In a busy housing market, real estate agents have to act quickly to help out property buyers and sellers as fast as they can. In order to speed up the processes and to improve customer experience, software supplier Kolibri and CM.com have joined forces. Now that Sign has been fully integrated in Kolibri, real estate agents can quickly draw up and send legal documents and can have them digitally signed instantaneously by customers. “Using Sign is plain and simple. There are no hidden costs, the customer will pay-per-use,” Sam Thieme, Kolibri’s manager of sales and partnerships, says.
Discover SignBart-Jan Mutters, co-owner of Mutters Makelaars in Leerdam agrees: “Many other providers require the purchase of a minimum number of tokens each month. That leaves you with an unclear overview of payments and usage. Because a digital signature via Sign is legally valid, there will be no last-minute discussions with the notary and we can act swiftly.”
The Mutters Makelaars office staff in Leerdam consists of three real estate agents and one office employee. Mutters previously worked in automation at Pararius and his office had been using Kolibri for some time. “We used the total package of Kolibri. The Sign integration was a most welcome addition,” says Mutters.
“Kolibri went live with Sign in January. At the end of last year, our development team had integrated the API. That same day, Mutters Makelaars jumped in and added Sign to the package,” Thieme says.
We have been using Sign almost every day for two months now and the added value is undeniable,” Mutters says. The average signing time has decreased enormously. Because of covid, it has been a bit of a puzzle to get all parties around the table at the same time to sign documents. But the demand for digital signing existed long before that.
“Kolibri offers real estate agents a total package for office automation. In these times of covid, it is necessary to avoid physical contact. Real estate agents value efficiency and digital signing. We offer real estate agents multiple packages and options based on their needs. As for the API, Sign has a smooth and user-friendly interface,” Thieme says. “Before Sign, we were using another digital signing program, but it wasn’t integrated in Kolibri so we couldn’t fully automate the process,” says Mutters.
Mutters points out that it’s important to have a full integration. “Due to the lack of integration, it took us up to 20 minutes to fully prepare a purchase agreement.”
“At the office, I’m the one to answer all technical questions and that takes time,” Mutters explains. “If we choose to automate completely, it is important that everybody in our organisation understands how it works. Digital signing with Sign speaks for itself,” he says.
When you prepare a document for sending in Kolibri, you remain in the Kolibri environment until it’s no longer strictly necessary. It all takes place in a well-known environment that is easy to understand. The document that you send is comprehensible and is set up in the recognisable house style. Recognition improves reliability,” Thieme explains.
Another advantage is that documents that have been sent via Sign will never end up in the spam folder, which expedites the process of signing and returning an agreement.
“Last week we sent out a contract via Sign and within the hour all parties had signed, including two on a mobile phone. You don’t have to log in or plough through your spam folder to find out if you’ve received a signed document. In Kolibri you’ll find an overview that’s up-to-date so you can move quickly and get deals done within a day,” Mutters says. The new generation of home buyers searches, buys and signs online.
The digitalisation of real estate is accelerating and Mutters Makelaars is happy to join in thanks to the collaboration of CM.com and Kolibri. The swift transition in the real estate industry has also been noticed by Thieme. “When I bought my first house, my girlfriend and I went to the real estate agent to sign the contract. And even though it was just a formal moment, we drank champagne and it was some sort of a small party. The purchase of our current home was a completely different experience. I signed the contract on my mobile phone while I was out and about and my girlfriend signed from home. There was no romance, but it was effective nevertheless. Nowadays you want to complete the purchase and sale of a home as quickly as possible.”
“The API documentation is well written and uncomplicated so it’s quite easy for our customers to work with Sign. For software suppliers, Sign is a nice addition. Your current CRM system should be compatible with Sign for a complete and proper integration,” Thieme says.
“Real estate agents could save a lot of time using this solution. And it’s also a smart move for the future. New generations want to be able to sign at any time using any device. As an agent you should always be prepared for your future customer. Kolibri’s fully integrated digital signing is also very handy when it comes to real estate mediation. You can send an offer and potentially have it signed right away. This prevents you from walking around with a stack of paper under your arm when you meet a customer and you don’t have to send everything by mail,” Mutter says.
Thieme points out that you can’t just express the time savings in money. The customer experience is a huge part too. “The way you can draw up and sign a document now is an enormous contribution to the uniformity and professionalism of an organisation. All agreements and documents look the same and it’s clear to everyone within the organisation what the look and feel of an agreement should be like.
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