SNAP DOCS - I'm removing my profile

What I've Learned (Tips and Tricks)
62

Bravo…
as you know it does take a while to establish the better relationships and better pay, but for anyone else reading this post with limited experience or new to the business I welcome you to read on! I might get a bit wordy here so apologies…kindly but not sorry to say you will NEVER get there chasing text after relentless texts from the low ballers…and if you aren’t receiving the relentless texts, then ut-oh… The title “Experienced NSA” takes time and experience to get there (I received my first Notary commission in 1995) , but you don’t have to work with low ballers to get it and you don’t have to be commissioned for years and years. “Newbies” can shorten the curve by doing the research, making the calls, sending the cards/letters/emails and networking electronically or in-person, its not magic, just hard work, and something you will need to do ongoing, even when you are cooking along. You will never get there just hovering over relentless texts from a low baller platform and conclude you are busy (missing offers and occasionally taking them, especially in high density population areas with tons of notaries in your own town), and you will not build your business that way. You will likely not find you are suddenly getting higher offers on these same platforms over time, despite your thoughts that loyalty or error free work might count…“High Ranking” is just a lost leader…it means you play the video game well…Seemingly its just the opposite - error free work is not valued by them as much as your willingness be part of the flooded floor to randomly choose from. I know this because I was once a part of that flood. I have had in-depth, at length, heart to heart, brutally honest conversations with managers at several of these low-baller platforms about their business models (vs mine) … and hands down, my error free work was not important…it wsa the availability of notaries willing to work on the cheap…and not particularly rewarding when you discover doc problems requiring re-draws…aren’t all that apologetic when you lose out on a signing, have to insist on print fees, and you will not get a courtesy “make-it-up assignment”, after the loss of time and all the aggravation. It seems to me their access to a glut of inexperienced notaries who accept less pay, combined somehow with strongly held relationships with their clients (despite alleged notary errors), pencils out better in the long run…I guessing it returns better to hire more cs to handle the problems than pay a notary an additional $50 per deal and have fewer problems…
When I read someone is happier with lower pay ( and I’ve read that more than a few time now over the last year), I don’t believe it…I do however believe they are perhaps devaluing themselves, can’t or won’t put in the effort and sacrifice, - that is a shame. I’m not even sure of what the motive would be a member of this platform and post on this platform of business professionals, if they are happy with low pay…they must be bored or a “mole” for a low baller company, lol.

Every SS has a bad month, a bad employee, a bad client, a bad run of docs from a lender or title company, once in a awhile, no one is perfect. I believe it would be better to appreciate that, and should always PRAISE the good ones, and further Show patience and REFRAIN from lighting up companies on the posts here. You never know when someone or some company could feel defamed and…well…I don’t know what it accomplishes to pump our chests and proclaim we fired a SS (after repeated offenses), when its actually a sad thing, evidence of mutual failures. Nor do I believe it is entirely helpful when a more experienced notary touts there higher collected fees without providing the context of their area norms and how (how many years?, how many signings?, how many # SS relationships, an insider connection?) it took them to get to that level. I am encouraged when a more senior notary takes the platform to positively acknowledge their similar experiences when warranted and suggest help when their “longer” experience with the offending SS has been more positive, and even steer them in a positive direction of solution…that’s what I like about this social platform, but I digress…

On the other hand, I have read several highly opinionated, arguably inaccurate reviews recently some of what I consider better companies. Companies that yes have paid slower once in awhile, cancelled last minute once in awhile and not paid me. But when working with them for a few months after these events, I stuck with them, got to know them, developed the relationships, after 6 months I started getting those “make it up to you” assignments, and those “I can pay you a little more on this one, cause there is more in the deal” assignments…and then put on a genuine VIP list.
Often flame-a-gram posts of a bad player seem to be the newer notaries or newer member, or someone looking for an axe to grind.

