Salesforce Electronic Signatures | The Ultimate Guide
Hawk-eye editor with a passion for trailblazing Salesforce experiences
Electronic signatures are better for the environment, save organizations time and money, and of course, make the signing process a million times easier for customers. Instead of getting swamped by admin and endless paperwork, it’s now the new norm to receive a link or email so that you can sign your documents securely and on the move, from anywhere in the world! No one wants to spend more than a couple of minutes filling in signatures and it’s way more fun from a hotel room in Paris or a Greek Island than in a boring office!
Businesses that aren’t using eSignature solutions lose the attention span of their clients pretty quickly and chances are that those important insurance forms, financial quotes, or legal docs are never going to be signed manually…And so deals get killed and paper piles up!
For all these reasons and more, organizations keen to embrace digitization are making eSignatures a cornerstone of their business processes. So if you are shopping around for the right tool, where do you start? We suggest by choosing a signing tool 100% integrated with Salesforce, the planet’s #1 CRM!
What is an Electronic Signature in Salesforce?
Salesforce is a treasure trove of data with the power to provide personalized insights on individual customers at scale. If you are already using Salesforce as your CRM then it only makes sense to choose a Salesforce-integrated signing solution, this way you are drawing on a single source of truth. And if you haven’t tried Salesforce yet, then there are good reasons to do so. This is because you will be able to automate your signing workflows, accurately track every step of the signing process in Salesforce, and close faster by working with the most accurate view of all parties involved in the signing lifecycle.
Sounds great, but there is a hitch. Salesforce does not have a native signing function. A few solutions, like DocuSign, claim to be native to Salesforce, but this is misleading marketing. In reality, your best bet is to visit the AppExchange, do some research on the third-party signing tools for Salesforce, and purchase one that best fits your use case and business objectives. Before you do so, you need to know:
First up, let’s take a closer look at electronic versus digital signatures.
Difference between Electronic Signatures and Digital Signatures?
If you thought eSignatures and digital signatures were the same thing, then don’t worry; you are not alone. But while the two overlap and are used in similar ways, there are some major differences. It’s important to bear in mind that electronic signatures simply refer to any signature that is created on a computer or electronic device. This includes typing your name neatly or awkwardly scribbling with that clumsy Adobe drawing tool. Say your landlord sends you a lease agreement now via Word and you copy and paste a pre-prepared signature into the doc, this too is an eSignature. These are legally binding but they are not easy to trace and they don’t allow for super accurate identification. Someone else could be signing virtually on your behalf and there is no easy way for other signing parties to verify this. Often, when the stakes are not particularly high, eSignatures are good enough and they offer the perk of being simple and cheap to implement.
Digital signatures work with much more sophisticated (cryptographic) technology to accurately pinpoint the identity of each signer, the location in which they signed the document, and the device they signed it from. Digital signatures mean that you never have to worry if someone made changes to a doc after you signed it because each signer has a unique digital signature and you can also tell the exact time each person signs the document.
When choosing the right signing solution for your organization, it’s a good idea to weigh up whether or not you need to adhere to the strict requirements of digital signatures. Digital signatures offer several additional layers of verification and security but this can also come with added time and cost. If you are making a major deal, digital signatures are a must! We vote that a reliable signing tool should offer you both digital signatures and eSignatures so that you can use both flexibly, depending on the requirements of your use case.
The Importance of Being 21 CFR Part 11 Compliant
Any signing solution worth its salt should also be 21 CFR Part 11 compliant. And if that just sounded like a foreign language to you, then that’s exactly why you should choose an app that does all the heavy lifting to ensure that you meet all the requirements. Title 21 CFR Part 11 is actually an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulation and it is there to ensure electronic records are as reliable as their paper-based counterparts. There are a whole host of 21 CFR Part 11 requirements and most of them are to ensure the integrity of the signer. This regulation very strictly stipulates that only a single individual may use a particular signature and that only the rightful owner of a signature can use it. To learn more, check out our article on Title 21 CFR Part 11. If your industry or product is FDA-regulated, then it’s essential that you choose a signing tool that is compliant with 21 CFR Part 11.
Features of a Robust Signing Tool for Salesforce
We hope you are still flying with us because now it’s time to get into all the details of robust Salesforce signing tools. Of course, these are just our recommendations but if you choose a tool with these features, you get ultimate flexibility.
1. Start the Signing Process from anywhere in Salesforce
Ideally, you should be able to trigger your signing process from any standard or custom object or embed it in any Salesforce asset, such as Experience Cloud, app pages, and List views. It is also convenient to be able to trigger the signing process from within a Salesforce flow for complete automation.
2. Dynamic Templates and Documents
You should have the ability to work with any dynamic document or template in any format. This means you will be able to upload a document from your device, configure one dynamically using Salesforce data, or use a file saved in Salesforce to start signing fast. This means no limits and no road-blockers for your Salesforce electronic signatures.
