Legal Bulletin Board

Taking the cuss out of customer support!

 What happened to the days of exemplary customer service when you could actually reach a customer service associate on the phone. To days of specific advice tailored to your personal needs. When did good customer support turn into thirty minute holds or worse? Where did this all go so terribly wrong! Was it with the invention of electronic phone greetings or Call management systems? Or was it the outsourcing of telecommunications to foreign lands to save money or skirt tax implications. Can we ever get back to the one on one communications of days past and the gold standard of customer support? Good process serving companies recognize this and especially Tacoma Process Servers have tailored their service to meet customer’s needs.

Satisfying customers!

Dissatisfied customers will tell an average of ten people about their bad experience so providing the best in customer service is not only mission critical it is the crucible of a good business plan. Keeping customers informed and in the loop on details of service is crucial to customer retention. Did you know that the cost of attracting new customers to your business is nearly five times the amount of keeping your current ones? So, if service is the metric that easily distinguishes a good company from an inherently bad one why have so many process serving companies lost touch? With Google local listings and verified customer reviews the value of customer retention is mission one critical. Creating loyal followings through great reviews is just one way to set yourself apart from the fold. So what influences your customers to keep coming back and what puts them off?  First let’s look at what we should avoid doing. Firstly, being short with customer’s rude and giving misleading information is a customer killer. If you are dropping the ball by not fulfilling promises or orders due to an untrained or under qualified staff then your fancy products just don’t matter.  What can we do to keep customers coming back? Keeping your word and being an exemplary listener is a good start. Acknowledge what they have to say quickly, and follow up with solutions that work.

Are customers buying your courtesy!

Yes, they are buying you time when they call and it is the job of the salesman to turn the call into a sale without being pushy. Any questions or concerns should be answered without having to put the customer on hold or having to forward the call to a superior. If the technician is without the knowledge necessary to answer all the customers concerns then there should be a replacement at hand or a retraining policy to mend those issues. Always let the customer vent if needed, don’t interrupt just listen attentively. Make sure you understand the problem and when appropriate offer a solution if asked. Take action and be genuine in your concern for their issue. Remember learning is not linear so offer some creative solutions or alternatives to the call, remember to be sincere.

Wow you customers with cheeky solutions to old ideas. Have fun and offer up a few well timed jokes when father time presents itself, this makes for great theater and could create one, if not the best customer experiences they have ever encountered. Use your own experiences to mirror theirs and show off your successes and failures while throwing in a laugh or two. This will make for a more memorable experience and get them to interact with you. So When considering a Tacoma process server make sure you find one that takes customer service serious and knows what your needs are. 

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The SBA estimates 11.8 million new jobs annually and of that 11.8 and estimated 66 percent will fail. So what does it take to make a start-up business successful in today’s technology market?  Information is the key here and lack of understanding this fact is crippling. Like any job you need the information to be successful, after all every craft has its own set of secrets. So whether you are the employee or the employer you need to seize opportunity when it shows its teeth. So where do we get these tightly held secrets and tidbits of information that are so crucial to success, Google! Using the internet, creating mentors, reading, shaking hands, and manifesting knowledge is the solution.

Overcoming the Fear!

Understanding the depth of the unknown and the black hole of failure is crucial to avoid defeat.  So how do we move past the fear to succeed and arrive at nirvana. You will need to willingly immerse yourself into the kayos of day to day labors and the abyss of suffocating problems. You must be the subject matter explorer a search engine wizard. Check yourself by running a battery of tests to find your success. How do you control the uncontrollable by simply wielding knowledge and bringing it to bear. If you want to run a high octane business use Google to supplement you knowledge base and shake some hands! If the goal is avoiding financial straits and paralysis then don’t underestimate the power of relationships. Avoid the school of hard knocks by taking some time to learn about people and really listening to what they have to say. Engage in social media and technology as you friend not your foe. Try to compartmentalize tasks and find novel solutions to old ideas while delivering great customer service with sex appeal. Delight customers every day in every way and punctuate their experience with surprise. Try intoxicating their every request with cheeky solutions to mediocre problems, this makes for great theater! We are all capable of business success yet we just get hung up on the mundane at times, and lack the wherewithal to put in the enormous amount of time necessary to get it done. Getting accustomed to this unknown and unstable environment is what makes business so much fun. It is like a wild roller-coaster spinning out of control with huge rises in profit and the sometimes weary lows. This up and down cycle of business is normal and the chasm between success and failure.

