Collecting the signatures necessary to finalize the contract should be just a final, quick formality that causes no problems for either party. In reality, it is often this stage that drags on indefinitely and blocks the ability to put the procedures contained in the body of the agreement into effect.

How to streamline the collection of signatures?

Swap a pen for an electronic signature

Collecting electronic signatures is, first of all, very time-consuming. The person responsible for collecting signatures must first reach all the people in the company who are authorized to approve contracts. Very often it happens that members of the board of directors are away from the company’s headquarters – they work in another place or go on business trips. At such times, collecting all signatures becomes even more challenging. Signing multi-page contracts, and especially initialing them, is also cumbersome for those approving the agreement.

Once the contract is signed within the company’s structures, it needs to be handed over to the contractor. Usually the envelope with the contract is sent with the help of a courier or transported by cab. Each of these transports requires time and additional money to be invested in the process of obtaining signatures. When the contract arrives at its destination, it is often the case that it sits too long on the desk of the CEO, who, in the flurry of duties, forgets to sign it.

Each day of delay resulting from the above processes causes your company to invest more money in speeding up the document signing process, instead of reaping the rewards of a signed agreement.

The solution, which more and more companies around the world are opting for, is to replace traditional document signing with electronic signatures.

Platform for collecting electronic signatures

Surely you’ve heard the term qualified signature before. This is a paid type of certified signature that can be used to electronically sign documents. However, you should know that a certified signature is required only in certain, strictly defined cases (you can read more about it here: How to sign a contract online?).

However, to sign most business-to-business contracts, you will only need a simple electronic signature or an advanced signature, i.e. supplemented with additional verification, such as via SMS.

The key to efficient electronic signing of contracts with both non-qualified and qualified signatures is to implement a good electronic signature platform (such as DocuSign® or Autenti®). Such tools allow for quick signing of contracts internally – authorized persons can approve contracts with a few clicks, from any device and from anywhere in the world. The contract signed in this way can be sent in the form of a link to the contractor. This one, even if he does not use electronic signatures in his company, will be able to e-sign the document in a simple and intuitive way.

Streamlining and simplifying a company’s processes – including those for signatures – is good for both productivity and direct company profits. That’s why, instead of standing still, it’s worth trying new solutions that can help a company grow and earn more effectively.