What’s the difference between a listing that gets positive reviews and one that gets negative reviews or no reviews at all?

I took it upon myself to see what the most critical analytic or metric on listings is. Reviews were one of the most critical while test scores also mattered. But, try getting even the best of notaries to study for a test. But, what types of listings are likely to get a review, especially if they are just starting out and haven’t had time to get a review?

1. Test scores
Listings with good test scores on certification tests, and my little email quizzes tend to be more likely to do well with positive reviews. Those with positive reviews that had been tested had a 40% likelihood of doing well on one or more of our tests, while those with no reviews or negative reviews had a 20% chance.

2. Notes sections
Those with no reviews or negative reviews behaved similarly in their notes section. The majority had a poorly written notes section with very little compelling information. Those with good reviews had an 80% chance of having a passable notes section based on my criteria. If you have at least four critical pieces of information that make you stand out from the crowd, that was my minimum standard of passing. Although I prefer unique and classy notes sections — but, try to find even one!

3. Answering calls
Those who are more likely to answer the phone and do jobs are more likely to get reviews. If you don’t get any jobs, it would be difficult for someone to write a review about you unless they did so by accident.

4. Logging in
Those who login to their listing more often are more likely to do well in general.

5. Manners
I looked at the manners records of those notaries who got complaints. I did not see a pattern of bad manners with me. I figured that if people were rude to me, they would be rude to clients, but apparently it doesn’t work like that.

6. Answering emails
Those who have positive reviews almost always answer emails. Those with negative reviews almost always ignore emails from me. It seems that email response times and rates are the most reliable indicators of how much trouble a Notary is likely to be in real life.

What confused me is that there seems to be very little difference between listings with negative reviews, and no reviews at all. I wanted to find some telltale sign that someone was at prime risk of getting a bad review, but couldn’t find anything. Some of those with bad reviews had a good track record with us and good test scores. Their bad review was not because of incompetency but because they left someone high and dry or got belligerent. I guess it is not predictable who will flake on someone unless they make a habit of it.