Is your Sales Team Using the Right E-signature Tool?

Whether your company directly or indirectly sells, distributes, or markets products or services to other businesses or directly to consumers, the impact of a company’s sales team is directly proportional to the company's revenue. Sales teams are integral to the success of any business. Hence, simplifying processes and easing their burden is in the interest of every employee. Although conventional sales strategies are the most effective, tedious workflows and delays in a typical sales cycle can lead to clients and potential customers losing interest. Every sales and marketing personnel understands the importance of time. The sooner you close a deal, the better it is. This is the golden rule!

If you aren't tuned into digital procedures, chances are, your sales force's productivity is probably compromised because of delays in the signing of contracts. The way to combat this is by empowering your sales team with electronic signature workflows. Incorporating e-signature solutions expedites processes by leaps and bounds while giving your clientele a better customer service experience. Additionally, the introduction of e-signatures simplifies the attestation and authorization process, enabling your sales team to close more deals faster. Electronic Signatures are a superior alternative to handwritten signatures. They have the same legal standing as handwritten signatures and many more advantages. Let's review some of the advantages of this method:

• Legally Binding:

As mentioned, electronic signatures are recognized and accepted in almost every country by law. For example, e-signatures are legally recognized in India and provided for in the Information Technology Act (IT Act), passed in 2000. The IT Act defines an Electronic Signature as 'Authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber by means of the electronic technique specified in the second schedule and includes a digital signature.'

• Provide quick TATs (turnaround time):

E-signature solutions reduce the time taken for signature acquisition from an average of 5 days to just a few minutes. Envision the time your Business Development teams will save if you succeed in migrating the entire sales cycle, right from floating a tender or proposal until the closure of a deal to electronic signatures and documentation. E-signature solutions help you make important decisions without needing to be physically present.

• Cost-effective:

While signing files the traditional way, there are a lot of unaccounted expenses. But, if you consider the costs in printing, scanning, filing, copying, transporting staff, and meeting clients, electronic signatures incur only a fraction of that cost while maximizing your ROI.

• Environment-friendly:

Transferring processes to paperless workflows saves trees and creates a heightened sense of responsibility towards sustainability that radiates to other areas of your employees' professional and personal lives. Many companies already follow digital workflows but still sign on paper. With electronic signatures, you now have to power to say no to paper!

• Free from Human Error:

Bid adieu to the days when your EA or secretary has access to all your sensitive information. Only intended receivers can view documents in digital workflows. To err is human, and clerks may miss photocopying documents or be unable to retain the correct sequence when files move from one desk to another. The absence of secretarial and clerical intervention in documentation & transportation of files reduces the scope of privacy leaks, fraud, or errors caused by negligence.

• More Secure:

Cutting-edge PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) technology and cryptography ensure that a sealed document's contents are not tampered with. But, when you sign documents with ink, there is much scope for the entire file or even certain pages or clauses to be edited or excluded. Whenever a physical copy goes back and forth, it is impossible to conduct due diligence. But, with electronic signatures, a sealed document cannot be altered in any way.

• Entirely Traceable:

Electronically signed documents maintain a complete audit trail, storing evidential data such as source, IP address, the status of a document, whether opened or unopened, number of times it has been viewed, along with the timestamps. In the event the authenticity or trails of files are challenged, all the evidence is instantly available, leaving no room for uncertainties.

Also Read: 6 Mistakes to Avoid With Electronic Signatures

Of course, if you are unfamiliar with this concept, you may still be a bit skeptical. However, e-signatures can help you close a deal faster. What's more, the documentation is recognized in a court of law. For your benefit, let us review the requisites for this. For an e-signature to be legally binding, it must fulfill the following criteria:

• Awareness of Implications: You must ensure all the signing participants understand the legal status of their e-signature. They must have explicit consent to use their electronic signature and conduct business electronically with complete knowledge.
• The Choice to Commit: You must allow users the option to accept or decline to sign electronically.
• Source and Trail Evidence: The platform you choose should have the ability to track when and if every participant has signed the said document.
• Distribution of Copies: You must send a copy of the attested document to all signing parties

In addition to these criteria, the IT Act 2000 recommends using the following technology to ensure the safety of all participants:

• Asymmetric Cryptography: Asymmetric cryptography uses public and private keys to encrypt and decrypt messages to ensure secure communication. It is similar to a lock and key but in a virtual space. These need to match in order to gain access.
• Hash Function: A hash function is an algorithm that converts the input value into a compressed numeric value of fixed length. If anyone attempts to tamper with the data contained within a sealed attested document, there will be a change in the hash values indicating fraud.

