Posted by LKT/CA on 1/27/12 8:30pm
Msg #410107

Act Like A Business

No one will value you as an NSA except YOU. And because YOU are the only one who values YOU as an NSA, I we should "act like a business".

Businesses price their products/services commensurate with the item/task. If you walk into Home Depot with $20 and take a $100 tool to the cashier, the cashier doesn't feel "insulted" that you're trying to pay $20 for a $100 tool. He/she doesn't blast you or yell for security (well, not yet). He/she simply tells you to pay the additional $80 (plus sales tax) or pick out a tool in your price range. Same with McDonalds - if you have $3 and expect to buy a value meal, you're simply redirected to the list of items the $3 will get you.

Therefore, when you are offered a fee below what you'd charge for the type of assignment and services requested, there's no need to laugh at the scheduler, chew them out, feel "undervalued" or be insulted or offended. Just act like a *business* and quote the services that fit within the fee offered. That's really the only way these companies will know that they get the services they are willing to pay for.

If a general notary service caller requests 8 notarized signatures with a travel distance of 40 miles one way from your home office, would you accept $30 TOTAL for this appointment? For me in CA, I'd let the caller know that $30 gets him/her three notarizations only, and they drive to MY town and meet me at the local Starbucks which is 5 minutes from my home. I'm not turning down the request - I'm simply reversing it....letting the client know what he/she gets for the amount their willing to spend. Since I'm not willing to provide the services for the fee the client wants to pay - the client is turning ME down, and moving on.

IMHO, NSAs should operate in REVERSE....let the caller know what they get for the fee their offering. That's what businesses do.

Reply by NJDiva on 1/27/12 8:35pm
Msg #410113

Yay Lisa! Yay, yay yay!!! n/m

Reply by LKT/CA on 1/27/12 8:46pm
Msg #410118

Edit button needed - they're...their...there n/m

Reply by NJDiva on 1/27/12 8:49pm
Msg #410120

lmao...precisely what I said below...we can't be grammatical

ly correct ALL the time! Thank you for proving my point.

Reply by DaveCA/CA on 1/27/12 8:58pm
Msg #410123

Great Post Lisa and just to add...

Not to what you said because you said it perfectly. Most stores like Home Depot for example, will have loss leader sales items. (Please forgive me if I'm not using the right term). They put things on sale for less than what it cost them, hoping that you'll buy other stuff too. Don't be the sales item all the time. It's okay occassionally.

If I get someone begging me to do a signing for less and they aren't my regular customer, I tell them that I can give them a discount on the next one. However, I have to charge full price for the first one. I do this because they always say, "we'll call you from now on, we're getting a lot in your area", etc. Seems to work well. If they don't want to pay, I politely decline and thank them for thinking of me and invite them to call me again.

Reply by LKT/CA on 1/27/12 11:24pm
Msg #410133

Re: Great Post Lisa and just to add...

Those are excellent points Dave. Our fees don't have to necessarily be "etched in stone", the occasional discount can work. But like you said, "don't be the sales item *all* the time. Great post!

Reply by Joan Bergstrom on 1/27/12 11:39pm
Msg #410134

Great Post as usual n/m

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 1/27/12 11:53pm
Msg #410135

Great Posts, LKT & Dave

This topic has been adressed, more or less, several times. Previous posts have said we cannot provide first class service for coach fares.... or don't expect Nordstrom merchandise for Walmart prices. I've advocated for a long time to follow your business plan, LKT. Always be polite, no matter how idiotic and rude the scheduler is. And fit your service level to the fee being offered. Unfortunately, most of them will just move on when you say: "For that price, borrowers and I will meet at a time and place convenient to both of us (which really means right around the corner from the notary) and their copy of docs will be e-mailed to them ..." or whatever ....

I think we notaries are so stuck in our first-class service mindset we can't think outside the box, and that's just what low-paying hiring agencies are hoping. They are as entrenched in thinking the old way of as many of us are.

