The modern world and therefore, contemporary businesses, have moved beyond conventional methods of signing and validating documents and are increasingly leaning toward technological advancements such as electronic signatures.
With businesses going digital and adopting rental management systems, electronic signatures are now a possibility for hiring businesses across the world as well. While this may sound rather different from the traditional wet-ink signature, this type of signature holds the same status of validity.
So how does an electronic signature work? What happens when a document is authenticated digitally? And what role does an electronic signature play in streamlining client relationships?
We intend to answer these questions in our blog post.
How does an electronic signature work?
Electronic signature solutions let you digitally capture customers’ signatures, which can then be used to authenticate the documents which need to be signed by them.
Instead of manually signing a paper document, the signature can be made electronically on a tablet and linked to the relevant softcopy of the documents on your rental management software.
As all valid electronic signature providers offer legally binding signing solutions, all parties involved will be held accountable for their end of the agreement.
What happens to your electronically signed documents?
A PDF copy of the signed paper will be emailed to the clients immediately so that both you and the customer have a copy of the authenticated document.
Thanks to modern hire software solutions, you can transfer these documents via the hire solution platform itself.
The document can be sent for approval to the customer, who can then sign and send it back to be logged in the right place in your hire system.
Your hire solution will then send you an alert informing the completion of the authentication process.
How do e-signatures help streamline your client relationships?
What about e-signature solutions that enhance the approval process for your clients? Here are a few of the benefits e-signatures offer that both you and your clients can enjoy.
1. Provide a faster rental process
The traditional document authentication process requires quite a little effort from your customers.
From the moment they make an order, there will be a bunch of paperwork to be managed, from quotes to contracts, and clients have to be present in your office to fill and sign each document.
In contrast, e-signature solutions eliminate the need for paperwork, reduce order approval times, and get rid of the need to travel back and forth for document processing, helping your customer receive their order with minimal effort and ultimately providing them with a faster service.
2. Ensure operational accuracy
Manual processes are prone to mistakes. But when managing legally binding documents, a mistake would also mean a high cost of error rectification, lawsuits, and lost client trust.
With an e-signature solution, you can avoid all the potential mistakes by:
- Avoiding delivering the wrong equipment
- Processing accurate, legally binding contracts faster
- Improving communication with clients
- Bettering accountability in your operations
- Processing tamper-proof documents
The result is that you can maintain the integrity of your operations and provide an accurate service to your clients without compromising the quality or trustworthiness of your work.
3. Offer simplicity to your clients
Modern clients prefer slick operations that are completed faster with no hindrance to their busy schedules—and this is exactly what you can provide them with electronically signed documents.
Even if your clients aren’t at your office or have no access to a personal computer, e-signature tools can still connect them with your business. By connecting to your software solution from their phone or tablet, they can view, read, and sign their rental contracts.
On your end, you’ll enjoy better visibility into the document status—whether a customer viewed a file, signed it, or opened it—which gives you enough time to send equipment to the site as quickly as possible.
E-signatures are the future of hire operations
Digital signatures revitalise your operations, from digitalising your hire quotes and contracts to letting your customers easily sign documents at the click of a button.
What’s more? Even the least tech-savvy people—clients and your team members alike—can use these tools with easily navigable software interfaces enabling you to offer smarter signature capturing services to anyone who approaches your business.
If you’d like to upgrade to electronic signature tools at your hire business, remember that MCS—with years of experience under our belt—is ready to help you with cutting-edge tools that can meet your many rental requirements.