For a successful company today, there is no such thing as a mature Digital Transformation unless the best Digital Transaction Management solutions are implemented, across the board. Let’s start by asking a question: what does the acronym DTM contain?
It includes a broad category of cloud services built to digitally manage transactions based on document flows. All of this is done in a context that ensures data security and complies with (constantly updated) privacy regulations.
We’re talking about: electronic transactions, document transfers, authentication, digital signatures, certifications, and storage that is secure and dematerialized, the legal aspects of “non-repudiation” and co-browsing between company and customer.
From these examples, we can understand that Digital Transaction Management solutions fit into a very broad and articulated field of action that involves many interrelated aspects.
In this post, we will focus on 4 key points that are central to the transition to a smart and paperless company. But, first, let’s quickly understand the benefits of implementing DTM systems.
The benefits of digital transaction management
We have already talked about the benefits of Digital Transaction Management solutions, which you can refer to for a more in-depth overview. Here, we can summarize the main benefits:
1) Cost savings: With digital processes, the costs of printing, mailing, filing, and certification (and related personnel) are eliminated.
2) Time savings: the savings in time achieved when transitioning from analog to digital also have a financial impact. Mind you: the time savings are not only on the company side, but also on the customer side…and this is crucial for brand reputation, customer experience, and loyalty aspects.
3) Increased security: with DTM, risks– related to the storage of physical documents, to loss or damage during transfers, of counterfeiting, and those related to data leakage or loss– in general are lowered. Everything always remains perfectly traceable, retrievable, and verifiable, quickly and intuitively.
4) Flexibility and scalability: two characteristics that stem directly from the cloud computing architecture on which DTM systems are always built, and which are essential for meeting the challenges of today’s fluid and accelerated ecosystem.
A small start-up, for example, could find itself having to manage an unforeseen surge in transactions in a short time frame. Without efficient Digital Transaction Management solutions, it would certainly risk running into bottlenecks that prevent it from seizing the opportunities of rapid, unplanned growth.
5) Integration with CRM and CCM systems: this is a central point that cannot be summarized in just a few lines. But we’ll come back to it later in this post, when we will focus on digital processes.
Finally, here is an eloquent figure that emerged from recent research: in 2021, the global Digital Transaction Management market was valued at $8.04 billion. It is estimated to grow from 2022 to 2030 at an average annual rate (CAGR) OF 25.5% (source: grandviewresearch.com).
Now, as promised, let’s get down to the specifics of Digital Transaction Management solutions. As anticipated, we have isolated the four that are most essential and promising for the present and the near future.
1. Electronic signature
According to the website of the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID), “The qualified electronic signature (FEQ) – or digital signature – is the result of a computer procedure, called validation, which guarantees the authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation of computer documents” (agid.gov.it).
Coming from more technical definitions, what are the advantages of digital signatures?
First and foremost, speed and convenience: computer documents can be validated wherever you are, without geographical or device-related limitations. Less paper: with the elimination of printing and then filing costs (with all the associated risks we have already discussed). This has a positive impact in terms of efficiency, making the process of signing any kind of contract more agile and smarter. In addition, there is also an increase in security.
By relying on electronic signature services such as those offered by Doxee, there is the important aspect of integration with other Digital Transaction Management solutions. Doxee’s e-signature solutions can be easily integrated with other products such as electronic invoicing, regulation-compliant digital storage, but also with CRM and CCM systems.
In short, it’s a complete digital onboarding process that combines regulatory compliance with a high-level customer and user experience.
2. Blockchain
From a well-established tool such as electronic signatures, we turn to a rather young technology, one that still has its more to offer.
We’re referring to Blockchain, which is part of the broader field of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). This technology jumped to the forefront of the general public on the wave of enthusiasm for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency ecosystem, but its applications go far beyond those of a strictly financial nature.
In fact, blockchain is based on the concept of distributed consensus and is an unchangeable ledger of transactions, with no need for a central entity to act as an intermediary. It is a true revolution, one that is largely yet to be explored, that impacts all types of transactions, document transfers, ownership, certification, and authentication.
Just think of so-called “smart contracts“. This refers to the automatic activation of contracts between different types of private parties based on distributed ledger software technologies and with the most robust guarantees related to the integrity of data about a service, process, transaction, or document.
The key word is disintermediation. And it is precisely in this direction that the social and economic environment is moving with increasingly decisive steps. Not surprisingly, regulators around the world (including Italy) are turning more and more openly to this type of technology to regulate how it’s used.
3. Dematerialized storage
Efficient Digital Transaction Management solutions start with dematerialized document preservation.
But before we go further, let’s clear the air of misunderstandings: digitization and dematerialization are two different concepts.
Dematerialization is a process that goes beyond that of simple digitization. With it, paper documents can be completely eliminated, as digital counterparts take on full legal and evidentiary value.
In this field you cannot improvise. And it’s essential to rely on specialized companies. For more than 10 years now, Doxee Standard Digital Preservation has been chosen by hundreds of companies from different sectors, with more than 2 billion documents preserved, and more than 400 legal entities managed.
Even more importantly, Doxee’s dematerialized preservation solutions not only fulfill legislative obligations and ensure constant updates on regulations, they are designed based on the needs of each company so that they can be integrated with CRM and CCM systems from an omnichannel and data-driven perspective.
It’s precisely digital processes, such as CRM and CCM, that we will turn to in closing this post.
4. CRM and CCM digital processes
A paperless company is a more efficient company, one that reduces waste, optimizes costs, and speeds up and makes its internal processes smarter.
But that’s not all. There is an even more important point: a paperless company is also a company that can offer its customers the best Customer Experience.
How important are DTM solutions in this regard? Here, we’ll let the data speak for us. In a study commissioned by DocuSign for Forrester, 32% of respondents said they had abandoned closing contracts, agreements, and transactions because they were discouraged by paper and manual procedures (source: docusign.co.uk).
And here we arrive at a decisive point: the possibilities of integrating Digital Transaction Management systems with Customer Relationship Management and Customer Communication Management systems. This is a real virtuous circle: by implementing DTM solutions, such as electronic signatures and dematerialized storage, a company has a huge amount of data at its disposal. Even more to the point: it has at its disposal extremely granular data that can be retrieved and sorted in an automated and functional way. What does all this translate into?
It translates into the ability to take a highly accurate picture of all digital processes involved in the relationship with one’s customers. Keeping track of the history, knowing the characteristics of individuals, their habits, preferences, and possible needs.
From this very in-depth knowledge, then, one can build as many tailor-made relationships as there are customers themselves: automatically, of course.
And here, with the integration of the data-driven perspective into CRM and CCM systems, the transition from a one-to-many relationship to a true one-to-one dialog is perfectly accomplished.
In short: the ripest fruit of implementing Digital Transaction Management solutions is in being able to realize the most important promise of Digital Transformation: the ability to truly put individuals at the center of every business.
