Business Document Automation: 10 Benefits of Ditching Paperwork

The digital world is knocking at your business's door, brandishing the power and promise of paperless operations. Yet many businesses still stumble trying to make the digital transition in one critical area: routine paperwork. 

Roughly 30% of documents used each day are still printed on paper, while four in 10 workers say they spend as much as 30% of their time on tasks related to both paper and digital documents. Paperwork will never go away entirely, but automating even some of your day-to-day documents will save time, gain efficiency, and improve accuracy. 

What is Business Document Automation?

Business document automation is using technology to simplify and streamline document workflows, from generation to distribution. 

Imagine producing every piece of paper your company needs — including proposals, quotes, invoices, letters, and more — rapidly and without any human intervention. Simply extract data automatically from your customer relationship management (CRM) system and voilà, you’ve got personalized documents at the click of a button. 

Automation doesn’t mean losing the human touch. Instead, it shifts the focus away from mundane repetitive tasks and enables better use of human resources, driving up productivity.

Business Paperwork: The Thorn in Everyone’s Side

We can all agree that dealing with business paperwork is a hassle, whether paper or digital. Producing business documents manually consumes valuable time and energy. And if you’re still dealing with physical paper, you risk a clutter-filled office and an organizational nightmare, making it easy to lose important documents. 

Another glitch with manual/paper forms is that they introduce opportunities for error. Any time you have to manually type information into a document, you’re risking making a mistake somewhere. Especially when filling out long forms with lots of data entry, a single mistyped number or decimal point can cause serious problems down the line.

However, today’s sophisticated technology lets you leave paperwork behind, taking care of form filling and document creation, so you can focus on achieving your goals.

Types of Business Documents to Automate

Several types of business documents are ideally suited to business document automation.

Business Proposals - Generate unique and compelling business proposals by harvesting key customer data points automatically from your CRM.

Quotes - Eliminate manual input and generate fast and accurate custom price quotes for potential clients. 

Contracts - Input customer details from your CRM to generate and send contracts immediately.

Invoices - Let an automation solution kick off invoice creation and delivery based on the triggers you specify.

Customer Correspondence - Create personalized, client-focused messages using data pulled from your CRM. 

Account & Opportunity Summaries - Pull real-time data into these summaries so you’ll always have the most current strategic analysis at your disposal. 

10 Benefits of Business Document Automation

Document automation isn't just a trendy business phrase — it's an operational game-changer. Embracing document automation means bidding goodbye to unnecessary paperwork while unlocking several measurable benefits.

Document Automation Benefit #1: Time and Cost Savings

Did you know that sales reps spend only 28% of their time actually selling? Manual administration of business documents is time-consuming — time that could otherwise be spent on other revenue-generating activities. 

Document Automation Benefit #2: Increased Efficiency

Efficiency isn't just about speed; it's also about productivity, which impacts profitability. Document automation increases efficiency by reducing human intervention, eliminating redundant tasks, allowing employees to focus on value-added work, and ultimately boosting productivity.

Document Automation Benefit #3: Enhanced Accuracy

Human error is inevitable when manually processing vast volumes of business paperwork. Document automation reduces mistakes significantly and ensures consistency across documents with data auto-filled from Salesforce or another database. Eighty-three percent of customers say they’re loyal to companies that provide consistent, seamless interactions across departments.  

Document Automation Benefit #4: Improved Compliance

In sectors like finance or healthcare with legally required documentation, compliance is critical. Automation makes it easier for your team to maintain consistency and conformity, matching regulatory standards and mitigating risks associated with non-compliance.

Document Automation Benefit #5: Personalization

Personalization might seem contradictory to automation, but advanced custom features let businesses personalize each correspondence reflecting their brand identity while retaining individual client details. Consumers appreciate the personal touch, with 65% pledging loyalty to companies that provide personally tailored interactions. 

Document Automation Benefit #6: Reliable Security

Data integrity and privacy are paramount in our digitally driven era, with 76% of customers preferring companies that offer better data security. Automating documents protects information and ensures sensitive data stays secure through encryption technologies or robust authentication methods.

Document Automation Benefit #7: Scalability and Flexibility

As your business grows, so do your documentation needs. Your team can stay flexible and streamline its workflow by using automated systems to scale up or down based on demand.

Document Automation Benefit #8: Customer Satisfaction

Swift and precise handling coupled with personalized touchpoints helps build a stronger client rapport. Business document automation significantly enhances the overall customer experience with your brand and fosters loyalty, with 72% of consumers saying fast service makes them come back for more.

Document Automation Benefit #9: Environmental Sustainability

Your environmental impact matters, with 78% of customers saying it influences their decision to buy from a company. Migrating to digital information recording and distribution lets you significantly reduce paper consumption, contributing towards environmental sustainability — a true testament to social corporate responsibility in action.

Document Automation Benefit #10: Work-life Balance

The ultimate benefit of document automation is the transformation in work culture as technology cuts down on busy work, giving employees more time for meaningful projects and personal pursuits, leading to a healthy work-life balance. 

Reducing Business Paperwork with S-Docs

Manual and paper-based documents are tedious and eat into your productivity and efficiency. Modernizing your business document automation with S-Docs will streamline operations and accelerate success.

S-Docs is a document automation solution that’s purpose-built for Salesforce users. It works like an extension of your CRM, rather than a separate program, allowing you to seamlessly create and distribute data-driven documents from your regular work interface.

Whether you’re creating contracts or processing invoices, S-Docs speeds up processes and minimizes human errors, saving time and costs associated with manual document handling. Stop juggling pieces of paper and start experiencing what hassle-free business document automation truly feels like. Request a demo today. We look forward to speaking with you!

Innovator's Guide: Developing a Customer-Centric Operating Model

When your business prioritizes customers’ needs and preferences, you make deeper connections that lead to happier customers who are more likely to buy again. Putting the customer at the heart of every decision your organization makes represents a business-wide shift away from centering on your products to understanding and meeting the needs of your customers at every touchpoint. Using technology to create customer-centric digital transformation is key to fostering brand loyalty and driving sustainable growth. 

