Do you actually realize what amounts you lose by refusing to move to the digital world? From buying ink and paper to shipping costs, hard-copy document flow requires pretty much of expenses. And they can be cut by at least 55% through incorporating an e-signature app! This cost-cutting goes hand in hand with reduced time expenditures and increased productivity. In the end, it all boils down to happy customers and, as a result, greater incomes. More so, today’s electronic signature solutions give us much more than just an opportunity to sign PDF documents right from a PC or a smartphone. They serve to manage paperwork efficiently and securely thanks to multiple automated features wrapped into a single piece of software.
Do you need some proof? Well, we are going to explain how this works through the example of a cloud-based platform developed by SignNow. Why exactly this solution? SignNow is continuously ranked among the best e-signature tools on the most reputable platforms like G2, Trustpilot, Capterra, and others.
Besides, it has a nice trial period of 7 days and a simple registration procedure for everyone to examine the powers of an advanced e-signature platform without spending much time and money. So, let’s do it!
How Electronic Signatures Work
We are not going to dwell upon the intuitive design and other virtues of the app since hyping SignNow up is not our goal (though it definitely deserves this). We’d better proceed to action and show you how fast and easy you can get your papers signed electronically. Here are your steps:
- Right upon logging into your account, press the Upload Documents button on the top of the page.
- Get your document downloaded and open it to edit. Editing is required to customize your papers and prepare them for sending.
- Press Edit Signers at the top of the sidebar. Enter the name and email address of a person or organization you want to get a signature from. If you need to collect multiple signatures from various sources, add signers by clicking the blue button under the signer’s field. In this case, all the specified recipients will get the same file simultaneously, which is appropriate, for example, when you need a standard agreement signed by different people.
And yes, you can specify a signing order for the document to be forwarded between the signers sequentially. This feature can be used when you need to get a document signed by several authorities, for example, by a department supervisor and a CEO.
- Well, now, we are moving to adding fields. They are shown on the side panel, and they serve to add text pieces, dates, checkboxes, and other features that you might need in your document. Specifically, you may want to insert the names of signers or a date signed; you can pre-fill them or leave them empty while designating who should fill them in and what should be added. And of course, you will need to insert a box for placing a signature itself – just drag and drop the corresponding icon where you feel fit.
- When your file is nicely arranged and all the edits are saved, you are ready to press the Invite to Sign button and send the file for signing.
- But what will happen on the other end? Well, your signers will receive emails saying that you invite them to sign something, and by clicking on a corresponding button in the invitations, they will be forwarded to the document. No, they don’t have to sign in or log in; the file will open in a browser, and they will see those dedicated fields to fill out. In particular, by clicking on the signature field, they will get a window popping out, with a choice of signing methods available.
They can type their names in for the app to generate custom signatures. If the signers like the offered variants, they can press Sign to insert the signature into the document. Alternatively, they can draw their signatures with a mouse (or with another suitable feature on their devices) or upload an image of the signature in JPG, GIF, or PNG formats. Voila! Your paper is signed, and you will be able to see it labeled accordingly in your account.
How Document Management Works
As was already mentioned, e-signature platforms can deliver much more than just a helpful tool for placing autographs. And while SignNow’s editing opportunities are also great, you can expect additional helpful features for managing your document turnover. What are they?
- Notifications and reminders. You can set up various kinds of red flags to make sure that neither you nor your recipients forget about papers waiting for signing or already signed. This feature is sure to promote faster document processing and eliminate missed deadlines.
- Templates. You can transform any document into a convenient template to store in a dedicated folder in your account. Once you press Invite to Sign in a template, the app will generate a required number of forms with the same fillable fields to send to all the signers attached.
- Bulk sending. When you need to send multiple files to one or several senders, you don’t want to tinker with gathering the entire package one-by-one. And you don’t need to since you are free to create a group of documents or templates to dispatch them all in one click. And sure, you can attach bulk invites.
We’ve covered only some basic features included in the cheapest SignNow’s plans to show how much help you can get from such an app on your company’s way to a paperless workflow. But we’re sure that once you start using this tool, you won’t be able to stop exploring its multiple opportunities.