The low baller SS companies are not the problem … the “truly” slow paying SS are not the problem … the slowing down industry is not the problem. You guessed it, no accusation, no judgement, in the grand scheme, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM…that is if you stall out your own growth and career (assuming you are working at it as a career), and destroy a relationship with a SS, because of a bad run, you didn’t get out in front of, rather than lead in working it out or finishing on a high note to fight another day… or stay with the low ballers, because that is the limit of your success model, know that trickle down of that, affects everyone else to some degree. If the high volume low ballers and slow payers found themselves one day with no one responding to the texts (don’t fire them, just turn them off) … they would panic, and in 2 days their fees would go up (maybe in a few hours), or they would start losing clients, be out of business and the better SS would quickly get the business and well, you know where that would lead… more work and pay for those working their businesses…

No doubt my post might stimulate some interesting and contradictory thoughts…my hope is that for those working the business, you remain positive, hopeful and successful and eager to excel in the coming year!

8 Likes
63

I think you just wrote the Signing Agent Bible. Every word is pure truth. I thank you for taking the time to hit all the marks, all at once, in one place. Newbs…this is worth printing & reading daily!

2 Likes
64

I think that everyone who accepts the $75 refinances and fees needs to read what he wrote on here. I get so frustrated with them but I think it’s the lack of knowledge I think he said everything really well.

2 Likes
65

You lost me at “YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.” It’s like people saying climate change is happening because you didn’t recycle that water bottle, when in reality giant companies emit more CO2 in a year than you could possibly make in your whole life. The individual is not the problem there and the individual is not the problem in the NSA world.

Not lighting up a company may be good advice, if you care. If you’ve already cut ties with them, then light away. You really do speak of Signing Services like you’re an employee of theirs, wanting to praise them and such. You may be an employee, but I and many others are business owners. These signing services couldn’t care less about us and they show it. I’ve never seen a signing service make a post here to praise us. We all know they secretly read this forum and they’re quick to post something in retaliation, so why is that do you think? Why do they never post anything good, uplifting, or helpful? And why is it that you haven’t required that of them? Because it’s a ridiculous thing to say, just like your assertion that we should be doing it. I’m not praising someone for doing their job. That’s what the money they skim off the top of my work is for! They’re supposed to be doing well and not scamming us. Now they need cookies for that? I can’t even get into the lower pay thing with you since you are taking the stance that the NSA is at fault for the manipulative and abusive tactics that the signing service is in control of…

You said that these reviews are “inaccurate.” Just because you have a different experience doesn’t make their experience “inaccurate.” That’s an extremely narcissistic way of looking at the world. That’s like saying someone who doesn’t like apples is being inaccurate because you eat apples all the time and think they’re great. Makes no sense. However, you’re right about one thing. The people at these companies care very little about NSAs and many are pretty vindictive. As to your question, “what does it accomplish?” Well, many things… it warns other notaries, it takes power back for the NSA who may have been wronged, and it serves as a public review just like Google/Yelp. Maybe a SS will change if their reputation is low.

But that definitely won’t happen if people never speak up, like you suggest. However, there’s already been a thread about that and what I’ve learned is that old people (boomers) follow old ways of thinking: where the abused should just shut up and take it, where “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps” is believed instead of laughed at like the joke it is, and where jobs/bosses are their entire world. They believe in toeing the company line forever and probably just discovered what mental health is. Obviously, boomer thinking led to lots of horrific abuse (#Metoo anyone?) and has also led to our rapidly declining American society today. Not the best course to follow. Newer generations, having inherited your mess, recognize a job is just a job and industries can and should be disrupted, destroyed, and recreated if they don’t serve us. Staying silent for a little check while companies do whatever they want is not okay. Our generation doesn’t even get to retire. We have to work until we die (goodbye social security and hello student loan indebted servitude), regardless, so we’re fairly allergic to outdated bull. So, it’s a generational thing and there’s no point arguing with you there.

Your first paragraph is very true and something I’ve learned about recently, though. It’s sad. Unfortunately, like many others, even though you’ve been doing this for decades you didn’t really include any helpful tips beyond “work harder.” The implication that an unsuccessful, new NSA isn’t “working harder” and you, clearly, are (because you’re on all the VIP lists and have all the accolades and have been doing this since before we were born etc) is kind of ridiculous along with condescending. If the system is abusive, then working harder won’t get you anything but more abuse. Working harder is for chumps. Working smarter, not harder, is preferable. It’d be great if you shared some of that knowledge instead of criticizing people who are just trying their best.

7 Likes
66

I’m not trying to be patronizing or anything with my question that follows, so don’t eat my lunch over it. But, does it ever occur to any of you that your strong, negative comments about those that send notaries work, may be read by the leadership teams at those places? Do you think they might scratch you off their “preferred” list because you go after them so vigorously in these posts?