What is a Customer-Centric Operating Model?

A customer-centric operating model is a strategic approach where a company designs its processes, culture, and technology around the primary objective of delivering exceptional customer experiences. 

This model shifts the organization's attention to delivering customer satisfaction throughout the entire customer journey. This process requires a deep understanding of customer preferences, expectations, and behaviors, and aligns internal processes to meet those needs effectively. 

What Is the Impact of Customer Centricity?

When you concentrate on delivering comprehensive solutions that address the customer’s specific problems and requirements, it can have a profound impact. Some key benefits of a customer-centric operating model include:

1. Enhanced Customer Experience: When you put customers at the center of your operations, you focus on what genuinely matters most to your clients. This enables you to exceed their expectations, foster loyalty, and establish long-term relationships based on trust and satisfaction.
2. Increased Customer Loyalty: A customer-centric approach puts you in a position to build strong relationships with clients, reducing customer churn and increasing retention.
3. Increased Business Profitability: Customers that receive value-enhanced customer service during their purchase have an 86% likelihood of purchasing again, and a 75% chance of spending more, creating a direct impact on your business’s bottom line. 
4. Competitive Advantage: Adopting a customer-centric approach differentiates you more uniquely from your industry peers who use a product-centric approach — giving you a competitive advantage.
5. Improved Brand Reputation: Prioritizing customers increases their respect for you, enhancing your reputation while driving positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Customer Centricity Examples

Let’s look at a few companies that are remarkable examples of customer-centricity:

• Amazon: With its user-friendly interface, personalized recommendations, and efficient customer service, Amazon is a prime example of customer-centricity in the e-commerce space. Amazon uses data analytics tools to offer personalized recommendations based on individual purchase history. Its revolutionary "one-click order" functionality and commitment to fast delivery services amplify the customer experience.
• Apple: Apple has always been about the users. The company has a relentless focus on user experience, design, and improving devices with new features, while its customer service has made it a leading brand in the technology sector.
• Zappos: Zappos prioritizes customer satisfaction above all, offering free returns and 24/7 customer support. This approach led to positive word-of-mouth marketing and impressive loyalty rates, giving them a sustainable competitive advantage over some major brands.
• Netflix: Netflix disrupts traditional broadcasting methods through custom viewing experiences designed around viewer tastes and habits. The entertainment service provider has made significant investments in advanced algorithms that predict high-quality suggestions tailored to each subscriber’s genre preference or viewed content. In addition, Netflix strategically creates original series based on collected data insights about user preferences which keeps their audiences hooked.

There are many other excellent customer centricity examples, but these four have truly proven the theory.

How to Implement a Customer-Centric Operating Model

Transforming your business into a customer-centric company means overhauling various business elements including strategy, culture, operations, and technology. To create a customer-centric operating model, organizations should follow these key steps:

1. Analyze Your Customers’ Needs and Preferences

Start by collecting and analyzing customer data, including surveys, feedback, and behavioral analytics. Ask them what they like or dislike about your product, and what they’d like changed, to understand your customers' pain points, preferences, and expectations. This data forms the foundation for your customer-centric strategy.

2. Use Insights to Outline a Strategy

Develop a clear strategy based on the insights gained from customer data. Look at the data to identify patterns, trends, or key insights into customer pain points, desires, and buying behaviors. Identify areas where you can improve the customer experience so you can tailor your product and personalize your customer service to fit your customers’ desires. Implement changes, and continue to monitor customer feedback for further opportunities. 

3. Build a Customer-Centric Internal Culture

Your internal culture is a powerful place to start communicating the importance of customer satisfaction to every employee and embedding it in your organization's values. Hire and train employees in the culture, and implement awareness programs to help your employees understand and embrace this culture.

4. Operationalize for Quality and Service

Reengineer your processes to prioritize customer relationships, service, and quality. Ensure that all departments, teams, and processes align with your customer-centric strategy, including streamlining workflows and eliminating bottlenecks to provide a better customer experience.

5. Invest in Automation

Leverage technology to enhance efficiency and personalization. Innovative tools like document automation solutions can provide your customers with consistent, high-quality service, and personalized customer interactions with your team, while customer portals make it easier to communicate directly with customers. Using AI and machine learning can also give you the tools you need to run predictive analytics that show you how to increase customer engagement.

Get Started with Customer-Centric Digital Transformation

What is the impact of customer centricity? Well, 94% of customers say their decision to buy from a company again depends on the service they received. Technologies such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, data analytics tools, and omnichannel support help you cater to customer needs effectively, providing a problem-free experience. 

The customer-centric operating model is not a one-time initiative but an ongoing commitment to understanding and serving your customers better. By implementing the steps outlined in this guide, and following the customer centricity examples we’ve shared, organizations can create a culture that places customers at the forefront, delivering exceptional experiences, and ultimately gaining a competitive edge in the market. 

S-Docs can help your organization’s transition to a customer-centric operating model. We automate document generation, distribution, and signing so your customers can get what they need without delay. If you’re ready to embrace customer-centricity — and the benefits that come with it — request a demo today.

The life sciences sector is brimming with opportunities for pivotal breakthroughs, from preventing disease to vital medical treatments. However, only 44% of life sciences organizations have started or completed their digital transformation journey. 

The current slow, manual processes that most organizations face hinder development and potentially delay life-saving treatments. To fully harness the potential of this sector, it’s imperative to adopt technology to streamline operations and enhance innovation, ultimately accelerating important health discoveries.

What is Digital Transformation in Life Sciences?

Life sciences digital transformation is when organizations adopt and integrate digital technologies to improve existing processes, accelerate research & development (R&D), enhance patient care, and optimize overall performance.

