DocuSign Sightings: Some Questions About Using DocuSign For Electronic Signature

If you have questions about electronic signatures and online contract execution, we love joining in on the discussion.

Last weekend, Greg Swann of Bloodhound Realty blogged about some of his questions regarding DocuSign, and received some amazing answers from some really cool commentors:

1. Is it possible to use DocuSign to do “broker oversight” signatures?

DocuSign can be used to sign any printable document. In the U.S. and worldwide, customers in every industry have used DocuSign to sign over 30 million transactions – loan mods, real estate transactions and sales contracts. You can now upload almost any document format into the DocuSign envelope to be converted to PDF. Any required secondary documents can easily be uploaded as well.

2. How can one use DocuSign to get a client’s signature on a document from another DocuSign-using Realtor?

Depending on the workflow used by the other realtor, you can get your client’s signature on a document with one of two methods. If the other realtor were to ‘CC’ you on the transaction, DocuSign will get you that document the second the last signer signs. Then, you can take that document and create a new envelope with it, adding your signers, and cc’ing the other agent so they will receive the final, signed copy when it is done.

Another way to get a client’s electronic signature on a document is by uploading the document to DocuSign once the other realtor sends you a copy in an email. However, this is not as fast or automatic as the first method.

3. What about an ordinary PDF or ordinary fax?

On Windows, DocuSign can load any document that can be printed via the print driver. On Mac and Windows, you can load most file types directly by using the ‘upload’ function.

4. How can we add our own forms and/or other added documents in a DocuSign envelope?

You can add your own documents from other locations after you add your ZipForm, or other form software-created documents. Simply start your envelope with ZipForm, then select documents and load more. If you have the print client (Windows only) you can also print more documents into that same envelope.

5. What do you love about DocuSign?

I love how one spouse is in New York and the other is in China. Then after they sign, miraculously both of their signatures are merged onto the one document…. freaking amazing…no FEDEX or UPS overnighting docs ever again. Since DocuSign did an update, now I can take my real signature and upload it to be used on all of my signings. – Rob Thiessen

Increased productivity, lower business costs, clients LOVE it! Try setting up templates for your disclosures and having your clients fill them out on-line — very cool. – Kris Berg

6. What do you hate about it?

You have to be very careful in placing initials or signatures above one another. If they are too close they ride over one another. Templates are fussy to set up, but worth it. Also, if the client forgets his password, it can be a bit of an ordeal.

*note* DocuSign uses user feedback in future product development – please post your suggested improvements in DocuSign forums for us to consider in future releases!

Bonus Electronic Signatures and Online Contract Execution Tips:

You can at any time, save your envelope as a ‘draft’. Then you can come back later and add documents, tags, users, etc. This enables you to periodically save so you won’t have to start over if you forget to include a document in your envelope.

If you have DocuSign Advanced, you can create templates that apply everything – tabs, workflow, etc. – to documents you load into the envelope.

Templates will save you significant time when you send the same documents over and over. For example, consider a purchase agreement. Make a template for your purchase agreement, then the next time you send a purchase agreement, IDR will apply everything for you – ALL the tabs, the subject, email, etc. You just need to translate the roles in the template to users. This turns a 10 minute job into a one minute job, and you can’t make mistakes anymore!

Depending on the version you select, DocuSign costs from $.45 per day to $1.15 per day. However, user surveys indicate DocuSign saves the average realtor about 6 hours per week, or nearly an entire day. No more babysitting the fax machine, no more making customers find fax machines to sign, huge customer satisfaction increase. So for transactions that may be worth thousands of dollars in commission, spending less than a buck to ensure it goes smoothly does not seem expensive… using electronic signature and electronic contract execution is just good cents, I mean, sense.