We at DocuSign listen to our customers when they talk about their electronic signature needs. This weekend, we stumbled across some comments about DocuSign and our free eSignature customer support. They were just too good not to share! Without further ado:

DocuSign’s Electronic Signature Customers Comment on Customer Support

The first story shares the experience of signing up for DocuSign’s eSignature service:

The reason I joined DocuSign was because of their AMAZING customer support. I joined on a Saturday night around 6pm and by 9pm I was having issues and needed to get a contract done that night. I asked if anyone knew the answer on twitter and within 5 minutes I had both their twitter account and the owner of the company talking to me on twitter and walking me through it. Then An, who is behind the twitter account, called me to make sure everything was ok. THAT IS SERVICE.

OK so they don’t offer free phone support. I have NEVER had a problem getting an immediate answer with them on chat or twitter. The support is some of the best I have ever seen. If you had a problem with any product in the world and put something out there on Twitter what do you think the chances of anyone, never mind the Founder and Vice President of Product Strategy of the company, offering help at 9pm on a Saturday night?

You have free email support and also free support via chat, the product is amazing, the support is amazing.

- Dean Ouellette, Tempe Real Estate

The second story details the robust support options DocuSign offers to its eSign customers:

I’ve used DocuSign for over two years and never needed to call them. Not once. Twice I had a question about how to do something (that if I’d taken a few minutes on my own to find the answer, I could have. It was on their site) and was immediately answered via email and Twitter. I also have agents that have been using DocuSign for two years — never needed to make a phone call for support for two reasons: 1) The product is robust and easy to use; and 2) there are many other ways to get support beside the telephone.

Lots of companies charge for extended (read phone) customer support. DocuSign isn’t the only one, not by a long shot. I’d rather them charge for extended support than raise my rates so they can handle all the “I forgot my password” and “It’s broken” (when it’s not) phone calls.

Have you tried the [free] chat, email, twitter, forums, webinars, blog, and/or FAQs for support? They work, and work well.

- Jay Thompson, Phoenix Real Estate Broker

The third comment explains a customer’s experience with how easy and intuitive DocuSign’s electronic signature service is for his clients:

I have used the DocuSign service hundreds of times over the past couple of years and I love it. More importantly, my clients LOVE it. The recent enhancements to their system helped an already great product become even more beneficial to my business.

My experience has been that anyone that can log on to the internet and do even the most basic of tasks have great success with the DocuSign service. From young to old, computer savvy to “old school,” I have never had a complaint.

- Nick Bastian, Tempe Real Estate Agent

The fourth comment discusses how one DocuSign user has worked with DocuSign on eSign policy issues and product feedback while turning to online help and web content:

I’ve been a Docusign user for several years now and have been really pleased with the technology. I enjoy being able to sign ANYTHING. I’m pretty technically inclined and have only had to contact customer service a couple times with help on policy issues, like FHA not recognizing e-signatures.

I’ve spoken with their Chief Legal Counsel and they’re now working with FHA and lenders to gainer wider acceptance of electronic signatures. I consider that responsive.

When I call in about product limitations or ideas, my requests are acknowledged and supposedly added to the feature request for future releases. I hope they don’t charge for these types of call. [ed. note: We don't charge for feedback-type calls, but as a best practice, email or chat works better discuss product limitations or ideas - we can log and track these communications and share them more effectively with the Product team!]

On the other hand, their online help has always been responsive and there’s a lot of material published on the website that’s gotten me through most issues.

- Derec Shuler, Denver Real Estate Broker

Do you have a story similar to Dean, Jay, Nick, or Derec’s? Do you have your own story about how DocuSign’s eSign service you want to share? Leave a comment to share your thoughts – we welcome them!

Virgin America Photo Credit: Tara Hunt

This week, we’ve seen a story on ExecutiveTravel.com from Niels Steenstrup, Vice President-Sales and Marketing for the in-flight Internet provider Aircell and two million mile flyer. Mr. Steestrup shares his perspective on George Clooney’s “Up In The Air” and the frequent traveler lifestyle.

From “A Million-Mile Flyer’s Point of View”:

How do you stay connected during business travel?

Gogo® Inflight Internet obviously plays a huge role and viewers probably noticed the Gogo kiosk at the Alphatech conference in the movie.

Prior to Inflight Internet access, I would spend hours after a flight catching up on email I received while en route. Being able to correspond with colleagues in real-time is a real benefit for the business traveler. A customer actually just told us that he was able to sign the offer papers for his retirement home while using Gogo (and DocuSign technology). Now that’s pretty neat; he and his wife were worried about traveling for their 25th wedding anniversary during a critical negotiation period and were elated that their flight had Gogo access. That says something about the real immediacy of business these days and the benefits of connectivity at 35,000 feet.

