DocuSign! We’ll be available to discuss electronic signature at the REALTORS® (NAR) Annual Conference and Expo 2009. You can visit DocuSign Booth #3416 to experience the power of electronic signatures, sign up for a free trial and receive other NAR participant incentives. We’ll have a variety of special offers created specifically for NAR participants attending the conference in San Diego on November 13-16, 2009.

This yearly conference of America’s largest residential and commercial real estate trade association, representing 1.2 million members, is an opportunity for us to share information and premier new functionality of our award-winning electronic signature service through interactive demonstrations.

NAR attendees can learn about DocuSign’s new Designed for Mobile feature, providing document signing via an iPhone, BlackBerry, Google Android, Windows Mobile or other mobile devices, and see other new capabilities including fax back and account management enhancements.

Participating in a demonstration gets you automatically entered to win up to a $1,000 in Visa gift cards at the close of the event. Want details? Visit us in booth #3416!

The REALTORS Conference and Expo makes it easy for industry professionals to test new products and learn how they can supercharge their businesses with new productivity tools like electronic signatures, mobile signing and more. DocuSign has received a lot of interest from the real estate community and we are geared up for a banner showing to thank the community for its support through special incentives for NAR attendees. – Dave Thorpe, business development director at DocuSign

Experience the Power of DocuSign in Action:

What: Live demos of the DocuSign service

Where: DocuSign booth #3416 at the San Diego Convention Center

When: Live demos sessions will be held on November 14 and 15. Stop by booth #3416 for more information.

NAR Bonus: Demo participants are automatically entered to win a $500 Visa Gift card, bring a friend and you can win a $1,000 Visa gift card.

Stop by our booth, #3416 – Suzanne Alberti, Dave Thorpe, Jim Custer and I are looking forward to seeing everyone! Matthew Schiltz, DocuSign’s CEO and President as well as Tom Gonser, DocuSign’s Founder and VP, Product Strategy will also be in attendance.

We’re excited to participate at the REALTORS® Conference & EXPO 2009 and look forward to discussing how you can leverage DocuSign to supercharge YOUR business!

We’ll see YOU there!!

With the REALTORS® Conference & EXPO 2009 just around the corner, November 13th – 16th, we wanted to share some commonly asked questions about electronic signature.

1. What does DocuSign Electronic Signature do?

DocuSign enables you to electronically send, sign, and manage your real estate and broker forms with confidence. You can use your current form creation process with DocuSign’s ability to mark up the document with yellow stick-e-tabs so you’ll never miss another signature or initial again.

DocuSign also notifies your clients that they have documents to sign and will walk them through the process of adopting an electronic signature and signing the document. You can also set up DocuSign to copy the other agent in the transaction so that once your clients have all signed, the process moves forward automatically! You’ll also receive a notification when your signers have all signed.

Using DocuSign’s electronic signature process with your real estate forms makes it easy and convenient for both you and your customers, giving you the competitive advantage buyers are talking about.

Find out how-to integrate DocuSign with your current forms creation software.

2. How does the e-signature get into the DocuSign system?

First, the sender creates an envelope and uploads the documents for signature. The sender addresses the envelope with the signer’s name and email address.

Then DocuSign sends the signer an email notifying them they have documents to be signed.

The signer clicks on the secure link, authenticates himself or herself into the system and goes through a process to adopt an electronic signature unique to the signer.

3. Won’t using electronic signature hurt my ability to develop relationships with my clients?

We understand that as real estate professionals, relationships and relationship building are important to your bottom line.

For example, if you and your client are in the offer process, you may also end up counter-offering as well. What if your client doesn’t have time to meet you every time new documents need to be signed? What if they’re out of town on business?

With DocuSign, the signing process can happen remotely if that’s what the client needs. DocuSign also offers in-person signing capabilities that enable you to leverage the power of electronic signature, document management and provide the in-person interaction as well.

4. Do I need any special equipment?

No – you can access DocuSign’s electronic signature services anywhere you have internet access, email and a web browser. This means you can access the DocuSign system from your home, office, or local coffee shop with wifi.

You can DocuSign from your desktop PC, Mac, Windows laptop, tablet – whatever computer you currently have, as long as you can get email, internet and browse the web!

This fall, DocuSign also launched ‘Designed for Mobile’ signing support for Apple iPhone and BlackBerry devices to make it faster and easier for customers to complete transactions while on the go.

5. Can I get more information about the legality of electronic signatures?
Absolutely – take a look at the legal section of the DocuSign blog, where Ken Moyle, DocuSign’s Chief Legal Officer and the Public Policy Chair of ESRA, shares his thoughts and writings about electronic signatures, electronic signature acceptance, authentication and evidentiary considerations.