3. Dynamic Number of Signers and Determine their Identity in Real-time
It’s often difficult to know how many signers you will need in order to wrap up a deal. For example, you might not initially know that a lucrative contract needs to be signed off by both the CFO and CEO of the company you are dealing with or your document might legally require extra witnesses. With a robust Salesforce eSignature solution, the number of signers can be dynamically determined throughout the signing process. Similarly, you want to choose a tool that enables you to figure out the identity of each signer in real time based on Salesforce data. This is not only good for security but also enables you to configure a flow where each individual signs in a pre-defined order.
4. Security and Tracking in Salesforce
Security and tracking are also major considerations when choosing the right signing tool for Salesforce. Choose an option that either comes with 2FA (2-factor authentication) or SSO (single sign-on) so that you can rest easy knowing your important documents are only being read by the intended audience. Facial recognition is an even bigger bonus and we also recommend being compliant with HIPAA, which reassures your customers that your documents meet the highest standards of data protection.
You should also aim for a solution that enables you to track every stage and detail of the signing process directly in Salesforce so you can get complete transparency and visibility on your most crucial documents.
5. Conditional Logic for Personalization
One of the incredible things about Salesforce is that no two customers are ever treated the same, and you should go for a signing tool that offers the same level of personalization. Your ideal signing tool should be able to show or hide fields depending on the decisions and profile of the signer. This means each signer only sees fields relevant to them and if certain docs have role-based permissions, then your signing tool can help keep them in place.
Other features to look out for in the right eSignature tool for Salesforce include the ability to update records after signing is complete and also save your doc in Salesforce or an external storage system of your choice.
E-signature Salesforce Limitations
Now that we have discussed the perks of choosing eSignatures for Salesforce as well as some of the most important features the right solution should have, you might be wondering about relevant limitations. Well, the biggest limitation of Salesforce eSignatures is, of course, that the CRM giant itself does not have an out-of-the-box solution. As to other limitations, well, this is dependent on the third-party tool you choose to use. So let’s check out some of the most popular signing solutions for Salesforce below to get an understanding of the different limitations per tool as well as their upsides.
Salesforce eSign Tools
Check out a complete breakdown of some of the most well-known Salesforce eSignature tools on the market.
Adobe Acrobat Sign
A big player in the world of signing solutions, Adobe has been around since 1982. Adobe Sign has direct Salesforce integration and its eSignature solutions have over 3000 reviews on the AppExchange. So what are the pros and cons of this solution?
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Adobe remains a popular signing solution but at this stage, it’s more of a dinosaur than anything else. The company has scaled beyond the point of being able to provide personalized support and the UI is challenging to navigate.
Docusign
DocuSign for Salesforce likes to market itself as a native signing tool. It is also often (falsely) believed that DocuSign is a feature or functionality of Salesforce rather than a separate third-party app that integrates with the #1 CRM. So what should you know about DocuSign?
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Conga Sign
Bought out by Apttus in 2020, Conga now markets itself as a suite of tools that helps you streamline the revenue lifecycle. Perhaps most well-known for its Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions, Conga has its own eSigning solution that integrates directly with Salesforce.
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Dropbox Sign
Dropbox Sign, formerly known as Hello Sign, integrates with Salesforce to help you track the entire signing process in the #1 CRM and close deals faster. So what are this tool’s main features, capabilities, and limitations?
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Formstack Sign
Primarily known as a form builder for Salesforce, Formstack also has its own eSigning solution. While you won’t be able to find the signing solution on the AppExchange, you can learn more about it via the Formstack website.
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Sertifi E-Sign
Sertifi is something of a specialist in eSigning solutions. While there is a Sertifi app on the Salesforce AppExchange, it has only been reviewed by some 200 users, making it a smaller player than some other alternatives on this list. Targeted toward making payments more efficient, Sertifi comes with its own strengths and weaknesses. Check them out below:
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PandaDoc Esignatures
What began as a startup in Belarus in 2011 is now a big name in Silicon Valley. PandaDoc has some 30,000 customers and it has a popular eSigning solution. So how does it work with Salesforce and is it worth using?
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Titan Sign
Last but not least on this list is Titan Sign for Salesforce. Titan Sign is part of Titan’s no-code suite of enterprise applications for Salesforce. Each of the Titan modules is entirely declarative and designed to help you build custom applications using no code. Titan Sign works seamlessly with Titan’s other products like Salesforce Doc Gen and Salesforce CLM and comes with some powerful features of its own. So let’s check them out:
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Use Cases for Salesforce Electronic Signatures
If you are still reading, then you might be wondering exactly how eSignatures are used in specific business cases. Below we take a look at some use cases that demonstrate the power of eSignatures for Salesforce:
Sales Contracts
Many organizations use Salesforce to generate sales contracts and send them out to clients for signing. Electronic signing for sales quotes is a common task that requires a Salesforce e-signature, as it increases the security levels of the document and allows you to fully automate your sales pipeline.
