Written by Natalie Chapman, Passare Content

Recently, I went out to a new restaurant with some friends. When it came time to order, the waiter pulled out a smartphone to take our orders instead of a notepad.

I rattled off my dinner order and watched the waiter struggle to put the order into the device.

After a few frustrated sighs, the waiter said: 

"I'm so sorry. We just started using these phones to take orders, and I'm not sure how to get the order to save. If you don't mind, I'll just run and grab a notepad to take your order."

The waiter successfully took my order on paper. But he struggled with the technology at first and grew frustrated.

Without proper training, the same thing can happen in your funeral home when you introduce new technology - like an eSignature tool. Well-trained and prepared staff who understand the value of digital signatures will be what determines its success.

In this blog, learn how to introduce a new eSignature tool to your staff and scripts to use when working with families.

Introducing eSignatures to your staff

Whether implementing eSignatures for the first time or switching to a different tool, your team needs to know why you have decided to change your signature process. While your staff might appreciate the business reasons for using a new eSignature tool (increased efficiency, saving money on paper and postage, etc.), they'll care more about the impact this new tool will have on their daily workload.

That's why it's important to communicate the benefits of eSignatures first! Start by sharing with your staff that with digital signatures, your team can:

#1: Gain control over the entire eSignature process

#2: Eliminate stress by gathering signatures in minutes, rather than waiting days or weeks.

#3: Stay up to date on each signature status.

In one of our other articles, learn more about the reasons you need to start gathering signatures digitally and how your funeral home can benefit from it.

Additionally, share the specific benefits of the tool you'll be using. Here's an example of what you could say if you were implementing Passare's eSignature tool:

"We all know how time-consuming it is to stay on top of all our paperwork from families. We're always having to email forms back and forth, reminding people to sign them, downloading, uploading, printing, etc. There's a more efficient way to get signatures electronically, and it's all built into Passare! With it, we can have a more efficient eSignature process that will keep us organized, simplify our process, and be easy for families to use.

Best of all, we can send multiple forms at once, track their progress, get notified when they're signed, and lock them once we get signatures. This new process will help us easily keep up with paperwork.

I'll contact the Passare team to make sure we get set up correctly and receive training on this new process. I hope you're as excited as I am about this new efficient way to get documents signed!"

A proper introduction (along with some training!) will help your staff feel confident and prepared to use your new eSignature tool in front of families. 

But it's also important to help your families understand this new tool.

Introducing eSignatures to your families

Families are dealing with many emotions when they're planning a funeral. The last thing they need is another hurdle to jump through to sign paperwork because they can't figure out how to use the tool.

The great thing about eSignatures is that the family gets an easy, simple signing experience. No printing, scanning, or emailing required! And if you're using Passare, families can access the forms anytime, anywhere (in Passare's Planning Center) and work on them from home.

Here's how you introduce eSignatures to families:

"At [Funeral Home Name], we understand that you have many decisions to make in the coming days and weeks. That's why we wanted to make this planning process as easy as possible. In our online Planning Center, you can add service details, upload photos, work on the obituary, and electronically sign all the paperwork needed to make sure we honor your loved one with a healing and meaningful funeral.

You can work at your own pace from the comfort of your home and take all the time you need to make every detail perfect. In the meantime, we'll keep an eye on your progress and start making preparations on our end. If you need anything or have questions, please call us."

eSignatures in Passare: Make the process easier for you and your families

There are many options for eSignature tools, which you can learn about in our recent article, eSignature Tools for Funeral Homes: The Good, The Bad, and The Inefficient.

With Passare's built-in eSignature tool is efficient, notifies you when someone completes a form, and ties signatures directly to a case. That way, you and your team can stay organized and updated on all your cases and their statuses on signatures.