Digital technologies can simplify complex procedures and automate mundane tasks while offering novel ways of leveraging data, helping organizations operate more efficiently while paving the way for progress.

Challenges Leading to Digital Transformation in Life Sciences

Healthcare and biotechnology organizations face many roadblocks to efficiency and advancement. Wrestling with these problems is a solid motivator to adopt life sciences digital transformation.

The Paperwork Problem — Life sciences companies are frequently swamped with enormous volumes of paperwork, from clinical trial reports to regulatory filings. Manual or spreadsheet-based document control is crucial yet time-consuming.

Staffing Constraints — The more inefficient and manual the processes are, the more employees an organization must hire to keep the business moving. This is a problem when budgets are tight and existing team members are already strapped for time.

Do More With Less — With budget decreases come higher expectations for employees. They must execute the same (or more) amount of work without additional resources. Though digital transformation comes with initial costs, organizations that make the move free up the budget in the long term.

Data Security — Data stored on paper or even in Excel spreadsheets is not well-protected from theft. Sensitive documents can fall into the wrong hands, get tossed in the waste bin, or be emailed to the wrong person. Life sciences digital transformation ensures tight cybersecurity and protection for all sensitive data. 

Digital Technologies that Accelerate Life Sciences Development

Some key technologies are essential to life sciences digital transformation. 

Automated Workflows

Automating routine tasks and streamlining critical processes like insurance claims submission, patient and resident onboarding, and contract and agreement signing is a huge time-saver. Standardizing processes also ensures consistent quality and fewer errors even during staff turnover.  

Digitized Compliance Paperwork

Digitized paperwork simplifies regulatory submissions and accelerates approval processes while organizing huge chunks of data efficiently. Document automation for life sciences enables companies to transition away from cumbersome paper-based systems towards easily accessible digital records with less risk of missing or misplaced information.

Life Sciences Reporting

With digitized reporting methods that pull data from multiple sources, companies can gather large amounts of data and use real-time analytics to get insights for better decision-making and adaptability in an ever-competitive industry landscape.

Document Personalization 

Companies can personalize emails, order details, product briefs, contracts, and other documents by integrating digital technologies with their customer relationship management (CRM) system. Automatically adapting content according to individual preferences increases customer engagement, and can be used internally to meet the needs of different departments. 

Data Security

Companies handling sensitive patient data must prioritize security. State-of-the-art encryption and secure cloud storage protect privacy while complying with regulations encompassing user consent and rights concerning personal health information. 

Benefits of Digital Transformation in Life Sciences

Organizations that embrace digital transformation reap rewards in the following areas. 

1. Advanced R&D Automation: Researchers can automate routine tasks to free up their time and focus more on critical thinking and complex problem-solving. Advanced R&D automation using analytical tools and machine learning algorithms drastically reduces the timeframe for innovation cycles.
2. Efficient Document Automation: Life science companies spend a significant chunk of time on both manual and digital paperwork. Automation creates more efficient processes and improves data accuracy with substantial cost savings.
3. Seamless Regulatory Compliance: The stringent regulatory environment is no longer a hurdle, due to simplified digital report filing and compliance tracking. Even audits are easier with enhanced document management systems that enable easy retrieval.
4. Expedited Decision-making Processes: Leveraging real-time data analysis enables decision-makers to swiftly devise and implement strategies to keep the business moving forward.
5. Heightened Security Measures: Robust cybersecurity measures ensure high-level data protection and inhibit unauthorized access.

Life science companies that harness today’s automation tools can see dramatic elevations in efficiency and productivity levels. With digital documents, automated workflows, and AI-integrated software capable of blending multiple datasets, scientists gain significant efficiencies that make experimental design easier.

Life Sciences Digital Transformation Made Simple with S-Docs

There’s no getting around paperwork in the life sciences industry. But digital transformation can make it easier. Automated document templates help maintain data integrity while eliminating the possibility of human error, which helps drive productivity and efficiency upward.

Unsurprisingly, leaders are turning to document automation for life sciences with S-Docs. As these organizations manage new drug applications, study participant consent forms, and compliance documentation, S-Docs automation helps with accurate, timely submissions and keeps data secure. 

S-Docs, built on the Salesforce platform, assists life science digital transformation by increasing efficiency and scalability, helping them stay in compliance and improve the customer experience as they grow. How can we help you? Request an S-Docs demo today.

How to Accelerate the Sales Process with Document Automation

In a fast-paced sales environment, every second counts. From lead generation to closing a deal, time is a precious asset that can influence your company's bottom line. But what if you could dramatically reduce the time spent on your sales processes?

Well, you can — by including document automation, you’ll speed up your sales activities, improve productivity, minimize human error, and enhance customer experiences. 

What Is Sales Process Automation?

Sales process automation uses software tools, like sales automation software or Salesforce document generation, to streamline routine business tasks like spinning up contracts and emails and automating signatures. 

Intelligent sales automation software can do the heavy lifting for your sales team, taking over time-consuming administrative duties, guesswork, or unnecessary data management activities. 

Adopting sales process automation doesn’t mean you’re dropping personal customer interactions. Instead, it frees up resources so your sales team can spend more time on meaningful engagements and client-nurturing activities. 

Why Your Teams Need Sales Process Automation Now

Post-pandemic, your customers want immediate interaction and fast, consistent, personalized experiences. Yet, your sales representatives aren’t equipped for this level of service. On average, sales reps spend 72% of their time on non-selling activities. 

Sales automation software digitizes the entire process — a dedicated personal assistant who handles your paperwork so you can focus on accelerating your business cycle.

Document Generation Solutions for Sales Process Automation

A sales automation tool integrated with your customer relationship management (CRM) software can generate documents from existing templates with the touch of a button. Using data and product information already stored in your CRM, document fields auto-populate so you don’t have to waste time copying and pasting. 

