Sales has undergone an abrupt shift from in-person to on-screen. Surprisingly, though, people on both sides of the sale are in favor. McKinsey notes, more than three-quarters of buyers and sellers say they now prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions.

But sentiment and reality aren’t always the same. And for sales teams to make good on their remote efforts, Dailius Wilson, Head of Sales Research at Sales Research Labs tell us there still needs to be an operational shift for sales teams. “We need to prepare remote sales teams to sell into remote business teams. If we're still teaching them how to sell into a pre-COVID company, then we're already dead at the doorstep. The main challenge is finding techniques, and finding the right way to change our approach given this new market we're in.”

Critical to this adaptation is equipping remote sales teams with the right tools to get a deal across the line. And the many benefits of eSignatures are helping sales teams make this transition by speeding up the contract-signing process, reducing errors, and offering prospects new sales experiences.

Here’s how you can get the best out of your remote sales teams by harnessing the power of eSignatures.

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Close deals faster

The traditional sales cycle was slow and filled with tedious paperwork, email attachments, and avoidable errors that slowed down the speed at which sales reps could get a contract signed.

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These outdated methods were the status quo, and there was little incentive to change.

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But remote sales teams are turning all that on its head.

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Just like Zoom has replaced in-person meetings, with eSignature technology, sales teams can replace these outdated contract signing methods.

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And by digitizing contracts using eSignature, many sales leaders have streamlined and simplified the sales process, turning around contracts in an average of five-to-six minutes with eSignatures.

When reps spend less time sending and chasing contracts, they spend more time finding more prospects and closing more deals.

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Experience is the new in-person

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In a world where sales meetings take place on a computer screen, the digital experience your reps expose prospects to carries a whole lot more weight.

As a recent McKinsey report notes, “self-serve and remote interactions have made it easier for buyers to get information, place orders, and arrange service, and customers have enjoyed that speed and convenience.”

Nowadays, customers are happy to speak directly to a salesperson when they add value. But often, they’re not needed. Many decisions can be automated.

The takeaway: Customers no longer want a salesperson to hold their hand every step of the way.

Instead, they want to explore and investigate a service or product in their own time.

And that means creating a cohesive, single-branded journey starting at content and demos through to signing on the dotted line without distraction.

eSignatures help reps deliver the seamless, self-service experience customers want. With Dropbox Sign’s eSignature API, for example, eSignatures can be embedded directly into your website or app and white-labeled, enabling a custom, on-brand signing experience that customers love.

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Gain greater visibility into the sales process

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When working remotely, salespeople can feel more removed from the prospect than ever. So any way they can gain greater insights into their prospects’ activities and behaviors provides an edge.

"Remote sales teams need tracking technology on sales assets. The problem is you send that stuff, it slips into the biggest nebula of all time. So we need to use technology to tailor our multifaceted sales approach so we can see who's examining these materials. In a remote world where we feel isolated, it gives salespeople visibility and can make us a more tangible presence in the deal for the customer,” says Dailius.

eSignature technology gives reps much-needed visibility over how their deals are progressing. As soon as a contract is sent out, reps can see when a prospect has received, opened, and signed a contract. Plus, with notifications for each of these actions, reps get real-time updates so they don't have to waste time chasing.

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Reduce lengthy admin with templates

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Even before the pandemic, salespeople only spent 35.2% of their time selling and 65% on everything else.

But working remotely has given reps more autonomy than ever and with it more room to fritter away time on less-important tasks. As Dailius explains, “Sales reps are accountable for their own time. That’s a change from the standard format where salespeople have KPIs and metrics that are measured inside the office. In a remote world, we’ve really seen that balance of power shift in terms of how sales reps use their time.”

Though sales leaders no longer have control over how reps manage their time, they can still direct the time reps do spend selling toward the right sales tasks.

And that means eliminating non-revenue-related activities like prepping sales contracts, and chasing leads, which could be better spent prospecting, pitching, and closing.

That’s where eSignature tools come in. With eSignature technology, sales teams can create contract templates they can use again and again. That way, any time they need a new contract, it’s there in a few clicks, rather than starting from scratch.

Keep selling at all costs

It’s no surprise that going remote has transformed the way sales teams operate. But deploying eSignature technology has smoothed this transition with a simplified sales process — making it faster, more accurate, more secure, and easily integrable with other sales tools.

And that means remote sales teams can spend more time focusing on what’s important: selling.

To find out how eSignatures and other tools are helping sales teams work better in a remote world, read our latest guide, Nurturing an effective remote sales culture.

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