Controlling the Margin.

 Be a good bean counter! Profit and loss is controlled by putting a few dollars away when times are good and paying your employees and expenses on time when it is slow. This shift in the employee and employer paradigm will be tough sell for most but completely doable. You most likely will make some mistakes and your competitors may ostracize you for it but don’t get discouraged and seduced by others opinions, do your own version of what is right and you will have a visceral experience in business and life.

A mackerel of truth here!  Don’t worry till it’s time to worry; progress doesn't happen without breaking a few rules along the way. Don’t let analysis be the cause of your paralysis, just get out there and do it regardless of your shoestring budget or pandering from friends and family members. Where the rubber meets the road here is with action, after all do you really want to enter the slow malaise of helpless and hopeless. Fulfill all of your dreams and destiny’s by shifting priorities to parallel those of the great achievers in life. Be ambidextrous in your pursuit of happiness using your veins of knowledge “Google” and logical solutions. Be a rainmaker when it comes to acquiring what you want and be advantageous when father time presents itself. Don’t sleepwalk through life and join those clones in clown suites, after all what benefit does straight laced and low key hold anyways! Tease your brain to explore, invent, and create. Be dynamic fluid and changing then you will have reached spiritual ecstasy my friends.

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No need to fear a process server!

WA Process servers or legal messengers are more like couriers. They are not intimidating or shouldn't be as far as dignified service is concerned. The job is to pick up and deliver documents to the address provided at the direction of the hiring party. Mostly it is that simple, however there are times when a courier needs to be a bit creative though the use of props to get papers served. The reason for encasing documents in envelopes is not necessarily secrecy, but rather privacy. Process Servers are not in the business of berating defendants at their work by embarrassing them in front of employers or coworkers. As a good reputable company like Greyhound Legal and Roland Brown process service that specialize in dignified service which is about distributing documents in a quick low key manner.

Should you deliver papers yourself or have friends do this to save money! Maybe, but the fee is nominal at sixty five dollars to remove the familiarity element away from the process. Most servers nationwide are reasonable unless you live in a highly dense location, so save the berating of your loved ones by hiring a third party to get your docs served fast and on time without jeopardizing your case. Another metric to consider is what to do if the deponent is couch surfing or staying at an undisclosed location, how do you find this person! Process servers have become efficient at finding elusive defendants through the use of third party tools like skip tracing and sleuthing. Sleuthing is a method used by servers to grab additional information using calculated questions and the art of silence through personal contact, email, or telecommunications.

How should you respond to a server! Your documents are highly sensitive materials critically important to you and your case. The details are ones that are crucial to a good defense and in order to effectively defend your position you absolutely need to know the specifics, without it your situation is fraught with risk. So, time is of the essence in this circumstance  and refusing to receive legal documents or disregarding them at the time of service will not only cause a default judgment but may even subject you to jail time. Take the papers from the courier and respond to the action appropriately, either pro se of with the help of pre-paid legal or other representation.

You may never run in to a server or have the need for one but if you do remember that process servers are nothing more than couriers and if you try and attack one it is a felony not a misdemeanor, So like we always say don’t kill the messenger. If you are attempting to elude service or thwart the delivery by being evasive just remember servers know where you live, work, and play. The likely hood of you being successful in evading service in the long run is doubtful, short term maybe! If the servers are not successful for some strange reason the opposing party may ask the judge for alternative service, the process of having your case posted publicly in the local newspaper. The case will then proceed to a default judgment and you might find yourself owing lots of money or even worse laying in jail.

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What is a “No” “No” list! A list mobile loan signing agents use to publicly debase delinquent customers online. There are two directories commonly used by notaries nationwide, Notary Rotary and 123Notary. Notary Rotary is by far the better platform to use rather than the over optimized 123notary’s website which seems to be geared toward dollars not users. Most of the posts relating to non-payment issues on Notary Rotary or “Not Rot” as some would call it are short and direct. Posts that are generated may or may not be true; however you can deduce the truth through the volume of postings. Will some agents post information that is not fully truthful, of course but the metric to measure accuracy is through the accumulation of customer feedback. Non-payment issues have a way of spinning out of control fast, and some feel that not paying for services rendered could be considered theft. You may see some salty comments due to this fact but the moderator on notary rotary does a good job at monitoring these reckless remarks. To avoid late payments most seasoned signers will check the online directories before accepting new clientele.  Some notaries have even created a No No list of their own. This is usually not necessary as online directories are more up to date. To sum this up, research a company’s history before engaging in new business it may save you some time and money in the long run.