DocuSign will be EVERYWHERE at the Cloud Computing Event of the year – salesforce.com Dreamforce Global Gathering 2009 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco November 17-20, 2009.

As a Gold Sponsor, we’ll have a private room for us to meet with you and discuss electronic signature or eSign services that will enable you to electronically send, sign and manage your documents from within your Salesforce CRM environment.

We’ll also present three sessions: Close it in the Cloud!™ with DocuSign Smart Electronic Signatures, Electronic Contract Execution with Apttus, and DocuSign for Salesforce and in collaboration with Salesforce CRM product group in their session Introducing Real-Time Quotes to Salesforce CRM.

Don’t Miss Introducing Real-Time Quotes to Salesforce CRM

Thursday, November 19th, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., PT. Room North 133.

In this Salesforce CRM product group session, DocuSign will demonstrate for the first time its rich integration with this new capability. In collaboration with the Salesforce CRM Real-Time Quotes product group, DocuSign will show attendees how to close it in the cloud in real-time. Attendees will see the future of Real-Time Quotes in the Spring 10 release, learn how to manage quotes with workflow, quote with product bundles using BigMachines and leverage integrated electronic signature technology with Smart eSignatures from DocuSign. We’re excited to be an integrated part of the solution and the only ESIGN provider in the session.

Speakers: Tyler Ziemann, Salesforce.com; Tim Handorf, BigMachines; Ken Cavallon, DocuSign.

Sales Track: Close It In The Cloud! with DocuSign Electronic Signatures

Thursday, November 19th, 2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m., PT. Room North 130.

Learn how Yahama, Expedia, and LinkedIn have transformed their business by using DocuSign for Salesforce CRM. Companies have eliminated paper and are sending contracts for electronic signatures, transforming slow, manual, expensive, paper-based contract processes into efficient 100% cloud-based processes. With integrated data management, your people will never need to rekey data again! Close more deals faster, eliminate errors, and increase efficiency by closing it in the cloud with DocuSign for Salesforce CRM.

Speakers: Gene Harden, Expedia, Inc.; Tom Gonser, DocuSign; Mike Machado, Yamaha Corporation of America; Brian Frank, LinkedIn.

Large Enterprises Track: Electronic Contract Execution with Apttus and DocuSign for Salesforce

Friday, November 20th, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., PT Room North 120.

Using the power of end-to-end electronic contract management from Apttus and electronic signatures from DocuSign, successful companies can now speed up time to revenue, automate business process, eliminate paper, and ensure compliance with this amazing cloud computing solution that delivers on the promise of the paperless enterprise! Join us to find out how your enterprise can Close it in the Cloud! with electronic contract execution from these two top AppExchange partners.

Speakers: Kirk Krappe, Apttus Inc.; Tom Gonser, DocuSign

Cloud Expo
During the Cloud Expo in booth #1118, we will have experts available to demonstrate the new solution suite, analyze customer business workflows, recommend best practices and help attendees get started with a 30-day free trial. Attendees participating in a brief demonstration are entered in a drawing to win a Dell Netbook at the close of the show.

Stop by our booth, #1118 – Tom Barnes, Robert Sanchez, Adam Hernandez, Brad Epker and Mike Tasca are looking forward to seeing everyone! You can also catch Tom Gonser, Bob DeSantis, Loren Alhadeff, Ken Cavallon, Eric Wong, Tanya Frerichs, Doug Rybacki, Mike Borozdin, and Steve Woodworth at various sessions.

We’re excited to participate at Dreamforce ’09 and look forward to discussing how you can Close It In The Cloud!℠ with DocuSign for Salesforce. For more information, please take a look at:

• LinkedIn Uses DocuSign for Salesforce to Accelerate Time to Revenue
• Drawloop: Fast-Tracking Sales with DocuSign for Salesforce
• Community Energy: Fueling Sales with Electronic Signature from DocuSign for Salesforce
• EDGAR® Online: Reducing Risk with Electronic Signatures and DocuSign for Salesforce

We’ll see YOU there!!

Since 2002, Community Energy, L.P. has helped business, non-profits and residential customers benefit from reduced electrical costs. Community Energy works with large groups to combine their buying power to lower electrical rates from existing power providers.

Community Energy’s Business Challenge

Texas’ deregulated energy industry means that customers can select their electricity provider. Given that rates can fluctuate rapidly over short periods of time, residents and business owners can hunt for competitive prices but may lose their chances at the best deal.

