EchoBlog - The Latest From EchoSign

EchoSign and Electronic Signatures: Be a Hero on the Last Day of the Quarter

Good luck to our thousands of sales teams and sales professionals on the last day of the calendar quarter!

 

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USA Certified and EchoSign ESignature: "Our Average Time to Sign is Now 3.7 Minutes. WOW."

As the expression goes, your mileage may vary.  At EchoSign, we guarantee you the time it takes you to get contracts signed will fall dramatically once you move to e-signatures.  The reason is simple:  the easier you make it to do business with you, the more business you'll do.

But we cannot guarantee avreage time to sign of 3.7 minutes like USA Certified has seen -- that's quite impressive:

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Point Click Send document gets signed then archived
Written by Adam Reiser on 9/28/2010

We are in the Certification Business and getting documents signed is what we do. Now with ECHOSIGN it is as easy as Select document Point Click Send document gets signed then archived.

It does not get any easier then this.

It used to take up to 3 weeks for a document to get signed manually Our Average Time to Sign is 3.7 min. this is not a made up time this is taken directly from our Accounts Stats

WOW

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If you want to see how well you're closing, you can use EchoSign benchmarking and reports on our Report tab.  We'll tell you how quickly your team is closing deals, and what percent of deals close.  And we'll also, if you want, compare your results to your peer group:

How much faster and more easily will you close customers when you move to EchoSign electronic signature?   You'll tell us the exact answer.  In September, the average for all 2m+ EchoSign users is 89 minutes (see benchmarking above)..

For now, we can tell you -- you'll close clients a lot faster, a lot more easily, with a lot more satisfaction.

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(0 of 0 people found this review useful)

Point Click Send document gets signed then archived
Written by Adam Reiser on 9/28/2010

We are in the Certification Business and getting documents signed is what we do. Now with ECHOSIGN it is as easy as Select document Point Click Send document gets signed then archived.

It does not get any easier then this.

It used to take up to 3 weeks for a document to get signed manually Our Average Time to Sign is 3.7 min. this is not a made up time this is taken directly from our Accounts Stats

WOW

E-Signing from Afghanistan

Recently, Capital Debt Management reached out to us with an EchoSign success story that was compelling on several levels.  Since moving to EchoSign electronic signature, they've doubled their contract throughput -- signing twice as many deals per week as before EchoSign.

One of their anecdotes was illuminating on another point.  One of their clients was able to EchoSign the key mortgage documents from Afghanistan on his iPod Touch, saving their home from foreclosure. That alone is an amazing story.

The techie part of the story that caught our eye was also how mobile e-signatures here weren't a convenience -- they were requisite.

Mobility has always been core to EchoSign.  Since 2006, we've led the industry in mobile signatures, with the first mobile electronic signature solution (years ahead of the competition), and one that has evolved from Blackberries, Treos and Symbian phones to iPods, iPhones, and Droids of many varieties, to turning iPads into biometric signature pads.  A rough approximation is that over 600,000 contracts have been electronic signed using the mobile version of EchoSign's e-signature over the past 4.5 years.

Our vision of mobile signatures is just in the first innings.  Part of the next evolution of mobile signatures is for customers, and countries, who never even use or have access to PCs.  Look for more here coming in early 2011, in our Winter Release - Part II.

 

Case Study: Capital Debt Management

US Soldier in Afghanistan Saves His Home Using EchoSign

Company Overview

Over 100,000 people from all walks of life have worked with Capital Debt Management to help them become debt-free. Capital Debt Management is an industry leader, managing more than $1.25 billion of debt for their clients. They work with their clients to create the best debt-relief program possible.

Workflow Challenge

Capital Debt Management specializes in forensic mortgage audits and helping homeowners with the loan modification process. "As you can imagine, the mortgage industry requires a lot of signing on a lot of documents", says Tyler Korn, Sales Manager, Capital Debt Management. The process is quite tedious and quite lengthy and it can take days to receive all the required signed documents.

EchoSign Solution

"We use EchoSign for all of our contracts and documents that need signatures", remarks Tyler. "Ever since Capital Debt Management began helping homeowners with their mortgage problems we have been using EchoSign to quickly and efficiently send and receive documents. EchoSign allows us to get over twice the amount of documents signed each week rather than using your basic fax and mail systems."

Results

Tyler recounts one particular client esigning documents from Afghanistan. "One particular client was facing imminent foreclosure on his property. He called us from the battlefield in Afghanistan because he was able to get service on his iPod Touch and esign the necessary documents. We were able to stave off his foreclosure in the United States so that he could keep his home.

Thank you EchoSign for creating a product that gives my clients a better way, and sometimes the only way, to get documents signed in a timely manner.

Tyler Korn, Sales Manager, Capital Debt Management

Electronic Signatures: The Future is Today

Recently we put together a survey together with one of our partners on electronic signature use across various industries.  A subset of the data is below, but the interesting data points:

• 48% of insurers are using Electronic Signatures, according to Celent
• 21% of leading corporate legal departments use E-Signatures, according to the IACCM
• 20%+ of leading sales team using Electronic Signatures, according to Aberdeen

Of course, this doesn't mean 100% penetration for all departments within each company, for every use case.  

For example, EchoSign customer Aetna had used e-signatures for certain use cases prior to 2010, but then rolled out EchoSign company-wide earlier this year to enable customers and third parties to quickly and easily sign their paperwork.

But what it does mean is that e-signatures aren't the future -- they are the present.   The way the leaders in business, and on the web, close contracts and get deals done.  

