6 reasons it’s time to adopt eSignatures in your business

Signatures have been around for thousands of years. And throughout that long span of time, they’ve stayed largely the same: people authenticate a document by physically inscribing their own name.

But today’s world is obviously far more digital than the days when people used a tablet and chisel or a quill on parchment—and that means signatures have come a long way too.

More and more businesses are turning to e-signatures to collect the agreements or verifications they need in a way that’s far more efficient, convenient, and cost effective than pen and paper.

What exactly is an e-signature?

An e-signature is an electronic signature. Think of it as the digital version of signing your name on a piece of paper. An e-signature can be used in place of your handwritten signature (which is often called a “wet” signature, as a reference to the ink it uses).

Here’s a quick rundown of how e-signatures typically work:

1. You prepare a document to be signed and place the necessary fields using your chosen e-signature software
2. You enter the signer’s information (usually name and email address) and send the document to them
3. The signer receives a notification that a document is ready for them to review and sign
4. The signer verifies their identity, fills in the relevant fields, adds their signature, and submits the document back to you

When it comes to the signature itself, e-signatures don’t always require that you scrawl out your name the way you would on paper. E-signatures can use a variety of processes for authentication and agreement, such as:

• The signer types their name which the software uses to create a signature
• The signer uses their mouse, finger, or a stylus to “draw” their signature
• The signer uses biometrics to verify their identity and automatically add their signature

Regardless of which of the above methods are used, e-signatures are just as legally-binding as traditional ones (provided you use a legitimate and compliant e-signature platform, of course). In fact, many countries have laws that establish and enforce the legitimacy of e-signatures, such as the ESIGN Act in the United States.

6 reasons your business needs e-signatures

E-signatures can entirely replace handwritten signatures in your business—but make no mistake, that doesn’t mean they’re the same as traditional signatures. They’re better.

While the wet signatures of old are still relatively commonplace, there are several compelling reasons why e-signatures win out in the battle of digital signatures vs. handwritten signatures.

1. E-signatures are efficient

With wet signatures, you need to get the physical document in front of the person who needs to sign it. That might mean asking them to drop by your office or sending the document in the mail (or via carrier pigeon, if that’s your thing).

Either way, it takes days to collect their signature—not to mention the time it takes for the document to make its way back to you after they’ve signed (which is a time period always riddled with fears of that important paperwork getting entirely lost in the mail system).

In contrast, e-signatures take mere minutes. Signers receive notifications instantly as soon as the document is prepared and ready for them, and they can easily sign from their device and send it back with no printing, postage, or procrastinating.

As a business owner, you already have enough on your plate. With 84% of business owners working more than 40 hours per week, the time savings that e-signatures provide are a major and worthwhile benefit.

2. E-signatures are convenient

The efficiency of e-signatures goes hand-in-hand with another big perk: convenience. E-signatures are far simpler for you or your staff to prepare and manage, and they’re easier for your customers and other signers too. They don’t need to print files or prepare mailings—they just need to click a few buttons.

The convenience of e-signatures isn’t just about the signing process, either. E-signatures streamline all of your workflows related to file management.

With paper documents, you need to scan in your own copies to keep a digital version as backup. But with e-signature software, all of your completed files live in your dashboard so you can search for them, access them, and even download them when you need to.

When 54% of office workers say they waste precious time searching for files, e-signatures offer a straightforward and intuitive way for everyone to find what they need wherever they’re working from—without having to head to that dusty filing cabinet in the back corner of the office.

Your e-signature software should also integrate with the other tools and platforms you’re already using, making it even easier to share files and information between your various solutions. You can even automate those connections and save time uploading or transferring files back and forth.

3. E-signatures are secure

The biggest arguments against e-signatures almost always come back to security. People are understandably wary of digitally signing their name and sending the document back through the twists and turns of cyberspace. They think of wet signatures as the pinnacle of document security—as if someone couldn’t easily forge a signature or scribble anything that looks legitimate.

Although security concerns are valid, the truth is that e-signatures offer a lot more baked-in security than traditional, hand-written ones (provided you use a platform that uses industry best practices). E-signatures offer:

• Encryption to protect signatures and sensitive information
• Different identity verification methods to authenticate the correct signer
• Detailed electronic records about document activity, like when it was viewed, opened, signed, and more

So, while it’s smart to be cautious about anything you do online—particularly when it involves sensitive or confidential information—you and your signers can rest assured that e-signatures offer just as much (in fact, even more) security as traditional signatures.

4. E-signatures are environmentally-friendly

Sustainability has become a buzzword in the business world and for good reason: A whopping 78% of customers want to buy from environmentally-friendly companies. And entrepreneurs are taking notice, with 64% of small and medium-sized business owners saying they want to improve their environmental sustainability.

The term “sustainability” alone might inspire thoughts of needing to overhaul all of your facilities, processes, or suppliers. However, even small changes—like switching from traditional signatures to e-signatures—can make a big difference.

Think about everything involved in sending a document to be signed in the mail. There’s all of the energy and resources needed to make the ink, paper, envelopes, stamps, and other materials. There’s the emissions from transporting it to its destination. And then you repeat it all on the way back.

E-signatures don’t use any paper at all, making them not only quicker and easier than the old fashioned way of collecting signatures, but more environmentally-friendly too.

5. E-signatures are cost effective

Cost is another hurdle that deters business owners from implementing e-signatures. It’s true that most e-signature platforms come with a price tag, which makes these digital signatures feel inherently more expensive than the long-used wet signatures.

However, it’s easy to overlook or forget about a lot of the costs wrapped up in those traditional signatures, including:

• Ink and paper to print documents to be signed
• Envelopes and postage to mail documents
• Time spent preparing documents and mailings
• Administrative costs in scanning backups, correcting errors, requesting re-dos, and more

Those costs—both in money and time—can add up, especially if your business needs to collect signatures frequently. In those cases, you might be surprised by how quickly your e-signature tool could pay for itself.

Plus, a lot of e-signature software is reasonably-priced, meaning you don’t have to break the bank to get the convenience and ease of e-signatures.

E-signatures are even more affordable with Papersign’s launch discount. Sign up today and get 50% off your first year.

6. E-signatures reduce errors

The documents you need signed aren’t always self-explanatory. Your signers might need more context about what a specific field means or any formatting requirements they should keep in mind when sharing their information.

With a wet signature, providing those details means you need to litter your document with fine print and sticky notes. But with digital signatures, your e-signature tool will guide your signer through the process with prompts, required fields, and other helpful nudges along the way.

It offers a far more painless experience for your signer, and it also ensures you collect all of the information you need correctly the first time. Some research has shown that businesses see up to an 80% reduction in errors when using e-signatures compared with traditional ones.

Signatures should be simple

Collecting a signature shouldn’t be one of the most stressful and taxing things on your to-do list—in fact, it should be one of the easiest.

When you use e-signatures, getting the right information and authentication is simple, not a strain. You can skip all of the printing, scanning, folding, mailing, and waiting and get the signatures you need in minutes—with only a few clicks from you and your signer.

So, while signatures themselves might not have changed too much in the past few thousand years, the methods certainly have. E-signatures are the modern-day way to get the information you need quickly and painlessly—no carrier pigeons or stagecoaches required.

Simplify your signatures (and your business) with the right e-signature solution. Get started with Papersign for free today.