How to Analyze and Measure eSignature User Adoption

This blog was contributed by Sara Draffin, senior customer success manager at Docusign.

Your organization has implemented Docusign eSignature. Now what?

Suppose it’s your job to maximize eSignature adoption within your large organization.  This means finding new use cases and breaking down barriers to drive eSign enablement, support and employee adoption. 

Where do you begin? I suggest to my customers that they start with the A-R-T of the possible. Focus on:

1. Assessing current usage

2. Reviewing and analyzing data on usage

3. Taking action to increase adoption.

Assess: Measure the current state

As you gauge adoption, be sure to first define what success looks like and how you will measure it. This will be critical to demonstrating value as your organization expands its eSignature use.

The challenge is in knowing which metrics to gather. If you measure the wrong areas, your organization will risk sending the wrong messages around current adoption and stalling new Docusign program onboarding downstream.

Keep it simple by focusing on adoption metrics among two kinds of users: 

• Identify your power users by reviewing users with the highest numbers of envelopes sent, envelopes completed, and templates created. 

• Identify your users who are struggling by finding the lowest number of envelopes sent and envelopes completed. 

Review and Analyze Data: Learn more about challenges and opportunities

Once you’ve gathered your initial data, learn more about what’s in it. Take a two-pronged approach: 

• Send all your Docusign users a survey with a few broad questions about their experiences on the platform. 

• Once you’ve gathered responses to these questions, select three to five users to connect with directly. Ask them some clarifying questions so that you can start making changes to increase adoption.

What kind of feedback can you expect to receive? Jennie from Sales may tell you: “I often need to change the recipient or email address of a document that needs to be signed. As a result, it’s very tedious to void an envelope and create a new envelope to update the signer.”

Jennie’s comments indicate an enablement opportunity. In eSignature, if nobody has signed a document yet, a user can still correct an envelope. Jennie simply needs to learn how to use this feature.

Meanwhile, Lisa from HR may tell you: “Many of the documents I send have many tags that need to be placed before the document can be sent—for example: benefits forms or W-9s. I’ve read about templates, but I can’t create them.”

This is also an enablement opportunity. Lisa may not have permissions enabled on her account to create envelopes. This may be because your center of excellence wants to funnel this task through a specific process that’s subject to approvals. By spending 10 minutes chatting with Lisa about her experiences, you can learn how to increase overall adoption by increasing employee use of templates. 

Take Action: Define success, and then work to increase adoption

Now it’s time to turn your research into action.

Work with your business stakeholders to decide how success with eSignature will translate into broader company success objectives. And then focus on finding new users who can help you increase adoption organization-wide. Some employees simply need to learn more about eSignature so that they can appreciate what it can do for them. Others are excellent prospects because they have key tasks that electronic signatures can help streamline daily.

As you reach out to potential new users: 

• Make it easy for them to access Docusign.

• Design an intake process.

• Create a formalized and documented chargeback process.

• Develop an initial product tour process. 

• Document and share your Docusign processes with a COE.

Remember the old business adage: what gets measured gets done. Track your progress using the powerful ROI metrics within Docusign reporting. And show your executives the return they’re getting—while stoking interest in Docusign—by:

• Sharing ROI metrics (such as envelope velocity or environmental savings) that are relevant to your organization. 

• Asking power users to share their Docusign experience at their next department meeting. 

• Training digital transformation ambassadors who can also help field Docusign questions and share their experience.

• Creating a recurring internal newsletter that highlights new releases, resources and ROI stories.

For a closer look at how to put this A-R-T framework to work for you, download your free copy of The Road to Docusign eSignature ROI: User Adoption. 

Let Docusign help you explore the A-R-T of the possible

We understand that you’re not just buying our products—you’re investing in the future of your business. Our Customer Success team is with you every step of the way, delivering the expertise, guidance, support and resources you need to maximize value from your Docusign solutions.  For help navigating these services, just ask your account representative.

Or keep learning by watching this on-demand webinar from our Customer Success Management team: Analyze and Measure Your eSignature User Adoption.