Real time information matters. Saving time matters. Your customers and clients can sign paperwork without the hassle of scanning, printing and faxing or the delay of overnight mail and courier with ESIGN. This enables them to move forward with the deal or offer and in this case, celebrate their anniversary.

DocuSign’s commitment to providing electronic signature services that enable you to securely eSign, send and manage your documents with confidence means that we enable you to sign anywhere you have access to your email, an internet connection and web browser.

Designed for Mobile: Last fall, we released this signing process that enables you to view and e-sign documents on your Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile, Google Android, and BlackBerry smart phones without downloading any apps. The status console is optimized for mobile browsers.

Compatible with Mac and Windows Operating Systems: Whether you’re a Mac or a PC, DocuSign has you covered – as a web application, you can use DocuSign to send or eSign your documents with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.

Integrates with your current technology and tools: Do you use Salesforce as your CRM? DocuSign is part of the Salesforce Ecosystem, with DocuSign for Salesforce. DocuSign also provides the esignature technology, Smart eSignatures, for the Salesforce CRM Real Time Quotes solution.

If you use another CRM, DocuSign provides a free software developer kit (SDK) and access to the DocuSign API so you can create custom integrations. The DocuSign Dev Center also provides a forum to discuss your ideas and ask questions, documentation, downloads, live samples and other tools.

For real estate, DocuSign integrates with all of the major forms providers – zipForms, TransactionPoint, DocCentral, flexMLS Forms, TrueForms, and RealFast. These integrations save you even more time when you create documents for your clients to eSign.

Whether you eSign from your home or office computer, from your mobile smart phone or from an airplane with in-flight WiFi service, you can rely on DocuSign to save you time and close deals faster.

• 73% eSign Market Share
• 20,000+ DocuSign Customers
• 54 Million eSignature Events to Date – for the updated number of e-signature events, take a look at the DocuSign home page.

**DocuSign’s estimate based on market share data collected using compete.com and comparing the usage at the leading SaaS vendors’ applications in 2009 calendar year. For more information on ESIGN market leader methodology, click here.

Why do so many people who use electronic signature use DocuSign?

We have the customer stories from American Airlines, EDGAR® Online, LinkedIn, Yamaha and many others. DocuSign also has the honor of being the official and exclusive provider of ESIGN Services for the National Association of REALTORS® 1.2 million members under the REALTOR Benefits® Program and offer the special ESIGN Advantage Promotion for REALTORS®.

What Makes DocuSign Electronic Signature the ESIGN Industry Leader?

Delivered more than 480 customer-driven features while concurrently deploying the eSign industry’s only fully redundant data centers supporting high availability and immediate disaster recovery. We look for user testers via Twitter and have released features such as husband-and-wife signing, uploading one’s own signature, templates and Intelligent Document Recognition (IDR), Designed for Mobile, and many others.

Deployed a 10X upgrade in processing power and storage while consistently maintaining 99.993 percent system availability over the past 24 months. This system availability exceeds our SLA – we enable you to securely send, sign and manage your digital documents with confidence.

Offer live trainings via webinars every Thursday at 10am PST. We strive to provide you with the knowledge and understanding to use DocuSign so you can save time. Other options to learning more about DocuSign’s eSignature capabilities include a DocuSign YouTube Channel with plenty of how-to videos as well as this blog on which we regularly blog tips and tricks. If live webinars, videos, and blog posts aren’t enough, we also have FAQ’s, forums, and product updates and other documentation.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – 2010 is going to be a GREAT year for ESIGN. If you’re a current DocuSign customer, become a fan on Facebook. Leave us a comment. Let us know if you want to test features before the official release. Tell us about your event and let us know how we can help.

If you’re not yet a DocuSign customer, ask yourself if you’d like to save time. Ask yourself if you’d like to provide your clients with even better service. Ask yourself if you’d like to close deals faster and when you’re ready, let us know. If you want to try free electronic signature, try DocuSign Lite and send a document for esignature, FREE!

1. Just Use It! DocuSign can only save you time if you use it. If you’re on the fence about trying it, DocuSign Lite is one way to try electronic signature. It’s free and you can use it from LOOP to PDF, iGoogle gadget, Mozilla Firefox plug-in, or the DocuSign home page. If you’re ready for more features, you can sign up for DocuSign – there’s a 30 day free trial, so you can try the more robust features, receive the DocuSign Certificate of Signing and all the other benefits at no risk to you.