The technology works from lead qualification to deal closure, generating everything from quotable price sheets to final contracts. Salesforce document generation, in particular, seamlessly integrates with other functions in the system, allowing sales personnel to create documents and get them out the door by simply completing their regular tasks - everything happens in the background. This in turn opens up more time to chase down new opportunities. 

Types of Documents Sales Teams Should Automate

To simplify sales workflows, teams can use sales automation software to generate common documents using pre-approved templates.

This includes a wide range of document types, including: 

• First call decks for contacting new prospects
• Email communications such as initial contact, follow-up, negotiations, and nurturing
• Product Brochures that can be dynamically personalized for the prospect
• NDAs and other contracts that are personalized for the customer 
• Quotes/proposals generated and delivered instantly
• Invoices and receipts
• Account summaries and other notes
• Services contracts with e-Signature to streamline closing

Automation also provides your sales team with status updates (so nothing gets “stuck” in someone’s inbox), brand consistency in all communications, and quicker turnarounds to close deals faster.

Benefits of Sales Process Automation for Documents

While automating everything from customer interactions to extensive reports, sales automation will bring your sales team many benefits.

Get Time Back For Selling

Free up resources by automating your routine document generation, allowing sales representatives to spend more time on revenue-generating activities like connecting with customers and closing deals. 

Reduce Human Error

“To err is human,” especially when repetitive tasks are involved, like drafting multiple individualized agreements. Adopting a sales automation tool not only eliminates the monotony of these tasks; it adds precision to every step of the process, reducing instances where information may be incorrectly copied or overlooked. 

Improve The Customer Experience

Customers today expect immediate responses to their inquiries. Sales process automation combined with your CRM lets you generate proposals or contracts fast, reducing customer wait times and delivering a high-quality experience.

Focus On Making Sales Personal

With Salesforce document generation, sales representatives can create personalized proposals or contracts without lifting a finger. A quick click is all that is required to create a proposal or contract, with individual customer details auto-populated from Salesforce and conditional elements rendered based on your business rules. This personal touch elevates customer satisfaction and provides sales reps with the ability to spend more time engaging with the customer rather than wrestling with paperwork. 

Scale For Success

No matter the size of your business, scaling with sales automation software is a breeze. Create tens or thousands of documents with minimal effort. As your business expands, a sales automation tool supports increased workloads while preserving efficiency.

Spin Up Sales Documents in Seconds

Sales teams have three vital objectives: sell, sell, and sell. What’s not on that list is administrative paperwork. Sales automation software gives sales teams hours back in their day by taking the monotony of writing proposals, contracts, and emails off their plate.

That’s what we’re offering with S-Docs, an industry-leading document automation and e-signature solution purpose-built for Salesforce. 

Are you ready to relieve your sales team of the burden of routine paperwork and get them back out there selling? We’d love to talk to you! Request a demo today and find out how you can give your sales team more time back each day.

How contact center technologies are your shortcut to customer satisfaction

Cutting-edge technology is a game-changer in today’s intensely competitive business environment. With 78% of service professionals saying it's difficult to balance speed and quality of service, contact center automation can be your secret sauce to streamlining the customer service process and transforming customer interactions to deliver a memorable customer experience. 

Business Growth Starts With Happy Customers

Customer satisfaction is no longer just a nice-to-have in today's business landscape; it's an essential component of successful customer relationship management. Your competitive advantage no longer hinges solely on your product or pricing tactics. Consider this data from the 2022 Salesforce Connected Customer Report: 

• 88% of customers surveyed say that they value great service experiences just as much as they value the products they buy.
• 78% say they’ve made a purchase decision based on the quality of service they received.
• 94% say that good service makes them more likely to purchase again. 
• 82% will recommend a company to others based on excellent customer service.  

These survey responses demonstrate how important top-notch customer service is to your buyers - and in service, communication is key. Fast, efficient communication is essential to making service interactions memorable. Yet maintaining quality and speed of service in a busy call center is a challenge, especially during high-volume call times.

Customer Service Speed and Quality: Is it Possible to Have Both?

Walking the tightrope between meeting high customer expectations while providing fast service requires more than just effort — to truly maintain the balance, you need communication automation to simplify customer service processes.

Automating your contact center operations will speed up service delivery in a number of ways. Technology can: 

• Reduce wait times by routing inquiries to the most relevant agents and offering the option of self-service or personalized interactions. 
• Integrate with your customer relationship management (CRM) system for intelligent, fast document generation. 
• Create email templates and fill them fast, with the touch of a button.
• Offer secure, fast, and reliable data processing.

Communication automation helps your call center reach peak efficiency and save money while providing a superior service experience that nurtures customer relationships and nudges satisfaction scores. 

Amping Up Customer Satisfaction With Contact Center Automation

Document automation is one of the ways to get the most bang for your technology buck. You can auto-fill templates with customer data pulled from your CRM and conditionally show/hide data based on customer info, making it fast and easy to personalize your documents. 

Contact center technologies can increase the bandwidth and service quality of your contact center by creating and personalizing communications such as:

• Emails
• Compliance notices
• Coupon offers
• Warranties
• Issue resolution packets

Automating document generation empowers customer service representatives to communicate quickly and accurately, lowering the chance of human error and streamlining workflows. 

Contact Center Automation That Will Delight Your Customers (and Employees)

Let’s look at some contact center automations that provide the most benefits to both your employees doing the tough customer satisfaction work and your customers themselves.

• Customer outreach and response — Use communication automation to personalize emails by autofilling email templates with information from your CRM. This improves the speed of response and keeps all communication consistent.
• Call scheduling — Contact center technologies allow you to schedule calls based on predicted call volume or agent availability. This lets you balance calls among your team members which helps reduce stress on your staff while cutting down customer wait times. 
• Dynamic coupons and offers — Everyone loves a deal, right? Create coupons with your contact center automation software for relevant, hyper-personalized offers you can send through automated communication channels such as push notifications or emails triggered by specific consumer actions. 
• Workflow and document automation — Contact center automation improves the customer service workflow by reducing repetitive tasks and automatically creating documents — minimizing errors and increasing efficiency. As a bonus, your employees can focus on more complex and interesting tasks, increasing their job satisfaction.
• Virtual queuing — No one wants (or likes) to wait long periods on hold anymore. Virtual queuing lets your clients leave their numbers and receive callbacks at a preferred time rather than staying on hold indefinitely. This shows you value their time just as much as they do.
• Salesforce integration — When your platform integrates with Salesforce Service Cloud, your call center agents get a 360-degree view of their customers. Salesforce integrated with document automation simplifies case management and provides a unified customer experience. With Salesforce Service Cloud, you can also create a self-service portal for those customers who prefer a DIY experience.  

Contact Center Technologies Augment the Human Touch

At its core, contact center automation isn’t about replacing human touch points — it’s about augmenting them. Automation speeds up routine tasks and frees up agents' time so they can focus on the human conversation and intervention — the customer service value that is directly tied to revenue.

Automating your contact center may seem like a daunting task. But S-Docs is here to help. Our document workflow solution is built directly on Salesforce, making it easy to turn your contact center into a lean, customer-centric engine, powered by your customer data. Contact us today for more information or to request a demo. We can’t wait to speak with you!

Streamline Government Communication With Document Automation

While the COVID-19 pandemic created significant stress and uncertainty for businesses everywhere, it’s hard to overemphasize how challenging it was for governments worldwide. In addition to managing diametrically opposing citizen demands for masks (or no masks), vaccines (or no vaccines), and lockdowns (or no lockdowns), the government was forced to solve the same problem everyone was wrestling with: how to continue operating when in-person interaction was limited.  

The answer to this problem, as we all now know, was digital government transformation. And though government entities lagged behind the private sector when it came to adopting new technologies, they made significant progress in the years following the pandemic. In the Salesforce 2022 Connected Government survey, 54% of respondents said that since the pandemic, it’s easier to get help from the government online than in person. 

This is great news. Unfortunately, the same report showed that, while governments are embracing digital, the customer experience delivered by government technology is still lacking. This is underscored by data that shows that less than a quarter of digital government transformation objectives are met fully and on time.

The takeaway is that, while governments are making notable progress, the execution of digital adoption is inadequate — and the cost comes in the form of constituent distrust. To rebuild confidence in the public sector, government leadership must focus on investing in government technology companies that offer streamlined, secure, transparent digital solutions that prioritize the user experience.

What is The Digital Transformation of Government?

Digital transformation is a long-term, strategic initiative government entities undergo to convert documents, processes, and communications from paper to cloud-based digital platforms. 

Due to approval constraints and the sensitive nature of the documents and data governments store, they are often hesitant to adopt new technologies. However, increases in cloud security have now surpassed that of traditional paper. In addition to efficiency and accessibility gains, digital transformation for government, or GovTech, provides a safer environment to accomplish the goals of these organizations.

Why is Digital Government Transformation Essential To Building Trust?

Building confident relationships between governments and citizens, partners, and constituents is incredibly important, especially today when government trust in the United States and across the globe is flailing. 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has created a framework to help the public sector understand the drivers of citizen trust. Two of the qualities mentioned in the framework are:

• Responsiveness and reliability in delivering policies and services
• Acting in line with the values of openness, integrity, and fairness

Both of these qualities are quickly compromised by governments using outdated methods of operation like mailing, receiving, and storing printed documents and wrestling with ancient computer systems that are difficult to navigate. Not only do these methods slow government processes and issue resolution, but they also lack the security required for processing, distributing, and storing sensitive data. Misplaced pieces of paper, lost documents in the mail, and confusing webs of online forms that send users across multiple digital channels are the poison that leads many to question the integrity and reliability of government.

Investing in GovTech is the antidote to the disease of mistrust. The data from thousands of citizens across the globe validates this point: In the Salesforce Connected Government report, 87% of those surveyed said that a great digital government customer experience would increase their degree of trust. And an increase in citizen trust impacts whether they vote, share personally identifiable information, apply for benefits, and participate in community engagement.

With streamlined, cloud-based, mobile and tablet-accessible operations, governments can speed applications for aid, automate and personalize responses, and provide fast and easy contact methods for questions and problems — all within a secure infrastructure that locks down data flow, access, and manipulation.

The Hallmark of Digital Government Transformation is Document Automation

Many government technologies can digitize various aspects of citizen support; document automation is a high-impact place to start. With digital documents that can be distributed, completed, and submitted online, public sector organizations have an opportunity to:

• Improve the citizen experience
• Increase sustainability while reducing costs
• Lock-down data security

But document automation isn’t just about creating digital documents; it’s also about automating communication, data entry, distribution, and access so citizens feel confident that they will securely receive what they need when they need it — an essential component of trust. 

5 Document Automation Features That Build Constituent Trust

Government technology companies offer document automation solutions that come in many forms, from tools that have a clunky interface to legacy applications that are incompatible with cloud or hybrid infrastructures. It’s important to choose GovTech that enhances the user experience, eases internal processing, and amps up security. 

Let’s take a look at the features that will deliver the most value to the citizen experience during the journey to digital government transformation.

Fast Document Generation

Quick load times for even large documents (and let’s face it: the government isn’t known for brevity) should be a high priority for any government institution. When constituents or government employees are uploading sensitive or classified documents, a lengthy load time can cause the internet to time out or a browser to go to sleep. This disrupts the process, introducing frustration and a poor perception of government technology. 

Document automation solutions that offer rapid file uploads and one-click document creation make everyone’s job easier, allowing them to get even complex documents uploaded and set up in seconds.

Pixel-Perfect Formatting

When it comes to tax, compliance, and other highly-regulated forms, governments are expected to have every document formatted in compliance with legal requirements. Digital document solutions that provide customizable templates with pixel-perfect control over even the most minute details — the dimensions of a text box, the color of a header, or the layout of tables and figures — ensure that every form is perfectly formatted and print-ready at the click of a button.

