How to Adopt Electronic Signatures in 2013

Electronic signatures have gained momentum in businesses looking to reduce transaction costs and the time it takes to close business. But it’s not just about reducing paper costs anymore. Customers are demanding more advanced technologies from businesses in every industry.

Once you’re sold on electronic signatures, you probably want to be able to get off the ground right away. Here’s some tips for how to adopt electronic signatures in 2013.

Research Electronic Signature Vendors

Picking an electronic signature vendor is a very important decision. The e-signature product doesn’t just need to be convenient. It also needs to produce documents that are legally valid for the life of the document. It can be confusing to find out if a vendor meets your needs, but never fear. We’ve come up with a handy checklist of eight things you should look for in a digital signature vendor.

Think Big

The best return on investment for electronic signatures will come when most of your paper-based documents are replaced with digital ones. Before you adopt an electronic signature solution, take a look at all of the departments in your business that could take advantage of electronic signature technology, both internal processes and client-facing ones. Having the big picture in mind when you choose a vendor will help you meet your long-term goals.

Start Small

Though you should think big for long-term implementation, don’t overwhelm yourself by using electronic signatures for every single document, workflow or system in your business right away. If you start with a limited scope, it gives time for everyone on your team to understand the process before rolling it out on a large scale. Piloting the program on one particular type of document can help your team to troubleshoot unexpected hang-ups without affecting the entire business.

Communicate and Collaborate

You may already have some resources for adopting electronic signatures right in your own office. When you’re coming up with a game plan for implementing electronic signatures, be sure to reach out to other leaders at your business. They might have some good ideas for best practices for using this technology. After seeing you successfully adopt electronic signatures in one area of the business they might decide to use it in their department too.

To learn more about adopting electronic signatures, check out our white paper about the differences between electronic signatures and digital signatures.