2. Take advantage of workflow. Workflow rules are one of the greatest time saving benefits of DocuSign. For example, if you need to get your clients’ signatures before sending the documents on to the other agent, your process looks like this:

1. Upload documents to DocuSign.
2. Tag the documents for signatures and initials with stick-e-tabs, which ensure that no signatures or initials will be missing.
3. Use Sequential Signing to make sure that your clients eSign in the order you want them to eSign in.
4. CC the other agent on the transaction so that he or she will automatically get the signed and completed documents once your clients have all signed.

If you were using a non-eSign process, your process might look like this:

1. Email the documents to your clients.
2. Your clients have to print and sign the documents.
3. Your clients have to fax the documents back to you.
4. You wait for the documents until they come through the fax machine.
5. You double check to make sure all the signatures and initials are there. If any are missing, you contact your client to get the signatures or initials.
6. You wait for those pages to come back.
7. You scan the signed documents or make copies for your files.
8. You fax the papers to the other agent in the transaction to move the deal along.

With DocuSign’s workflow capabilities, you don’t have to wait near a fax machine. You can set up DocuSign to notify your clients to eSign in the order you want them signed and once your clients have signed, DocuSign will even get the documents to the other agent in the transaction, so you don’t have to!

3. Upgrade from DocuSign Professional Standard to DocuSign Professional Advanced. If you tend to create a lot of the same types of documents for your clients to sign, an upgrade to the advanced version can cut your document creation time down to as little as two minutes.

Why? DocuSign Professional Advanced has additional functionality such as templates and Intelligent Document Recognition (IDR) which enables you to save pretagged documents so you don’t have to place the stick-e-tabs every single time you create a set of documents for your clients.

IDR simplifies it further by learning the documents you use and applying pre-defined custom document workflows, signature and initial locations to your contracts, even if they are complex, multipart contracts. This is based on your document signing workflow and business rules.

If you’re ready to save some serious time, I encourage you to check out DocuSign. If you’ve been using DocuSign, what are some time saving tips you’ve discovered? Please do share them with us in the comments!

Last week, Coachella Valley Escrow’s weekly Tech Tuesday post featured a video discussing DocuSign and electronic signature. Did you know that DocuSign is compatible with zipForms, WINForms, TrueForms, Realfast, DocCentral and Transaction Point? If you want to learn more about using DocuSign with your current forms creation software, take a look at this How-To.

In addition to the video interview conducted at the CAR 2009 Conference & EXPO earlier this month in San Jose, Coachella Valley Escrow also highlighted some of our more popular blog posts, including: “The Legality of Electronic Signatures”, “Why DocuSign Electronic Signature Might be a Realtor’s Best Friend”, and “The DocuSign ESIGNControl App by Smart Mobile Solutions”.

Want to Learn More about DocuSign Electronic Signature?

Other popular posts from the DocuSign blog include:

Want Free Electronic Signature? Try DocuSign Lite: With DocuSign lite, you can get a document eSigned with no paper, no account and no cost. You can also try the Mozilla Firefox plugin, LOOP to PDF tool, or iGoogle Gadget.

FHA and Lender Acceptance: With background information about the federal ESIGN Act, HUD and FHA policy, and frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) about electronic signatures in real estate transactions, this post is a valuable resource for those who have questions about electronic signatures, the FHA and lender acceptance.

How-To ESIGN: In-Person Signing with DocuSign: If you want to leverage the power of DocuSign electronic signature and preserve the face-to-face interaction with your clients, you can use DocuSign’s in-person signing feature. This means you can keep all of your files DocuSigned and consistent! You no longer have to keep track of paper copies, and your clients can download their signed, easy-to-read copy.

If you missed meeting us at CAR EXPO in San Jose, the DocuSign team will be at REBar Camp San Diego November 12, 2009 and NAR EXPO in San Diego November 13-16, 2009. Stop by and say hi!

YES.

I know I’m biased, but with so many benefits including time savings, document storage and management, and increased customer or client satisfaction, I think businesses and professionals should strongly consider going paperless and adopting electronic signature technology.

