If You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get: How to Turn More Calls Into Paid Appointments

There’s a moment that makes or breaks your business on every call you take. 

Think about how hard you work to make the phones ring:

• Google Business Profile optimization

• Building and paying for a high converting website

• All the platforms and directories to manage

• Wracking your brain for social media content and distribution

• The networking meetings

• The sales emails

• The pop-ins

And then the phone rings…

You’ve answered the phone (good start). You answered it professionally (even better). You built rapport. You asked smart questions. You understand the job. You stacked your value.

You quoted your price.

And then…

You just let it hang there, like a bad joke. An awkward silence… lingering. 

Like they’re going to chase you down to give you money. 

I hear it all the time, “If they really want it, they’ll tell me.”

No they won’t. Consumers are strange. Sometimes they need a little push. They need someone to show them the way. 

Listen, I get it. You don’t want to be pushy. Nobody wants to sound like they came straight off a used car lot. But here’s the thing:

• They called you.

• They have a problem.

• You’re the solution.

And as the owner of this business, and your number one sales associate, your job isn’t done until the appointment is booked.

Too often, we treat these calls like 411 information hotlines: toss out a price, maybe a fun fact about acknowledgments vs. jurats, and hope they circle back when Mercury is in retrograde. 

But if you don’t ask for the sale, someone else will.

You have to believe you are the best notary with the skills AND compassion to be of the most service to your client. 

With that belief, not asking for the sale/appointment is a disservice to your client. Who knows who they’ll get if they don’t get YOU…

It doesn’t take a hard close. You’re not selling a timeshare in Cabo. You just need to gently guide the next step.

Try something like:

• “I can be there at 7 with two witnesses. Will that work for you?”

• “How does that sound?”

• “I accept Venmo, Zelle, or cash. Would that be easiest for you?”

• “Do you have the document and a valid ID ready? I can be there within the hour?”

• “Let’s go ahead and get you on the calendar.”

These are soft closes with backbone. No pressure, no weird scripts, no commission breath. 

It’s just good customer service and being a great problem solver. 

You have to want the job. You have to believe you’re the right person for it. Because if you don’t, they’ll hear it in your voice. And if you’re jaded, tired, broke, or thinking with your own wallet, they’ll feel that too. 

You don’t get to decide what someone else is willing to pay. Your job is to show up with professionalism and value and then ask if they’d like to book it. Sometimes it’s a yes, sometimes it’s a no. That’s business. 

Every call is a sales call. You’re not being salesy by asking for the sale. You’re being a business owner.

So don’t let the next one slip away into the abyss of “I’ll call you back.”

They won’t (Because the next notary asks for the sale). 

For you seasoned pros out there, what’s your favorite way to seal the deal and set the appointment?