The FHA is experiencing unprecedented growth increasing their market share from 3% to 35% in a relatively short period of time. This growth has prompted the FHA to seek efficiency enabling them to be more competitive and responsive to the industry’s trends. Realizing the benefits associated with a paperless process, the FHA is working to establish guidelines and procedures for the use of electronic signatures and records for the FHA insurance case binders.
What does this mean for the mortgage industry? Margo Tank, Partner at Buckley Sandler LLP and counsel to the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA), believes that FHA’s decision to embrace technology is significant for the agency and for the mortgage industry for a number of reasons:
Forward Thinking. The FHA’s thought-leadership in developing a set of guidelines designed to expedite the use of electronic records and signatures will establish the FHA as an innovative leader in the mortgage industry.
Accelerate Electronic Adoption. Many lenders are ready to embrace the use of electronic signatures and records but have been slow or reluctant to do so due to a lack of regulatory guidance and acceptance. Agency guidance will with out a doubt drive the use and acceptance of electronic signatures and records by the numerous entities that are part of the mortgage loan process.
Flexibility and Improved Customer Service. Through the incorporation of electronic signatures and the acceptance of electronic records, the FHA can be responsive to market demands and the need for change in the industry to stay competitive. Greater efficiency and reduced processing costs will enable the FHA to better serve its clients.
Enhanced Data Security. Electronic signature processing and records management will make sensitive customer information more secure. In today’s world, clients want the assurance that their information is protected.
In developing these guidelines, FHA understands the benefits of increased efficiency. Their goal is to move to a entirely paperless process, allowing them to fully realize the many benefits of technology, including transparency and reduced costs.
Every business depends on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Both are impacted by internal processes, which are key metrics for any organization. In today’s business climate, the need has arisen to review current processes and match them against the evolving world of technology. Businesses constantly monitor customer perceptions through surveys, sales force feedback and other methods. They do this to measure and gauge how well the overall customer experience is faring in comparison to their business model and daily work efforts. Additionally, they use this as a tool to identify and enhance processes that may be causing lower ratings of customer satisfaction and a decrease in product/service loyalty. Once road-blocks are identified, they’re normally analyzed and improved upon based on the data that had been gathered from customer surveys and feedback. Unfortunately, there are times when even the most dynamic survey or well-trained sales professional will not gain the input needed to improve a process that is under-the-radar, such as the final step in the overall customer experience.
The signing of an agreement or document to close the sale is such a common practice that it is rarely within the sites of customer feedback. With electronic signing now rising in popularity, such customer satisfaction measurements are being affected by this process without companies realizing how it is impacting them. For example:
Company “A” began using electronic signatures for its customers last year. Prior to this, their customer surveys had reflected a 75% overall customer satisfaction rating. After implementing an electronic signing process, the next survey showed a rating of over 88% satisfied customers. Prior results only showed an average increase of 3-5%. There were no other changes within the organization. They simply added electronic signatures.
Company “B” still uses a paper signing process for its customers. Their customer satisfaction survey results came in at 76% during the last survey. Now they project a lower rating of 70%. This is happening even when their prices are lower, the products are more readily available (no waiting), and the company has streamlined other internal functions to offer more customer support and faster assistance. What happened?
Matching current processes with available technology is why company “A” has a higher customer satisfaction measurement. They looked ahead, researched available resources that would lower costs and improve processes and ultimately made the decision to implement electronic signatures. Company “B” is still not aware that this option is available to them, yet their customers are.
The last step in gaining a customer is getting their signature. Making it a simple, effective and secure process is what today’s consumer is looking for. They have identity theft concerns, time restrictions, and want that product or service you’re offering immediately. If there are delays or insecurities, there is a good chance they will move on and find another company that can provide them with the confidence they need and the product/service they want. That’s why using electronic signatures will increase your level of customer satisfaction within your business. They are no longer worried that important personal information may be compromised; they’ve spent very little time with the signing of documents, and they have the product/service they need almost instantaneously. If your company sounds like “Company B”, become an “A” company through the use of electronic signing. If “Company A” sounds like your business, then congratulations. You’ve increased customer satisfaction by matching your current processes with today’s technology…electronic signatures.
As the gap between web applications and traditional desktop applications continues to narrow, advanced web-based user interface components based on their desktop counterparts have become more prevalent. One such component is the ability to drag-and-drop files, images, and various other objects into a desired location. Drag-and-drop functionality has long been integrated into traditional graphical desktop environments and applications and is now considered to be a standard expectation in web-based applications.
The new 5.4 release of eOriginal SmartSign® Web ushers in a new era of usability in web-based electronic signature tools. SmartSign Web now enables a document originator to quickly and easily create, resize, and position signature locations via an intuitive browser-based drag-and-drop interface, leveraging the robust jQuery UI library. Defining a signature location has never been easier than the simple 1-2-3 process of entering signature information, clicking the add button, and moving the signature block to the desired location on the page of the document. As an added feature, SmartSign Web also enables an originator to store previously mapped signature locations and signature types for quick and easy reuse in commonly used documents.
Drag-and-drop signature mapping is just one of the great new features in the 5.4 release of the eCore product suite geared to help you cut costs, streamline your paperless process, and help your company “go-green” with eOriginal.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Allan Levine, Chief Operating Officer of Madison Capital, LLC www.madisoncapital.com and discuss the overall impact of implementing eOriginal’s electronic signature solution. Allan has been in the leasing business for over 35 years (I know! …I thought he was only 40 too) and has seen many technology products come and go… from the hand held calculator to electronic signatures. He made the decision to deploy electronic signatures at Madison Capital over a year ago and has seen much success as a direct result. Take a look at this short video clip of my interview with Allan and his take on the benefits Madison Capital has reaped from an ROI perspective through to improvements to their overall process.
Stay tuned for more segments of this interview in the coming weeks… you can also watch this electronic signature video directly on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06spg2netDM
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