Everything you need toknow about eSignature
integration for SaaS

From UX to legality tobuild vs. buy

Introduction

eSignatures and SaaS area match made in heaven

However, that demands every inch of your product be as frictionlessand user-friendly as possible for both customers who use yourproduct and your customer’s customers who feel the benefits. 

And one quick-win to improve your user experience is by integrating
eSignatures directly into your platform via an API, which removes
tedious paperwork from your product’s workflow, greatly improving

As digital transformation continues to reshape the workplace, theuse of SaaS has exploded. In fact, companies now use 137 unique
SaaS apps on average to run their businesses.

Why? Because it’s convenient. SaaS technology is a hassle-free
option that offers best-of-breed capability, flexible costs, and handsoff maintenance. 

the experience you offer.

But eSignatures are so much more than just UX enablers. This guidecovers everything you need to know about adding Signatures to your
SaaS platforms and getting the most out of them
How eSignatures boost your U
How eSignatures cut cost

But convenience is also what every other SaaS platform competes

Different types of eSignature integratio

on. See, features are only a differentiator until someone copies them

The pros and cons of building vs. buyin—which is sadly all too easy, and common in the SaaS world. 

The legality of eSignatures vs. traditional ‘wet’ signatures

Instead, separating yourself from rival SaaS vendors has become

Here’s how integrating eSignatures directly into your application via

about how you deliver your product—the way your customer feels

an API is the extra advantage you’ve been looking for.

when buying and using it—because that’s much harder to replicate.
And with 80% of consumers willing to pay extra for a better user
experience, it’s a worthwhile investment.

As Armando Torrealba Echiburú, Product Design Director at Xerosays, “Your user experience is the bridge between customers andtechnology. Since SaaS operates in a different distribution model —not like enterprise where you have a sales team—the software has tosell itself.” Contents
Chapter 1: The UX-boosting power of eSignatures

Chapter 2: eSignatures for greater operational efficiency

Chapter 3: The different ways to integrate eSignatures into your product

Chapter 4: Build vs. buy

Chapter 5: How legal are eSignatures?

Conclusion: eSignatures are SaaS’ secret weapony

1

Chapter

The UX-boosting
power of eSignatures
In the highly competitive SaaS market, differentiating your producthas become less about price and features and more about user
experience (UX). 

The thing is, UX is often seen as a long, iterative journey ofdesigning, testing, and refining products based on customer data,
not a fast-moving tactical tool. But that’s not always the case, one
quick way to boost your platform’s user experience for customers
and users near-instantly is with integrated eSignatures.

70% of business leaders view UX andCX as a competitive differentiator

How eSignatures deliver
a unified, consistentexperience
The leading cause of lost business—whether it’s sign-ups, sales, or
customer churn—is a bad user experience. In fact, a whopping 70%
of customers abandon a purchase because of bad user experienceand 67% of customers claim an unpleasant experience as theirreason for churn. 

So when customer a signs up for your product and are hurled acrossthe internet to a third-party website (or worse, have to download adocument from your platform, sign it, then attach it to an email andsend it back), you’re damaging your product’s experience.

Put simply, the easier you make the signing experience, the greater
the chances customers stay on your platform rather than trying tofind an alternate solution.

Adding eSignature capability to your product’s experience lets
customers send and sign important documents securely without
ever leaving your platform. What’s more, when you use refinedeSignature APIs, it’s possible to make the signing experienceavailable across any device.

From what we’ve seen, when you eliminate distractions andfrustrations from the signing experience, customers complete
documents as much as 26% faster. And this helps with bothcustomer acquisition and retention
For acquisition: Because prospects aren’t distracted by thirdparty experiences or clunky user journeys, the chances they
convert into customers goes up and that’s a faster path torevenue
For retention: If your software helps your users send out and sign
contracts—like sales and HR tools—then how effectively yourcustomers get those contracts signed and returned plays a hugerole in their perception of your product. The easier you makethings, the more engaged customers become, the more you
reduce churn, and the faster your customer base grows.

Where eSignatures thrive
A simple and streamlined experience is especially valuable in highly
regulated industries where documents often demand multiple legallysigned documents, these are a few examples:

For HR teams, candidates and employers need to sign contracts like
NDAs, 1099s, employment contracts, and offer letters.

In the financial services industry, paperwork is a mammoth task—
loan application, corporate taxes, insurance applications, the list
goes on and on—and it often requires multiple signatures frommultiple parties in multiple locations.

“HelloSign’s [now Dropbox Sign] embedded experience allows us
now to deliver a seamless user experience that links invoices withcorresponding contracts. The full white-labeling functionality
enables us to own the eSignature experience, abstract it from our“At Fountain, we strive to provide a seamless branded experience

users, and ensure they never have to leave AdvicePay to transact

across corporate sites and customized job directories,” said Sean

business.

