…but as soon as it’s off-plan, it’s off-plan. For many lawyers, the jig is up when you aren’t able to collect your fee from your client. Several months and many thousands of dollars later, it’s a hostage negotiation! This happens every day but lawyers forget about it and keep pushing on. You wake up and wipe the slate clean but the toxicity of not being paid is still in your body. Can you blame it on your imposter behavior? Basically, the less confident you feel as an attorney, the less likely you will be to collect most of your fee. How do your clients exploit this? You need to create a sense of authority and any resistance at all, any shame on your part, usually creates a block to that authority. 

This is the value of what Fortify, powered by iQualify, is doing for attorneys. We handle the financing of your cases for you. Once the price is set, you don’t have to justify the value of the work you’ve done. No one is going to admit they don’t think they’re worth what they’re being paid, but that’s the subconscious struggle. Let all of that play out only in your mind, not in front of your client. Start using the Fortify software and you’ll have an easy way to get new clients signed up when they come to you, As the attorney, you get paid upfront with both cash and financing options and get paid over time with an in-house payment option. iQualify attorneys get paid their full retainer on most of their cases without ever having to chase their clients for money or call them for payments.

Give Fortify, powered by iQualify, the power to negotiate on your behalf. You’re already not getting paid! What else do you have to lose? We will get their payment via collections, garnishing, or renegotiating a payment plan. The pressure we can apply —the leverage we have—you don’t have anyone in your law office that can do that. We have a power you don’t and can’t have. You’re too close to it! 

Conquer your imposter syndrome by having a third party that can go to bat for you. Let iQualify protect your pride and relieve your shame, getting you back to the confident attorney you need to be for your clients. Removing yourself from the equation and getting that bank between you and your clients is the fastest way to Fortify your law practice.  Are you ready to get started?

Insulate yourself from the worst part of being a lawyer! 1 year ago

Be the expert your clients need. 

We all know that in the professional space, presentation is everything. Unfortunately, for many, the art of presentation does not come naturally. Your “pitch” is your chance to “sell” your potential client on the benefits of hiring you over the rest. But the same psychology that plagues people with fears of public speaking comes into play when it’s time to pitch: fear of rejection. The fear of rejection is at the top of the list of our primal fears. But what if you could calm those fears by letting someone else handle the hard part for you? iQualify is now in the legal lending space, ready to help you attract and make more by stopping you from chasing clients for money. 

Fortify, powered by iQualify, insulates you from the fears of rejection. When you present our Fortify software to your clients to handle their legal retainer financing, you are simplifying the “pitch” process and making it about our system…it’s not personal. Fortify is a convenient,  modern way to get new clients signed up when they come to you. As the attorney, you get paid upfront with both cash and financing options and get paid over a period of time with an in-house payment option. iQualify attorneys get paid their full retainer on most of their cases without ever having to chase their clients for money or call them for payments.

iQualify takes the pressure out of your pitch and helps you tell your potential clients a compelling story. At the end of the day, a simple, compelling story, especially one told by an expert, is the key behind all marketing–including your presentation as a lawyer. Everyone is looking for an affordable way to hire an expert to help them with their case. With the pressures of payment options and chasing money gone, you can get back to being the expert your client needs and wants to put their trust in. 

Think about an orthodontist. When they present you with a case for your daughter’s braces they don’t just say, “you need this and it costs $5,000”? No. You’re told that your daughter’s smile can be improved and that she’s going to have a greater and happier life because of it for only $150/month for a few years. Sold! You can take your potential clients down the same path by helping them understand their own story. Ask them, 

“What specific outcome would be the best-case scenario for you in this case? Why that outcome specifically? What is the specific time frame in which this needs to happen? Is that outcome going to be cheap or expensive? What happens if we don’t get that outcome? If you want the best solution, it will be expensive… but can I present you with an affordable way to get there?”

You are the expert guiding your potential client through this confusing, scary world. They want to trust you and you want to be your confident best and help them win their case. Adding a third-party lender insulates you from the pain and headache of playing stern parent or exasperated loan collector. Fortify by iQualify is ready to take on that role so you can get back to concentrating on being the expert your clients need.