Why eSignatures Should Be a Part of Your Digital Transformation Strategy
By Howard Schulman
Technology continues to adapt and change how organizations carry out their day-to-day activities. A great digital transformation strategy is key to helping a company grow in the future. One of the key elements that must be a part of the transformation is eSignatures.
eSignatures are electronic data that are freely collected from a signatory. The signatory agrees to a document. eSignatures can take various forms such as a photograph of a written signature. It may also be anything written by the mouse or stylus. Initially, many believed that esignatures were not valid hence not legally binding. But many countries now recognize eSignatures as legal and binding.
Below are some of the reasons why eSignatures should be a part of your digital transformation strategy.
Improved User Experience
Companies need to improve the user experience to appeal to a larger client base. One of the key ways of achieving this is through eSignatures. They provide customers with great flexibility and convenience. This is because customers do not have to print or sign any paper document with the company.
Customers can sign documents at any time, and from any location. They can also submit their signatures from any electronic device. Electronic signatures have helped improve the user experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has helped businesses continue operating with ease. It has also given them a competitive edge over other players in the market.
Enhanced Efficiency and Security
eSignatures enhance the efficiency of collecting and storing information. The process is completely handled by machines. This technology allows organizations to collect signatures from various users from any location. This process would be difficult if organizations chose to collect the signatures manually.
The verification and identification process has also made it easier to collect valid signatures. Many organizations are still reluctant to adopt eSignatures because of various security concerns. The concerns are fraud or cybersecurity threats. But the identity authentication process has made collecting eSignatures more secure.
eSignatures are also more secure because they are much easier to store and retrieve. Paper documents can get lost or misplaced. The use of cloud-based technology ensures that eSignatures are not lost. It also makes them accessible from any device that can connect to the internet. Signatures on paper documents are harder to collect, store, and authenticate.
Organizations are also using various features such as GPS tracking and time stamps. These features help show the time and location of a signatory. This further enhances the security of eSignatures. Incorporating the use of eSignatures improves the security of any digital transformation strategy.
Environmental Sustainability
One of the major emerging issues facing businesses today is environmental sustainability. Consumers are also more interested in what companies are doing to go green. Using eSignatures helps reduce the amount of paper used by companies. The reduction of paper is vital as more than 400 million tons of paper get produced every year.
Using eSignatures ensures there is better waste management. Companies are now able to reduce the amount of paper used. Hence, there is less waste produced. eSignatures also aid to reduce environmental pollution. Eliminating or reducing poor waste disposal helps avoid air or land pollution. Environmental sustainability is the key to getting a better triple bottom line.
A good triple bottom line shows that a company is performing well in all three aspects. These aspects include profit, people, and environmental sustainability. Using eSignatures helps a company improve its performance in all three aspects.
Reduces Costs
Using eSignatures helps companies reduce costs associated with processing paperwork, such as manpower hours, mailing fees, and supply costs. Saving money is especially important today due to the COVID pandemic.
The costs saved by eliminating paper can help the organization grow. A company can focus more attention on their digital transformation strategy. The company will also save more time and free up more company resources. Such resources will help develop other areas that are underperforming.
Greater User Control
eSignatures provide users with a greater range of control. It also gives them more power in how they interact with organizations. This is because organizations need the user’s consent. This means that the user can choose when and how to interact with the company.
There are many policy guidelines for using eSignatures. The organization must provide the user with a detailed and up-to-date statement of all requirements. The second guideline is informing the user that they have a right to withdraw their consent. The third guideline is that the consumer will not suffer any legal or financial consequence. This is in cases where they have chosen to withdraw consent.
These guidelines give the user greater control and also protects them from coersion. Using eSignatures helps your users know that you have their best interests at heart. This will encourage greater interaction and communication between you and your clients. Such interaction is an important avenue for gaining feedback. It also helps the company performance evaluations for various products or services.
Higher Productivity
eSignatures enable employees to become more productive. They can get more time to focus on their other duties. Employees can focus on providing better goods and services to their clients. This helps improve the company’s efficiency and achieve higher productivity levels.
Adopting eSignatures will help the company invest more in paperless technology. The technology will improve the efficiency of technical processes. This is especially true of processes that have high error rates. The goal of any digital transformation strategy is to achieve higher productivity.
eSignatures also enable a company to improve its record-keeping abilities. This is very important for data analysis and evaluation of employee’s performance. The business will thus eliminate errors and improve the productivity of everyday operations.
Transform Your Business Today
Adopting a great digital transformation strategy is key to gaining a competitive edge. But every digital transformation strategy is not complete without an eSignature platform. The benefits of esignatures include higher productivity and reduced costs. They will also improve the user experience. Begin the digital transformation journey today by adopting eSignatures.
Start Completing at the Speed of Lightico
Instant eSignatures, Payments, Document Collection & More
The most helpful thing about Lightico is the fast turnaround time, The upside is that you are giving your customer an easy way to respond quickly and efficiently. Lightico has cut work and waiting time as you can send customer forms via text and get them back quickly, very convenient for both parties.
"Great Service and Product"
I love the fact that I can send or request documents from a customer and it is easy to get the documents back in a secured site via text message. Our company switched from Docusign to Lightico, as Lightico is easier and more convenient than Docusign, as the customer can choose between receiving a text message or an email.