So after reading further posts since the slow ride started, I’m starting to think a little differently. So I have some questions:
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Are we “really” concerned about others taking the low fees, or is it more that we are losing out on “getting what we want” by simply missing out on the opportunity to counteroffer?
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Putting myself in the clients shoes here, if I am pushing out a REFI at $65, what do you think would possess me as a client to accept $125 on a counteroffer knowing what I know about the industry, and the inventory of notaries that are out there?
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Let’s say $125 becomes the average offer for a REFI. Would this in fact ease your concerns, or would you still want more? Keep in mind, that if word is out on the street that fees went up, guess what your inventory of notaries in your area will do? So back to the drawing board we go.
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So what are we REALLY expecting here, and what is your proposed solution based on all of this?
On a side note, my recommendation? You should always accept every job, evaluate it, and call back with your counteroffer. They won’t accept it, and your hell bent on getting it, you simply give it back to them. Do we know if any of our clients keep a list “flagging” Notaries who routinely counteroffer? NO! But something to consider if your business is slower than the current “slow.”
Are you stressed out because you didn’t even get the opportunity to counteroffer because someone else keeps accepting that “low fee?” What other clue do we need to determine that the client was not only not interested in any counteroffers from the start, let alone why we would think we are “worth” it? In other words, if the client was REALLY concerned about our experience and track record, why does the notary accepting for the initial low fee always get the job? In my experience, a counteroffer is only accepted when someone didn’t “bite” initially. And a good portion of clients still wont solicit counteroffers in this case regardless, they will just repush the job out and raise their initial offer by $10. So what gives?
I accepted an order from one of my regular SS at first glance i saw the package was larger than normal so i countered and it was accepted. Preparing the package i noticed that there were 3 signers not two as i original thought. Now i could have gone back and asked for more money but thought to myself… do i want to run the risk of losing this regular client over a few dollars or just take it on the chin and remember to fully check the next time before countering… lets i will be more careful next time.
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Right you are:
FWIW: After accepting a reasonable offer on a signing–and then upon receipt of both the order and the docs, things changed. Now they want a full scanback & it was a really big pkg. I successfully renegotiated a higher fee. However, I believe I would have been ‘removed’ if there was more time between offer & rush Appt. time.
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From a SS perspective, we would just blacklist notaries if they “routinely” accepted and immediately asked for a higher fee since we don’t want to waste our time working with duplicitous notaries. Just counter with your fee initially and if we want to pay more based on the individual closing, we will. We have plenty of times before.
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Do you have a set split like 75/25 or do you go with the best and the cheapest in order to max your profits??
Average split across all signings last month was 60/40(60 notary/40 me)
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Thank you for the clarification.
My pleasure!
We could lower offers, but then you have to vet even harder and I don’t want our clients to have sub par performance(which you can still get at a high price point if you don’t know how to thoroughly vet).
Most of our closings are buyers and sellers, so less room for error.
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Very true. You absolutely cannot have an error on these or someone will pay or get sued! This is why I’m scared to open a SS co. I can’t babysit others!
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This is good info to know. As a SS yourself, I would imagine your initial fee is the desired fee you are looking to pay. And I can’t see any SS Co knowing in advance the location of the notary compared to the location of the assignment until its actually accepted by the notary. So based on this, what other opportunity would a NSA have to counteroffer without accepting first, while trying to “beat the clock” with their competitors at the same time to give them some kind of leverage in this game?
Also, what is your “vetting” process on notaries? How do you know your getting a better notary just by offering a higher fee? (I’m in “learning” mode here, so forgive me. As I haven’t found clear answers to such in my 11 years doing this).
Don’t hire a PITA like me! 
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We do see how far you are from the appt based on your address. You’re not always coming from there, but we sort our list by experience instead of distance. So if you’re within 25 miles and have a lot of experience on the platform you’re seeing the notification before those less experienced.
If you’re on our preferred list, you’re seeing it first.
We don’t auto-assign ppl who accept the appt, even if they’re on our preferred list. We wait to see who’s available after going through the bulk of the list and we make our choice from there.
The answer is to get on preferred lists by calling and asking to be when notifications go out, or after completing a successful closing. Once you’re there, you’ll get more since some companies do operate with auto-assign turned on for their preferred list.
The text blast goes out to one person at a time, every 30 seconds down the list.
We’ve paid more for our preferred closers bc we know what we’re going to get.
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I can tell you from experience, PITA’s produce some of the best results! We think/suggest things others don’t. It’s a good trait, trust me. I got promoted twice on my day job for the simple fact my boss didn’t know what I knew!
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As far as vetting goes:
We can see your reviews
How many companies have blacklisted you
See # of closings on the platform
Professional(or not) photo
Bios(if it’s all about you and not about c.s. and communication, hard pass)
Fees(if we see nickel and dime in your fee structure at the bottom, pass)
Phone interviews(5 or 6 questions)
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WOW! The “reviews” and blacklisting parts alone are intriguing and astonishing at the same time to me, as I didn’t know this was “a thing”. I guess this is a platform specific feature? In my mind, a “true” review board allows the reviewee to see the review left for them so they can respond accordingly, as there are two sides to every story. All of the rest of your vetting points make absolute sense. No different than applying for a job. So now that I know this is “a thing” for some clients, are there REALLY clients out there looking for ALL of this and offering $65 for a REFI at the same time?
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We’re offering $85 for a refi and I can’t speak for others. In my experience taking business from other SS, most are not as thorough on vetting and have to deal with a lot more fires to put out than we do.
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I can definitely see that. One of the biggest points I try to express is that SS Co’s compete with one another just like we NSA’s do. This point alone sheds much light on the fee structure everyone complains about. The more hands there are in the pot, the more the money has to be divided up.
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I saw orders from SD and SO with $15 higher than normal, I think due to some notaries have dropped out of the business lately but I blocked them. I really need to close my accounts.
In your case, if you know you’ll never accept those offers 99.9%, then it’s more of a distraction.
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Yep, I thought I closed my accounts. I will check.
