E-signatures: Simplifying the journey for salespeople

We have seen three major revolutions in work over the last 500 years - electricity, steam, and computers. Now, we are in the fourth industrial revolution era that brings the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), predictive intelligence, and data science to help transform how businesses operate. And just in time, as customers become far more knowledgeable, uplifting their expectations to receive better service from companies. In fact, consumers today seek a more personalized experience. And technology is undoubtedly helping organizations make that happen. So, the question remains. Why are 90% of organizations still failing to go digital? Some reasons include a lack of talent or skill gaps, cultural resistance, lack of alignment between business functions and technology, and no clear plan in place. This impacts your business on an unprecedented scale.

Specifically, sales representatives can spend two-thirds of their free time on administrative tasks associated with selling. They are investing their time in work, but this is different from the work that helps businesses grow.

Only 22% of sales documents are fully digital.

And 80% of business documents still rely on paper.

While sales teams are forced to spend most of their productive hours handling paperwork, they start lacking or losing focus on the actual productive work that helps the business grow. Important deals often face delays while waiting for emails, visits, phone calls, and signed documents. Sales agreements and contracts require a lot of back-and-forth sharing in order to get approvals from concerned individuals and signatures to seal the deal. This waiting period can sometimes extend from days to weeks, increasing the chances of losing the deal or client. And this is why business owners should consider digitizing their paperwork. Incorporating digital documents and electronic signatures in your sales workflows not only streamlines the processes but also benefits the business in many ways. Dive into this blog to learn how e-signatures can transform how salespeople operate, and three major reasons sales representatives find it the most advantageous for their use.

Why does your Sales Team need e-signatures?

Before we get into some significant facts, glance at these numbers:

• 57% of people stated that they are more likely to purchase from a salesperson who doesn’t try to pressure or hassle them following up.
• 59% of people feel irritated with a generic sales pitch.
• Sales experience influences 53% of customer loyalty.

Salespeople are the backbone an organization can rely on - the same goes for customers. Consumers and organizations explicitly rely on salespeople to understand their needs and come up with viable solutions. And this dedication asks for continued efforts that some redundant and complex sales tasks cannot hold back. This is why most organizations are embracing the way of digitization, to allow their salespeople free time from administrative tasks to spend on revenue-generating activities.

While every organization out there is striving to go digital, many are still failing to digitize the most crucial part of the business - paperwork. Manual paperwork adds to the cost and time involved in scanning, printing, transferring documents, and obtaining physical signatures. In today's fast-moving, competitive business world, no business can afford to spend days or weeks just to get a deal signed.

On the other hand, integrating digital documentation and electronic signatures in your sales workflows helps reduce the time required for the sales cycle, get deals signed faster, store and manage your confidential documents securely, and enhance customer experience. With the help of eSignatures, your customers can securely and efficiently sign online documents directly from the device they view them on in just a few seconds. Moreover, e-signed documents hold equal legal status, the same as any traditionally signed documents. While electronic signature software has countless benefits for your sales teams, the three crucial reasons salespeople admire e-signatures are listed below.

Also Read: E-Signatures: Here to stay? Or on their way out?

3 Reasons why Sales Teams prefer eSignatures

Salespeople need to respond promptly to any transactions to attract potential customers and retain existing ones. An e-signature solution does that for you, automating all your time-consuming, redundant tasks. Here are three primary reasons salespeople admire e-signatures:

1. Cost savings

   The significant and primary benefit of using e-signature technology is the cost-savings. In sales, several variables require attention before closing a transaction. The overall process adds to the expenses, building up significantly over time. These costs include paper, ink, scanning, printing, transport, fuel, and storage. Even minor tasks related to manual paperwork, such as printing or copying data, can cost a significant amount annually.

   The percentage of salespeople hitting their quota has fallen by 25%.

   While 65% of businesses say sales efficiency is their ultimate business challenge.

   Luckily, these expenses can now be avoided with the help of e-signature technology. The electronic signature solution enables you to automate all your document-related workflows. You can eliminate the use of physical paper and embrace entirely digital workflows. The eSignature solution allows you to share, sign, and store documents electronically and integrates additional, end-to-end security and legitimacy in your documentation. This means you never have to print a paper for signing and getting signatures again and never face security breaches or legal issues that can bore a hole in your business pockets.

2. Reduced time consumption

   In sales, time is money. If you take forever to close one deal, you will probably lose the deal, consumer trust, and your brand reputation.

   Sales representatives spend only 37% of their time on revenue-generating activities.

   This exhibits that the remaining time is spent on non-selling tasks such as checking emails, going through large document stacks, attending meetings, traveling, and obtaining signed documents. Moreover, if salespeople are more involved in time-consuming, redundant tasks, they can hardly contribute towards more priority work, such as revenue generation. As we know, documentation is crucial for the sales department and can never go wrong. A small mistake could result in expensive penalties, repeat procedures, more wasted time, etc. This is where the application of e-signatures comes into play.

   Electronic signatures automate the entire documentation flow from end to end, reducing the time required for redundant tasks, such as printing, scanning, emailing, etc. The amount of time that gets saved eventually contributes toward an increased level of productivity. For instance, with the help of e-signing, the sales department can move their transactions online, allowing more free time for the salespeople to interact with consumers and address their needs.

3. Elevated consumer experience

   In today's competitive world, providing an exceptional consumer experience is a top priority for most businesses. Consumer experience (CX) matters the most in today's customer-centric business world. The more you satisfy your customers, the more they will engage with your brand, recommend it to others, and put their trust in you - taking your business game to a whole new level.

   Sales representatives spend an average of 440 hours annually to find the right content to share with their customers and prospects.

   Keeping your customers and prospects engaged in your brand through different content ideas, offers, or benefits is always challenging. Thus, the third and most essential reason salespeople admire electronic signatures is that it helps keep your customers satisfied. Hating paperwork is universal - not just your sales representative dreads going through countless pages, but your customers hate it too. Sharing electronic documents with consumers allows them to complete the transaction the moment they decide to buy. Moreover, with intelligent e-signature solution features, such as real-time mail trails, you can track your document signing status anytime. The solution also eliminates the hassle of printing, scanning, physically signing, and sharing documents manually, allowing for a smoother buying experience and elevating the consumer experience.

Conclusion

Apart from the above-listed benefits, the electronic signature solution enables your sales teams to establish a legal, safe, and secure digital documentation workflow, invoice quickly, increase efficiency, track the status, get quicker payments, etc. Integrating electronic signature solutions with your sales processes impacts not only your sales but your business in a good way. Since we know the benefits of electronic signatures and the drawbacks of manual, paper-based processes, we suggest you not waste any more time, money, and resources dealing with redundant tasks. DrySign, a leading e-signature provider, furnishes a vast range of intelligent features to make your sales journey smooth and hassle-free. DrySign signatures comply with specific laws and regulations to integrate legitimacy into your documentation. Talk to our experts to discuss your business requirements and get a solution unique to your business needs. Start DrySigning now!

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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