Top 5 most e-signed documents in 2020

The use of electronic signatures has seen a tremendous surge in popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to PSI research, legislation in 75 countries already possess the legal framework to implement this technology. As their number is rapidly increasing, the e-signature market will continue to boom. By 2025, it’s expected to reach an astonishing $17.20 billion.

Given the advances in electronic signature implementation, it’s fair to ask what types of documents are e-signed most often. signNow is an award-winning e-signature solution used by thousands of customers every day to e-sign a variety of documents and forms. In this blog, we will go through the top five documents that are most frequently signed using signNow. We will also go through the added benefits of using signNow to streamline your digital workflows.

The 5 most common uses of electronic signatures

   Employee onboarding forms

During the hiring process, candidates and current employees in any industry are asked to sign and complete multiple documents:

	Job offers
	Employee onboarding forms
	Labor contracts
	Technology policies
	Security policies
	Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), etc.

With signNow, human resources departments can complete essential tasks such as hiring, onboarding, and offboarding in a matter of hours. Using electronic signatures in combination with digital workflows allows these departments to save money and time, eliminate the risk of human error, increase compliance, and significantly improve employee and customer satisfaction.

Customer story: Empowered Global Solutions, Inc., staffing company

Before switching to signNow, EGS, Inc. had been using DocuSign. Compared to similar e-signature solutions, signNow had proven to be more attractive in terms of functionality and pricing. Today, the HR department at EGS, Inc. is actively using all of signNow’s key features including the Create Signing Link feature to distribute paperwork among candidates.

   Legal contracts and agreements

The implementation of e-signatures into the legal industry allowed for safety and agility while completing time-sensitive transactions during the pandemic. signNow facilitates the remote collection of legally-binding electronic signatures and secure record retention. signNow’s use cases in the legal industry cover a vast selection of documents, such as:

	Settlement agreements
	Fee agreements
	Confidentiality forms
	Attorney agreements
	Class action communication
	Shareholder agreements, and many more.

Customer story: Rella & Associates, law firm

Before switching to signNow, Rella & Associates were using Adobe Fill & Sign. signNow’s web-based app turned out to be extremely easy to use as users don’t need to download and install it on their devices. To e-sign a document, the law firm’s clients can use any browser they have installed on their desktop or mobile device.

It needs mentioning that Rella & Associates’ turnaround for receiving e-signed forms has become much faster, saving the law firm time and cutting paper and postage costs.

  Medical consent forms

COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital technology in the healthcare industry. The use of e-signature solutions has helped medical facilities ensure a safe turnaround of documents, cut paper and ink expenses, and prevent the loss of medical records. Along with these benefits, signNow excels in addressing the challenges of patient consent processing. All medical records signed electronically using signNow meet HIPAA security standards. signNow’s use cases in the healthcare industry include:

	Patient intake forms
	Billing forms
	Medical consent forms
	Prescriptions
	Lab reports, and so on.

Customer story: Fertility Pro, fertility software solution

Fertility Pro collaborates with medical institutions worldwide to design software that facilitates the growth of the fertility industry. signNow has helped Fertility Pro confront the challenges of patient consent processing, delays in application approval, and authorizing finances for procedures. Before switching to signNow, Fertility Pro’s clients were using PDFs and collecting forms signed manually, which was burdensome in terms of document organization and storage.

signNow’s e-signature technology is HIPAA & GDCP compliant, so clinics can access the e-signed documents in case of any liability issues.

  Sales contracts and agreements

Today, the use of paper-based workflows for sales departments has become somewhat of an old fashioned practice. Research suggests that switching to e-signatures shortens the sales cycle by 400% and increases conversion rates. In a situation where a client has to print out a sales contract, sign it in wet ink, and then mail it back to the sender, let alone meet with a sales rep to physically sign the papers —  they often question their decision to close the deal.

With signNow, the entire signing process takes several minutes, leaving no room for hesitation. signNow’s use cases in the sales industry include:

	Price quoting
	Sales inquiries
	Sales agreements
	Debit and credit notes
	Rush orders, etc.

Customer story: Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

To accelerate their sales cycle, Zoom needed an e-signature solution that integrated with Salesforce. This integration had to reduce the back and forth of a document tossing between email accounts, messaging services, and a CRM system.

With signNow, Zoom’s sales representatives managed to speed up their most time-sensitive processes, such as generating contracts, adding fields, and sending them to customers, all without leaving Salesforce.

  Student enrollment forms

In 2020, the number of learners impacted by school closures worldwide reached a staggering 1.3 billion. Schools and universities that were accustomed to in-person classes had to align their student enrollment mechanisms to make them more convenient for remote learners. The global pandemic highlighted the need to implement a secure e-signature solution that could provide better automated workflows and data processing. signNow’s features for universities and educational departments enabled them to keep track of an array of academic processes:

	Class transfers
	Student enrollments
	Financial aid applications (FAFSA)
	Professor vacations
	Procurement forms, etc.

The elimination of paper-based routines resulted in fewer document errors and faster transactions, thus benefiting both students and admissions staff.

Customer story: Instituto Italiano di Fotografia, Milano, Italy

Instituto Italiano di Fotografia organizes courses and workshops in contemporary photography. With signNow, their form preparation procedure was made much easier and faster. The adoption of signNow’s Templates feature made it possible to deliver documents ready for e-signing by all course participants within minutes. The turnaround time for each student application has been significantly reduced, which made the enrollment process easier to manage.

The bottom line

Electronic signatures are a powerful tool that can be used to sign different types of documents and forms. In fact, the documents mentioned in this blog represent only a small fraction of e-signature use cases. For each particular case, signNow turned out to be the best fit, as proven by the customer stories above.

signNow’s diverse functionality allows for addressing business challenges of any complexity, whether it’s e-signing a single document, or creating a fully-fledged document workflow involving multiple signers. Unlike other e-signature solutions that are complicated to understand, signNow is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. No specific training is required to use it.