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?
