A seamless digital experience is crucial to meeting the expectations of today’s customers. Digital experiences allow customers to interact with a business quickly and easily from anywhere, at any time and on any device.

The digital shift has brought the need for e-signatures and electronic document management to the fore, as they provide a smooth and secure way for customers to complete transactions with a business, enhancing the holistic customer experience.

Paper still has its place in the world. While there’s nothing like holding a book in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other, digital now reigns supreme in the workplace and customer-facing interactions.

Customers expect seamless, paperless experiences that enable them to create, edit and share documents on their portable devices. Yet many organizations still rely on printed documents, which can be slow and cumbersome to work with.

By adopting digital solutions, organizations can not only improve their customer experiences, but optimize internal workflows and streamline the inefficiencies associated with paper handling.

How paper is hindering your customer experience

While the negative implications of paper-based systems within organizations are widely acknowledged, these effects also flow through to your customers:

1. Inefficient and slow workflows can lead to delays in processing customer requests and transactions, which can result in frustration and dissatisfaction.
2. Errors and rework can result in mistakes on customer documents, leading to delays in completing transactions and potentially impacting the customer's trust in the business.
3. Limited accessibility to paper-based documents can make it difficult for customers to access and share information, potentially leading to delays and miscommunications.
4. Security risks associated with paper-based documents can result in breaches of customer information, leading to loss of trust and potential legal issues.
5. Lack of visibility and control over document processes can result in delays in completing transactions and difficulty in providing customers with updates on the status of their requests.

How digital changes everything

If your business still relies on having documents signed and filled, there is significant room for optimization. Here are a few examples of businesses putting digital first and seeing big results for the consumer.

Easier accessibility

AIA Singapore was the first insurance provider in Singapore to adopt advanced e-signature. With a clear focus on their customer and a desire to make their services as easy to access as possible, they switched from wet signatures to e-signatures with the help of Tungsten Automation. They were also able to finetune the entire remote signing journey to ensure compliance with local regulations. Within the first month, AIA obtained over 7,000 submitted cases using the Tungsten Automation platform.

Additional security

Cetelem Slovakia wanted to be recognized as the most service-oriented finance partner available for retailers. The company was already nearly paperless in processing loan agreements, thanks to a document management system (Alfresco DMS) provided by Tungsten Automation partner ANASOFT. To streamline and simplify internal processes even further and completely eliminate paper, Cetelem embraced electronic signatures.

Customers now sign on tablets using a special pen, which captures biometric signature characteristics for additional evidence. The solution includes secure document processing to protect against undetected manipulation and is integrated with Cetelem's document management system. As a result, Cetelem reduced their paper consumption by 1.6 million sheets per year and improved cash flow for retailers, among other benefits.

The next step is digital

Moving to digital processes and e-signatures is the next step for organizations looking to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency. By doing so, they can eliminate the inefficiencies and risks associated with paper-based systems and improve accessibility, accuracy, and security for their customers.