Are You Still Printing Contracts?

Amen and thanks for mentioning this Jeremy.  I've been using docusign for 6 years now and if I had to pick the single most important tool in my real estate toolbox, I'd have to pick docusign.  My philosophy is this business is about putting client's objectives above all else but after that, its about NET dollars PER HOUR.

What I mean by this is you can have a staff and spend thousands on marketing (billboards, radio, etc) and do tons of volume but in the end, what did you net per hour?  Does anyone track their net per hour?

I got into the business in my 20's and I've observed this with many other practitioners over the last 20+ years.  I'd rather live comfortably on 1 deal a month working 20-30 hrs/week providing an extra high level of service and net $180/hr than do 4 or 5 deals a month, working 60 hrs/week and netting $75/hr and docusign is one of the key tools that helps raise my net per hour (and I've done it both ways).  But I digress.

There's times to be touchy & feely with the client but not over every single detail!  I gotta say, I even use docusign for the initial offer most of the time.  I always give the client the choice and explain the pros & cons but in my experience, the client chooses the docusign route (old and young alike). 

You have to remember this business is constantly evolving and we hang on to many unneccessary old school ways all too often. Partly because we're expected to but hey, do doctors still do housecalls? (I'm sure there are a few but c'mon, you know what I'm saying).

The speed of docusign has made the difference in my clients offer prevailing in many instances.  If I present the offer in person, I have the buyers sitting by a PC to have the opportunity to agree to changes on the spot if they want.  Recently all the seller changed was the closing date and both the listing agent and the seller breathed a sigh of relief when I told them I could have that acknowledged in under a minute.  My clients were at dinner and accepted the change on their iPhone (in fact, they didn't even own a PC, they used their iPhone for the entire buying process including navigating to listings where I'd usually meet them after work).

Lucky thing too because I was told a higher offer came in later that evening but we already had mutual acceptance and I didn't have to scan, fax and wait for both buyers to get the counter at home or work, print it, initial the change, and fax or email it back to me.  I can't believe how mu ch time it saves when two signers are in different locations.  They are both looking at the same document online (mirror image) and can both sign from different locations at the same time or at different times.  A copy is then automatically emailed to the client and you.  It won't let the signer out of the system (unless they override it) until they've signed or initialed everywhere you've needed them to.

There's countless times I receive the signed document while on the road and simply forward it to the other party without even opening it (because I know it can't be changed and it wouldn't have been sent to me unless it was fully signed). 

Faxes are obsolete my friends but if you like taking way more time than it should to process documents (which is a huge part of our business), creating frustration with clients (i.e. missing an initial, etc.) and ending up with illegible copies, then stay the course.  I too am amazed how many agents aren't using docusign (PS, it meets all Federal and State electronic signature and documentation requirements).

One time an underwriter required "real" signatures so I looked up this person's marriage license online (the county has since stopped posting copies), got their signature off of it, then wrote their own resignation letter, "signed" it, and sent to them.  What a way to make the point that "real" signatures are WAY less secure than electronic (PS the buyer was my brother who laughed at the idea before I did it and guess what, he still got his loan).

It even keeps copies of all documents indefinitely if you like which your clients can access as well. Sorry to write a book on this first Active Rain entry but this post caught my eye in the Daily Drop.  Not to start another debate but I fail to see the power of blogging.  If I spend as much time prospecting as blogging (and I know blogging is a form of prospecting), I'd have just as much if not more business.  But I've always marched to the beat of a different drum....I was uploading addresses into a $3,500 navigation system before most people even heard of GPS (that's how expensive they were when they first came out)....but uploading property addresses into GPS units is a whole different topic that I'm sure has been covered somewhere else.  TTFN!