Contracts form the cornerstone of business and commercial transactions, but nothing is more exasperating than the prolonged signing. A document almost ready can be held up for a long time for one reason or another. Maybe someone responsible for approving it is out of the office, another person is still to sign the paper contract and return it, or, simply, the most up-to-date version is hiding in piles of mail.
An electronic signature app is a helpful tool that businesses can rely on to slash the time spent waiting through a transition to a paperless environment for contract signing.
Using the appropriate electronic signature, businesses can get work done faster by allowing the team to send out the contracts, gather signatures, track the process, and finish approvals entirely without printing, scanning, and constant back-and-forth by manual intervention.
How an Electronic Signature App Speeds Up Approvals
An electronic signature app can eliminate the physical aspects of the traditional signature process by replacing physical with digital tools.
Besides printing and scanning a document, waiting for it to reach another person can now be replaced by electronic and online completion of the agreements.
This convenience also results in faster responses from the signatories even when they are out of town or working from home. Then again, it simplifies internal workflows for document management, as different tools for the purpose are now replaced with one solution.
EazeeSign gives a business document signing digital workflow through which document completion gets easier and more streamlined.
Reduce Delays Caused by Printing and Scanning
Printing and scanning are just simple functions, but they end up causing quite substantial delays. The recipient may lack a printer and might have no option for the time being.
They could choose to sign after they come to their office or scan just some documents, that is why such things often mean a lot of back-and-forth conversations, which are quite wasteful. A much simpler way would be adopting an electronic signature, which can save time by enabling documents to be edited and signed digitally.
It really is beneficial for companies or legal offices where contracts and other documents have to be dealt with in a quick time.
In other words, taking care of the physical signature part manually could be another reason why documents take a long time to get back to their recipients.
Keep Multi-Party Contracts Moving
Multiple approvals may be needed for one contract. To finalise a sales contract, for instance, signatures may come from a customer, a sales manager, the finance department, and an official representative of the company.
It’s easy to imagine how this may quickly become a mess if it is managed offline. People may receive various versions of the same document, and team members may not clearly see the status of their work. An electronic signature app keeps parties to an agreement better updated by providing a clearer digital signing process.
In particular, such a method may help in avoiding situations when files are misplaced or not signed by all parties.
Electronic Signature Software vs Traditional Contract Signing
| Features | Electronic Signature Software | Traditional Contract Signing |
| Document Delivery | Online | Email, courier, or physical copy |
| Signature Process | Electronic | Handwritten |
| Printing | Usually unnecessary | Often required |
| Scanning | Usually unnecessary | Frequently required |
| Remote Completion | Convenient | More difficult |
| Multi-Party Signing | Easier to coordinate | More manual |
| Version Control | More organised | Multiple copies may circulate |
| Progress Tracking | Easier to monitor | Often manual |
| Follow-Ups | More structured | Repeated email or calls |
| Turnaround Time | Potentially faster | Can take longer |
How Electronic Signature Software Improves Contract Workflows
Make Follow-Ups More Efficient
One of the biggest reasons for lengthy contract-signing time is the habit of making more and more follow-ups. The sales team sometimes has to prompt clients to sign the contracts, and the administrative workers also get involved in numerous contact attempts with supervisors or suppliers.
Taking such action could be a considerable drain on the productive time of employees. An electronic signature software with a properly thought-out workflow would help keep track of pending agreements. This way, the teams can be sure to only pay attention to the ones that really require their help.
Improve Visibility Over Contract Status
It sometimes happens with paperless agreements that you are not clear about the current status and location of each document.
A digital signature allows people to have a visual reference about the agreement’s progress. One person could have finished, another person might still be reviewing, and a third person might even have the document opened for the first time.
Having an overview of the digital signature workflow is definitely an advantage. With a clearer view of the agreement’s status, the teams can detect and respond to any problems or delays quickly.
Support Faster Remote Approvals
In this modern setup, remote working as well as working from different locations makes signing contracts the old-fashioned way impractical. The main people of the decision process could be operating out of different workplaces; customers probably will be in different cities, and even managers can be on the road.
Expecting that physical documents will slowly travel among locations can be a serious bottleneck in a fast-paced environment.
An electronic signature app feature enables participants to go through and sign documents in a different manner from their remote locations.
Being able to move ahead even when the involved people are physically working from different locations is probably the key reason businesses should consider an e-sign solution.
Reduce Administrative Work Around Contracts
Contract turnaround is influenced by signing time but not solely determined by it. Employees often rename documents and put completed ones in proper places, go back and forth through emails to get the document to the right people, and verify that all the necessary signatures have been made.
These tasks often become more time-consuming when the document flow increases. With electronic signature software, companies get the possibility to streamline the procedure related to contracts.
Less manual work means the team members can focus on revenue generation and customer support, procurement, or whatever it is the company is mostly dealing with.
Final Thoughts
Delays in signing the contracts cause a cascading negative impact on your income, the new hire process, supply, and business in general.
An electronic signature app may change the game for you, as it will do away with printing, scanning emails, and manually following up that accompany traditional signature methods.
When the electronic signature software of your choice comes in, it brings a level of transparency, a simplification of multi-party approvals, support for remote signing, and getting agreements done more speedily.
