Are you still signing paper documents in the old-fashioned way? If so, you’re spending more time than you need to take care of the paperwork.
Switching to electronic signatures streamlines your document handling, saving you time and money. It also shows that you’re a tech-savvy business owner who cares about the environment.
Digital signatures offer a secure way to complete documents. They’re simple to use for you and your customers.
Check out these 10 reasons for your business to start using electronic signatures.
1. Faster Turnaround
Electronic signature programs allow you to send documents instantly. The recipient can sign it immediately and send it back, taking care of an issue in minutes.
With hard copies, you either have to deliver or mail the documents, which takes hours or even days. If you’re meeting in person, you have to coordinate schedules. Finding a time that works for all parties can delay the signing significantly.
This is helpful for time-sensitive documents. It can move business processes along faster, such as closing sales quickly.
2. More Efficient Workflow
E-signatures can improve your workflow efficiency by shortening the time it takes to handle important documents. When you use physical documents, your employees have to generate, print, collate, and deliver or mail the paperwork.
You also spend more time tracking down the documents and verifying that they’re complete. Someone has to manually check to verify that all spots are signed correctly. When everything’s complete, it requires time to file the paperwork.
If you’re on the receiving end of documents, someone has to get the paperwork to the correct person, get it signed, and return it to the other company. With an electronic signature, the person responsible for signing can handle the work easily and submit it automatically.
3. Physical Storage Space Savings
Physical documents require valuable storage space in your office. By using electronic documents and signatures, you can keep copies of the paperwork without being forced to dedicate office space to physical storage. That frees up extra space for more offices, collaborative workspaces, or product storage.
Limiting paperwork also cuts down on clutter. Reduced clutter makes your office a more efficient place to work.
4. Decreased Costs
The time savings you get from using online signatures saves money because your employees are more efficient. Statistics show it costs roughly $20 to file a document and $120 to find a missing document. Document management can eat up 20 percent to 30 percent of an employee’s time.
By making better use of employee time, you save on employment costs. The salary you pay your employees goes toward more productive purposes, so you get more for your money.
You also save on office supply costs, including paper, ink, and envelopes, when you use virtual signatures. If you normally mail documents, you also cut your postage costs. You can also cut out courier service costs for documents delivered locally.
Those costs can seem insignificant, but if you handle lots of transactions involving documents, the costs add up quickly. Plus, you can feel better about your choice since you’ll be saving paper and the environment
5. Strong Security
When you choose a reputable digital signature provider, your electronic signature is more secure than a regular signature. The best systems use top encryption to protect data that’s transferred.
The systems also use passwords, PINs, and other security measures to verify that the correct people sign the documents. It helps authenticate your identity. You can also see timestamps for signatures to reduce the chances of fraud.
6. Electronic Trail
With paper documents, you never really know what happens to them once they leave your hands. That opens it up to fraud or tampering.
With electronic signatures, the system keeps track of everything that happens with the document. You can tell when someone views, signs, or prints the document.
Electronic signatures are legally binding, just like a regular signature. The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, known as the E-Sign Act, allows electronic signatures and documents to be valid for legal matters.
7. Easy to Use
Electronic signatures may sound complicated, but they’re simple to use. It’s as simple as clicking in the field to apply your signature. Any of your clients with basic computer skills can handle using this method of signing documents.
8. Convenience for Customers
Customers can sign documents from anywhere. They don’t have to drive to your office or sign for paperwork that you mail. This is especially helpful if you’re doing business with people in other countries or in remote areas.
The same applies to you when you need to sign documents for someone else. You can sign instantly from your office or home without coordinating schedules or going out of your way.
You can also access the documents from anywhere. That makes working remotely easier. Whether you need to sign a document, review it, or check on its status, you can do it from anywhere on any device.
With physical paperwork, you need access to the documents. That may mean limited access to times when you’re in the office.
9. Accurate Completion
How many times have you received paperwork from clients only to discover they forgot certain fields? Maybe they didn’t initial a certain line or they missed a signature spot.
Using electronic signatures ensures everything gets filled out completely. You can require certain fields so the recipient doesn’t miss anything.
10. Document Tracking
When you send physical documents to a client, you never really know where they are. Sure, you can check the postal tracking or verify that the client received the fax.
But what happens to the documents after that? They could sit in the fax machine tray or a pile of mail for days.
Even when they get to the intended recipient, there’s no guarantee that a person will look at them immediately.
When you use electronic signatures, you can see exactly what’s going on with every document. You can tell if the recipient has signed them yet.
This tracking lets you know when to follow up with document recipients. It also eliminates lost documents that can happen when you use physical copies.
Choose Electronic Signatures
Electronic signatures save time and money for your business. They’re not only efficient, but they’re also secure and leave an electronic record of all document activities.
Are you ready to switch to electronic signatures? Check out the features of our e-signature solutions to find out more.
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