Electronic Signature Adoption in Insurance, Sales, Financial Services, and More

Join the leaders in business and on the web -- and close your contacts with EchoSign.

Money on the Wood, Electronic Signatures and the AppExchange

At EchoSign, we're often included on the lists of the web's leading Sales 2.0 tools -- but we must admit, we hadn't heard the apparently old expression "money on the wood is always good" until Roberthenry Davis posted this review of EchoSign on the AppExchange.  "Coffee is for closers" is our favorite expression here.

Our learning of the day, and some great insights into the value proposition for e-signatures for sales teams, and of EchoSign:

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Money on the Wood
Written by Roberthenry Davis on 9/17/2010

In sales, we have a saying that "money on the wood is always good."

In years past, I've taken that to mean that you don't count an opportunity as sold, until you have the authorized service agreement in hand.

With my App, the timeframe for a customer to review, sign, and return an agreement can be measured in minutes; not days or weeks.

The days of taking a customer at their word as to when an agreement is going to be returned is over!

No more driving thirty miles to get a signature on an agreement I walked out of the office without...

No more praying for a customer's twenty year old thermal fax machine to pick-up...

And, FINALLY, no more waiting for an assistant who's tired of being underpaid and underappreciated to check the mail.

EchoSign has totally revolutionized the way that I sell. With a few simple clicks of a button, I can track outstanding proposals, update contractual information, and setup auto reminders that will alert my customer everday and/or week, until my customer to signs their agreement.

I'm able to type messages to my clients, reminding them of the reason they opted for my solution; allowing me to personalize an electronic shopping experience.

And... I'm able to offer a countersigned agreement to my customer, providing near instant confirmation that I have received and will process their order.

Further, because signed agreements are automatically stored to my customers' account record, EchoSign simplifies the steps in order processing.

In short, this five star easy to use software allows me to be both more efficient in the time I spend generating and disseminating proposals, while helping me to be more effective in the management of my funnel, and more error free in the processing my sales transactions.

I can't believe how easy EchoSign is to use, and I can't quantify just how much it has helped me to increase my productivity. Most of all, I simply can't imagine what I do at this point, without it."

 

EchoSign E-Signature Growth Rate Accelerates to 300% Year over Year

We wanted to thank all our users and customers for their support in 2010.  In August, for the first month ever, we saw 300% growth year-over-year in new users and contracts/month.  Previously, we had generally been doubling our revenue and other metrics year over year. 

We should end up with more new users in Q3 of 2010 than in all of 2009 combined.

Year-to-date, Compete.com shows similar data for EchoSign.  Compete only tracks U.S. users and does not track API or integration usage, and shows overall growth in the U.S. up 257%.

$135 Billion Insurance Company Increases Client Retention Rates by 8% with EchoSign Electronic Signature

We generally try to avoid case studies where the PR or legal department requires us to list them as a "Fortune 500 company" or a "leading company".   

But for every rule, there's an exception.  One of the nation's top Fortune 500 insurance and financial services companies recently reached out to us to tell of their huge success rolling our EchoSign enterprise wide.  The results were so impressive we wanted to share them.

While we often focus on revenue and closing metrics, the most interesting part of this store is how e-signatures helped them with client retention because EchoSign is so easy to use - up a staggering 8%, which is a huge number for a Fortune 500 leader with millions of customers.

Their story below.

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Case Study: Fortune 500 Insurance Company

EchoSign Helps Fortune 500 Insurance Company Increase Client Retention by 8%

Company Overview

Over the last 80 years, this Fortune 500 Insurance and Financial Services Company has grown from a small insurer owned by policyholders to one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world with more than $135B in assets.

Workflow Challenge

In 2003 the Fortune 100 company purchased another insurance company that provides affordable insurance for consumer passenger vehicles. “Our problem was getting the client signature on the contract documents,” reports the Director of Sales Operations, “typically we had to mail the contracts to our customers or have them come into the office to sign the contracts in person. Whenever you have to depend on a customer to sign in person, the success rate is well below 100%. It was a very simple problem—we needed a better way for our customers to sign their insurance paperwork.”

EchoSign Solution

“We were looking for a partner, not just a vendor. So after extensive background investigation we chose EchoSign.” After a successful pilot in Dec 2009, the Fortune 100 company expanded the use of EchoSign across the consumer insurance division. The company has seen extremely positive internal acceptance, with users commenting on ease of use, increased productivity, and client acceptance:

• “This is the best tool we have come up with since I’ve been an agent!”
• “This is a great tool. It has increased our production already.”
• “Our agent has been trying to get a document signed for a long time. We have emailed the customer, mailed and faxed the document numerous times. Our agent sent the document via EchoSign and she received the signature from the client in less than 24 hours—AWESOME, TERRIFIC, LOVE IT.”
• “I’m not sure what to say, but I LOVE IT, it’s quick, and easy to use for both myself and the client. I haven’t had any problems and all the clients seem to be very happy.”

Results

In the first half of 2010, the company sent over 10,000 agreements and has seen a yield over 80% of contracts signed in under 25 minutes. “Since using EchoSign, we have dramatically improved our internal operations and we’ve seen our client retention rate increase 8% because it’s so easy for our customers to use.” The results have been so positive that the company has made Echo Sign available to its Independent business operators.  Within 3 months of the initial rollout, the company expanded the contract and now uses EchoSign in its service center.

Since using EchoSign, we’ve seen our client retention rate increase by 8%.

— Director, Sales Operations, Fortune 500 Insurance and Financial Services Company