Why Office Technology Dealers Should Utilize Digital Signatures

The office technology industry is extremely competitive. Finding ways to maintain momentum in the sales process and shorten your sales cycle can mean the difference between getting a contract signed and losing business to a competitor. Though getting your customer to sign on the dotted line may seem like a small part of the process, the way in which you collect signatures can have a big impact on your customer’s experience, your credibility and your bottom line.

Providing support for digital signatures is a simple way to enhance this process for your customers. Here’s why.

Improves Customer Experience

When you offer flexibility to your customers, they take notice. Electronic signatures offer convenience and ensure a much faster turnaround time for everyone involved. Without the option to sign electronically, you’ll require several cumbersome and time-consuming steps. You’ll need to deliver documents to your customer and then ask them to print, sign, scan and send the document back to you. This process demands a lot from your customer. On the other hand, electronic signatures cut out these steps and offer up some welcomed versatility, especially in cases where you, or your customer, are in a time crunch.

Displays Technology Buy-In

It’s easier to sell the value of something when your customers understand that you, yourself, have bought in as well. As an office technology dealer with goals to sell your clients on the value of cutting edge technology, what message would it send to them if your own processes aren’t streamlined utilizing the latest and greatest technologies for your own benefit? Whether you implement the GreatAmerica Doc-Ease solution or not, by utilizing an electronic signature, you’ll demonstrate the benefit of technology so your customer can experience it firsthand. Ultimately, this enhances your brand as a tech savvy vendor.

Closes The Sale Faster

In this day and age, it’s common for business to be conducted across counties, states, or even broader geographies. When your business partners are spread out across the map, getting paperwork complete can be a hassle. When you’re trying to close a sale, you have no room for inconveniences. Implementing electronic signatures will help you close the sale more quickly. It allows customers to sign documents wherever they are and at any time so your documents can be in their hands as soon as they are ready to buy.

Reduces Expenses of the Sales Process

Digital signatures cut down on the manual processes involved in closing a deal. You’ll eliminate the time it takes to prepare and send documents through traditional means. You might eliminate time-consuming, costly trips to go back to the office and get an agreement printed only to drive back to the customer location to get it signed. At the end of the day, you’ll save money on paper, postage, mailing supplies, and most importantly, time, which can really add up year over year.

Josie Heskje
About the Author
Josie Heskje is Director, Strategic Marketing for the Office Equipment Group at GreatAmerica Financial Services. Using over 20 years of marketing experience, she helps guide the strategic marketing direction of the Office Equipment Group, and is responsible for the marketing and public relations planning and execution for the business unit. She is the current Marketing & Communications Chair of the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA) and was named an industry "Difference Maker" in ENX Magazine in both 2015 and 2017.