Behr, CEO of Fountain. “Automated document signing supports this,allowing candidates to apply for jobs on the go and move swiftly tobe hired.”Now, users don’t touch the contract because it’s 100% controlled via
the HelloSign [now Dropbox Sign] API from data in our system. Theynever have to leave AdvicePay and they can manage, track, anddownload all their contracts from our application. The invoicecontract data match helps them align accounts payable withaccounts receivable, which can dramatically improve their bottom
line.

When a user creates an invoice in AdvicePay, our application
automatically creates a contract in HelloSign [now Dropbox Sign]
and pulls the invoice amount and other key data fields into thecontract so the documents are 100% synced." — Joe Timmer, Lead Developer, AdvicePayIn Real estate, documents like buyer’s agreements, purchaseagreements and homeowners insurance almost always require a lotof signatures. 

“We’ve found that a lot of sellers don't want to do the print-signscan-fax workflow, so our HelloSign [now Dropbox Sign] integration
is definitely a differentiator that helps us delight our customers andget our NPS as high as possible.”

It could take a listing agent a couple of days to get a listing on the
MLS for their seller. Now, with our seamless process built on
Dropbox Sign, the auto-fill capabilities, and editable templates, we’ve
had sellers sign up with our product, list on the MLS, and receive andaccept an offer with all forms completed in less than one day.

Our process is 100% online and integrated. Not only do sellers
complete the entire process in one browser window, but we are able
to facilitate them getting their listing on the MLS in about 10
minutes.”— Travis Carona, Technical Co-founder, ListingSparkCustomer story

How Fountain 10Xed its largest client’s growthwith mobile eSignature integration
Fountain’s hiring automation platform helps businesses hire hourly
workforces. Approximately 50% of its workforce applicants comethrough mobile, so a mobile-first signing experience was a highpriority.

And delivering in a single integrated workflow has significantly
shortened the hiring timeline for Fountain’s customers andapplicants. It’s helped their customers hire 96,000 applicants eachmonth on average and led to 10x growth in markets served by its
largest client in less than a year.

Convert prospects into
customers faster
Talk to any salesperson and they’ll tell you that when it’s to sign acontract, people disappear. That the final contract-signing step
scares away customers for one of two reasons:
it’s admin-prone – print, sign, scan, send.
it’s time-intensive so customers are more likely to get distracted
or second-guess their decision.

So any measure that makes the contract-signing process easier andfaster is a leap towards more customer conversions and fewer dropoffs.

The Dropbox Sign API lets you build custom eSignature workflowsthat streamline the signing process across your business andeliminate friction for end-users.

By customizing your document process with your company’s
branding from start to finish with the Dropbox Sign custombranding features, signees stay locked in a single experience thewhole time and only see your brand—eliminating any confusion or
distractions.

That’s exactly what integrating eSignature APIs into your contractsigning process does. When a customer signs up for your product, it
triggers an eSignature API to automatically present users with adigitally signable contract right there in your application. And
because customers don’t have to wait for a salesperson to manually
put together a contract and send it to them, it speeds up the signing
process.

Even better, Dropbox Sign integrates with Salesforce through thisAPI. So if your sales team use Salesforce as their CRM, they cansend contracts out for eSignature directly from Salesforce using the
Dropbox Sign API.

With eSignatures, contracts are signed
on average 80% faster and closing
rates increase by as much as 28%.

Chapter2

eSignatures for greater
operational efficiency
Almost every part of the modern SaaS operations is measured,
optimized, and integrated for improved digital interactions. 

But for the longest time, the final blockage in this near-seamlessdigital workplace has been eSignatures, which have lagged withpaper-based processes and awkward third-party tools. It’s madehandling documents more error-prone and tedious than it needs tobe. But with an eSignature API, the final barrier preventing a fully
integrated SaaS platform is finally eroding.

Boost productivity
Sending a high volume of signature requests at the same time is a
productivity drain for your team — creating, sending, and managing
individual documents is inefficient and can cause workflow
bottlenecks. 

By automating manual tasks, like sending signature requests orreminders with an eSignature API integration, you can streamline
your platform’s paperwork processes. 

Sophisticated eSignature APIs can send hundreds of individual
signature requests with one click simply by using a formatted
document and a single API request. This can all save up to 700
annual work hours meaning teams have more time to focus on theiractual job, rather than tiresome admin.