Is there a list of good companies to work with! Yes the notary rotary also has an extensive list of companies that are rated using a star method. You can view and comment on different companies as well as post privately over the directory. For marketing you can simply copy and paste this list into an excel spreadsheet then insert the list into your Gmail account to solicit your service. If you have never used excel or are not familiar with the program a search on Google for Lynda.com / excel tutorials will give you a quick synopsis of how to create a spreadsheet. The same method can be used to import the list into your email contacts. There are other associations that have company lists including the USMNA, NNA, and 123Notary-(not recommended). The National Notary Association is an excellent resource for notary materials and education. To date the notary rotary seems to be the most cost effective and has a great Google page rank and a marketing team. It seems the group at notary rotary is staying on the leading edge of marketing and we hope the company will remain a staple for notaries in the future.

Getting burned by non-payment can be an emotionally charged experience however if you keep your composure and use debt collection services in lieu of nasty phone calls you will send a message of professionalism and may even have a chance at recovery. Old debts.com has the ability to send collection letters on your behalf for about 38 dollars and this includes the credit reporting service which will ruin their business credit, however not their personal credit. Additionally you can seek injunctive relief through small claims, please consult your district court for procedures or pre – paid legal.

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The 15 minute loan signing! “Control the Uncontrollable”.

In order to make the most of your time and energy as a loan signing agent you may want to lean the fifteen minute close. Some advanced techniques to control the environment of a courtesy loan signing. As signing agents you will find that sometimes you are in situations where the environment is not ideal! For these conditions speed and technique play a major role in the outcome of a successful signing. This quick guide will review the fifteen minute loan signing practices below.

You will find three main elements of a quick signing they are cadence, control, and speed. When you marry speed and cadence you will maintain the “control” . Without control, the catalyst of my fifteen minute methods you will not have success. Note, this is not a method for beginning notaries. These are advanced techniques that seasoned signers should use if they understand the ins and outs of every page of loan documentation and can answer any and all questions that may arise at the signing table with conviction.

The notary always sets the tone and tempo of a loan signing, if you want to compel your cohorts to keep a steady pace from the moment you sit down you must elicit control.  After your introductions are done dive right into notarizing docs. If your state does not require a journal then do not use one, they are time vampires.  In order to keep the fast pace and timing use these tactics to do so, first things first! The cadence, when explaining the docs it should be exciting fast and fun! Be confident and astute put the first doc out and wait.  Hem in any small talk with explanations of terms, this will deflect chatter. When singing docs start with the HUD slowly then progressively increase the speed of your cadence.  If borrowers stall and start dissecting doc verbiage then slip in a few questions that will draw attention back to the controller. For example, what is your favorite place to go on vacation or what do you do for work. They will answer and most likely try to elaborate. Now this is critical! Let the borrowers give the answer but if they start diving into the details simply move your pen to the place they should sign, and look up at them with a well-timed smile. Mobile notaries have a few good tools, the pen, nod, and smile. Now, If the borrowers still are talking in response to your question move the pen back to the signing area smile, nod and tap once, then continue your cadence. When you have completed notarizing you docs and are now tossing papers slip in a few jokes and ask them about the details of their life. Be sincere and use that well timed smile!  Remember to have fun and laugh. When you are funny, add sizzle, and maintain excitement your audience will follow having fun as well.

The fifteen minute closing will allow you to effectively and efficiently elicit control of all signings while being thorough and fun in tough environments. For example, agitated spouses, Individuals returning from crisis, noisy starbucks, ferry terminals, the smoking man, polluted homes, or borrowers that like to throw things like- pens and paper.

Borrowers in most cases will want to get through the documents in a timely manner. As a loan signer it is your responsibility to explain the documents in an expeditious manner while respecting people’s time. The whole process from start to finish in some instances can take the borrowers well over three months and they are most likely will have a fervent understanding of the terms and details precluding your arrival. So make this a fun and fast experience and let them return to what is really important, their families.  Time is the most valuable asset on this planet and a precious commodity. Please Value the borrowers time and yours during this transaction and the hiring party and borrowers will most certainly thank you.

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