Momentum 2019 Customer Panel: Here’s proof that small changes can have a big impact

Anyone who attended the recent DocuSign Momentum 2019 Sydney event would agree that our Customer Panel was a real highlight of the day. DocuSign’s Head of Commercial Sales Development APAC, Jacqui Sargent-Gillett, led a lively discussion about how small changes are having a big impact in our customers’ businesses and beyond.

If you didn’t make it, you can catch up on the full conversation here, or simply take five to read our summary of stand-out insights below.

Better processing power at Domain

There is nothing more affirming than hearing from customers themselves about how a technology like DocuSign is transforming their business. The massive impact that DocuSign is having at Domain is a great case in point.

Nadia Pertot, Director of Customer & Sales Operations at Domain, was frank about the challenge of managing six sub-brands while acquiring many businesses over the years – each which came with its own systems and processes. Simplifying these processes has been a key priority, so that the Domain team can act fast on the opportunities that come through the door.

Domain made one small change to its Salesforce CRM to enable this simplification: it integrated DocuSign into the system.

Previously, Domain salespeople would have to print out a contract, take it out to a customer, bring it back, scan it and so on – often only to discover that the deal was rejected and the whole process would have to start again. DocuSign has changed all of this.

“When we decided to implement DocuSign, it was really easy to integrate and roll out to the sales team. It was very easy for them to start using it. But the time it saved and the amount of efficiencies it created, not just with the sales team but also internally, was just amazing,” said Nadia.

“It was something so simple, yet it had such a huge impact. Now, we refuse to accept paper contracts. Everything has to be done with DocuSign.”

Domain has handled 12,000 opportunities so far this year using DocuSign, yet only needs a small team of seven employees to process these contracts. According to Nadia, they would not have been able to handle that volume of opportunities if they were doing it the old way.

Small steps, big changes at the ABC

We also heard from David Carr, Manager of Commercial Business Affairs at the Australian Broadcasting Commission. David said that the ABC’s initial implementation of DocuSign was very small within the commercial division.

“By small steps we were able to gain big changes quite rapidly … which led others to want to adopt it. And so we're seeing a much broader roll out of DocuSign across the corporation now,” David said.

For example, ABC’s HR team previously onboarded new employees using paper-based contracts. Now, everything is being electronically signed. “We saw massive benefits from the get go and from a very, very small start.”

Race to the front at News Corp

For Keryn Paviour-Smith, GM HR Services & Operations, News Corp Australia, the implementation of DocuSign turned into a race between team members: who could get contracts back the fastest?

She spoke of how they started small with DocuSign, using it in parallel with News Corp’s existing HR system of record, Workday. The team entered competitive mode to see who could get the fastest response on contracts – the first one came back in an hour, but soon they were flying back in about 20 minutes.

Keryn’s key driver in implementing DocuSign was to speed up the process of getting employment contracts signed. Prior to DocuSign, the average turnaround time was about 10 days. These new times are a massive win for the organisation – helping News Corp to secure top talent before they sign on the dotted line with a competitor.

Getting rid of thick reams of paper at McDonald’s

When McDonald’s first implemented DocuSign, the remit was to replace the lengthy franchisee contracts that were couriered out around the country with a streamlined online solution.

As Alex Butterworth, Senior Legal Counsel, McDonald’s, explained, “We were couriering out legal documents, and they would kind of go into a bit of a black hole. They'd end up with the franchisee and you didn't necessarily know whether they were sitting with the right person, or on their desk, or where the documents had gone. But having that instantaneous signing, the ability to know exactly where your documents are, who they're with, automatic reminders, all of those things have just streamlined the way that we're able to run our legal practice at McDonald's.”

DocuSign - Momentum Sydney © Photo by Salty Dingo 2019

From this simple start with franchisee contracts, McDonald’s has progressively rolled out DocuSign across other areas of the business like HR and payroll. They even recently had Hollywood celebrity Katie Holmes sign an agreement to become a McHappy Day ambassador using DocuSign.

Endless possibility

The examples shared by Domain, the ABC, News Corp and McDonald’s just scratch the surface of what’s possible with DocuSign. But, as they all demonstrate, it’s possible to make just one small change to the way you do things to have a big impact across the business.

Enjoyed the customer panel? Why not check out the keynote!

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