Community Energy must sign contracts with clients that allow the company to represent them as well as agreements between them and the chosen energy suppliers. Often, clients include large residential communities in which members pool their electricity usage to obtain a better rate. These types of deals require signatures from all residents.

Scott Chilton, President and Managing Partner of Community Energy states:

We’ve had cases where the sales rep talked to the customer about a rate. By the time the paperwork was done and the contract sent, the rate was no longer any good and they had to go back and redo the contract again based on new market information.

When selecting a power provider, the contract process of:

1. Preparing paperwork
2. Delivering the paperwork through standard mail
3. Waiting for clients’ responses
4. Updating contracts to reflect changes in oil-and-gas rates as they changed throughout the process

Can sometimes lead to losing good deals for Community Energy’s customers and slower-than-desired close rates for the company. Additionally, Community Energy suffered from additional administrative pains to rework contracts.

The Solution? DocuSign for Salesforce

How did Community Energy reverse this business problem? With the leading electronic signature service, DocuSign for Salesforce, Community Energy has better control of the contract signing process and significantly accelerated the process of getting contracts signed and sales finalized.

According to Scott Chilton, President and Managing Partner for Community Energy:

DocuSign’s integration with Salesforce allows us to quickly generate documents and distribute them to the customer for execution and then get them moved on to the supplier to book the energy. It immediately goes from the customer’s office to the supplier so there is a very little gap in time for the market to move. DocuSign helps the customer lock in a rate at a low price and ensures that it gets preserved even if the market is moving quickly.

The Results for Community Energy

• Seamless workflow with the integration of DocuSign’s Corporate Edition Enterprise e-signature solution with Community Energy’s CRM system, Salesforce. Contracts travel quickly from salesperson to customer to power supplier.
• Contract creation with DocuSign codes and customer data already stored in Salesforce cut down on data-entry errors.
• Ease of use for Community Energy’s customers with clear delineation to what they need to sign on a specific document.
• On-demand access to contracts for customers bolsters document retention capabilities for Community Energy and lends legitimacy to the process for end-users.

DocuSign for Salesforce also helps Community Energy and its sales agents ensure that its customers lock in a rate at a low price and understand the legality of the agreement:

When you’re relying on a lot of different sales agents, sometimes they don’t effectively communicate to the customer that they have to sign this particular clause or it’s not going to be accepted. DocuSign does a great job of making sure the customer understands that they are committing to an agreement and that agreement is legal and binding, and then providing them with a mechanism for signing and viewing that contract.

Electronic signature enables Community Energy to significantly reduce contract turnaround time and only DocuSign for Salesforce gives Community Energy the ability to route contracts to numerous signers simultaneously to expedite complex group-rate contracts.

Yesterday, we shared “5 Tips to Get the Most Out of RE BarCamp San Diego,” as we’ll be on hand to discuss electronic signature for real estate as well as other mobile office technologies.

What if you can’t attend RE BarCamp San Diego? No worries – you’ll have an opportunity to discuss new, emerging technologies, tactics and tips to help you as a real estate professional in a Virtual RE BarCamp.

What is a Virtual RE BarCamp anyway?

From 9:00am to 4:00pm Pacific Time on November 17th, the day after the REALTORS® Conference & EXPO 2009 November 13th – 16th, dozens of the most respected educators in the real estate industry will converge to host the first of its kind, Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

This one-day learning extravaganza will have three concurrent webinar “rooms” that will host nine different sessions throughout the day. Attendees will have a total of 27 different presentations to choose from!

IT IS FREE and attendance is unlimited! You don’t have to travel – you can attend VIRTUALLY from your home, office or local coffee shop!

Click below to:

• Register.
• Learn more.
• See who is coming.
• Check out the Session Calendar.

DocuSign will participate to support real estate professionals learn about the latest developments in the industry and grow their business. We’re excited because we love the idea of doing business in a mobile environment, and this includes opportunities like these. We hope to see you at Virtual RE BarCamp!

Since the mid-1990s, EDGAR® Online has provided analysts and investors US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory documents at an affordable price. As the first company in the US to distribute real-time SEC filings via the internet, EDGAR Online provides one of the most detailed US fundamental data sets in the world and is the leader in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) analysis and compliance tools.

EDGAR Online’s Business Challenge

Contracting for these unique online services involved mailing paper contracts, a process which often took days to complete as well as required EDGAR Online’s sales representatives to spend an inordinate amount of time following up regarding the paperwork. According to Tressa Morgan, sales operations database and client support manager:

We would mail a contract out, and there was no way to know if the customer actually got it, opened it and signed it.