Benefits of DocuSign Electronic Signature Service:

• Removes pen and paper from the paperwork process
• Eliminates print-sign-scan-fax process
• No need to shred physical documents once you’ve digitized them – they’ve been electronic records the entire time
• Document content is clear and easy to read – no more fax distortion
• Integration with forms creation software such as WINForms, zipForms, IRES, and others maintains the integrity of the paperless process
• Contracts and extensions can be signed and returned by out-of-town or traveling clients in fewer than 10 minutes
• No more missed signatures or initials due to DocuSign’s yellow stick-e-tabs
• 100% audit trail and three levels of authentication available: Email, PIN number and ID Check

Additional Information:

• Cost: Pricing starts at $15.95/month with a pre-paid, annual plan. With a DocuSign Free Trial, you can try DocuSign risk-free for 30 days. The Free Trial pricing starts automatically at the basic month to month rate, with an option to upgrade to an Advanced plan or switch to annual pricing. This provides subscribers with a high level of flexibility.
• Electronic signature acceptance: DocuSign has teamed up with the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA) to have productive discussions with the FHA regarding electronic signatures on real estate contracts and they are working together to come up with a rapid solution.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave us a comment. If you’re interested in connecting in real life, DocuSign will be in San Diego at RE Bar Camp San Diego on November 12th, and at NAR EXPO November 13th – 16th.

He pointed out that DocuSign not only saves its subscribers time, effort and gas, it also helps keep you sane! He also included a helpful video tutorial.

Why is DocuSign and electronic signature such a game changer? Because real estate professionals are becoming more mobile, with laptops, portable scanners / printers, and mobile broadband, the ability to have documents signed anytime and anywhere helps real estate professionals save time and get offers in as soon as possible. With DocuSign electronic signature, you don’t have to use faxes, scanners or overnight mail. Remote signing means scheduling conflicts have minimal impact, if any.

From a customer story:

Recently I had some Clients that were purchasing their first home. He was in San Diego,while his wife was out of state. His job had long hours where he could not be reached, she did not have access to a fax machine and would have to drive for miles to the nearest office depot. The price range they were in required writing multiple offers and being able to present them quickly as new inventory came on the market. Time was of the essence.

Using DocuSign solved our problem. Anyone with an active e-mail address can opt for this quick, legal, accurate, and safe way to obtain signatures and initials. Documents can be sent out for signature and returned quickly for presentation in moments vs. hours.

The signed results come back via e-mail in a clean, easy to read, secure package in Adobe PDF. These documents can then be forwarded to other agents, escrow companies, lenders, or for archived document storage.

DocuSign Electronic Signature Advantages:

• Passes the “Can my Mom use it?” test
• Reduces operational costs by reducing or eliminating the use of paper, printing, ink, and overnight or same day courier charges
• Gets all of the signatures and initials you need, the first time
• Helps you get your offers in as quickly as possible

With integration in all of the major forms providers and a 30-day free trial, you can add another tool to your toolbox with DocuSign electronic signature.

One industry that is adapting to this new business reality is real estate. They no longer meet at the office or head back to the office to get things done. Some real estate professionals don’t even have an office – they have a car that takes them where their clients are.

Of course, a mobile agent is always working when they are out and about – they must always be accessible to their clients, able to answer questions as they arise and able to provide the same, or better service than a traditional agent.

What tools do mobile agents superstars leverage as masters of mobility?

1. A smart phone: A smart phone with a great data plan will enable to you communicate with your clients in ways they are accustomed to. If you’re working with younger clientele, they may prefer to text, or sms. If your clients communicate mainly through email, you’ll be able to check your email wherever you are.

Blackberry or iPhone tend to be the smart phones of choice. Blackberry is available with various carriers. iPhone is available only on the AT&T network.*

2. A good laptop: Make sure you have a solid laptop that you can take anywhere. You’ll have to make tradeoffs on size, durability, and portability. Most laptops will last between three to five years, depending on hardware quality, usage, and other factors. Get the biggest hard drive you can and the fastest processor speed possible.

Laptops are fragile – make sure you have an external hard drive to back up your data. You can also back up to a remote server and pay for hosting. Generally, remote hosted services also guarantee your data – double check before selecting a provider. This protects you and your data in case of theft, fire, or other disaster.

3. A digital video camera, or a Flip: If you also have a regular digital camera, bring it along too. You can use them to preview homes, create virtual, online tours of properties, and integrate images into emails you send your clients, for your blog posts, and to document various features to help your clients find or sell their property.

4. DocuSign electronic signature: DocuSign can help you quickly create documents for your clients for signature. With integration with the major forms providers, time-saving functionality such as templates, error reducing features like signature and initial stick-e-notes and others, DocuSign has helped realtors save time and increase client satisfaction. In-person signing means that if you and your client really value the in-person interaction, you still get to take advantage of electronic signature – no more illegible faxes! Additionally, DocuSign also stores your documents for you – you and your clients can access your DocuSign documents, as long as you’re a customer. Save a copy locally and know that you also have access to the original signed documents as well.

You also can get an offer in for your client in mere minutes – in a time sensitive industry like real estate, this is a big advantage for you and your client!

