Posted by BrendaTX on 1/11/05 10:37pm
Msg #16309

NNA E&O "Survey" - Long



NNA called today.

Will you partcipate in a project for the association?

What?

We are trying to make sure that our members understand the importance of E&O insurance.
You DO have E&O insurance don't you?

Yes.

From someone else?

Yes.

Well...thank you. I notice that your membership in the notary section and the membership in the SA section are about to expire. Would you care to renew it today?

No.

I can offer you an incentive.

What's that?

$20 off if you renew both today - it will be $69 rather than $89.

No thank you. I have not made my mind up for sure about what I intend to do.

---------------------------

Imagine this same scenario in a chamber of commerce.


"Hello important member of the Chamber of Commerce! I need your help in a chamber project.

We want to make sure you, our member, has the kind of insurance we endorse for your business. You DO know as a (Realtor, Banker, Doctor, Lawyer) we strongly advise that you should be covered by certain types of insurance for your chosen profession.

You DO have the proper insurance, don't you?

(NO. I am too stupid to figure it out for myself. It's only MY livelihood so I'll wait for someone else to let me know when I am about to boofoo in the chili.)

The chamber just wants to make sure you, "Dr. Smith/Lawyer Smith/Realtor Smith", are not too shallow to realize what you should carry in the way of insurance. We want what's best for you! (BTW, not to worry, we will hook you right up with the insurance and gain a commission from it! ) NOW, it's still two months before you need to pay your membership bill. We have been sending it for three months and now we are asking you to pay it in advance by phone. And, if you will, we will cut your fee around 25%."


----

Why cut it now?

Has this ever happened before in the organization?

-----------
A better sell for me would have been ask for me to pledge to continue my membership so they could forecast the upcoming budget surplus and plan for additional programs or projects.

Whether they MEAN to or not, the NNA is leaving the impression that they are having difficulties by early solicitation of dues-- and as much as I love a 25% off sale, this seems to be a whole lot like phone companies who were charging us 25 Cents per minutes, until we found a cheaper rate and switched. Mrs. Stone we can now make you a special offer of 11.5 cents!! Then 6 cents and 3 cents...By that time I was so PO'd that they'd been robbing me that I would not ever go back.

Or, how about the local bank who charged $20 a month for a personal checking account?

They finally lost all their well-fixed customers to free-checking account credit unions that value packed services for existing members and those little credit unions almost require a pedigree to welcome an account. The members that funded them were there bread and butter. Local banks are few and far between now.

Reply by Brenda Stone on 1/11/05 10:47pm
Msg #16312

My membership does not need to be renewed until March. N/M

Reply by Cassandra - O.C.-Cali on 1/11/05 11:24pm
Msg #16317

I liked your post Brenda. How true it is! I joined the NNA a couple of years ago (January 2003). I received one additional year's membership "free" for ordering a supplies package.
Well - I immediately started receiving invoices for "renewal" - even though my membership did not expire until Jan. 2005.

And I received, at least once a month - a flier on "how to pass the notary exam" (did they forget that I had already passed the notary exam - after all, I just took it after their class?)

And at least twice a month I received their literature on how to make "big bucks" as a loan signing agent.

I figure the postage and paper they wasted sending me needless junkmail could have offset my membership dues nicely. When I mentioned this to one of their customer service reps - he responded rather blandly - as if I was making an issue out of nothing.

I will not be renewing my membership with them. I have found better and more affordable sources for everything they offer - including this site (thanks, Harry!)

Almost forgot - I especially liked your "boofoo in the chili" remark - LOL!!!!!!!!

Reply by Anonymous on 1/12/05 7:39am
Msg #16349

What other site gives signing companies? Are they different than the signing companies on this site?

Reply by Dotti_CA on 1/12/05 1:07am
Msg #16323

Thanks Brenda, now I can ignore the message on my voice mail. Dotti

Reply by Julie-MI on 1/12/05 6:25am
Msg #16342

I received three messages from them when my membership was to expire this past summer. I have my cell phone number on my outgoing message from my land line, and I was suprised NNA didn't call me on my cell phone.

At least now I know why they were probably calling, since I ignored all of their emails and postcards to renew at least 5 months before my membership expired.

Too bad I missed the opportunity to speak to them. I would have told them that Michigan notaries don't make mistakes and therefore I didn't need NNA's E & O (we get free E & O with our bond in MI) nor NNA's presence in my state's capitol. I do wonder when NNA opened a Michigan office in order to schmooze our legislature; I will have to be certain to write letters to the Lansing papers, to make sure the legislature's pockets are not lined with NNA's "helpful" suggestions, I don't want MI to end up like CA!!!!!!

