Four Tried and True Strategies that Support Notary Businesses

You might be thinking what could be new under the sun when it comes to notary work. And you would be right, what I offer is not new, just a spin on the tried and true.

When I evaluate what I have done over the last 15 years to have a thriving business, it is really old-school application to solve an ever-evolving challenge. We all have about 50+ years to work and as we transition our work, we have an opportunity to look at what matters, brings us pleasure, makes us proud, makes a difference and brings a source of income that serves our needs today as well as in the future. Endurance and Happiness cannot be just about ourselves. We need to be connected to the whole, a part of something bigger than ourselves. As we find ways to combine our ability to make a living with fitting into the bigger picture, we uncover joy, reward, purpose and satisfaction. 

I have identified four strategies that serve me well that I’d like to share with you. And if you can take away even one idea that improves your business, then I have met my challenge.

Leverage (Your history comes into play):  Old skills may transfer to new assignments. Inventory your work history, education, life experiences to see how some of what you know can develop a stronger, more well-rounded notary professional. I ran a facility for elderly persons before starting my notary business. That inside knowledge about the industry, the contacts, the hands-on with clients prepared me well for hospital and skilled nursing assignments. Before that I managed a recall program for heart valves which involved skip tracing to find the recipients and the paperwork was staggering. It taught me about developing protocols to organize my actions so I didn’t repeat or miss steps. Before that I was a Quality Control Manager in the food industry. I have skills in identifying what is incomplete which helps me see missing signatures, stamps, blank spaces.  Who knew all those jobs would contribute to building my unique ability to provide stellar service. 

 

Repetition (Paying your dues):  Do more signings; it is the price of admission. The more you do the better you get, the more confidence you build. My first assignment was a disaster and I thought I’ll never get another job. I was late due to printer issues, I dropped the stack of papers as soon as I stepped in the door, and I was slow as heck – I think I took almost 3 hours and the package was under 100 pages. I would take an assignment and then fret over things like what if I didn’t recognize a document or know how to fill out the certificate. What if I made a mistake, what if the signers are grouchy? Reality was every time I successfully completed an assignment, I felt stronger, more knowledgeable, and competent. 15 years later there isn’t much I haven’t seen, but more importantly I know the secret to dealing with documents I don’t recognize. I don’t panic.  The signers don’t know what any of the documents are so when they see me presenting the stack and I only need to look more closely at a few they are still impressed. The next time I see it I know what it is. I am as proficient and knowledgeable as I am because I have performed 30,000 notarizations. You just can’t fake experience. My first few were scary, the next were slightly better and soon I built a rhythm to the set up and at the table presentation. 

 

Consistency (adding up to make you the best you can be): It is about the everyday, not about the assignment you knocked out of the park. Building a reputation for dependability goes a long way with companies and consumers who hire us. That takes time, consistent and accurate work day in and day out. It is great when we get an assignment that is close by, paid over the average fee, a small package and was open-time scheduling that fit my day. Those jobs are our reward for the 95% that are not that way. Those challenging assignments help us grow and develop a consistent service no matter who, what, where or when. The details that you successfully navigate over and over again make you the professional you want to be. Strive to consistently deliver what you say you will deliver. That means we are on time, we are prepared, we are equipped with the right tools and resources, we are efficient without making the signer feel rushed, we exude confidence about the successful completion of the assignment 

Reinvent yourself (I did and look where it has led!):  A one-trick pony gets old. Instead of all the eggs in one basket, have several baskets with few eggs in each so that if one stream isn’t producing you can balance out with others. Even the packages and forms we see continue to be reinvented (it would be nice however if they let go of the old ones). Just when they think they know all you can do, surprise them with a new specialty, service, approach, etc. I started with loan documents and when the bubble burst I realized I needed to do more. I looked at some of my incidental non-loan-signing work and saw adoptions as work that I could develop upstream rather than get when they stumbled over me. I reached back to my contacts to develop an expertise in facilities to back-fill what I lost. I made a connection over dinner at a conference and within six months started teaching mandated training classes for the NNA. I started speaking locally to non-profit service groups to educate the public (business owners) about what and who notaries are and began getting more commercial work. I was mentoring so many other notaries I didn’t have time to handle all the notary work and was turning down assignments. This meant I lost money helping someone else and the customer was not served. Two challenges to overcome. I started a local Meetup group with other notaries to build relationships that later allowed me to create another line of business to privately coach which brought me another revenue stream to make up the loss, and I started referring the work I couldn’t handle to notaries I coached and the customer was served. I became a speaker at the annual NNA conference, which lead to repeat paid requests to speak in two other states and three other organizations. Which led me to identify a local need to help notaries identify a new philosophy of abundance, that other notaries are not the competition, they can be your colleagues and together, we create more work than we had alone. Most recently the Notary Symposium is the dream to help other notaries see the potential we all have to make a good living while serving others. Have I stopped? No, when a notary reached out to me to consider partnering with her to add a new service to my menu, I decided not only to meet her, I asked her to be a speaker at the 2017 Symposium and is now partnering with numerous other notaries handling Apostilles. So what is next?  Making sure I keep ahead of the curve by upgrading my traditional tools to E tools so I am positioned to handle what is coming both in executing the work and coaching others to do the same. Don’t stand still, join the parade!

Choose to work at something you enjoy, and that we all benefit. We all will work during our lifetime, but we can choose to work at something we enjoy, that serves others, and supports us, and we can do it well, and share with others so we all benefit.  Take that leap and join me at the 3rd Annual Notary Symposium in Rancho Cordova on November 10, 2018. We have brought together expertise in different areas to help you:

• Provide real value to your title company clients
• Expand your database so you are not reliant on just one platform for clients
• Understand what to do in situations where the law doesn’t say
• Remote and Electronic Signings: what you can do now and what is coming
• Ideas to expand services and increase income streams
• Personal safety for mobile notaries
• And, how to get your mind and action congruent to create the success you want