3 Reasons Why Every Agent Must Embrace Digital Transformation

Did you realize that a dozen states allow or are testing a digital driver's license? That's right: no more fumbling in your purse or wallet to show your vital ID. It is digital, and all you need is your smartphone.

You don't even need a paper passport at many ports of entry into the U.S. today with the Mobile Passport app. This is not a fad; it's our future as experts predict that it's just a matter of time that all IDs will be digitized.

The world is undergoing a digital transformation. Whether you like it or not, it's a reality that for your business is worth embracing. Why? Because it will increase your productivity and that can be a big bump to your earnings, personal time, or both.

Embracing Transaction Management

Fundamental to the digital transformation in real estate is transaction management software. If you haven't included transaction management as one of the core services you offer your clients, you are not only falling behind competitively, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to boost to your business.

Florida Realtors® has been a pioneer in the digital transformation movement. Our Form Simplicity transaction management program was created by Realtors for Realtors and is the only Realtor-owned and operated, major solution today. Hundreds of thousands of Realtor members in Florida and nationwide use Form Simplicity as an essential business tool to power their ability to provide a paperless transaction process.

The benefits of using transaction management software like Form Simplicity include some obvious ones and some hidden and delightful surprises.

Here are three major reasons why you will immediately appreciate your transaction management solution—as will your clients:

1. All forms are digital.

Digital forms mean faster everything. Digital forms make it faster to create a transaction, faster to fill in the data because the forms are 'smart,' faster to monitor the status of the transaction, faster to manage the transaction process, faster to collaborate with others, faster to close your transactions, and finally, faster to go back and find the transaction later—with all of its details needed for compliance and legal protection.

Transaction management is also safer. No more missing paper pages and everything is secure and easily accessible to you in one place (and backed up for you). Form Simplicity, for example, allows you to add other documents, files, and photos related to your transaction in a transaction folder. Files are always up to date, which protects you and your clients.

2. Convenient, instant, safe, and secure collaboration with others.

Transaction management software, like Form Simplicity, makes collaboration easier and more convenient than ever. Buyers and sellers and participating agents all are part of the digital process. You get to control what everyone sees. Their dashboard allows them only to view the documents they should be able to access.

And because everything is stored safely in the cloud, transactions can be accessed anytime, anywhere, and from any device with internet access. This makes the ability to collaborate more accessible than ever before.

You also can let others add documents and comments in real-time, eliminating back and forth emails—and it tracks all these conversations in one place, reducing misunderstandings and mistakes that can be caused by broken email chains.

Most importantly, top-of-the-line transaction management software like Form Simplicity uses bank-grade security, making digital transactions the safest kind. For compliance and legal security, going digital provides the assurance and protection your clients—and your business—need and deserve.

3. E-signing.

When your business is powered by a transaction management software like Form Simplicity, digital forms give you another essential benefit. You get expedited signing with digital signatures through the most secure way to get a proper signature: e-signing.

Electronic signatures are a godsend: First, you don't need to find time to schedule everyone to meet up, so it's convenient. And because you don't have to drive, you are safe from going out in areas, or bad weather, late at night.

Also, clients won't miss a signing a specific page because your transaction management software makes sure your clients sign where they are supposed to before the form is finalized and submitted. That means never having to drive around getting a missing form signed by all parties or waiting for a returned fax.

Plus, the final documents and signatures are easy to read—not degraded from all the scanning/faxing/copying/downloading/uploading that could take place. Digital logs track all the signers. And distribution to all parties, including admin, lenders and title company, is super easy.

Research shows that you can reduce your signature time by as much as 95 percent. A study by Forrester Research showed one bank cut documentation errors by 75 percent, cut client visits from 3 to 1, and avoided $8 million in administrative costs. The bank saved more than 80,000 hours annually, the equivalent of 40 full-time employees. The best part, once a customer participated in an e-signing, 90 percent said they would do it again.

Because of e-signing, an entire end-to-end paperless transaction is not only possible but a reality in some 15 states and growing. In the future, it should be commonplace as already every state today allows electronic signatures.

The bottom line

You are not only saving trees by embracing the digital transformation in real estate with transaction management software, but you also are proving the added value a real estate professional brings to today's real estate transaction by embracing new technology.

A transaction management solution should free you from a lot of paper pushing, and that means more time to build relationships with existing and new clients. The time and cost savings are enormous, but the extra time you gain spending more time with people will make deciding to go digital with a program like Form Simplicity priceless.

Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns and operates Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.