So how do you get the documents signed by your prospective clients? Let me guess.

Email, Print, Sign, Scan, and Repeat.

When it comes to signing the documents, handwritten signatures have been in vogue for a very long time. Enter eSignature

As the world is becoming digital, the traditional way of signing and validating documents via pen and paper has started disappearing. And interestingly that’s not a bad thing, as e-signature has many advantages, especially for those who frequently exchange business proposals/contracts/quotes with their prospective clients.  

So what’s the deal with e-signatures? why you should adopt e-signature for your business and, how Fresh Proposals can help you with that?

Yes, that’s all we’re going to discuss in this post. 

So, HOP ON!!!! 

What is an electronic signature?

A typical workday in many businesses is packed with lots of paperwork- contracts and documents which need to be approved, signed and returned.

So, in simple words, an electronic signature is a term for any document or contract that is signed electronically without the use of paper, it’s a replacement for a handwritten signature. The standard procedure for signing such documents electronically is by applying the signer’s name either typed or hand-drawn with the use of a mouse or touch screen. 

Legitimacy of e-signatures

Is electronic signature legally binding? So the short is the answer is yes, they are. And the long answer is different countries have different laws for it. 

In the United States, Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA) states that electronic signatures are legal only if all parties have agreed to conduct the transaction electronically.  

Similar legislation exists in the European Union under electronic, Identification, Authentication, and trust Services (eIDAS). eIDAS makes sure that each type of e-sign is acceptable as evidence in European Union Courts and shall not be deprived of its legal effect merely because it is in electronic form.

This means, choosing an electronic signature won’t harm your organization from a legal standpoint. However, for an electronic signature to be legally valid, it must fulfill the following conditions:

• It should provide a definite intent to sign or a clear option to opt-out
• It demands that you give consent before signing.
• It attributes the signature clearly. This could include an email trail or record, IP address, or the time of the signature.
• The signature must be directly connected or associated with the document.

When you satisfy these requirements your e-signature will be legally binding.

Why you should adopt electronic signature to close deals faster?

eSignature will not only open the way for the paperless solution but it’ll also make the process more productive, save your time and money.

Here are 4 important reasons why considering e-signature is a good idea for your business:

Fast Turnaround

Physical sign-off comes with its own struggle of sending the document to one individual, get print, sign, and scan, sending the same document to the next individual, and then again repeating the process down the line

Marketers using the traditional method for signing have to do many steps to get the business proposals signed from the prospective clients. 

Thanks to e-signature, you can get any contracts and proposals signed off almost instantly, by using tables, mobiles or computers with a click of a button. As a result, you save time. 

Though eSignatures are not confined to proposals, new generation of proposal management software enables sales team to unleash the power of online proposals with eSignatures, proposal analytics, etc. Do you want to know what is a proposal software?

Cost Saving

With e-signature printing and sending a paper, documents are unnecessary. Therefore printing and shipping costs will automatically go down. Daily expenses for printing and shipping may not be huge but over a year such cost can really add up. 

So, you can dramatically decrease the cost by switching to e-signatures. The use of electronic signatures will also help cut down environmental waste as a consequence of the significant reduction of papers. 

Workflow Efficiency

With e-signature managing and tracking the sales proposals become easier and faster. With a lesser delay, it ensures better workflow efficiency. They also make it easier to organize the information and documents, as there isn’t any physical paper to search through. 

Searching through digital documents is a lot easier than paper files. Another benefit with e-signature is you can send reminder emails to the signers if a document has not been signed yet.

Enhance Security

E-signatures provides robust encryption algorithms so that no third party can access the document without consent. It also reduces other risks, for instance, paper documents can become damaged easily, whereas digital documents with e-signatures are the opposite. 

Handwritten signatures can be forged, or documents can be destroyed or misplaced. But the documents and proposals that are digitally signed, authenticate the identity of the person signing them.

How Fresh Proposals can help you with electronic signatures?

Fresh Proposals handles all the aspects of the signing process- from collecting consent, to delivering and storing the e-signed proposals/contracts/documents and detailed audit trail of the transaction. 

We’re super proud to say that our solution of e-signature is managed with confidentiality, enforcement, and long-term verification in mind. Fresh Proposals e-sign feature can be used for complicated deals as well. Such as proposals with multiple signers can collaborate online by adding comments, questions, or clarifications and take the informed decision.

Here’s how you can sign your proposal electronically with Fresh Proposals:

How Fresh Proposals facilitates legally binding eSignature?

• The signee receives an email with a unique link to the proposal, which validates them and allows them to sign the document. 
• Then we record the IP address of the signing parties, along with the date and the time it was signed.
• Once it’s all signed, we offer both the signees a digital copy of the signed proposal for the record.
• If anything in the proposal is changed or edited all the parties immediately receives the notification. And then the revised document would be re-sent and re-signed by all the parties.

There are thousands of independent e-signature providers out there in the market; however Fresh Proposals is tool that not only saves every organization from the hassle of printing, signing, scanning, and sending physical copies of your proposals, documents or contracts by providing a seamless digital experience with a built-in electronic signature but it also streamlines and optimizes the process of sales proposal management.

Then there are various use cases like

• eSignature software for sales team
• eSignatures software for HR
• eSignature fo real estate
• eSignature for construction

 

Wrap-Up

You need to keep up with the trend if you want to be successful in the marketing industry. E-signature is one of the digital transformations that you need to implement in your sales proposal. 

So, are you ready?