The energy was palpable as notaries from across the country gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona for the NNA’s National Notary Conference on June 4th. The event kicked off with an ice cream social and networking mixer, making way for two full days of connecting and learning from one another.
Throughout the national notary conference, one thing was clear: notaries are focused on building their businesses in 2023. Many of the educational sessions were centered around new technological advancements and tools that will help notaries secure more signings.
During one of Monday's sessions, the Jot team took the NNA stage to discuss how notaries can succeed in today's market. Industry veterans Jaclyn Fox, Meagan Garrow, and Andy Cliff shared how technology can support notaries and how the Jot™ platform, created by notaries for notaries, can help set them up for success.
Notaries in history
Jaclyn Fox, General Manager of Jot, began with a quick glance at the history of the notary experience. “At first, loan documents were printed, and shipped out, documents were split, the recordables were taken in person to the county to be put on record and then typically loans were scheduled via phone call,” recalled Fox, who has spent 25 years working in the industry.
But throughout the years, the industry has undoubtedly changed. With smartphone scan backs, mobile applications, digital stamps, and remote closings, there is so much more efficiency and support than there once was, noted Fox.
A new notary era
Remote online notarization (RON) was a hot topic across the national notary conference, with a strong emphasis on training and becoming compliant in your state. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has seen increased demand for remote notarizations. States are quickly adopting laws to accommodate the growing use of technology. At the conference, the consensus was that RON will only continue to increase in popularity over the years and notaries must be prepared for this change.
Endpoint, a digital title and settlement company has also implemented integrated technology into closings and signings. Its mission to make home closing easy for all inspired the creation of Jot, which connects notaries with homeowners looking to sign closing documents with ease.
“We’re very passionate about your experience as users,” Fox said. “You are the ones that are meeting face-to-face with our customers, you are a representation of us. We need to be invested in you to make sure that you are trained, and communicating. You can showcase your personality and do it your way, but we want to set you up for success.”
Embracing the notary community
Fox then handed the microphone over to Lead Project Manager Meagan Garrow, noting, “Our collective signing approach is to build a community, a community for you to reach your full potential.”
Garrow began speaking on how notaries can achieve long-lasting success and the importance of community. She encouraged the audience members to focus on their “why.” For career-long success, it's important to know what you're doing, how you're doing it, and most importantly why you're doing it, she explained
“Knowing why you do this is what makes you different, and it’s what makes you successful and helps you be in this business for the long run,” Garrow shared.
While demand for notaries can fluctuate, it will bounce back again, she noted. That’s why the NNA conference is so beneficial because it’s constant. Year after year notaries gather and are all in it together. That’s what building a notary community is all about.
Garrow left the audience with an empowering sentiment.
“Lean into who you are, hone in on your skills, and be who you are,” she encouraged the audience. “It’s about finding what works for you and owning it. Acknowledge your strengths and use them in your career as a mobile notary. It's also important to understand how to leverage technology, embrace change, and stand out in the industry.”
Empowering notaries with technology
To close out the session, Andy Cliff, Director of Product, shared key features of signing platforms that benefit notaries and explained how the Jot™ platform came to be.
“Jot was specifically created for notaries,” he said. “We started with a clean slate, which was beneficial because we were able to prioritize the signing agent experience.”
Cliff walked the audience through several features of the Jot™ platform, including the sign-up process, which is an easy, paperless workflow with a quick turnaround. By integrating with the NNA, Jot can confirm and authenticate notaries’ identities, and confirm their NNA background checks and certification statuses quickly to make onboarding easier.
Another key feature he highlighted was profile management. “The goal is to make it self-service and empower you to manage preferences, maintain your account, and ensure your status is active in the system to get offers,” Cliff said.
Several features of the platform are customizable to meet the needs of individual notaries, like vacation mode, which gives users the ability to pause offers so they can step away from work and enjoy some time off.
Jot™ platform users can also choose their communication preferences for text and email notifications.
“We’re able to give users more control over how they want to receive notifications, as well as the type of information they are receiving, Cliff noted. “We want our users to have the best experience possible and we recognize that not everyone’s preferences are the same.”
Signing offers are typically sent via text, along with key information so notaries can quickly decide whether to accept or decline a signing directly from their smartphone.
“Ultimately, we built Jot as an intuitive platform that is mobile-optimized because we wanted to be proactive, we don’t want you to have to search, so we’re pushing notifications to you each step of the way,” Cliff said.
A new focus on you
Cliff teased a couple of new features that Jot users can expect to see in the coming months. Jot plans to roll out automated feedback and surveys later this year so it can continue to gather valuable user feedback.
To keep up with all the latest Jot updates and new product features, follow Jot on Facebook and Instagram at @signwithjot.
