Requesting document signatures can be a tedious task. You have to wait hours, sometimes even days before you receive documents from your clients or stakeholders. How about getting documents signed within minutes instead of waiting for days or hours? This has been made possible with electronic signature applications. E-signature applications are becoming a fast norm, not only in the South African corporate world but in SME businesses too.
If you don't know much about electronic signatures applications, here's the perfect place to learn about them and the benefits of implementing an e-signature application into your business today.
What do you have to lose? Try the simple, secure and legal E-Signature app for free today!
Start your free Zoho Sign trial here.
What exactly is an electronic signature?
An e-signature or electronic signature is an electronic form of data which can be used to execute signatures on electronic documents or records. This type of signature enjoys the same validity as the standard pen-and-paper signature.
Electronic signatures are a legal way to get consent on electronic documents or forms to validate and verify a document in the same manner as a pen-and-paper signature would. It can replace a handwritten signature in virtually any process.
Are electronic signatures legally binding?
The short answer is yes.
In South Africa, electronic signatures have the same legal standing as handwritten signatures if they meet certain criteria of technical reliability.
For all situations where a document is signed by an electronic signature and where law does not prohibit the document from being signed electronically, the electronic signature will have the same presumption of enforceability as a handwritten signature.
Reasons why you should use an electronic signature application:
Simple & easy to use
The biggest benefit of electronic signatures is that they're simple and easy-to-use. Simply upload a document, declare signers and recipients and deliver a secure link to the recipient. The recipient signs the document and the process is complete. It's that easy!
Real-time notifications
Electronic signatures contain traceable information about who signed the document, when they signed it, and where they signed it. That's much stronger and more enforceable than your average paper-based transaction.
Get signatures faster
The convenience of electronic signatures means there's a much faster turnaround. Instead of sending a document to one party, getting them to print, sign, and scan it, sending it to the next party and then repeating the process down the line, everyone can sign off within seconds. This faster turnaround gives businesses greater versatility in time-sensitive situations and provides your customer with their desired product or service quicker.
Better user experience
No one can ignore that client satisfaction is a key factor which directly influences your the success of any business. Electronic signatures save clients’ time and make the whole signing process much more desirable for them. They can sign documents anywhere, anytime they want and using any internet-enabled device they prefer.
Our top pick for the best E-Signature application in South Africa:
Choosing the right electronic signature application can be hard, so we've made it easy for you and selected the best in the market for South African businesses - Zoho Sign.
With Zoho Sign, you can securely sign, send and manage your business documents from anywhere in a few simple clicks. It's easy to use, quick to learn and simple to implement into your business. What's more, it's now available in ZAR, making it affordable for South African Businesses to adopt so you'll no longer be exposed to fluctuations in the Rand/Dollar exchange rate. Zoho Sign works completely in the cloud and is perfect for anyone that needs to sign business documents - ideal for HR, sales & finance departments.
We've put together the most game-changing features, to help you make the switch to Zoho Sign today:
Document management
Easily import- With Zoho Sign, you can easily import and transfer your business document to Zoho Sign from your desktop or cloud application solutions such as Google Drive, OneDrive, DropBox, Box and Zoho Workdrive. This way, you don't have to create all your documents from scratch, simply migrate your existing documentation straight onto Zoho Sign.
Cloud backup- You will never have to worry about your documents going missing! Zoho Sign enables you to back up your signed documents rapidly. You can even automatically back up signed copies to your favourite cloud app solutions like DropBox, Box, OneDrive and more for improved data protection and to keep your records updated.
Automatic field addition - When you begin the signing process by uploading a document, Zoho Sign will automatically identify if you have text fields and the corresponding fields will automatically be created as digital text fields so that all the fields on your document that you would like the client to fill in will be identified.
Remote Collaboration
Real-time comments - Simply add public or private notes and comments onto your document to elaborate on document information or provide clarity, preventing you from unnecessarily hold ups inclosing your deal or having to send a document back and forth.
Timely reminders- You can see if your recipient has viewed, signed or sent the document back to you. Simply track document status. If your recipient has taken longer than expected to sign the document, you can easily send reminders and automate reminders to expedite the signing process.
Complete control- You can approve, dent or decline documents. If you made a mistake in the document or have sent the wrong document to the wrong person, don't worry, simply recall the document and cancel the signing process.
Customisation and integration
Templates - Be more productive by saving time and effort by converting frequently-used documents into templates that are easy to send, reuse and maintain forever.
Available in 12 languages- Give your customers the option to view and complete the document signing process in their native language. Zoho Sign is avaiable in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Dutch and Swedish.
Integrations - Zoho Sign integrates with popular third-party services so that you can import users and documents and get your documents signed in a few steps. You can also build custom integrations to meet your requirements with Zoho.
Security and compliance
Advanced authentication - Protect your account, documents and your clients documents with multi-factor authentication for that additional level of security.
Legality - All documents that are signed using Zoho Sign are legally binding.
Make it effortless for your clients to sign documents
All in all, electronic signature software, like Zoho Sign is essential for all businesses, whether you're a budding startup, a fast-growing small business or a big enterprise. Why not make it easier to get proposals signed, agreements done, eliminate manual tasks and reduce time spent on following up. Zoho Sign offers powerful features that help you do just that.
If you would like to sign up for a 14-day free trial of Zoho Sign, click here.
Alternatively, request a Zoho Sign demo with one of our Zoho experts, by clicking on the button below.