Yes, save the forests. And no, this is NOT a petition for you to sign that will save the forests. This is a chance for you to do that without signing any papers.
Like it or not, signatures are still needed to complete numerous business transactions, from signing expense reports and invoices to signing new contracts.
This usually means a lot of paper is printed (multiple times), physically signed, scanned, stored, or sent via mail and then forgotten and never seen again. Sounds familiar?
The whole process is digital, except for the signature, which could also be digital. Precisely because of the printing and signing steps, this entire process wastes time and paper unnecessarily. Why waste paper and your time when you can do everything digitally?
What are the alternatives to pen and paper?
The change came in the form of an electronic signature or e-signature, which enabled the document to be digitally signed via an application or online form and then sent to the required recipients in the work process.
In addition to saving time, electronic signatures lower the risk of fraud, create a better user experience, and, ultimately, significantly reduce printing and paper consumption. Saving the forests in the process.
Today, we are living in a digital age of remote work, and many companies have updated their workflows to be able to do everything digitally. You click, you sign, and you’re done. You can sign it from the comfort of your home. But still, there is a risk that someone could impersonate your signature.
To counter that, digital signatures are encrypted, verifiable, and support the broadest range of legal requirements. They can be used to provide evidence of the origin, status, and the signer’s informed consent. This means your customers can trust you more, recommend your services, and your income will increase.
Where can you make a digital signature?
There are quite a few e-sign applications, but the ones worth mentioning are Zoho Sign, DocuSign, Adobe Sign, HelloSign, PandaDoc.
All of them are great tools to use, but which one should you use and why?
Zoho Sign stands out because of its ability to integrate with other Zoho apps like Zoho CRM. This will allow you to preload the information from CRM into the document—a process that saves you time and money. Otherwise, you would have to fill in the information manually.
It is a digital signature application with which you can sign, send, and manage business documents from anywhere. And it’s already included in Zoho One, so you don’t have to pay anything extra for it. This means there is a free version, and the general plan is cheaper than the alternatives.
Additionally, you can use it even if you don’t know much about it. Zoho Sign has an easy-to-use interface that everyone in your company can use.
For the creatives out there, Zoho Sign allows you to fully customize emails, templates, and you can set up your e-signature in three ways:
You can type in your name and initials and select one of the given fonts. Or you can simply draw your signature using your mouse. Alternatively, you may also upload a picture of your signature (PNG or JPG). A small but powerful way to increase security and customer satisfaction.
If you are worried about the security and legal validity of digital signatures, Zoho Sign has got you covered. To provide the most rigorous standards of security for your confidential documents, the app complies with e-signature laws across the globe, including the ESIGN Act and UETA Act (US laws), eIDAS (EU regulation), PIPEDA (Canada’s law), ITA-2000 (India’s law), GDPR, ETA, and other international laws. So you can be sure that all documents signed using Zoho Social are legally binding and comply with all international laws. And if you still want to add an additional level of security, you can add Face and Touch ID and passcode.
But, surely there is a limit on how many signatures or documents you can upload and send? All the other apps have a limit. Actually, no. By using the Enterprise Edition, you can sign an unlimited number of documents. Even from your phone.
Speaking of phones, wouldn’t it be great if you could do all that from your phone? You can download the Zoho Sign app on your iOS or Android device. This app will allow you to scan a document and sign it directly from your phone.
The real advantage comes in the form of a template.
If you are someone who sends out hundreds of documents for signature every month, most of them are the same documents but sent to different recipients at different points in time (e.g., NDA-s to new employees), then Zoho Sign’s Templates feature will save you a lot of time. Just upload your document once, and you can save it as a template and reuse it in the future.
The advantage of Templates is that the fields in them can be filled in automatically through integration with other applications. For example, the contract sent to the client from the CRM for signature will contain the name of the company, address, and other specific information related to that contract that was collected in the CRM before being sent for signature through Zoho Sign. This will improve your workflow.
For example, if your company wants new hires to sign their social media policy, the HR team can create a SignForm and embed its URL in your company’s onboarding email for new hires to sign and submit.
A SignForm is a simpler document that can’t be automatically populated with information from other applications. For example, the NDA, which the new employee must sign and which is all predefined, and only the employee’s name and signature can be entered.
With SignForms, you don’t need to manually import a document, add recipients, fields, and send it out for signing every single time. A valuable feature in an otherwise time-consuming process.
How to send multiple prefilled documents?
A practical example:
Let’s say that you are a financial advisor who sells financial services and products to your clients. And you would like to send a prefilled contract, so the only thing they need to do is sign the document once they receive it.
Is there a way you can do this without needing to fill out the document with every single piece of information that relates to each client?
Yes, and you can use the Bulk Send feature for that.
Another way is through SignForms.
What to do if you want your documents signed in some order?
When sending multiple documents to two or more signatories, it is important to enable the Send in order option. A feature that will allow you to send the documents only after the first signer has signed them. So you can choose between parallel signing or sequence signing.
How to check who signed the documents and who hasn’t?
Zoho Sign also offers intuitive workflows in the Reports section. There you can see the number of documents completed, declined and/or expired. The reports can be exported as PDFs and reviewed for enhancement of internal processes. If someone hasn’t signed their document, you can send them a reminder.
In conclusion, Zoho Sign is a better alternative to DocuSign, Adobe Sign, HelloSign, and PandaDoc because of its easy-to-use workflow, practical features that save valuable time, and affordable pricing. Especially if you want to get rid of the repetitive paperwork, save your resources, time, and office space, follow your growth, and scale your business.
That’s why every small and medium-sized business should consider Zoho Sign when looking for a solution to digital signing and managing business documents.
