Terms of engagement are important. Not only are they a requirement but they set expectations at the beginning of the process to help ensure that what your customer thinks they are getting will align with what is submitted at the end of the survey. Therefore, it is important that they are clear, easy to read and easy to sign. Manual terms give rise to a whole host of sticking points that can make this a frustrating part of the process for both you and your customers.
The issue with manually sending terms of engagement
Time – the first issue with manually submitting terms is that they take time to personalise. Collating information from emails or spreadsheets, pasting across and double checking takes you or your team away from other tasks. They then have to be attached to emails, sent out and you have no idea how much a customer has engaged with them.
Errors – manually filling in terms documents leads to errors. We’re all human and the wrong information can be copied in or spelling mistakes can be made. More time is then required to update them and send on again.
Attachments – they can get filtered out by email spam filters. You’re waiting for a customer to sign and send back. Customers think you still haven’t sent them. This creates unnecessary delays.
Links to other documents – linking to supporting documents that customers must read before confirming back by email can result in customers just replying with acceptance. Whilst this ticks the audit box, it doesn’t help guide customer expectations.
Time to receive – documents that need signing manually can take time. Not everyone has a printer any more. This can lead to customers putting them off and delays in booking in surveys.
So, how can terms be made easier for all parties?
Old Terms vs Survey Booker E-Signature API
Survey Booker has built in E-Signature software. Your terms documents can be uploaded and tagged to prefill all the information we hold in the database. What’s the benefit of that?
Accuracy – the data is automatically entered into your terms documents exactly as you see it in Survey Booker. No need to copy and paste information from one place to another.
Time savings – sending terms can be done in a couple of clicks. Send your terms, check they are correct and add anything else you want and submit for review. The document is then with your customer to review and sign. So easy you can submit them from your phone whilst out of the office.
Customer experience – customers can easily review documents from any device, at any time, and sign with ease. Once submitted you’re alerted and the customer is told what happens next.
Customer expectations – because customers are guided through your document, you can be sure they have read through your terms properly and will know what to expect when your report comes through.
Easy to chase – you can see how far a customer has got with their terms at any time whether terms have delivered, email viewed, document viewed or signed. Making it easy for you to provide the right nudges. We’ll also automatically remind your customer after 3 days that they still need to sign if they haven’t done it already.
Work smarter
Our built-in terms process can help you work smarter.
Survey Booker can help you handle terms with an 85% increase in productivity and 80% average error reduction.
If you currently handle your terms manually or use e-signatures that require you to fill in data manually first, speak to the team to see how we can help you save time, offer an easier process to customers and reduce instruction times.