Tourism Australia (TA) has paved the way for the conveyancing industry to follow its successful transition from wet ink signatures into the use of digital eSignature tools.
Much like with many modern conveyancing firms, TA was attempting to remove paper from its organisation’s workflow and improve efficiency when it made the leap, introducing eSignature platform DocuSign into its workflow.
TA spoke to DocuSign about its experiences after a successful transition. Many of which offer a paralleled benefit conveyancing firms would also experience if they followed suit.
eSignature cuts document workflow from two weeks to 48 hours
Its original process, much like in Conveyancing, was to print the entire contract or signature document, post it to the intended party, wait for their signatures and for it to be returned, before eventually counter signing or lodging.
This process, however, was quickly resolved after transitioning into DocuSign.
“We had a very manual contract management process sitting in between,” TA Chief Financial Officer, Schalk van der Westhuizen, told DocuSign.
“All large contracts would need to be reviewed by myself and the legal team in Sydney and there was a lot of back and forth between head office and our country managers, partners and suppliers.
“It could take two weeks or more to finalise a contract and it would involve a lot of printing and scanning.
“[However,] as a result [of using DocuSign], we’re finding most contracts can now be finalised in 48 hours or less and the burden of paperwork has been lifted from our employees.”
Resistance to change resolved
In many cases and throughout many industries in Australia, the modernisation of workflows can be met with scepticism and resistance to change.
TA’s transition was not an exception, with Schalk explaining: “Some of our stakeholders were concerned about the legality of eSignatures and how the process would work but we worked with DocuSign to put those concerns to rest.
“DocuSign also offered the simplest and easiest user experience amongst the solutions we looked at which helped create buy-in to move forward.”
As for the conveyancing industry, resistance to eSignature is often seen regarding security and tracking.
This is quickly resolved by utilising the triSearch eConveyancing tool, triSign. Which leverages the secure DocuSign platform, with real-time notifications and signature tracking.
Never miss a deadline again
When asked what additional benefits it experienced when switching to a digital workflow, Schalk said aside from completely removing paper pushing and chasing for signatures out of its workflow, it allowed them to channel the time into tasks directly affecting its company goals.
“It has completely removed all of the paper pushing and chasing for signatures and people are able to focus on the tasks that will help them bring more visitors to Australia.”
He added: “Also, our country managers are no longer worrying about paperwork whilst up against campaign deadlines. They can use DocuSign to check the status of contracts and have confidence everything’s in order.”
The ability to return signatures before deadlines is an especially crucial benefit for conveyancers who have strict deadlines, especially when settlement day approaches.
Fortunately, triSign offers an efficient solution to ensure all parties sign a signal secure document digitally, from anywhere, in just three easy steps.
- Upload Document – Upload any document into the platform.
- Tag Documents – Add signee tags where you would like your clients to sign or initial.
- Send Document – Send the document, directly from the platform to your clients. They will be notified via email.
For more information on how you can utilise triSign and how it leverages the DocuSign technology, book a free demonstration today.
