Your agency is online. Whether you have a small website or you do a lot of business through web portals, you know that being online is part of being a modern insurance company. However, there's more to the world of online insurance than creating social media sites and an excellent website. When you're working on your insurance marketing, you want to mention your fast and efficient service. Simple online activities such as electronic signatures can change how your insurance company does business.
What is an Electronic Signature?
Even if your insurance agency doesn't use electronic signatures, you've probably signed a document or two with an electronic signature in your personal life. E-signatures can look very different. You could sign a document with a jpg file of your signature, or you could place your name in a box as a virtual signature. You and your clients could use a document management service such as DocuSign or EchoSign to add a name to a document. Any of the above is an electronic signature, but it's best to use a signature process that's more formal and legally-binding. Document management services are a better choice for your agency than a copied and pasted signature.
Are They Legal?
Most countries in the world have adopted laws regarding electronic signatures. If you decide to use electronic signatures, you need to know that the documents you send and sign are valid. To make sure that you are in compliance with the law, do the following:
Work with a processing company that has standards that comply with the laws around these signatures.
Make sure that your clients understand what they are signing. Add check boxes that they check off to show that they understand.
Always have a lawyer look at new contracts or forms of documentation so that you can make sure that they are legally binding.
How Electronic Signatures Can Change Your Agency Business
What if there was a way to continue doing business in the same way but complete your transactions much more quickly? Electronic signatures are the answer. You don't need to change what you do, you just change how people sign your documents. With an electronic signature, you can send insurance papers or renewal documents to a client's home, and they can sign them and send them back. E-signatures greatly reduce the time you spend sending out and tracking down documents. You don't need to worry about paper being lost in the mail, and clients don't need to remember to come into the agency or send a piece of paper to you. They're also easy to digitally file. Using electronic signatures seems simple, but it can transform the way you manage some of the fundamental aspects of your business.
As you work in this changing world of insurance, you need a community to keep you up to speed on shifts in the insurance industry. From insurance marketing to options for your insurance agent career, American Agents Alliance has networks, education, and information to support your small insurance agency. Contact us today and learn more about our many membership benefits.
