With companies of all sorts undergoing their digital transformation, the market for business software is growing fast.
And nowhere is that truer than in “martech”, i.e., software for marketing and sales, a sector that is growing exponentially.
There are now over 8,000 software products available on the market, compared to 150 in 2011! The flip side of this phenomenon is the fierce competition between independent software publishers.
To gain (or maintain) a competitive edge, they must remain at the cutting edge of innovation and service quality.
Having an electronic signature feature as part of your software package is a good way to stand out from the crowd: offer your clients a business tool that covers all bases. Read on to discover three good reasons to make an e-signature feature part of your sales offer.
What is an independent software publisher?
An “independent software publisher” is a company that develops and distributes software to its clients under licence agreements, while retaining ownership of the software throughout its use.
Independent software publishers, also known as “independent software vendors” (ISVs) develop their software exclusively for sale to companies, institutions, or individuals.
Such business tools are generally offered in SaaS (Software As A Service) format, with the aim of transforming the way people work, particularly in marketing and sales.
In that sector, the product’s added value is likely to make all the difference from the client’s perspective.
Your clients not only want to have a practical and useful business tool; they also want to make their lives easier and optimise their business processes to boost their conversion rate and increase their customer satisfaction.
Hence the appeal of integrating an innovative tool such as an electronic signature feature into your software package!
Why include an electronic signature feature in your software?
As an independent software publisher, including a feature that enables electronic signatures makes your product more innovative and brings your clients a host of advantages.
It does so in three ways: by optimising their business processes, by making their contracting processes more secure, and by seamlessly integrating into their IT environment.
Optimise business processes
Having an electronic signature feature brings two major advantages when it comes to optimising internal business processes:
- It saves valuable time by eliminating the need for your clients to export their documents for signature (either by printing them or transferring them to an external electronic signature system). In so doing, it reduces costs.
- It makes the customer journey more seamless by ensuring continuity of use: the users can cover the entire customer cycle with a single tool, right up to finalising a contract (e.g., getting the client’s signature on the software licence agreement). Especially since an efficient remote signature tool allows documents to be sent back and forth and approved using any device from any location, including offline.
Make the process of finalising contracts more secure
An electronic signature is not a lighter or truncated version of a handwritten signature: its probative value is similar or even superior.
Depending on the customer’s needs, the status of the signature can be adapted (simple, advanced, or qualified) along with the degree of security to match the criticality of the documents being signed.
Furthermore, remote signing using a dedicated software product is compliant with European legislation (the elDAS regulation) and legally binding.
In terms of data protection, your clients get the benefit of a secure IT infrastructure—immune to external interference—with their data stored in datacenters located in Europe (i.e., subject to EU data protection rules).
Easy integration into IT environments
Lastly, integrating an e-signature feature into an existing IT environment is perfectly straightforward.
That is a decisive advantage for a software publisher whose products are hosted in the cloud: the tool must be accessible online, from anywhere, and compatible not only with the software that the client uses from day to day, but also with their workflows.
It is also the indispensable condition for automating the processes involved in drawing up and finalising contracts: all the IS tools work together to automate data collection and integration, and to ensure that the signed documents go seamlessly back and forth, saving time for both the employees and their business contacts.
Integrating an e-signature feature into your software opens the door to myriad competitive advantages: your clients can digitise all the processes involved in managing their relationship with their customers and fostering their trust.
And by automating the signature process, your clients will be able to increase their conversion rate and focus on their core business.
The best bit of news is that Oodrive Sign is an e-signature system with all these advantages and more! What are you waiting for to learn all about it?
