NSA tips: The best and worst customer service practices for Notaries

Updated 7-8-24. Good customer service is essential to a successful Notary business. Here are some basic tips — along with mistakes to avoid — from experienced Notaries:

3 customer service practices recommended by Notaries

Be on time for every notarization.

“I think the most important thing is being on time and accurate. You want the signer to tell people that you arrived on time and the notarization was quick and fast — that goes a long way.”

— Lana Brown, Los Angeles, California
Show signers and clients that you know what you are doing.

“Make sure your commission and training stay up to date, and pay attention to what’s going on in your industry,”

— Shannon Ziccardi, Lake Forest, California
Keep your schedule flexible.

“Whatever the client needs, give them top-notch service. Be available above and beyond what signers may need. If they ask you to be there at 10 p.m., you do it.”

— David Green, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Three customer service mistakes Notaries should avoid

Don't complain about your situation or take frustrations out on your signers.

“Don’t badmouth companies you work for or criticize your competition in front of signers. Your job is to conduct the notarization and make sure everything goes smoothly. Never talk about negative stuff with customers.”

— David Green, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Don't neglect to let people know if a scheduling issue comes up.

“If you are going to be late, it’s important to let people know. It’s a big frustration for signers and companies when Notaries only call after the fact.”

— Sonita Leak, Greenville, South Carolina
Don't ignore mistakes or expect other people to fix them for you.

“Don’t say ‘I screwed up, I’ll just send the document in and hope it’s not an issue.' If you catch your mistakes and take a proactive approach to fixing them, that’s really appreciated.”

— David Krause, Seattle, Washington

David Thun is the Editorial Manager at the National Notary Association.

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16 Comments

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Debra Rodriguez

20 Aug 2024

I was a customer getting fingerprints a few weeks back. The Notary was ill prepared, distracted by taking 2 phone calls, and sloppy with the paperwork. Even had cut my scheduled time short to go to a signing. Draped loan documents for the signing over forearm instead of an envelope or folder to keep from getting soiled. The notary submitted the fingerprint packet on my behalf (I needed fingerprintsfor a side job). Sadly, my fingerprint packet was rejected and returned by DPS. Of all the most important documents to be missing - it was missing the Notarial Certificate! The notary boasted about how good a job was done in the past. So I trusted the notary's experience when paying for services - which were not posted anywhere for me to see. When reaching out to the notary regarding the mistake, the notary put the blame on me stating their job was to only take fingerprints and I should have known what to do. Said the packet could be redone for an additional fee. Not only was my pocket book affected by shoddy work, but a second time because I have to go elsewhere for to get my fingerprints, pay an extra fee, cannot get hired at an employer, and have wait even longer for the process to be complete. Needless to say, this was one of the poorest levels of customer service I have ever experienced. As a notary myself, this notary will not receive any recommendations from me: rather, I will be sure to let my contacts know to never use the notary's services. I plan to use this negative experience to do the best work possible for all my customers.

Sandy Subir

22 Jul 2024

Paid in Full for my Renewal and Never Received My New Stamp Several Months ago Please Help Me 🙏

National Notary Association

23 Jul 2024

Hello. Please email our Customer Care team at services@nationalnotary.org and one of our representatives can assist you.

Sheryl Thompson

In the summer I may do a signing at 7:00, which is the latest. Winter 5:00 depending on the weather and location. I have also learned through trial and error, as I did one emergency at 10:00 at night for am elderly couple. I missed a signature but immediately fixed it. I've also learned to casually feel signing area for sticky substances, ridged or clutter tables and pull put my legal size clipboard staying it's easier to pass around. I take pride in my work as a preferred notary and always remember mistakes made become valuable lessons learned.

Irvin D

01 Aug 2022

#3 Mistakes Notaries Should Avoid. Complaining My clients share with me all the time that other notaries they have gone to have a document notarized charged them between $25 - $35 to notarize one document and the client traveled to them. I know this because I asked them did they come to you or did you go to them, and the answer overwhelmingly is I went to them. I often say to the client that is an exorbitant charge for 1 document to be notarized and that in Pennsylvania we are only supposed to charge $5 per notarized document. I do not consider my comment a complaint but just acknowledging what as a notary we as notaries are allowed to charge our clients per notarized document.

Ivette Colon

12 Aug 2021

All great points. So great to know about that "drop dead"" rate date if the signing goes beyond 12 midnight . I never considered I would be in a signing at 12 midnight.

Evelyn Christine Wilson

10 Aug 2021

I agree

Jacqueline Angela Stokes

Hello everyone. I am a FULL TIME, 24/7 Certified Signing Agent. In MY business, I HAVE to be READY for ANY surprises, from a cluttered, chaotic home to the most beautiful and calm. When entering into people's homes, we are entering into THEIR world, the unknown, and NEED to be like a chameleon and adapt to ANY situation. I also make the call that is the BEST AND SAFEST for ME, the Signing Agent. NEVER losing composure. We DO NOT want to add fuel to the fire, whether entering into a good or bad situation. And we SURELY DO NOT want to return to the situation because of a mistake on our part. Remain neutral, you are only there for a short time. THINK positve and do the BEST job possible within SAFETY means. STAY POSITIVE, SAFE and HAPPY and USE YOUR INSTINCT 100% of the time. We are ALL blessed to have a GREAT job Thank you to all whom are my clients for the job security!🙂

Pamela

08 Jul 2019

1've signed at 11:45pm at Borriwers home to accomodate Title and Lender to meet "drop dead' rate date..... once you begin a sugning befire midnight, that is the signing date throughout. It was my personal "break thru" to that sought after Title client.... they are still with me after nine years

Carol

25 Jul 2017

I agree with Betty. I don't work past 7:00 appts. in the summer and winter it depends on the weather. You have to think of safety. 10:00pm is too late. Also, waiting for an hour is not required of most companies. If the signers are not there within twenty minutes you can leave. You have other appts and things to get done. People should at least be polite enough to call you ahead of time and say they cannot make the timing.

betty

24 Jul 2017

10PM?!?!? REALLY?!?!? We are not plumbers showing up for an emergency. UnLESS you live in an apartment building and the signer is your neighbor, it is foolish to witness at that hour. I make a LOT of accommodations, changes in date/time/location, but even 8PM is pushing it on safety. I have done a signing at 7PM in the winter 3 miles from my home, in pea soup fog and THAT was risky enough, but I still got it done. Let's be real, this is STILL a part time business.

maggiewilliams27@yahoo.com

Im nit sure what exactly i should put on the paper. If the client already has the date and names do i have to stamp it with the affidavit stamp and fill it out or just stamp with my notary stamp

Max Thomas

Signers from Hell: Closing set for 7 pm at signers residence.They didn't get home until 8pm.Loan package contained 219 pages which required 17 notarizations. Signers resented me for not being a lender employee. Totally did not understand my role as notary and kept asking questions about deal points such as interest, payments, default points, etc.They insisted on reading every word of each document. It took them 25 minutes to read the first page of the first document of a non notarized document. By this rate the closing would have taken past midnight, therefore making my notarizations ineffective by being on a different date than the documents. My telephone calls to the lender and my client were after their hours and not answered. Signers also continuously argued between themselves and there were countless interruptions by other family members. I made one final plea to follow my instructions but to no avail. I informed the signers that I was terminating the closing, folded my papers and left. Once home, I emailed all relevant parties about what happened. All agreed with my actions and paid my fee. They also have continued referring closings to me.

kelly

Be available at 10pm? That's a little much

Kelly

07 Oct 2015

Go above and beyond for you lifelong client, remember treat every client with uttmost respect and love...

Trudie Hines

Excellent tips.

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