Hello. I’ve never posted on here although I’ve been a member for a little while and have gained much knowledge from other professionals. It is a great place to find people and advice.
My name is Jamie and I own Wood’s Notary Service LLC out of Winchester, Tennessee. I am in a very, very rural area and run into complications on the daily with it. Moving out here I understood that everything would be about an hour away. A lot of the signings that I get offered don’t even cover the gas to get there. If we do negotiate and I take the offer, they have crazy expectations on the amount of time it should take me to complete the signing, scanned documents back, gain approval, and drive back into town to drop the document. There’s only one drop location closer than an hour of me, and they are closed on the weekends and basically have banker’s hours. I keep getting flack from my signings because I don’t have a drop location closer. I try to explain when they call that, aside from the only local drop with limited operating hours, the closest UPS drop off is an hour away and the closest FedEx drop off is an hour and a half away. So the only option I have is the little local one where I can drop documents. Also, being in a rural area, there are even more limits how express and overnight services are handled. These factors are completely out of my control. I do enjoy working where people need more help. In this rural community, there are many who can’t leave their homes and need people to come to them. I take pride in this work and being able to serve my community and help others. That is why I do this.
I’m frustrated because I keep getting unhappy messages from the signing companies/title/lenders who are upset with me because I can’t meet their unreachable expectations of having the signing completed, scanned, and dropped within 75 minutes of the appointment time. Especially because the signings are a minimum of 45 minutes- 2+ hours driving to the signing location. Not to mention driving back so that I can use my big scanner for the large packets.
I want to warn these companies on the front end about my geographical limitations, but I’m not sure how to go about this without it negatively damaging the traffic and quantity of signings that I am getting. I debated on updating my profiles to state that I am in a rural area and I will do everything I can to accommodate. But my gut says that this will cause me to lose business.
How many of you guys have dealt with this issue and how do you handle it? Is there something that I can do to help make this smoother to where I don’t feel like I’m in trouble all the time or not meeting their expectations?
Sidenote– I am also very frustrated about instructions that are contradictory and it doesn’t matter what I do, I get an angry message back. I truly want to nurture these relationships so that I can help with future business, but I feel like I am in between a rock and a hard place and I’m going to leave a bad taste regardless just because of my location.
Rural areas are a challenge, for sure. In my area, there are only dropboxes. Happily, I’m in the same town as the county seat and so use UPS/FedEx dropboxes near the courthouse/various title co./lawyers offices as they are the most reliable of any/all other locations nearby. Is that an option for you? I would briefly include the rural nature of your area in your profile (you most likely don’t have a ton of competition who can do it any faster). I DO wonder if you’re charging enough due to the excessive driving you must do.
@woodsnotaryservice.tn You’re SPOT-ON that rural locations can present quite a few obstacles/difficulties regarding meeting expectations (when your professional services are compared to those based in more urban/suburban/city regions).
Concur percent with the following:
There are myriad items that factor into the equation to make providing these professional services profitable (or not).
Reference the following thread for assistance/guidance:
Thank you so much for your response! I do try to charge appropriately. Depending on if my schedule is open or not, I may take lesser paying ones just to keep some income coming in. There are a few drop boxes around. I haven’t used them because I try to always get a receipt. I also worry that it won’t be picked up same day. They even talked about removing express pick ups (FedEx) from my county entirely. I pray they don’t. I’ll be in trouble there. Have you ran into issues where you needed the receipt but didn’t have one with the drop boxes? How do you record your proof of drop?
I’ve never done this, but quite a few say it works. Take a picture of the envelope poised over the open drop box. Make sure it’s close enough to see the label and that the pic shows date & time. Then just hang onto pic until it’s delivered. If it gets lost or doesn’t arrive in time, you’ve got photo proof that you did your part.
I know Manchester TN. I’m back in WA State and have one local ship center for UPS and FedEx - the don’t give receipts and last drop is earlier than anyone likes.
I think first you need to let a service know there is no one capable of meeting their shipping requirements. That’s the simple truth. Maintain a cool demeanor that’s really important no matter how they act.
When I accept jobs with unreasonable expectations I confirm the order with the signer and then I message who hired me and I say confirmed and this is when you’ll get a scan and this is when you’ll get the package dropped.
We get hired by people who have no idea where we live. To them Manchester is just down the road from Murfreesboro what’s the problem - and we both know what the problem is. So when they want a drop somewhere other than your local you say “I can do that for a courier fee of $100 which will cover time and gas”.
I’d probably drive from Manchester to Murfreesboro for a hundred bucks - but they won’t pay it. And when someone tells me “we may have to re-assign to another notary” I say “there is no notary capable of the requirement it is geographically impossible”.
Don’t get upset. Use the Southern Kill Them With Kindness Sweet Tea voice.
Trust me - it works in Washington State and everywhere. Leave them thinking about how unnecessarily mean they were.
Emotions are hard to convey via email so - they also have frustrating days and it’s probably not you. If you can get someone on the phone and explain in person that is the best way to nurture a great relationship moving forward.
Wish you the best. Good old Manchester The automotive industry there were all clients of mine when I worked in the Quality Industry.
Born on the mountain top in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free, lived in the woods where he knew every tree, killed him a bear when he was only three. Davey, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier. I’ve been there what a beautiful area. There’s more shoppers.at my local Costco than the entire population of Franklin. If you’re good at what you do, you should raise your prices to make it worth your while.
Joe - Davey Crockett is a 6th cousin of mine. 3 times removed I believe.
My brother researched it at the Library of Congress. And another fun fact is that Davey Crockett is a distant relative of George W. Bush. So am I. Go back far enough we’re all related.
percent with the following: