Notary & Loan Signing Agent New Year's Resolutions
If you have difficulty creating professional new year resolutions, Notary2Pro has compiled some great tips for you and your notary public and loan signing agent business to get you started.
Why Set Business Resolutions
New year resolutions are a great way to get organized and motivated for the new year in your personal and professional life. However, setting resolutions is a lot easier than sticking to them. In most cases, new year’s resolutions are forgotten by many in February. However, notaries and loan signing agents who stay consistent in their efforts and set small attainable goals to reach their bigger goals will be the most successful in their business resolutions and professional pursuits. What you do in the coming weeks will separate you from most other notaries and loan signing agents in 2023.
Every year, thousands of notaries and loan signing agents resolve to “be better,” “get more clients,” or “improve their business.” Although these goals sound good, they are not S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. A S.M.A.R.T. goal is objective. By the end of the time period set for the goal, you will be able to determine if the goal was achieved or not. S.M.A.R.T. goals were developed by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in their 1981 article “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and objectives”.
How to Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Since a S.M.A.R.T. goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound, you don’t want to set generic goals: “I will earn more money for my loan signing business this year.” Instead, you want to decide exactly how much money you will earn. For example, let’s say you want to make $50,000 this year with an average of $100 per closing. In this example, you must perform 500 signings a year to meet your S.M.A.R.T. goal.
This goal may seem ambitious, but it is manageable if you break it down into attainable steps. Give yourself two weeks off for the year for sicknesses, vacations, and emergencies. So, we have 50 weeks left in the year. That means you will have to perform ten appointments a week. You now have your S.M.A.R.T. goal: “I will earn $50,000 this year by completing ten loan signings each week.” This goal is specific, can be measured, is attainable, realistic, and is time-bound. By the end of the year, you will be able to decide if you met your goal by determining if you made $50,000 from loan signings at the end of the year.
Knowing Your Business & The Current Market
In a tough economy, setting financial goals can seem intimidating. Therefore, looking at your appointment history to set a realistic goal for your business is essential. If you only averaged one appointment a week last year, setting a goal of ten appointments a week may be unrealistic. However, reaching ten is very realistic if you were averaging 8 or 9 appointments a week last year.
Loan Signing Agent SMART Goals
Loan signing agents should set new and more challenging yearly S.M.A.R.T. goals to improve their business. Besides financial goals, which we have already discussed, notaries and loan signing agents should set marketing, networking, and expansion goals.
Marketing goals are critical to set since the majority of notaries and loan signing agents are self-employed. Marketing is the key to not only establishing but also growing any business. Clients can’t hire you for a loan signing if they are not aware of your business or services. Successful and established loan signing agents use multiple signing registries and referral services. They will also join networking organizations, call or visit title companies directly, create a website, and use social media and other resources to find work. You can often increase your assignments by improving your marketing or sales message.
Networking goals are also essential for notaries and loan signing agents. Often, it’s not about what you know but who you know. Expanding your network expands your business. Established notaries and loan signing agents often report that much of their business comes from word of mouth or through someone they met in random or circumstantial instances.
Expansion goals are crucial during the mortgage industry’s economic slowdowns or lulls. Although loan signings may be most of your business, Notary2Pro urges you to recognize the potential of other sectors. Every industry has a demand for a notary or encounters individuals who will. We recommend developing a list of potential businesses in your geographic areas. Set up a system to keep track of your outreach efforts. Although there are several applications for this, writing in a notebook will also work. Keep track of the name of the business or person you visited, the date of each visit, and notes regarding any relevant information, conversation, or follow-up appointments.
Examples of Notary & Loan Signing Agent S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Financial S.M.A.R.T. Goal: I will earn $50,000 this year by completing ten loan signings each week.
Marketing S.M.A.R.T. Goal: I will post to my business social media accounts 3x per week.
Networking S.M.A.R.T. Goal: I will reach out to 2 notaries or loan signing agents in my area every month.
Expansion S.M.A.R.T. Goal: I will follow up with five clients weekly in my tracking system for potential clients.
Learn More from Notary2Pro
If you want to learn more about improving your notary and loan signing business, please tune into Notary2Pro’s monthly Roundtable Discussions. Notary2Pro Roundtable Discussions provide engaging, highly impactful, and valuable information for notaries and professional loan signing agents. We enable notaries and loan signings agents to grow their businesses, expand their skill sets, and improve their life and work experience through open and honest dialogue with experts in the industry. You can register for the next Roundtable now!