I know a SS owner who contracted recently with LSI for $125 a job. He's having no problem finding notaries who'll take $75. I said I'd take $75 if borrowers came to me, etc etc. He said no way. First of all, LSI would hit the roof the first time they caught wind of this. Besides, he said, he has plenty of little' ole ladies (that's his target NSA demo) doing this for pin money.

Reply by Buddy Young on 1/28/12 12:45am
Msg #410139

Re: ** and fit your service level to the price being offered

I know you went on to explain what you meant by that remark, but my first thought was: you're either a professional or not.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 1/28/12 1:24am
Msg #410141

Re: ** and fit your service level to the price being offered

I'm glad you mentioned that, Buddy, because that thought process is one that those companies seem to be trying to take advantage of. The reality is that the professional will also "fit your service level to the price being offered".

Another couple of examples: a dentist isn't going to do a crown for the price of a small filling. Neither is a general surgeon going to stitch up a cut with the precision and extra steps of a plastic surgeon, even though we hope they will all complete their procedures with professionalism.

Reply by Buddy Young on 1/28/12 10:56am
Msg #410157

Re: ** and fit your service level to the price being offered

The borowers get the same professional service from me whether I'm getting $150 or $90. They often don't know who the SS is, so why should we take it out on the borowers, by giving them less than what they deserve.

Take it out of the SS when negotiating a price for your service. Our issue is with low paying SS not the borower.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 1/28/12 6:03am
Msg #410144

Re: Great Posts, LKT & Dave

<< I know a SS owner who contracted recently with LSI for $125 a job. He's having no problem finding notaries who'll take $75. >>

Wow, this makes me sad.

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 1/28/12 10:23am
Msg #410154

You totally got it! Excellent advice!

<<Therefore, when you are offered a fee below what you'd charge for the type of assignment and services requested, there's no need to laugh at the scheduler, chew them out, feel "undervalued" or be insulted or offended. Just act like a *business* and quote the services that fit within the fee offered. That's really the only way these companies will know that they get the services they are willing to pay for. >>

Even though some of us already ACT like a business, 'cause we are in one, it does get "tempting" every now and then, to laugh at those ridiculous low ball offers. But yes, as professionals, we should NOT at all, make this behavior habitual...bad for business rep.

LKT this has to be one of THE best, if not THE BEST pieces of advise I've seen on this board in a long long time! (with always much love and respect for PAW)

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 1/28/12 11:58am
Msg #410160

Buddy - you are clearly missing the whole point of the OP, which is: offering various levels of service depending on the pay. The borrower may be paying a million $$ for the notary fee or nothing at all. Often they don't know and often we don't know what they're paying. It doesn't matter because we are not paid by the borrower. We don't work for the borrower. We are paid by a hiring agency to whom we say: We will provide such and such service for the fee you are offering, if that is agreeable.

We're not taking anything out on the borrower. We don't work for them, and they don't pay us. So get that out of your head. We work for whoever hired us - and when we get fair fees, we respond accordingly, offering the best service that we can to everybody involved. That's how we get jobs (at fair fees), I believe, by continuing to offer excellent service. But we cannot afford to stay in business with driving, printing, paper costs etc. for lousy fees. And we're not talking about $90 as a low end, as you wrote. We're talking about $40, $50, $60 e-docs fees.

It's this kind of one-way, stuck in the box thinking that LKT and Dave are trying to highlight. "Think like a business" and "Quote the services that fit within the fee offerred," as LKT wrote. Of course, we NSAs will always treat the borrower with respect and with professionalism, no matter what fee we accept. It's also important, as LKT said, to treat the scheduler that way, too. But the process starts with letting the hiring agency know what services they'll get for the fee they are offering.

Reply by Buddy Young on 1/28/12 12:57pm
Msg #410169

Re: OK n/m

Reply by dww on 1/28/12 6:01pm
Msg #410194

Fabulous advice and post! I told one particular signing company similar information and was still "awarded" the job! I feel strongly that my skill level, reputation in the field, and ability to execute loan signings with excellence should be rewarded accordingly and simply will not settle for low wages. Doing so is not only a huge disservice to you, my colleagues, but also lacks self-respect for me.
Thanks again for this reminder!