A Salesforce eSignature removes the tasks of printing out sales contracts, delivering the document to each signee in the agreement, collecting physical signatures from clients, and scanning the deal back into digital format for archiving. This makes for a faster and more convenient process all around.
Quotes and Proposals
Companies that need to send Salesforce quotes or Salesforce proposals to clients also need the help of eSignatures. These business documents usually contain information regarding the details of a project, the timelines required to complete the project, any costs, and the terms and conditions of the business. It’s important to get these specifications signed off for approval before committing to any work.
Using Salesforce eSignatures for your quotes and proposals can remove the manual tasks that make traditional document signing processes so painstaking such as printing, signing, scanning, and mailing documents. They also speed up the sales cycle and reduce typos.
NDA and Legal Documents
The legal industry is one of many sectors that have to create and manage Salesforce NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements) and other legal documents. Firms in the legal industry often require digital signatures to fully secure their agreements. In the case of important NDAs a tool with facial recognition is also advantageous because it helps you to verify the identity of each signer.
Customer Onboarding
We all know that feeling of joining a new organization or service and being overwhelmed by the paperwork involved. ESignatures for Salesforce ensure the customer onboarding process is efficient, secure, and convenient for all parties involved.
An everyday use case for how eSignatures are used to streamline customer onboarding is in the financial industry. After a customer provides personal information to sign up for an account, the bank can automatically generate a document for the customer to sign and submit back into the system. Signing can be completed electronically and securely.
Renewal Agreements
When your lease, subscription, or membership comes to an end, you might want to renew them to continue subscriptions. E-signatures provide a convenient way to deliver documents and collect signatures for renewal agreements. Not only do they help make the process more efficient, but eSignatures are valuable tools for adding security to your renewal agreements.
Approvals and Authorizations
ESignatures have become a trusted tool for streamlining Salesforce approval processes. For example, human resources (HR) teams are responsible for handling the employee leave process. This process to approve and authorize leave can include a lot of paperwork and scheduling meetings to collect physical signatures. With an eSignature solution for Salesforce, many HR teams have been able to simplify their employee leave approval and authorization processes via bulk signing and automation.
Channel Partner Agreements
Organizations implement eSignatures for channel partner agreements as they speed up agreement processes and reduce manual administrative tasks for teams and channel partners.
How it usually works is that a Salesforce partner agreement is created and sent to recipients for signing. The channel partner can review the deal online and discuss any issues with associates through built-in collaboration tools. If the channel partner is happy with the document, they can electronically sign it and submit it back to the company that distributed it. Usually, the representative at the company will also electronically sign the document for approval. The digital copy is then stored in a CRM repository, like Salesforce, and emailed to all stakeholders involved in the signing process.
HR and Employee Documents
There are many benefits that HR teams can enjoy by adding eSignatures to their document management processes. For example, Salesforce HR users can manage their onboarding tasks better with eSignatures and their CRM platform, as it allows employees to collect many documents and signatures in bulk from new hires.
Financial Documents
ESignatures can be used for almost any financial document you can think of. For example, banks can use eSignature solutions to speed up applications and approvals of loans. Without eSignature solutions for Salesforce in financial services, bank clerks would have to follow many time-consuming steps to complete loan applications. Some of these steps include managing physical documents and repetitive data entry tasks for Salesforce.
Compliance and Regulatory Documents
Not only do eSignatures provide a practical way to streamline document tasks related to compliance and regulations, but they also offer security and help to comply with laws that often require signatures for acknowledgment.
Companies enhance their regulatory system with Salesforce by adding eSignature solutions to their processes so that they can collect and manage compliance and regulatory documents from clients or colleagues quickly.
Wrapping Up eSignatures in Salesforce
And that’s a wrap on eSignatures in Salesforce. We hope you have enjoyed learning about how these tools can streamline business processes and help propel your organization into the digital era. Given Salesforce’s lack of native signing tools, there is an exciting gap in the market for third-party apps to step in. While there are many solid options, Titan Sign stands out for its real-time Salesforce integration and no-code implementation.
Want more from your Salesforce apps? Titan can also create custom documents, online forms, web apps, and eSignatures! If you need Salesforce survey tools, we got you covered too. Find Titan on Salesforce AppExchange! We would love to hear from you and find out what you are looking for in an eSignature tool!
Get in touch and let us know now!
We hope to see you soon!
Disclaimer: The comparisons listed in this article are based on information provided by the companies online and online reviews from users. If you found a mistake, please contact us.