Now, I realize that such action would be cancel culture in action and that’s never a good thing. But I wonder what you’d do if your firm was under constant attack by disgruntled constituents writing all their grievances down every day for everyone to see and comment on. Even if the remarks are deserved, human nature alone would cause a response in kind, don’t you think?

I am not at all sure what the best way is to handle the inequities and ineptitudes that exist in this goofy line of work, but I tend to think all the vitriol isn’t helpful. Look, I’m still in my first year and I’m in the most competitive arena there is, Southern California. I’ve been patient and relatively quiet and I’m beginning to see results for my hard work and innovation (yeah, I’ve cornered some unique methods for developing business that are starting to pay off) and my fees are beginning to rise by about 20% per job. I do a good job and keep my mouth in check and lo and behold, I’m getting good work.

Y’all can do what you like but I still hold that creativity, a flawless end product and being memorable WORKS. These methods are not the ONLY way to success, just one way. But, while venting dissatisfaction on this site may make one feel a little better for a few minutes, in the end, it cannot possibly get you where you want to go, especially if the folks who send us work are reading what we write. JOMO (Just One Man’s Opinion)

2 Likes
67

Ok, we are getting some varied opinions…I like it. But I guess I lost you at: taking personal responsibility for the problem you have encountered and are complaining about…
(while some others seem to have, tracked along with the notion).

Now this may not be relevant below for you but please allow me to suggest for a moment for anyone’s consideration, would you might however agree with the following? - Whining about the big bad SS might seem to win a battle, but is not Winning the war (IMO).

The bad SS will eventually cull themselves out. If you hang around long enough, you’ll probably see that work out…what goes around, some say…but it won’t be because of a mighty forum member flame-throwing post, and piling on by others

Taking Personal responsibility is HARD WORK. Figuring out what part you had in a problem is hard work. Warning others about “bad” companies might be a good thing in a measured way), but then blaming and lighting up the company (easy to do) is a lot different than humbly sharing and asking someone here for a little mentoring (harder to do), if they have had a similar frustrating experience and might have any ideas how to turn the situation around, or if they would advise how to fix the main issue (get paid) or cut their losses and move on, giving it no more negative power over their life - which takes guts, and I have seen several posts like that where my hat is off to them and I wish I could have responded in a helpful way if I had only had the similar experience with the particular offending ss and had found a successful work-around with that ss myself.

“Working smarter” you suggest is better than working harder? but I submit it is an decades old cliché (IMO), to many, it implies you have to be smart to succeed…have to possess some special or secret knowledge or inside connection, or some fancy training certificates. IMO looking at i another way you might be, “working smarter” is relevant if you mean “trial and error” effort, re-evaluating what works and what doesn’t, diversifying, specializing…learning, adapting, taking disciplined positive action to change the situation - More of a “maximum effort” and intelligent “attitude” rather than “aptitude”. There are a lot of smart people who fail. For most of us to be successful in this business , I believed it takes a level of committed time and constant action … the working harder … not just some random inspiration or luck one might spin as “working smarter”…

No large alleged or inherent low- baller / slow paying SS is going to change their ways because of what someone or I might post here, because they have a flooded floor to scoop from. Praise us? Ha! I’m not looking for or expecting praise on a Notary forum from a SS , I’m not looking for that kind of Praise at all. Where I find my Praise/Pride is my paycheck stack for the week and my net profit. I’m looking to feed my family WELL and earn their praise. My occasional pat on the back (from myself) comes after hours upon hours of sorting through, shaking and pounding, each new bag of 30 or so SS every month or two, and finding a new diamond in a bag of rocks and sand, then repeat, repeat, repeat
Sometimes the diamonds have been found on the second or third round of shaking and pounding an old bag …“timing”, and I have even discovered companies that received mediocre or negative comments on this forum, that I research beyond the “lighting up”, that I cross referenced their reputations with comments on other Forums, BBB, etc, read between the lines and then risked and worked the introduction, the follow-up, and then relationship, which now currently send me regular work, fair pay and reliable payments. It’s sifting a lot of bags - heavy lifting and hard work - and and it pays off…and its predictable to statistical probability now, and reproducible. But if hadn’t done this in the beginning and then ongoing, I might have simply steered away from every company with a negative review, and I would be a holding an bag with no diamonds, just a couple of rocks, and receive no text/email offers except from the low ballers and slow payers, while shuffling my thumbs on my phone, instead of stamping and shipping docs…again I digress.