5. Mobile Broadband: MiFi or a mobile USB card / stick will enable you to have internet access if there is no coffee shop with wifi nearby. Keep an eye on your data usage – if you get the smallest plan and go over on your usage, you will have to pay overages. Verizon charges $0.25 / MB for overages. Uploading or downloading photos or videos; streaming music, or videos; and chatting via video or voice will eat up bandwidth!

MiFi will enable you to share your bandwidth with others – clients who are mobile, but don’t have mobile broadband, will appreciate it if you share with them. Also, it’s wireless and you don’t need to worry about snapping off the USB device.

6. GPS: Some phones, such as the Sprint Instinct, may have GPS (with voice directions!) on the phone and included with the data plan. The iPhone with the plastic back (Second Generation and GS) also has GPS included in the device. If your phone does not have GPS, consider getting a GPS unit for your car. Do you want to present an image to your clients that includes being late because you got lost or not knowing how to get to the next house you wanted them to see?

People are busy. Being sensitive to your clients’ time constraints demonstrates your professionalism and will help you build a positive reputation to drive word-of-mouth referrals. Plan for worst case scenarios regarding your data and equipment so you can continue to provide a high level of service to your clients, the kind of service that keeps them raving about you.

*unless your iPhone is hacked or jailbroken.
**hat tip to Clint Miller, for inspiring this post

DocuSign Fall Product Release 9

Earlier this week, Tom Gonser, Founder and VP of Product Strategy, shared some exciting new electronic signature features developed by DocuSign. These features were built based on customer feedback, so don’t be shy about telling us how we can improve DocuSign! A “designed for mobile” experience, fax capability, and resizable electronic signature are only a few of the new features Tom discussed. For more information, read “DocuSign ESignature Fall Release Highlights” from Tom Gonser.

DocuSign iPhone App Launch – ESIGNControl

ESIGNControl, a new iPhone application from Smart Mobile Solutions is now available from the iTunes store. This app enable you to use your iPhone to track, view and control documents sent for electronic signature. Smart Mobile Solutions specializes in mobile application development and created ESIGNControl with DocuSign’s software development kit in conjunction with participation in the DocuSign DevCenter. To learn more, read “Smart Mobile Solutions Launches New iPhone App for DocuSign.”

California Association of REALTORS® EXPO 2009

This week, Ken Moyle, Dave Thorpe, Suzanne Alberti, Jim Custer and I attended the California Association of REALTORS EXPO, or CAR EXPO. Ken Moyle, DocuSign’s Chief Legal Officer and Public Policy Chair of the Electronic Signatures and Records Association (ESRA), gave a well recieved talk: “Legality of Electronic Signatures in Real Estate.” More details can be found by reading the quick recap of Ken Moyle’s Tech Tuesday Talk.

Did you miss us at CAR EXPO? Keep an eye on our blog for more from CAR EXPO – we’ll add video testimonials, pictures and more shortly!

DocuSign on YouTube

This week, we’ve launched our own YouTube channel, to be a centralized resource for “How-To” videos, clips about electronic signature and videos about how electronic signature has impacted business. Visit and subscribe to the DocuSign YouTube channel here.

We hope your week has been as busy and productive as ours. With DocuSign electronic signature, you can save time AND get your documents e-signed within minutes.

After much deliberation over the amazing entries, we’ve decided to select not one, but TWO grand prize winners, each receiving a $500 Visa Gift Card.

Congratulations to Dean Ouellette for telling his story of his experience of signing up for DocuSign. Not only does Dean share how he got started, he explains why he’d do it again:

DocuSign not only helped me get that deal done, they have saved me dozens and dozens of hours of chasing contracts over the last 8 months. I have said it many times, besides my car and Blackberry, it may be the most useful tool I have in my real estate career.

Also, a BIG congratulations to Karen Decker, who used DocuSign to help a US Service Woman who was also a young, single mother buy her first home:

And as for Meghan, DocuSign continued to prove beneficial to closing her transaction. Upon her return she quickly found a house she loved, but also had a few days leave and of course wanted to spend it visiting her daughter, but there were numerous documents which needed to be completed. With the help of DocuSign all necessary files were easily signed and transmitted to the lender and the closing agent while Meghan spent time with family in North Carolina.

Congratulations to the runner-ups:

• Andrzej Niemyjski
• Greg Privitelli
• Stacy Reno
• Troy Vathanadireg
• Socar Chatmon-Thomas
• Chester Hall
• Cherilyn Jones

Each participant shared their unique experience with esignature, from how it helped them save time, improved the service they provided to their clients or otherwise differentiated them professionally. Thank you to all participants in the DocuSign Share Your Story Contest, and congratulations again to our grand prize winners as well as our runner-ups.