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!

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).

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.

I noticed in my dealings with real estate agents that the commitment to service was missing and I could bring that to my business. So I decided the things I really wanted to excel at were COMMITMENT to my clients, providing the best possible SERVICE, and getting RESULTS. 

Q: What other tools, technology or otherwise, do you consider essential to your business and why?

A: I am somewhat of a techno geek. My laptop and BlackBerry are never away from my side. With those I always have access to the Internet and can usually get questions answered in a matter of minutes rather than having to look it up later.

I also use Twitter and Facebook extensively to not only stay in contact with customers, but to also build relationships and keep track of the industry.
Q: How did you discover DocuSign and do you know others who use technology tools like DocuSign in your area?

A: I hated printing out contracts and was looking for a way to get away from so much paper. But it wasn’t until one day when I had a customer in Utah who wanted to purchase a house in Arizona and they had no printer or fax that worked so I needed to come with a way quick to get them a contract to sign.

I sent out a message on Twitter for peoples’ thoughts on electronic signatures, a few friends who I trust in the business recommended DocuSign so I figured I would give it a try. I made a mistake setting up my account and again turned to Twitter to ask if anyone knew how to fix it, within minutes I had both @DocuSign and @tgonser, the founder, contact me and help me with the problem I was sold.  With service like that I couldn’t not use it.
Q: People use DocuSign in many different ways, like using the consistent, personalized branding, bulk sending or multiple signers functionality or using the API to integrate with existing programs like Salesforce. How do you get the most out of DocuSign and what has been your most extraordinary DocuSign moment?
A: I use it for every contract I do now. In real estate we like to sign a lot of contracts and the ease in which this can be done with DocuSign not only saves me hours of time a week, it also keeps me a lot more organized without a lot of paper copies or needed to scan copies to save after they have been signed.

My biggest wow moment with DocuSign besides the first time I used it was recently when an out of state investor wanted to place an offer in on nine properties. The time it would have taken to fax or scan that many pages would have been to much. I sent him the contracts and had them all back and signed in my email box in less than an hour.
I also spent the day with another agent just yesterday and he had to get four contracts signed in person. It took him twice as long to get those four signed as it took me to get my nine signed. It really hit me how much time I was saving and sure enough today he is sitting down with me so I can show him how to use it. 

Q: What is one fun fact about yourself you haven’t already shared or a thought you would like to offer?
A: Everyone who knows me knows what a techno geek I have turned into, I couldn’t imagine not having my BlackBerry for even a few hours. Well, I still remember in 1990 when my parents got their first computer. I told my father what a waste of money that was. I would never in my life own a computer. Fast forward to today and it is amazing how my philosophy has changed.