Online Applications and Forms

To submit government applications on paper, citizens must go through a tedious process of printing, filling out, scanning, and emailing these forms. In many cases, they may even have to pick the forms up and submit them in person — a tedious process that can even be impossible for individuals who don’t have a personal vehicle or access to public transportation.

Building trust means meeting the people where they are and simplifying their lives. Giving them digital access to applications and forms — with immediate confirmation of receipt — greatly eases and speeds up the process they must go through to submit important government forms.

Approvals with E-Signature

The same principle applies when it comes to obtaining signatures, internally or externally. Waiting for signatures in the mail from either government representatives or citizens creates costly holdups, damaging constituent confidence that benefits and services will be received in a timely manner. 

E-signature platforms accelerate the workflow and keep governments on schedule by providing approvals and confirmations to constituents in minutes instead of days.

Automated Outreach and Follow-Up

One of the hallmarks of trust is openness, transparency, and communication. For constituents, this means knowing if government applications have been received, where they are in the process, and where their approvals stand. Digital government transformation solutions that automate citizen follow-up and outreach can provide this confidence.

• Automated confirmation emails give citizens assurance that their information has been received and securely stored. 
• Automated follow-up communications tell them how their document can be accessed and its status or place in the queue.
• Automated approval or rejection emails, phone calls, and text messages confirm that an application has been reviewed, approved, or rejected, and what citizens need to do next.

Security and Compliance

Cybersecurity is an important concern to citizens who are sharing private, detailed information like social security numbers, income, and banking numbers. To provide the best, most secure experience for constituents, choose government technology companies with solutions that have these features:

• Cloud native — Native integration with internal databases like Salesforce Government Cloud Plus keeps sensitive data secured in one place.
• FedRAMP certified — Check every government security box right out the gate by choosing a cloud solution that is already FedRAMP certified.
• Access control - Governments can define exactly who has access to what data and restrict permission accordingly. This limits the attack surface and greatly reduces the possibility of data leakage.
• Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) — An extension of access control, MFA confirms the identity of every person who logs in by requiring at least two forms of verification.

Choose Government Technology That Delivers A Positive Customer Experience

GovTech has made powerful and important progress in the years following the pandemic. And while the gains in efficiency and access shouldn’t be ignored, the government customer experience still has a ways to go. Investing in government technology that enables citizens to easily, quickly, and securely engage with public services lays the groundwork for equal gains in citizen confidence and trust.

S-Docs is a Salesforce Government Cloud-native solution that gives governments and their constituents the simple, relationship-building digital experience they’re looking for. With one-click document generation, e-signature, and pixel-perfect digital forms, governments can:

• Meet and exceed constituent expectations
• Improve employee productivity and service delivery
• Communicate transparently at scale
• Innovate faster
• Provide greater accessibility

As a trusted partner to government organizations around the globe, we’re here to answer any questions about your digital document needs. Read more about how we support digital government transformation or reach out to request a demo today. 

Communication is a powerful way for nonprofits to amplify their impact and make a real difference in the world. A solid nonprofit communication strategy is about more than getting noticed — it's also about building trust and strong relationships and connecting with the people who matter.

What is Nonprofit Communication?

Nonprofit communication is how a nonprofit talks to and shares information with its audience to spread the word about its purpose, mission, and values. Nonprofits use newsletters, press releases, social media posts, email campaigns, and in-person events to raise awareness and get public support, volunteers, or donations. 

Importance of a Nonprofit Communication Strategy

Crafting an effective nonprofit communication strategy helps nonprofits convey their mission and values and establish strong connections with supporters, volunteers, and donors. Your communication strategy plays a substantial role in achieving goals while streamlining fundraising endeavors. 

Nonprofit Communications Foster Connection

Communication is more than just sharing facts and figures, it's about making real connections. Clear nonprofit communications that tell compelling stories bring your organization and your audience closer together, creating a special bond where everyone shares the same passion for a common cause.

Nonprofit Communications Help You Achieve Your Goals

Nonprofit messages tailor-made for the digital world help you drum up support for your organization and reach your goals. Your message isn’t just about what you're doing; it's about why it matters. Your message is a secret weapon to help you reach your sustainability goals.

Nonprofit Communications Streamline Your Fundraising Efforts

Nonprofit communication for fundraising is the GPS that guides potential donors toward action. Sharing a progress report with your donors can inspire them to donate more — and rally their friends to join the cause. Communication that shows real results and heartwarming success stories is a winning formula that keeps donors excited to be part of your incredible journey for change.

Developing Your Nonprofit Communication Strategy: 5 Steps

Crafting your nonprofit communication plan doesn't have to be an overwhelming task. These five steps will ignite transformative conversations about the problems your organization strives to solve.

1. Determine What Nonprofit Communications You Need

Your specific nonprofit communication strategy might change depending on your organization and what it's about, but most organizations need:

• Donation request emails
• Thank you letters
• Certificates
• Grant applications
• Marketing and promo materials
• Newsletters or blogs
• Internal communications

2. Determine Your Nonprofit Communication Goals & Channels

What do you want your nonprofit's communication to achieve? Do you want more donor engagement, or to spread the word about a new program? Whatever it is, set SMART goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound — that match up with your bigger organizational objectives and identify the nonprofit communication channels that work best for your audience.

3. Build a Scalable Nonprofit Communication and Outreach Plan

A scalable plan maximizes impact, engages stakeholders, effectively conveys your mission, and scales with your growth. Nonprofit digital transformation is pivotal in allowing nonprofits to reach a wider audience and nurture relationships. Leverage your customer relationship management (CRM) system, document automation, personalization, and persona targeting to build a communication plan that can support your growth and success. 