Template away adminheadaches
eSignature APIs also save your team hours. Using high-volume
document templates simply by setting up and saving a templateonce (on your website or application), your team can reuse that
template over and over again whenever they need it. These
templates are especially great for high-usage documents like sales
contracts, HR onboarding paperwork and rental agreements.

Reduce direct costs
Moving document signing to the cloud eliminates costs associatedwith the traditional, physical process—such as postage andpackaging—as well as the longer-term costs associated with storing
paper documents and contracts.

As you can see, integrating eSignature technology into your software
platform doesn’t just pay huge dividends for your customer’s
experience, it also saves you and your team significant time andmoney.

Customer story

How eSignatures streamlined
WorkRamp’s operations
WorkRamp, a SaaS HR platform, found success integrating"What took 30 minutes before (when manually printing andeSignature APIs for multiple use cases: to accelerate customer

scanning contracts) now takes 1-2 minutes. Dropbox Sign has

contracts, complete financing documents, provide an effortless HR

definitely exceeded our expectations." 

onboarding flow, and reduce billable hours for legal paperwork. And
it significantly cut down the time they spent shuffling paper
documents.

– Ted Blosser, Head of Sales and Customer Success, WorkRamp

Chapter3
Direct to third-party
eSignatures

Different ways to

When partnering with a trusted third-party eSignature site, signers

integrate eSignatures

are notified via email that a document is ready for their signature.

into your producteSignature is securely collected. 

They’re then directed to the third-party’s platform where their

If trust is an important part of your and your customers’
relationships, then directing them to a well-known, legitimate

When integrating an eSignature solution into your application, youeSignature solution provider assures customers that their

have two options—direct end-users to a third-party service or keeptransaction is credible and their data is safe.

them within your product. Here’s the difference and the benefits ofboth:

If trust is an important part of your and your customers’
relationships, then directing them to a well-known, legitimate
eSignature solution provider assures customers that theirtransaction is credible and their data is safe.

Additionally, you don’t have to add any new code to your website so
you can get up and running instantly—it’s truly plug and play SaaS. 

However, the process can be clunky. Expecting customers to open
new a new tab or window on their computer or mobile phone andthen navigate back to your page after signing risks losing theirattention forever.

Reduce direct costs
Moving document signing to the cloud eliminates costs associatedAs you can see, integrating eSignature technology into yourwith the traditional, physical process—such as postage andsoftware platform doesn’t just pay huge dividends for yourpackaging—as well as the longer-term costs associated withcustomer’s experience, it also saves you and your team significant

storing paper documents and contracts.

time and money.

No matter your product,
Dropbox Sign has you covered
The Dropbox Sign API lets companies build online signingworkflows for their customers directly into their products,
simplifying document transactions within their own product throughboth embedded and non-embedded signing.

Non-Embedded
Users are directed to sign documents on Dropbox Sign.com fromyour product. We notify the signer via email and collect theireSignature on Dropbox Sign.

Embedded
Users sign documents directly in your product. Documents are beembedded seamlessly in your app or website with just a few lines ofcode.

Whichever API integration you need, Dropbox Sign has you covered
with both embedded and non-embedded APIs that’ll get yourcustomers signing ASAP.

Chapter4

Build vs. buy
So, you’re convinced of the benefits of adding eSignatures to your
SaaS stack. But do you build the eSignature solution in-house? Or
do you buy one?

Both building and buying an eSignature solution comes with theirown upsides and risks. Choose wrong and it might take too long todevelop, surface security flaws, or hamstring you with limited
functionality—all costing you and your team time and money. 

To make the best decisions for your product, here’s what you need toknow about each:Implementation speed
The faster you deploy an eSignature solution, the faster your teamand your customers start seeing the benefits
Build: While building an eSignature tool in-house gives you total
control over functionality and can be customized to exactly what
you want, you could be waiting weeks, months, or even years for ateam of experts to develop such a tool. And even then it’s notguaranteed to be what you want
Buy: Integrating an eSignature tool via API is a short, easy
process that doesn’t take more than a couple of days. The average
Dropbox Sign API integration takes just 2.5 days meaning yourdevelopment team gets valuable time back to tackle problems
unique to your business.

Security
Security threats are constantly changing and that demands
continued vigilance to keep up with constantly evolving threats
Build: With an in-house product, you have total control over how
much time and resource you dedicate to keeping everything
secure. It’s up to you! But that’s risky
Buy: By integrating a third-party eSignature API, a team ofexperts dedicated specifically to eSignatures and security threats
monitors your product and keeps everything safe and up to date.