Partnering with a reputed service provider ensures these safety measures are taken care of, and your electronic signatures maintain their legal status. Consider this: going the conventional route consumes an average of 5 days to get a disclosure or sales cover letter signed. We arrive at this figure considering all goes smoothly. But, if there is any need for clarification or rectification, the number of days also increases proportionately, delaying the time taken to seal a deal.

How you sell is more important than what you sell. – Andy Paul

With Exela’s DrySign, the process is straightforward. DrySign eliminates bottlenecks involved in traditional document signing. It streamlines the entire sales cycle securely. With features like online document storage, audit trails, and multifactor authentication, DrySign is a holistic digital signature platform that complies with the IT Act 2000 and is certified by India's most trusted Certification Authority- eMudhra. You can send your sale proposals or tenders to the intended clients via email at the click of a button. Your customer, in turn, can review the document and authorize it with their electronic signature. If they wish to propose changes, they can revert accordingly. While using e-signature services, your document does not need to be physically sent from one location to another, saving you a lot of time and resources on both ends.

And what's more, is, you can easily access specific files instantly without having to bring them out of some physical storage facility. By providing your clients with options that facilitate smooth operations, your Sales Team can expedite a pitch and easily convert it into a sale with the help of DrySign. Here is how it works:

• Step 1: The recipients receive and open the document
• Step 2: Every recipient can individually open the document requiring attestation from the convenience of their location and review it accordingly
• Step 3: Upon viewing the document's contents, there are apparent prompts seeking consent to e-signature with its validity mentioned alongside.
• Step 4: The recipients upload their signature wherever indicated.
• Step 5: Recipients may download the document for record purposes. Additionally, copies are emailed and saved on a cloud so all participants can access authorized documents as required.

But, this is what you’re accustomed to!

Let's take a look at the way you've been doing it all along. Recall your last important sales cycle, perhaps, a deal you recently scored or a high-priority one. With traditional workflows, this is how it's always been. During negotiations, nothing is concrete. All participants are likely to go back and forth several times. Multiple departments review the clauses and components while making suggestions to a proposal. Even when all parties agree, the contract requires due diligence involving an exhaustive approval workflow. Only then is the final copy drafted. Seems familiar?

Then begins the subsequent authorization and verification process! After all this, the document must be attested in various places several times without missing a single spot. Multiple parties may be involved, so the need for acquiring multiple signatures may arise. Once the agreement is signed, you have to store it in a secure location that is still accessible and retrievable as and when required. In all likelihood, even after a contract is signed, there may be circumstantial or preferential updates requiring supplementary or an entirely new set of documentation. And of course, even after successful execution and completion of tenure, a contract can be renewed or terminated. In either case, a repetition of similar paper workflows repeats itself. And long after the closure of a contract or deal, you must maintain records. These not only help provide analytics but are essential for audits and book-keeping. Paper-based manual workflows may require sales personnel to check the availability of all the parties involved to schedule in-person meetings. Documentation also must be impeccable. But, signed paper is not tamper-proof. That’s why…

Don’t Just Sign; DrySign instead!

DrySign is a cloud-based electronic signature platform that seamlessly integrates with many enterprise solutions. It has the potential to empower businesses to streamline internal and external signing workflows. DrySign can integrate with Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. It is compatible with desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. DrySign is a highly secure, fast, and legally sound electronic signature solution for your business with innumerable benefits to its credit. DrySign rids you of time-consuming, error-prone, conventional paper-based workflows. You can import your existing company templates to speed up your processes and upload images and files in various formats. Step into the new age of digital transformation with sustainable authentication and signature solutions. Give your sales team a hand; switch to electronic signatures and improve your sales cycle! Sign up for a free trial today!

Statistical Data Source: financesonline.com

DISCLAIMER: The information on this site is for general information purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Laws governing the subject matter may change quickly, and Exela cannot guarantee that all the information on this site is current or correct. Should you have specific legal questions about any of the information on this site, you should consult with a licensed attorney in your area.

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