4. Automate Communications Wherever Possible

Emails, newsletters, and donor requests become monotonous without an automated solution. Document automation saves valuable time and resources by streamlining repetitive tasks like generating donor acknowledgment letters, event invitations, and donor request emails. Automation allows staff to focus on higher-impact activities while ensuring consistency and accuracy in messaging, so the nonprofit can reach a wider audience and foster stronger relationships with supporters. 

5. Build Reporting to Track Results

Don't forget to keep an eye on how things are going! Use the tools in your document automation software and CRM to track your progress and evaluate program effectiveness. Create easy-to-understand, shareable reports for your stakeholders to provide transparency and build trust. 

Boost Your Nonprofit Communication Strategy with Document Automation

Nonprofit digital transformation can seriously level up your organization’s efficiency and impact. Recently, Boys & Girls Clubs of America adopted document automation in their network of over 1,100 nonprofits to streamline membership management and embrace organization-wide document efficiency.

In the past, users had to export Salesforce reports, build documents in Microsoft Word, perform mail merges, and then print or upload them back to Salesforce. The process was time-consuming and laborious.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America solved these problems by adopting and integrating S-Docs with Salesforce. With S-Docs, it can now quickly generate custom documents from Salesforce data and create and share templates throughout the organization. Employees save time generating custom documents like thank-you letters to donors, licensed childcare forms, membership applications, and cards so they can spend more time on what matters: the kids.

Effective Nonprofit Digital Transformation with S-Docs

The way to up your nonprofit communication game is with S-Docs document automation. S-Docs seamlessly integrates with Salesforce to automate all kinds of documents, from grant proposals to emails to thank-you letters for donors, taking over the tedious paperwork tasks that eat up your time. 

Powerful and secure, S-Docs keeps your data safe while it works hand-in-hand with Salesforce, saving you time by pulling all the information you need for documents in a flash.

Are you ready to find out more? Request a demo today. We look forward to hearing from you!

Customers today can buy nearly anything they want online, bypassing contact with your company’s representatives. But when it comes to support — say, their TV or washing machine no longer works — they’re going to turn to your field service team for assistance. 

In many cases, your field service employees represent the only face-to-face contact customers have with your company. Since 94% of customers say that their service experience directly influences their decision to buy from a company again, field technicians carry a lot of responsibility to meet customer expectations. 

And customers expect a lot. Field employees must be available quickly and be able to do an entire job on-site, including the paperwork. Customers don't want to wait for a field service employee to get back to their desk to generate a work order, or even wait to download a form on their tablet. 

The Need for Field Service Automation

It’s never been easy to manage documents in the field. In the attempt to avoid multiple trips, many field service teams keep a disorganized stockpile handy — and it’s easy to forget to replenish or keep track of each form.

Of course, many technicians now have access to digital documents, so they should have all the paperwork they need, anywhere they go. Right? 

Well, that may not be the case. 

Not all field service technologies are created equal. Some can have problems synching data between the field location and the office, experience delays in updating information, or have technical glitches with mobile devices. There may be version confusion where the system uses out-of-date templates, or the user can’t find where the template they need is stored on their device. They also may not have built-in automation that updates document fields with CRM and operations systems. 

This could lead to customer delays as well as sales, service, and billing delays, slowing the pace of business and affecting revenue. With field service document automation, your systems are synced up across the board, from the office to the field and back. Both you and your customers can feel confident that documents are accurate, secure, and available.

Types of Field Service Documents

Field employees need immediate access to any document that will help them perform their job, document the details, and bill for it. Some types of field service documents include: 

• Work orders that detail the tasks scheduled to be performed
• Contracts that list the terms and conditions of the job
• Service reports filled out after the work is completed
• Requisition forms for parts or tools needed to complete the work
• Other documents like inspection forms, checklists, proposals, and quotes for additional work.

Basics of Mobile Document Automation

Mobile document automation is a technology that enables field service employees to automatically create, modify, and send documents from mobile devices like tablets or smartphones while on a job site. In fact, mobile technology operates in much the same way that employees in the office generate documents from their computers. 

Field service technicians use mobile automation technology to capture job details, inventory the parts and equipment used, document the hours worked, then wirelessly transmit it to the office for real-time tracking and accountability. Field service automation technology can also process e-signatures, eliminating the need for paper contracts and approvals. 

Speeding Business with Field Service Automation

Field service automation helps organizations stay ahead of the competition by letting technicians deliver better, more efficient customer service while also enhancing business operations. Automation can improve efficiency both in the field and in the office in several ways:

Better Customer Experience

Automated document generation in the field reduces delays and eliminates errors that occur with non-automated digital documents, like using the wrong version of a PDF or Word file, or submitting documents with incomplete or missing information in fields. It also helps eliminate issues due to illegible handwriting inherent in paper documents. Now, making an update or a change to a work order is as easy as tapping a button. Digital signatures and real-time data updates complete the process for a smooth, frictionless customer experience. 

Faster Billing and Invoicing 

Field service automation enables businesses to get bills out to a customer instantly and start the business cycle faster. Faster billing leads to faster payment, improving cash flow. When your document generation software is integrated into your business software, this kind of automation can also make accounting and data collection in the office much easier. 

Increased Employee Productivity

Mobile document automation allows technicians to spend less time on paperwork and more time on their jobs. They no longer have to hunt down forms because everything is available on their tablet, and each form takes just seconds to fill out. Field service automation cuts down on paper-pushing so field employees are more productive, efficient, and happy with their jobs. 

Fewer Costly Errors and Return Trips

No one wants to get to the job site and realize they have the wrong part because of messy handwriting or an incomplete work order. Automated documents ensure more accurate documentation with required fields so technicians have the information they need to prepare for the job and get it done on the first trip, with fewer return visits. 

More Accurate Forecasting and Budgeting

Complete data collected in real-time from the field increases accuracy in forecasting and budgeting, helping managers plan for future staffing and expenses, and avoid surprises. 

Optimized Scheduling and Routing

Mobile document automation that integrates with scheduling software like Salesforce Field Service GPT lets technicians optimize more efficient routes to their destination, reduce travel time, and maximize the amount of time they spend at job sites. All of this field service management can be done from a mobile device. 