Reply by LawrenceOK on 1/12/05 9:51am
Msg #16362

Great post Brenda, you need to lay off the chili.

Reply by BrendaTX on 1/12/05 11:46am
Msg #16386

I am going to take out a bag of chili from the freezer right now for lunch.

A little eggnog would go nicely with a bowl of chil....

Reply by maureen/nh on 1/12/05 1:09pm
Msg #16417

For great eggnog on non working days, throw in some strong coffee and a shot of Irish. Heavenly.

Reply by LauraV on 1/12/05 10:15am
Msg #16363

"boofoo in the chili"??? My, Gawd, Brenda! LOL! n/m

Reply by Allison/MI on 1/12/05 11:27am
Msg #16379

Re: "boofoo in the chili"??? My, Gawd, Brenda! LOL! n/m

Julie in Michigan. I obtained my Bond and E&O with NNA also, Where did you get yours. I would prefer not to renew with NNA.

thanks
allison
Email me at'

[e-mail address]

thanks

Reply by HisHughness on 1/12/05 11:36am
Msg #16382

Re: "boofoo in the chili"??? My, Gawd, Brenda! LOL! n/m

For those of you who are unacquainted with the term “boofoo in the chili”:

This is a Texas phrase, originating back in the days of the great cattle drives herding the revered Texas Longhorn to undiscriminating palates of Easterners (Texans themselves never ate Longhorn beef in their chili; too stringy. They preferred armadillo). When the cattle drives were in full swing, cowboys to accompany the herds eastward were in short supply, so everyone, cooks included, was pressed into service. Thus it was that the quintessential icon of the cowboy, the cattle drive, was usually fed by a Chinese cook. The result, predictably, was frequently a clash of cultures.

Chop suey, the Americanized Chinese culinary potpourri, is actually a corruption of the exclamation often heard when a hungry cowboy, expecting something substantial, like a half a pound of fatback, would instead bite into a plate of bean sprouts and fried noodles. More often than not, he would exclaim, “That’s slop! Phooey!”

The term “boofoo in the chili” has a similar origin. One Hu Liu Boo Fu, a transplanted Manchurian serving as cookie, stirred up a bowl of chili one day. Knowing nothing of the reverence of the Texan for the Texas national dish, Boo Fu added water chestnuts to the concoction. The first cowboy to encounter one pulled it out, bemused, inspected it closely, then pulled out his S&W six shooter and shot the cook between the eyes. He, and the aberrant “chili,” were left where they fell. The cattle drive continued on, picking up an Okie outside Lawton who fed the contented drovers nothing but coyote tacos three times a day all the way to Kansas City. To this day, the spot where vultures picked the bones of the cook remains desolate and unvisited by right-thinking Texans. The buzzards, Texan to the core, refused to eat the chili.

The Okie, who, contrary to the normal course of things, was pretty bright, subsequently moved to California, where he opened a restaurant serving regional cuisine. The top item on the menu, borrowed from the departed Hu Liu Boo Fu, was chili, replete with water chestnuts. Californians flocked to the place, hailing the signature dish as “authentic Texas chili,” and in smug ignorance basking in their self-conferred status as a culinary mecca.

Thus it has come to pass that when one commits an innocuous act with a disastrous unintended result, he is said to “boofoo in the chili.”

Next: The origin of “fart in a windstorm.”

Reply by BrendaTX on 1/12/05 12:49pm
Msg #16412

Re: "boofoo in the chili"??? My, Gawd, Brenda! LOL! n/m

Are inhaling wacky weed, or is the truth???

Reply by BrendaTX on 1/12/05 12:46pm
Msg #16410

Laura:

In our previous emails and conversations we have discussed how this concept of not taking care of one's clients (or memberships,etc.) forces the same to look at other options.

I think it goes to one of my marketing methods that has proved to do me well:

Take care of those who are keeping you in business before you look for new business.

And, as we say in Texas "Dance with the one who brung you."
(BUT, like I told you, I also have a small sign posted in my home
painted on sheet metal which says:

"~Life is TOO short to dance with ugly men!~")
Here is a picture of it: http://www.texnotary.com/signing_agent_sayings.htm

Reply by HisHughness on 1/12/05 1:18pm
Msg #16419

Re: Laura:

Brenda smugly patters:

***And, as we say in Texas "Dance with the one who brung you."
(BUT, like I told you, I also have a small sign posted in my home
painted on sheet metal which says:

"~Life is TOO short to dance with ugly men!~")***

On behalf of the ugly men of this world, PAW and I join in saying to you: "PHTTTTTTTT."