With the slowdown in new mortgage originations, many Traveling Professional Notaries are wondering and guessing as to what will happen to the business they worked so hard to develop during the refi boom. It was quite crude to get business back then, you just called your local mortgage originator say "Hi" and ask without a pause, "What time do you need me to pickup docs to handle your next closing?" The end of the month was prime time and you could charge premium pricing, especially for travel and mileage. There was no argument over fees, (unless you worked through signing services) as business was brisk.
Today subprime lending has slowed to a creepy crawl, but there are still about $2 trillion worth of loans (approx. 21.5 million loans outstanding) that will need to be recast over the next 12 - 18 months, as fallout from the loose money era of a few years past. Many of those 2/28's and 3/27's that in some cases were sold to unsuspecting customers as fixed rate products by some originators are set to adjust at much higher rates over the next 12 - 18 months. There is hope and a bright future ahead for notaries that have a game plan and work their plan to get their fair share of this business!
How do I survive in a downsize market? First I caution you, even under the worst market conditions there will a steady volume of work that must be performed. Commerce will continue, but at a slower pace. For some professionals their business will increase, as persons not fully committed to the business will leave the industry, fall by the wayside or just get a job! Some may even continue to work part time in the business. That is standard business practice and reasonable to expect in an industry going through transition. What can you do to survive?
You have to develop a value proposition that benefits your customers and provide you a reasonable return for your time, travel, knowledge and experience. Keep your integrity in check as you navigate the adventurous waters of building, growing and expanding your practice. Develop meaningful reciprocal relationships with individuals and companies you currently do business with. Don't be "a user" of other people! Harness the power, the mind and creativity talent of like-minded professionals looking to advance and grow their business. Take the time to build your relationships from the inside out. Follow me here - you get a blind call from a company you're never heard of before. Of course they found your Profile Panel on needAnotary.net. You accept the assignment for a fair and reasonable price. They pay you really quick!
What's next? You need to maximize the lifetime income opportunity of this relationship. What do I have to do? Easy, find your new client a brand new customer! No magic - a referral is an endorsement of another in any mirror you look into. Use your collective local, electronic and personal networks to endorse this person as a skilled qualified professional and preferably list their contact info for members inside your network to contact them. Make sure you discuss this with them beforehand, so they can expect the additional traffic and you agree within your own mind that this is someone worthy of you sharing a referral with and the probably of this being a reliable source for future business. You're going to have to use your head to guesstimate on that last note. Your Call!
Give the other fellow more than he paid for in the transaction, make it simple to implement your solution and ensure it is easy to use and understand. Then most importantly take action! Lots of folks STOP right here. This is where the rubber meets the road. Remember business is never exceedingly bad if you have a system and process for building relationships and sharing the collective resources and contacts of others in a cultivated network. Question for you? Do all of the vendors you currently deal with have your needAnotary Profile Panel bookmarked on their desktop? If not, you need to direct them to do so! Very simple just ask folks; you would be quite amazed at the number of good folks you already know who would gladly embrace you and your notary practice if you just asked them.
This becomes your excuse to call each and everyone vendor you deal with to give them detail instructions for bookmaking your needAnotary Profile Panel and to possibly float a test balloon to determine if (without putting the person under pressure) you can forge an exclusive working agreement to handle all their notary assignments. Trust me here, if you don't ask it will never happen.
You have got to be very careful and by all means use tack and diplomacy when attempting to obtain exclusive relationships. As a matter of fact, before your make the attempt to ask ensure that your relationship with the person or company has grown or developed to a point, which would justify your authority to ask the question. If you're really new to the business, get your feet wet before asking for exclusives. Don't shortchange yourself on the value of honing your skill and experience. Your opportunities will come! Here is some encouraging news, know that at any given time more than 50% of buyers of products and services are looking for a substitute product or service or, a reason or excuse to switch vendors. You have to have a brand in the marketplace, a quality brand implies fringe benefits in the mind of most prospective customers, breeds: familiarity, customer confidence, integrity, and professionalism.
If you're new to this business, you will have to make an investment of your time to mature as a trusted-professional. The best investment any man or woman could ever make is in them selves. Adorn yourself with patience, additional learning, mentoring, education, and a keen personal interest in the business. You can earn a reasonable living and enjoy a quality life as a Traveling Professional Notary. It might take a year or two to get your practice fully functionally, depending on local market conditions and the time you take to develop and workout a sound business plan. Your business plan will help you focus your energy and resources, identify necessary marketing tools and business practices required to transform your business, and hold you accountable for meeting specific goal and deadlines. It is an exciting, fun and profitable journey to see your plan come together. You meet people from or all kinds of life experiences, as a notary public. Every encounter is a unique adventure.
If I had to leave you with a simple and easy to remember formula for applying this strategy to work in your notary practice, plan the work to be done; organize who does what and work the plan carefully adjusting it as necessary to steady reach, climb, creep or crawl towards your goal. Stay focused on your journey and you will win by default, as others will have given out because of the efforts required to compete, so you will literally be able to walk across the goal line unimpeded. Sounds like a touchdown in my book! Have fun, enjoy life, read a book, clip some flowers, watch a football game, take a long jog...just enjoy yourself and try to make a difference in the world! You'll win every time. "Being a notary is a proud and noble profession." You can take that to the bank!
About the Author
A real estate broker and mortgage lender in Southern California, Ntsikelelo has spent the past 11 years becoming one of the top technology experts in the areas of Website design and Internet marketing. He is the owner of QEC Internet Services and operates sites such as http://www.needAnotary.net, http://QuickEasyContact.com, http://BlastTemplates.com and http://QECIS.com.
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