How a consultant uses Jotform Sign to simplify client processes

Jotform Sign, our new e-signature solution, streamlines the often clunky process of gathering e-signatures by using Jotform’s array of automation tools, allowing you to get more done and save time.

For those who simply want a smarter e-signature solution, Jotform Sign can be used as a standalone product. For users who log on to Jotform regularly, your life just became even easier, as Jotform Sign boasts its own set of automation tools. This is big news for the 600,000-plus users who already use the Signature element in our form builder.

One such Jotform user is Nasser Jones, owner and operator of the independent marketing and consulting firm NKJ Marketing and Internet Solutions. He provides form services as a Jotform Solutions Provider through The Form Genius. When we invited him to use our beta version of Jotform Sign, it filled a major need and immediately streamlined workflows for him and his clients.

“Jotform Sign is something I had been looking for,” Jones says. “This has made life a lot easier.”

Jotform Sign: A game changer

Lately, Jones’s firm has helped schools improve their processes and systems. As a  self-described “Jotform evangelist” who has been using our products for nearly 10 years, he uses Jotform and its suite of automation tools to do so.

Jones says he hadn’t seen anything like Jotform Sign, even when comparing it to other well-known products that focus solely on e-signatures. He says that Jotform Sign, as a standalone product, is “as robust as anything” he’s used before.

Plus, it’s easier to use, for both Jones and his signers.

“With other products, it’s always, ‘Ugh, I’ve got to download something or use this plug-in.’ So once Jotform added the Sign feature, it really became a game changer for me,” Jones says.

“Whether you’re on a Mac, on a PC, or on your phone — that’s the great thing about the Sign Builder,” he says. “No special installs; I don’t have to walk anyone through anything. That’s super helpful.

“If you’re dealing with people that aren’t that computer-savvy, the less I have to worry about doing, the better.”

Use cases: Frustration diminished

Jones used Jotform Sign for a variety of approval documents right out of the box. Additionally, he used it to gather signatures for personal references, school administrative needs, facility requests, sports league waivers, health waivers, and more.

For example, if a student suffered a potential head injury on campus, Jones’s client needed parents to sign a form stating that they’d received the school’s recommended protocols for concussions, because concussion symptoms can arise hours or days after the initial incident. Parents were frustrated with the process, but Jotform Sign made everything much easier.

Because of the pandemic, Jones says, “parents couldn’t come into the building, so you had to send the form out to their car. It was just a lot of frustration.” With Jotform Sign, the school could email the form to the parent, who could then access it on their phone. “This was great; they use their finger, they sign, and we take care of our documentation on the spot.”

Another of Jones’s clients needed health waivers signed for an adult basketball league. Many of the participants weren’t tech-savvy, but they loved Jotform Sign. The client sent signable documents via mobile device and after a few clicks, it was time for the players to lace ’em up and hit the court.

“Just to be able to send them the link and they can just use their phone or their finger and sign off on it real quick, they love it,” Jones says.

Sign it and go

In another Jotform Sign use case, Jones drastically reduced turnaround time on important documents for a busy school principal. The principal had been hesitant to adopt e-signatures, and the document-signing process took nearly a week to complete.

“For me to get him to sign off on field trips or budget items, I would have to go to his office, leave a form, and he would sign it. Then I would pick it up. So there was this five or six day delay. He was just always so busy,” Jones says.

Soon after Jones gained access to Jotform Sign, the problem was solved.

“So I was able to send this form link directly to his phone, and he absolutely loved it,” Jones says. “He could just look at the document really quickly, sign it with his finger, and it was a done deal.

“It made the turnaround time for getting his signature so much quicker. The longest I would have to wait was maybe a couple hours to a day versus five days.”

From Jotform’s Signature element to the intuitive Jotform Sign

Before Jotform Sign, Jones could gather signatures with Jotform using the Signature form element, and many Jotform users have as well. In fact, the Signature element is the most used element in our form builder.

That powerful feature now receives a boost from Jotform Sign with PDF downloads of signed documents and an audit trail. Jones says that as efficient as the previous process was, Jotform Sign is an improvement for everyone involved.

“No one ever complained, but they like this so much better,” he says. “Jotform Sign is much easier to use. It’s intuitive. I just need to send them a link: ‘Hey, sign here.’ So they don’t have to look through a whole form.

“I have found that for my clients, the simpler I can make things, the more likely they are to take the action I want them to. This product is very direct.”

Jotform Sign is simpler for Jones and his clients thanks to Jotform’s powerful automation capabilities.

E-signatures meet automation

As Jones says, Jotform Sign is as robust as any standalone e-signature product he’s tried, and it’s easier to use. That’s because at Jotform, we automate your workflow at every opportunity. Jotform Sign comes with automation capabilities of its own, including

• An audit trail. Automatically receive a record of invitations sent, who’s viewed your document, who’s signed your document, and when the signing process is complete.

• Automatic field detection. Powered by optical character recognition (OCR), Jotform Sign uses AI to scan documents like PDFs upon upload and automatically detect fields for data input, whether your PDF is in fillable format or not.

• Website embedding functionality. Embed your signable document into your website.  Jotform Sign can generate an embed code that you can easily add to your site. Conveniently, the preview option provides a look at how your document will appear to your signer when it’s embedded on your site.

• Email requests. Use Jotform Sign’s email settings and send features to deliver automatic signature requests and reminder emails, set an expiration date for your document, and more.

You can also request signatures from Jotform Workflows. Use one link to share your document, eliminating the need to send multiple invitations. And you can send signed documents to your favorite cloud storage app, such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox.

Automatic innovation

Our team built and refined Jotform Sign over the course of more than two years. That may seem like an extensive amount of research and development, but it fits right in with Jotform’s culture of innovation and focus on automation.

That’s a big reason why Jones has stuck with Jotform and spread the word about its array of automation tools.

“Everything’s so intuitive and integrated. You can just drag and drop, so there’s the efficiency component,” Jones says. “And as a team, you’re anticipating what the users need. Every time I’m thinking, ‘Man, it would be great if this could do that,’ typically, weeks later, it’s done.”

We hope you’ll find Jotform Sign as useful as Jones has, and that we’ve anticipated your need for a better e-signature solution. After two-plus years of refinement, we can’t help but be confident you’ll love Jotform Sign.

Now, it’s time to see for yourself. Creating your first signable document with Jotform is easy — and it will make life easier, just as it did for Nasser Jones and his host of clients.