The problem with documents
Documents – whether paper or electronic – play a vital role in the operations of any business. Documents not only record all the details around organisations’ internal and external matters, but they’re also required for future reference.
But, with the huge amount of important documents businesses deal with daily, it’s no easy task managing them. So, chaos reigns:
- Poor version control
- Missing documents
- Invalid or outdated documents
- Unauthorised access
- Company IP out the door with exiting employees
These are all real problems for companies. All potentially disastrous.
The solution to document disasters
Problem solvers often like to say, “There’s no magic bullet”. But in some cases, there really is.
Enter document automation software. To help businesses beat the document blues, software creators have developed some awesome digital tools to automate, manage and store documents.
Document automation allows companies to speed up and organise their document creation processes. And it does this thoroughly, by:
- Creating different types of documents by pulling data and text from different sources and inserting it into predefined fields on a document template
- Allowing the inclusion of both simple text blocks, and more complex elements in the document (e.g. tables, graphs, infographics, images)
- Using smart templates with embedded workflow, digital signature and storage features
- Easily generating PDF, Word and other documents from Microsoft Office templates
- Automatically ensuring companies’ corporate identity is kept to
- Including the ability to generate document management reports
8 Key benefits of document automation
- Better security and compliance
Document automation improves the accuracy and consistency of your documents. This not only enhances compliance, but it also allows documents to be stored securely, and sent and received with encryption to reduce the threat of cyberattacks. Plus, SigniFlow’s advanced administration features allow you to control access levels for each workflow. - Less errors, more accuracy
Document automation does away with the need to manually input data, so there is less room for human error. Intelligent templates ensure information is accurate every time, while the ability to place specific document fields (which can be made mandatory) results in higher completion rates. - Easy, instant access
Cloud storage allows you and your team to access any document in question at any time, no matter where they are. Plus, SigniFlow’s platform is optimised for mobile, so it is mobile responsive and allows users to review, sign and finalise documents while on the move. - Streamline processes, save time
Spending half an hour or longer looking for a paper document in an archaic filing system or even a digital file on a laptop or PC is not an efficient use of your employees’ time. With ready-to-go, tailor-made templates, your staff can be more efficient and productive (and less wrist-gnawingly bored). - Better customer communications, better retention
If you are still sending paper documents to your clients – and a competitor can send documents for approval in a slick digital file to be reviewed and quickly signed electronically – you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll leave you like a bad habit and opt for the convenient option. Investing in document automation is the best way to stay ahead of the game. - Stay competitive in a dog-eat-dog digital world
Today’s business world is huge. It’s also very sophisticated, with many very strong players. Competition is fierce and you need to give customers what they want – and today’s customers want fast, they want convenient, and they want digital. So, if you’re still using paper-based manual processes, you’re going to end up eating your competitors’ digital dust. - Knowledge gained in-house, stays in-house
A less obvious benefit of cloud-based document automation is that there is no loss of intellectual property or company knowledge when your staff leave. Your entire document history is stored securely in a living cloud repository, which can be strictly managed and organised. - Profit, profit, profit
You’ve no doubt heard of “The three P’s”. And, as much as people, process and product are the core of a business, it’s profit that drives what a business does. At the end of the day, a business that isn’t profitable, cannot exist. Document automation increases profitability by enabling businesses to save time and money, increase customer acquisition and retention, increase productivity, and prevent errors, security slips and reputational damage.