Improved Field and Office Communication

Mobile document automation provides information flow in real-time from the field to the office with no lag time. Everyone has access to the same information and stays on the same page, which helps decision-making.  

Easier Cross-Selling/Upselling

Having document automation in the field helps service reps create contracts on the spot for customers to sign. They can also suggest and pull new documents and contracts for add-on services while they are right there, ready to do the work. This kind of automation helps shift the focus of field service from a cost center to a profit center for the business.  

Work Smarter with Field Service Automation

Mobile document automation has become a major disruptive technology for field service management. With the right system, companies can eliminate manual documents and the downfalls that come with them. Field service automation allows technicians to create the documents they need on the fly, while the home office benefits from real-time data and communication. 

Document automation helps your field service team unlock productivity while delivering prompt, efficient customer service. Companies that leverage mobile document technology can gain an advantage in an already competitive marketplace.

Want to learn how S-Docs and Salesforce Field Service GPT can help your team generate documents anywhere? Request a demo today.

Modern business today moves lightning fast, with information zipping through the internet as soon as you hit the send button. Customers love the speed and ease of electronic transactions. Two-thirds of B2B buyers surveyed say they’ll choose remote interactions or digital self-service over face-to-face meetings.

Yet even in this digital age, paperwork — you know, words printed on actual paper — persists. Many organizations insist on hard copies of sales contracts or wet signatures — a physical signature on a piece of paper — to finalize a deal.

Let’s face it: traditional sales methods and reams of paperwork just don’t cut it anymore. Newer technologies such as e-signatures let you improve sales efficiency in your daily workflow and gain an edge in the marketplace.  

Barriers to Sales Efficiency

In any vertical, it’s already hard enough to close a sale. The last thing you need is to add more obstacles to this difficult process by resisting digitization. A few potential documentation pitfalls can slow down your sales team or even kill a major deal. 

Disorganized Salespeople 

With so much on their plate, it’s no wonder that salespeople today feel disorganized. Keeping track of paperwork and appointments is a lot of work, and juggling several documents at one time between several teams means a greater possibility of missed opportunities, delays, or lost contracts.

Lack of Process and Documentation 

A fast-moving work environment can make it difficult to slow down enough to create sales process best practices, much less document them. Yet without documented processes, everyone on the sales team ends up doing their own thing. It’s vital to have processes and follow them, especially if your industry has extra legal requirements you have to meet, like including certain disclosures in your contracts. 

Poor Follow-Up or Inconsistent Communication 

A poorly documented sales process leads to an inadequate system for following up and communicating with prospects and customers, making it hard to build trust and nurture client relationships. Inadequate follow-up can also result in a contract sitting in someone’s inbox for weeks or months, delaying the completion of a deal.

The Importance of Technology in Sales Efficiency

Technology has revolutionized how all industries do business. It empowers salespeople to connect and engage with customers efficiently, drives lead generation, improves e-commerce and online sales channels, and enables better data tracking and data-driven insights. 

While countless technologies can improve sales efficiency, e-signatures have been a game changer across the board. Here are seven ways that e-signatures can transform your sales efficiency metrics. 

7 Ways E-Signature Transforms Sales Efficiency

• Eliminates process friction — E-signatures cut out the need for physical paperwork and streamline the signing process making it faster to close a deal. This reduced friction eliminates potential bottlenecks that might lead to a frustrated customer or a lost deal.  

• Enables customers to sign from anywhere, on any device — The convenience of e-signatures gives salespeople the ability to expand beyond their local territory and provide a seamless, efficient customer experience. 

• Automates follow-ups and reminders — E-signature software that integrates with your customer relationship management (CRM) platform makes it easy to automate emails and reminders so you can keep deals on track, rather than waiting for that one party who “meant to do it later but forgot.” These help salespeople stay in touch with prospects and keep warm leads warm. 

• Provides templates for the sales team — Your e-signature software should have customizable templates to help speed up document creation and ensure the accuracy of all contracts and enclosures while providing consistent branding across all documents. Software that supports dynamic content allows you to further customize your templates by choosing or excluding clauses or components from your own content library.

• Pulls in data from Salesforce — When you use the Salesforce platform, it makes sense to use e-signature software that’s built on the same CRM that your salespeople use. Software such as S-Sign is already integrated with Salesforce and lets you pull key details into contracts automatically, with no copy or paste required. Having Salesforce autofill the fields speeds up contract creation, so your document is done and ready to sign in record time.

• Reduces typos and errors — Mistakes in a sales contract can result in disputes and even lost sales. E-signature software that automatically completes fields will improve accuracy and reduce typos and other errors while projecting a professional image for salespeople and your organization.

• Gets your contract out faster — All parties appreciate efficiency and speed at the end of a deal. With e-signature software to automate signature collection, you can expedite the signing process to get your contract out the door faster.

A Simple, Modern E-Signature Solution 

Embracing technology isn’t an option — it’s a necessity in today’s business environment. Your customers expect you to accelerate and simplify the sales cycle into a fast, frictionless experience. Give your salespeople an edge with automation to boost your sales efficiency and document creation and make it easier and faster to execute documents and close sales, all while tracking sales efficiency metrics.

E-signatures are transformative by enabling speed, accuracy, and efficiency, bringing order to even the most chaotic sales environment. When you’ve already invested in Salesforce, it makes sense to use e-signature software that’s purpose-built for the platform you use every day. S-Sign is a powerful, secure e-signature solution that provides fast and seamless agreement execution. Since it pulls in information directly from Salesforce, you’ll have all the customer data you need at your fingertips, ready to populate your agreements with the touch of a button. 

It's difficult enough to get a prospect to the point where they are ready to sign. Let S-Sign help you get them over the finish line and make that final signature as easy as possible. Request a demo today and see how S-Docs can transform your day-to-day operations.