Legal standards andDropbox Sign integrates 2X fastercompliancethan the industry average

Just like security, eSignatures demand strict compliance tostandards that are constantly changing

We’re proud of our clean documentation and developer-focusedresources that make it simple for developers to integrate the Dropbox
Sign eSignature API into any platform, website, or workflows. Here’s

Build: With a home-built tool, you retain the power to decide

just how easy it iswhich areas of the law apply to your operation and which youneed to comply with. But remember, you’re also tasked withbuilding the infrastructure that timestamps and authenticates

40% of Dropbox Sign API integrations are completed in 10 hour
88% of developers finish their integrations in 40 hours

documents to a court-admissible standard internationally. Plus

But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what Dropbox Sign customers

it’ll need updating whenever there’s a regulatory change

say…

Buy: Your eSignature provider maintains the legal infrastructurearound eSignatures and keeps everything up to date with thelatest changes to manage compliance risks and ensure youreSignatures are legally binding.

Maintenance and support
You need to know your eSignature tool won’t break down for you or
your customers
Build: If you’re building an eSignature tool, you’re likely confident
you have developers, engineers, and security experts on staff tomaintain it and quickly respond to customer issues at the drop ofa hat
Buy: A dedicated support team takes care of the maintenance.
And if there’s an issue, they’re on hand to fix your problem fast.

"HelloSign [now Dropbox Sign] embedded beautifully into our platform
and unlike other vendors, it didn’t require users to leave our platform,
open new accounts or separately log in. HelloSign’s [now Dropbox Sign]
API helped us deliver on our mission of speed, efficiency and ease ofuse." — Mat Goldstein, CRO and Co-FounderChapter5
eSignatures andthe law
Buying a SaaS product feels different—there’s no in-person
meeting, physical product in your hands, or literal dotted line tosign on—and that makes the transaction feel less serious; lesslegitimate.  

But that doesn’t make the contracts and agreements you andyour customers sign any less valid or protected. Contracts, andthe eSignatures on them, are just as legally binding andenforceable as paper documents. 

There are a number of specific eSignature laws designed to keep
you and your customers safe. Electronic signature regulations in
the U.S. and the European Union, for example, ensureagreements signed electronically maintain the same level ofvalidity as an agreement signed by hand.

Are eSignatures legal
internationally?
In short, yes. eSignatures are legal as long as they adhere to all
relevant laws. And understanding eSignature laws and how they
apply to contracts between different countries allows you to conduct
legal business on an international scale.

However, every country has its own specific regulations for exactly
how and when electronic signatures are used. If you have any
country-specific queries or other questions about the legality ofeSignatures, you find the answer to them in the Dropbox Sign
legality guide.

Audit trails
With a single instance of fraud costing companies USD$1.5 million
on average, there are huge consequences when private andcommercially sensitive documents fall into the wrong hands or are
tampered with.

That’s why you want to ensure every party is secure, traceable andaccountable—it’s the only way to protect everyone involved in thetransactions and ensure compliance. Any worthwhile eSignature tool
will create a non-editable audit trail that ensures every action on yourdocuments is thoroughly tracked and time-stamped, so you havedefensible proof of access, review, and signature.

Compliance is a top Dropbox Signpriority
Failure to adhere to information security standards is a risk no

Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (EUTA) of 1999, and the eIDAS

company should take. The associated penalties from civil fines toregulation for the EU of 2016 (EU Regulation 910/2014). 

prosecution in criminal court just aren’t worth it. That’s why
Dropbox Sign has diligently built processes to keep our service
internationally compliant. 

In addition, Dropbox Sign adds an audit trail page to all completed
documents which contains a globally unique identifier that shows
which email address signed a document and when and a hash of

To get specific, Dropbox Sign is compliant with the following: SOC

the PDF document which is used to determine whether it has been

2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, the U.S. ESIGN act of 2000, themodified or tampered with.

Conclusion

eSignatures are SaaS’secret weapon

In the fast-paced world of SaaS, there’s always another optimization
tweak or hot piece of tech that promises to take your business to thenext level. 

The distinction you need to make is which optimizations andproducts will resolve your business’ and customers’ most immediate
and grating pains because that’s where you’ll unlock the most gains.
And removing the slow and confusing signing processes for both

About Dropbox Sign

your employees and customers is a great place to start . 

If Dropbox the Sign API is something that’ll help your business, book

Dropbox Sign simplifies work for millions of individuals. Customers

a demo with one of Dropbox Sign’s API experts, who will happily

all over the world trust the Dropbox Sign platform—which includes

walk you through how the product works and how you can simplify

eSignature, digital workflow and electronic fax solutions—toyour signing process.

automate and manage their most important business transactions.
Companies all over the world rely on us to power their applications,making it easier to close deals faster, onboard new hires, complete
documents without error and much more. For more information visit
the Dropbox Sign website.