The Solution? DocuSign for Salesforce

With an easy to use customer interface and seamless integration capabilities with Salesforce, DocuSign was the natural choice for EDGAR Online’s e-signature solution.

DocuSign Provides:

• Same protections as a traditional handwritten signature
• Unique signature for each user, only accessible after correctly answering a series of authentication questions
• Encryption capabilities so only approved users can sign and read the documents
• Audit trail of any actions taken within the document process
• Real-time tracking of documents within the sales process

The Results for EDGAR Online

By reducing EDGAR Online’s time to close from one to two weeks to fewer than 48 hours, DocuSign has allowed EDGAR Online to:

• Reduce signing process of contracts from weeks to fewer than 48 hours
• Deploy electronic signature with no additional IT investment
• Integrate with Salesforce to streamline contract workflows and provide real-time tracking and visibility into the signing process
• Realize greater efficiencies for sales staff with custom DocuSign templates

EDGAR Online’s Tessa Morgan said:

I’ve sampled some of the other services, and looking at the contract, the signature is just not as official. We wanted something that, if you had to go to court over the contract, it would stand up as an official signature.

Electronic signature enables EDGAR Online to close contracts faster and only DocuSign for Salesforce offers granular administrative controls to customize contract templates with access and privilege rights to determine who can view them without leaving Salesforce to send out a contract.

Heading into the REALTORS® Conference & EXPO 2009 November 13th – 16th, DocuSign will be available to discuss electronic signature for real estate and other mobile office technologies at RE BarCamp San Diego on November 12th. Like other BarCamps, RE BarCamp San Diego is a one-day event in which passionate real estate industry experts share their knowledge as peers.

Sessions evolve based on whatever topics attendees want to share with whoever wants to learn. The sessions and tracks will be set the morning of the event, so show up early (8:30am to be exact!) to get your session on the calendar and provide input on the sessions you want to see. As a sponsor of this event, we want you to have the best experience possible, so without further ado…

Tips to Get the Most Out of RE BarCamp San Diego:

1. Participate! RE BarCamp San Diego is about participation – everyone has something valuable or interesting to share as well as opportunities to learn
2. Learn! You might be curious about a new technology or tactic. You might have questions like “How does a signature get into an electronic signature system?” There will be many interesting, knowledgeable people at RE BarCamp San Diego – ask someone!
3. Facilitate! If you’re running a session or having a hallway conversation, you can always draw in other attendees to offer up what THEY know to keep the conversation productive and interactive.
4. Share! Everyone knows something – share with others what you know. If you know about search marketing, blogging, blog copy writing, working with lenders, using various technology tools like electronic signature, SHARE IT! RE BarCamp San Diego will be a valuable learning experience for all if we share what we know.
5. Walk! The two feet rule applies to RE Bar Camp San Diego – if you aren’t getting value in the session you are in, go find another one, so you can learn what you want to learn.

DocuSign will be on hand with Jay Thompson, Dean Ouellette and others for a panel discussion on various technology tools to take your office mobile or virtual. Curious about mobile broadband? Want to know how electronic signatures can save you time and get your clients to rave about your service? What about video cameras, laptops or other hardware tools? Tablet, Mac, or Windows laptop – which one would work best for you?

Come say hi to me at RE BarCamp San Diego and we can talk about electronic signatures, going paperless, working remotely or anything else you want to discuss. I’ll be the really petite one who looks taller in her Twitter avatar (@DocuSign).

Citrus Valley Association of REALTORS® hosted its very first Social Media & Technology Symposium in Diamond Bar, California October 22nd and invited DocuSign to discuss DocuSign electronic signature solutions.

The Social Media and Technology Symposium was designed to teach over 200 real estate professionals how to effectively utilize marketing and social media strategies and current technology to promote themselves and enhance their business.

DocuSign presented an hour long session to introduce DocuSign electronic signature solutions. Doug Rybacki, DocuSign’s Director of Product Management, presented to 60 attendees which included real estate professionals who also use zipForm or WINForms.

Some common questions Doug was asked included “How does the signature get in there?” as well as “How do I sign up?”

How to Sign Up:

Just go to the DocuSign real estate web site and click the “Buy Now” button.

You can also go to the DouSign and zipLogix site at click “Buy Now” as well if you use zipForm or WINForms.

How the Signature Gets In There:

First, the sender creates an envelope and uploads the documents for signature. The sender addresses the envelope with the signer’s name and email address.

Then DocuSign sends the signer an email notifying them they have documents to be signed.

