7 Benefits of Implementing Electronic Signatures (eSignatures)

Everyone is going paperless these days. 

Paperless makes sense. Not only is it better for the environment, it’s also much easier to manage paperless documents, and it helps cut admin costs too. 

One of the main considerations when transitioning to paperless solutions is how to tick all the legal and regulatory boxes. If your business or organisation needs to enable people to sign certain documents, then you’ll need to find a way to do it digitally. 

Electronic signatures provide the solution, especially when integrated with a CRM. 

You’ll probably want to know what the advantages are before you invest in a subscription to an eSignature platform. Good news – that’s exactly what we’re going to look at in this article.

What is an electronic signature?

When we talk about digital signatures, we’re not actually talking about a signature in the traditional sense: a handwritten representation of an individual’s name. 

Instead, an eSignature is more like a digital “fingerprint”. It provides a way of verifying that somebody has read a document and agrees to the terms held within it. In other words, electronic signatures remove the need to physically sign a piece of paper. 

Digital signatures use a standard protocol known as Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to record and store a signature transaction in a secure, tamper-proof, and universally accepted way. The PKI applies a unique algorithm to generate a pair of keys, one public and one private, to each transaction. The keys guarantee that the electronic signature is genuine and has been validated. 

Digital signature or eSignature platforms and tools take care of the whole process for the document issuer and the signatory. eSignature software provides the PKI and often applies a security layer known as Certificate Authority (CA) to validate the signature.

7 Benefits of eSignatures

1. Convenience

The main benefit for both the document issuer and signatory is that the process is quicker and easier than signing paper documents. 

For instance, multiple bank loan documents can be read and signed online, removing the need for the lender to visit the bank in person or receive and return paper documents through the post. 

Additionally, some of the more innovative CRM solutions allow digital signature integrations to automate the capture and storage of electronic signatures.

2. Paperless

Electronic signatures are added to digital documents and stored centrally in the cloud or a local network, which means there is no longer a need to keep or print a paper copy. In this way, eSignatures help reduce office storage and provide a more environmentally sustainable solution.

3. Improved security

Electronic signatures are far more secure than sending documents through the postal service. By applying digital authentication systems, document issuers can feel reassured that their documents will be received and signed by the right person.

4. Comprehensive tracking

The document issuer can see exactly who has opened, signed, and verified a document, which comes in handy when signatures are needed from multiple people.

5. Get global signatures quickly

Traditional methods of obtaining signatures from overseas residents could take weeks. Electronic signatures can be requested and provided in seconds, using any device, including smartphones and tablets.

6. Enable more agile working practices

Electronic signatures help to support lean or agile workflows and maintain project momentum. Waiting for traditional paper signatures can slow projects down or pause them altogether, which can make the difference between success and failure in our fast-paced digital world.

7. Save money

Last but not least, eSignatures can help businesses and organisations cut costs. Money can be saved through the reduction of paper and printing, postage, administration, and storage expenses. In some cases, electronic signatures can open up the potential for remote working by reducing the need for physical office space.

Why businesses should integrate electronic signatures with CRM software

Customer relationship management (CRM) software provides valuable tools to align teams and boost efficiency. Modern sales departments rely heavily on CRM software to collect and analyse customer data and collate documents from a centralised location. 

Customer relationship management solutions cut down considerably on administrative tasks, saving salespeople time and allowing them to generate more revenue for the company. With an innovative solution like efficy CRM, your business can also integrate third-party tools, including eSignatures. Integrating electronic signatures with a CRM enables you to:

• Save time and money by removing the need to print or scan paper documents
• Automate time-consuming tasks such as sending quotes and sales agreements manually by email
• Make it easier for your customers to choose between multiple quotations and sign them directly
• Retrieve documents more quickly
• Shorten your sales cycle.

efficy has partnered up with three electronic signature providers – Connective, Universign, and Yousign. efficy users can easily and seamlessly integrate any of these three tools to securely request signatures and store any documents centrally in the CRM library. 

Why not see how integrating a powerful CRM with electronic signatures can save you time and money? Book a demo of efficy CRM, and one of our expert advisors will show you how it works. 
 

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