Electronic signatures are no longer a tech innovation – they’re an industry standard. Even many small businesses are relying on them, while all major companies are already using them for a while.
Just imagine if a company operating on multiple continents had to wait for a file to get signed by someone in another branch. Even if they were to send a fax, the time-zone difference would cause such an incredible delay. With electronic signatures, none of this is a problem.
For those who are still unconvinced, here are a few additional reasons why introducing electronic signatures would be a massive boost to your business efficiency.
- More convenient
The first thing you need to understand about electronic signatures is the fact that, in the eyes of the law, they’re completely the same as wet signatures. The only reason why people ever signed things by hand is because it was required, and there was no alternative.
This way, you had to send a document to another party or wait until you meet up with them in order to sign this document. This took time and was incredibly hard to schedule.
The problem is that, in a lot of industries, things are stopped when the right signature is missing, which means that while everything else is in motion, you’re waiting for days and hours for someone just to make a signature.
This is a signature that they could have made on their electronic device in a matter of a second. Since it’s all on the cloud, you would have been notified right away. The only scenario in which this system can make sense is one where there’s no alternative. Today, this is clearly no longer the case.
Aside from just saving time, you’re avoiding the reliance on delivery services, as well as scanners and fax machines, which, even when they were a common issue, many offices lacked.
- Everything is digital
One of the most important things you need to understand is the nature of modern document management. All modern documents are digital, and even those that still exist on paper have digital versions.
The majority of files are first made in a digital format and are then printed. Even if it’s the other way around, modern scanning and OCR technology are far beyond what they were in the past. This means that converting an image into a different file format makes all the difference in the world.
Digital files are not just cheaper (no printing) and more convenient, but they’re also safer from getting lost. According to one estimate, roughly 7.5% of all physical files get lost. We’re talking about important documents whose absence could land you in huge trouble.
Overall, all of your files exist in digital format, and electronic signatures are just superior for this kind of workplace.
- Ideal for collaboration
You’re not just creating these files in a digital format; you’re also sharing them this way. Sure, some file types allow for real-time collaboration, but sharing platforms like Dropbox still play a huge role in this field.
This brings us to one of the most important factors to use when choosing electronic signatures – we’re talking about integrations. You’re probably already using so many different tools and platforms, which means that you need something that you can integrate with the rest of your digital arsenal.
Ideally, you would make an audit of all the tools that you use and check if the platform offers simple integration procedures with all of them. This is especially important when it’s a software that you use all the time.
With the right software and its integration, like a Dropbox sign for Procore integration, the situation becomes even more in your favor.
Also, thanks to the fact that you can backtrack your digital footprint, it’s easy to establish who signed what. This is a vital part of version control, which may actually play into the legality of your operations.
Being able to figure out who is at fault quickly can greatly help resolve conflicts within remote teams.
- Greater security
When businesses and individuals are first introduced to the idea of using electronic signatures, they immediately assume that this would be risky from the perspective of cybersecurity. The main reason for this is that they falsely assume that wet signatures are somehow safer.
First of all, wet signatures are not harder to forge.
Sure, one would have to get access to the physical file in order to forge it, but what about just printing their own version of the document and signing it with a signature that looks like your own? If anything, wet signatures have less consistency, so even if the signature looks somewhat off, it might not be enough to raise suspicion.
At the same time, forging takes a lot of patience and a special talent, so people assume that forging an electronic signature is easier. Again, this is not as easy as it sounds, and you would need a decent amount of intel and the right tools to do it effectively.
Ultimately, everything done electronically leaves a digital footprint. This means that if you do suspect that a signature is not valid, you can backtrack even much later. With wet signatures, after a while, it becomes impossible to do the right diagnostics, and even right away, things might be pretty difficult.
In other words, no method is perfect, and any problem you believe to be present with electronic signatures is likely the same as that with wet signatures.
Wrap up
Ultimately, when it comes to business efficiency, there’s nothing that can measure up to electronic signatures. They’re quicker, save money, and fit great with the modern digital nature of the business world.
Aside from this, they’re also much more eco-friendlier, which is a point that more and more younger audiences care deeply about.
Even if you do decide to look at this from a different perspective, you have to understand one thing – there are really no downsides to adopting electronic signatures. Any advantage that you believe a wet signature still has is just a scenario where you are misunderstanding the flaws of wet signatures.
All in all, the use of electronic signatures is a no-brainer in the 2024 business world.