The signer clicks on the secure link, authenticates himself or herself into the system and goes through a process to adopt an electronic signature.

Advanced Functionality

Some hot topics in electronic signature included Anchor Tabs and Templates. These features make the process of tagging a document so easy. Anchor tabs can drop initial for a buyer on each of a 10 page purchase agreement in all the correct places at the correct size. Templates enable you save even more time if you tend to send the same types of documents to your various clients.

If you missed DocuSign at the Citrus Valley Social Media and Technology Symposium, you can catch us in San Diego at RE Bar Camp San Diego on November 12th and at REALTORS(s) Conference & EXPO 2009 November 13th – 16th.

As October comes to a close it’s time for a little trick-or-treating. What treats did DocuSign Electronic Signature Services come up with for you this month?

• We kicked off October with our Fall Release, bringing additional powerful functionality to DocuSign’s electronic signature services. Key features include Designed for Mobile, Sign on Paper (Mixed Mode Signing), Request Documents, Fix on the Fly, Resizable Electronic Signatures and more
• Stories about fast tracking sales, increasing access to working capital, or cutting costs and accelerating workflow with DocuSign for Salesforce
• Time Saving Tips to help you take advantage of workflow rules and Advanced features and tips on how to integrate DocuSign with your forms creation software – zipForms, WINForms, Adobe and others
• A presentation by Ken Moyle, DocuSign’s Chief Legal Officer, about the Legality of Electronic Signatures in Real Estate. Ken gave this presentation at the California Association of Realtors EXPO (CAR EXPO) to share some key information
• DocuSign Lite, a free electronic signature service that lets you try the power of electronic signature without account creation or a credit card

Next month, we have more up our sleeves – you’ll have to check in with us in-person at NAR EXPO, RE BarCamp San Diego, or Dreamforce. Otherwise, you can always check in with us via this blog, Twitter, or Facebook!

Since 2002, Drawloop Technologies, Inc. has become one of the leading on-demand document automation solution providers on the market. How does electronic signature from DocuSign enable Drawloop to dramatically reduce its contract turnaround time?

Drawloop allows customers to take native files or original source files to quickly and automatically create sales quotes, proposals, presentations, sales contracts and other documents within Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files. Drawloop’s customers can custom package these documents to meet their needs as well as wrap rules around documents and merge data quickly.

Drawloop’s Business Challenge

Drawloop’s core offering of document automation technology needed a final piece of the puzzle to enable the full cycle of contract management. Drawloop also wanted an electronic signature solution for internal Drawloop use as well as a technology partner.

According to Jim Roberson, co-founder and president of Drawloop:

You might automate your quote, your proposal, your marketing collateral and so on during the sales process and none of that – with the exception of maybe an NDA at the beginning of the process – typically needs an executed signature. So you’ve done all of this automation, but when you get to the last step of the sales process, which is how you get paid and how you close business, you’re missing a key element of the automation if you don’t offer that electronic contract execution at the end of that process.

The Solution? DocuSign for Salesforce with Dynamic Documents

Drawloop chose DocuSign due to DocuSign’s robust electronic signature workflow technology:

We see DocuSign as the last step of document automation – and one of the most critical. It was natural for us because for a lot of documents that we automate, merge and package, the next step is to get those executed and that’s where we found a nice fit and synergy with our service and the DocuSign electronic signature service.

Drawloop: integrated its solution into DocuSign to allow its salespeople to pull data directly from Salesforce

Salesforce: auto-populated e-signature enabled contracts and directly receives missing or updated contract information

DocuSign: managed routing for multiple signers and captured data during the signing process, once the appropriate data and signature fields are merged

DocuSign is substantially unique from other options because most of the time if you’re missing data you need to pick up the phone, call them, email them and try to get all of that data before you can send it out for signing. With DocuSign, this hassle is totally eliminated.

What was the result for Drawloop? Considerably reducing turnaround from days to hours as well as enabling Drawloop’s sales team to start the contract execution process sooner. One of the greatest benefits of implementing DocuSign for Salesforce with Dynamic Documents includes improved organization, automation and archiving of contracts.

DocuSign allowed Drawloop:

• To close contracts within hours instead of days or even a week
• To eliminate scanning of contracts and manual data entry back into Salesforce, a process that introduced data loss and extra manual steps
• To gather data from customers and provide this information directly within the appropriate fields within the DocuSign contract

While electronic signature helps Drawloop get documents signed faster, only DocuSign for Salesforce allows Drawloop to get documents signed faster with improved data workflow. Click for the complete Drawloop case study.