That's the right way to look at it. I have companies that I have worked with for years that call me wanting me to do the same level of work, or even rush jobs, for lower pay. I quote them my fee and they can either accept it or keep shopping around. Most of them will pay, but I have to ask for the fee that I want. In sales, you get what you ask for (if you don't ask you don't get) I had one company offer me $50 for a late evening close on Christmas Eve. In general, the companies have become so use to offering lower fees without any objections from us that this company was actually surprised when I quoted them a more reasonable fee for a late night, holiday closing. After "getting approval" for the rate I was willing to work for, the company offered me the job and I accepted.
When I first started in this business, I turned down a lot of offers because the pay offered wouldn't even cover my expenses to do the job. Since their were only a few mobile notaries in my area at that time, I contacted them. It was the strangest thing, in very short order, 95%+ of the companies calling began offering higher fees (to all of us) without any of us having to ask for them. If you believe your work, knowledge and time are worth the money you are asking for, don't sell yourself short by putting yourself on discount like a blue light special. Just because you didn't have an appointment one day doesn't necessarily mean you should jump at ANY offer that comes along. In the bigger picture, turning down a low offer today might have actually just made you more money in the future.
The real issue is not that people accept the lower fees, it's that a lot of newer people just don't know what their work and time are really worth. Without that knowledge, they are then ruled by fear of not getting any work at all, so they accept what is offered. A lot of them do not know that fees are negotiable. If a new person is only offered the $50 jobs and doesn't know any better, they may think that is what everyone else is charging. If you had an employee that was willing to work for $7/hr, as a business owner, why would you pay them $30/hr. They may be worth it and you would be willing to pay them more, but if they don't ask for it why would you?
Does anyone know if there IS a website, or anything, for someone to find information like the REAL avg closing fee that they should be charging for their area? The fee for a closing in CA might be different than fees in Houston or my area. The amount of competition in each area is also a factor in pricing. |
| Messages in this Thread |
|  Fun time, let's get creative and think of names for those -  Cari on 1/11/10 11:53am |
|  Re: Fun time, let's get creative and think of names for those - JulieD/KS on 1/11/10 11:56am |
|  whups... should've been posted on Leisure.... n/m - Cari on 1/11/10 12:03pm |
| Re: Fun time, let's get creative and think of names for those - lowerAL on 1/11/10 12:09pm |
|  Re: Fun time, let's get creative and think of names for those - Shoshana/AZ on 1/11/10 12:16pm |
|  Re: Fun time, let's get creative and think of names for those - lowerAL on 1/11/10 12:24pm |
| I totally agree with you. n/m - Shoshana/AZ on 1/11/10 12:19pm |
| Re: I totally agree with you. - Karen Riley on 1/11/10 3:17pm |
| I really don't think that's necessary... n/m - Linda_H/FL on 1/11/10 12:12pm |
| what's not necessary Linda? n/m - Cari on 1/11/10 12:16pm |
| Name calling. - Shoshana/AZ on 1/11/10 12:18pm |
| Re: Name calling. - KODI/CA on 1/11/10 2:35pm |
|  Kodi, nope not me... n/m - Cari on 1/11/10 3:52pm |
| Your idea of fun, Cari... - Linda_H/FL on 1/11/10 12:21pm |
| Re: Your idea of fun, Cari... - Notarysigner on 1/11/10 12:39pm |
 | Re: Your idea of fun, Cari... - Moneyman/TX on 1/11/10 6:37pm |
| Re: Fun time, let's get creative and think of names for those - MW/VA on 1/11/10 2:20pm |
| Re: Fun time, let's get creative and think of names for those - Notarysigner on 1/11/10 3:01pm |
| okay, okay....no takers...childish.....got it...:) n/m - Cari on 1/11/10 4:02pm |
| SooBs (Soon out of business) - BrendaTx on 1/11/10 4:19pm |
| ...so love that nik name... n/m - Cari on 1/11/10 4:31pm |
| Re: SooBs (Soon out of business)... I like it! n/m - Lee/AR on 1/11/10 4:32pm |
|  Well...at least you can see that I took my time - BrendaTx on 1/11/10 4:38pm |
|  LMFAO...... n/m - Cari on 1/11/10 4:55pm |
| Re: SooBs (Soon out of business) - Chris Anthony on 1/11/10 7:00pm |