If I can convey a positive message here that might stick…it is that “Action” (IMO) will be the difference between failure and success – in other words, FITFO…“figure it the frick out”… (I have that as a sticky on my monitor). Go find your niche, find your diamond in the bag of rocks. Working harder, coupled with responsible behavior (checking your gut), personal accountability (checking your work - (success, roadblocks, failure), make all the difference (IMO) and maybe that’s where the smartness or working smarter comes in and where if you feel “stuck” or pigeon holed, you can begin again.

There are no secrets to this business, if you think there are, then I submit you just haven’t experienced and pushed through enough trial and error. For those of you who are newer and trying to figure it out, perhaps while wading through the barrage of low offer texts, consider shifting your attention from the text app and your score, make those calls to untested SS with a fair to good reputation, (or recent bad review, you checked out on another forum where they were rated higher or there was contrarian feedback), find out where they have gaps, need help, let them know you will be available this weekend, over the holidays, Call 30 of them and then when one calls 2 or 4 or 12 weeks later (and they will), take the call and the assignment if a fair price is offered and then impress the crap out of them, then repeat, repeat, repeat until you have a bagful of diamonds, and can afford to lose one or put one off, occasionally when their shine gets scuffed…but be careful you might get more good offers than you can handle… OR alternatively as I read so many complain about… you can wait for the next barrage of annoying texts for a $75 signing on a rush with 220 pages, 20 unique notarizations, with fax backs required within 2 hours on a friday night late, for which you have to wait for approval to ship, then get the docs late with errors or need loose certificates because the included ones are non-compliant for your state, cant reach scheduler or closing department, long drive - an assignment you almost crash your car, or interrupted your family dinner to grab…and then repeat, repeat, repeat…insanity…
just saying…

3 Likes
68

snapdocs all the way around is shameful. It’s horrendous to sign up, the planform is awful, the customer service is worse, the jobs are low, and they hide any feedback from you. I am going to delete my account as soon as someone there gets around to it. SHAM.

2 Likes
69

how did you do it? I can’t even find a way out!

70

Are you asking how to remove your profile from Snapdocs? You go in under your profile (I believe) and remove/disable it.

2 Likes
71

It’s not that simple…it’s just as hard to get off as it was to get on…neither worth it!

1 Like
72

being passive and compliant may get you what you want temporarily too.

1 Like
73

Sorry, kid, I don’t know what that means. :crazy_face:

2 Likes
74

You should have stopped after your first paragraph because that’s where your common sense took a nosedive. I am a boomer…I am neither compliant nor submissive. I will be working for the rest of my life too…and I will also be paying my student loan off after I’m dead. During this recent overreach of govt it was not your generation who stood up to protect freedoms it was ours. I neither agree with his be quiet to get along stance or your rude take on an entire generation. The only thing all three of us agree on it that we are treated like cattle and it’s very offensive.

2 Likes
75

i WOULD IMAGINE THAT’S A BIT OF AN EXAGGERATION.

76

Not an exaggeration at all when this post was made. Now I receive about 20 or so.

1 Like
77

I believe you! :grin::+1::+1::+1::+1::+1:

78

nothing is anyone’s fault…open a platform do as you wish…bear no responsibility… welcome to the work world 2022.

79

I live in a rural area and was using Snapdocs at first, 3 years ago, getting $250-275 for many different signings. 3 years down the road and they offer $60 - $75 in my area now. I was told our rural area has become saturated with new notaries who are willing to accept these prices and print out 200 plus pages, round-trip drive time and time spent at the signing as well as any prep work and scanbacks before dropping the docs. The last few signings I did via Snapdocs, I basically ended up paying them for the signing. :thinking:

1 Like
80

Yup sounds about right. I have only gotten a handful of assignments from Snapdocs that was over 90. In the beginning I took what I could to gain ranking and ratings… not anymore I only accept the reasonable ones

2 Likes
81

Same here! But this has gotten ridiculous and out of control at this point… :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like