Get those important documents out, fast, with Docusign’s Bulk Send feature

By Vidya Narayanan, Sr. Technical Program Manager - Docusign at Docusign

This is the fourth article in our Docusign@Docusign series, which explores the ways we use our own products and features to run the Docusign business. It’s not just so that we can take advantage of the benefits of eSignatures, CLM and more; but it’s to get insights into our customers’ experiences and keep improving our products. Here, we share our learnings.

Filing a class action lawsuit and need to get a document out to the masses? Got a new employee policy that needs signing by all your staff? Or, with everyone working from home right now, do you simply need a secure way to get an important all-staff update out to your teams?

In times like these – whether you need to get a bunch of people to sign the same document type, or you need to distribute a confidential document far and wide – the Bulk Send feature of Docusign shines. As its name suggests, Bulk Send is a quick and simple way to send a document out to many. It’s the modern-day mail merge, if you will.

The basics: how Bulk Send works

With Bulk Send, you create a template and use tags to specify where you need signatures from recipients – just as you would when sending a single document. Then, you simply import a list of signers, and Docusign automatically sends the document to everyone on the list. Importantly, every recipient receives a unique copy of the document.

Essentially, Bulk Send eliminates the need to create and send separate envelopes to every person on your list.

Tips to get the most from Bulk Send

• Get your template ready Perfecting your template is the first step in a successful Bulk Send. When you’re setting it up, give each field you’re tagging a logical name (you’ll need this when you create your CSV file).

• Consider contingencies When you’re setting up the template and adding fields, think about things like the varying lengths in recipients’ names – one person’s name may only be six characters, but someone else’s may be 25. Leave enough space in fields for those longer names! Also, check and recheck fields that will be populated by things like currency, as you may notice the alignment needs adjusting for different amounts.

• Set up your CSV file Look at all the tags you’ve set up, and create a CSV that includes all those tags. One thing to watch out for is to ensure your excel formatting carries over to the csv. File.

• Test and retest Just as you’d do a test before you send out an email blast (right?), it’s important to test your signing experience with a small group of recipients before sending it to thousands.

• Beyond the Bulk Send

Once the document has been sent out to the masses, now what? You can easily check in on the status of each envelope, just as you would with a regular Docusign envelope. Once a person signs the document, it comes back to your account.

At Docusign, we use Bulk Send all the time

Bulk Send is a huge time (and money) saver when we need to get things like compensation plans, bonuses, employee handbooks, updates to T&Cs or annual benefit notifications out to staff. Right now, with all of our staff working from home, it’s proving to be an invaluable tool in our business continuity arsenal.

Another great example is the JobKeeper allowance from the Government. Businesses need to apply for this on behalf of staff – then pay them directly. Bulk send is a quick, convenient way to get signatures on the forms from your entire workforce in one go!

With V2 of the Bulk Send API now available, it’s time to get cracking on your own Bulk Send. Happy days.

Contact us for more info.