3 Ways Handwritten Signatures Improve Client Relations

When was the last time you recieved a letter from a business, signed with a handwritten signature? Many businesses strictly rely on digital signature technology and have forgotten to capitalize on handwritten authenticity. Although a digital signature may seem more efficient, sometimes, efficiency does not equate to effectiveness. 

Keep reading to learn why you should handwrite your signatures and 3 ways handwritten signatures can improve client relations.

Improve Your Client Relations Through Personalization

The traditional purpose of a signature is to create a permanent attachment between a document and the signer. This form of self-identification was designed to attach ownership.

However, most business rely on digital documentation and have discovered more time-effective methods signing their signatures. For business communication, people can be identified by their email address or electronic signature.

Although an electronic signature may seem efficient, your clients may perceive it as lazy and impersonable.

The Benefits of Adding a Handwritten Signature to Your Client Communications

The authenticity of a handwritten signature is unmatched, especially as others rely on digital signature technology. Here are 3 of our favorite reasons to add a handwritten signature to your client documents.

1. Increase Personal Brand Awareness

A personal brand is a unique imprint that you leave with your clients. This is typically defined as a unique combination of skills and experiences. By building an effective personal brand you can differentiate yourself from your competition and better connect with your clientele. 

Signing documents with your personal signature allows you to be viewed as a leader and as a business entity yourself. When you are establishing your personal brand you should consider the same factors as a business would. This includes your brand voice, identity, values, icons, and promise.

By constructing a robust personal brand you can ensure you’ll stand out, even within a large company. Your personal brand recognition ensures that you’ll grow as an individual professional, not just as a part of a company.

When you establish your personal brand you can much more easily build relationships. Your signature can help to ensure that you are memorable and relatable. You can ensure that your signature serves as a brand icon, or calling card for your personal brand. A signature can also contribute to client growth and have you playing an instrumental role in the increase in business.

It’s going to be more important that businesses are leaning into the personal brands of their employees. Consider LinkedIn’s algorithm updates, they put more weight on C suite professionals than they do on the company’s homepage. That’s because people are realizing more and more that what matters is the people behind a business.

2. Boost Response Rates

Having a handwritten signature is a tool that can be used to amplify your response rates. By utilizing a signature on your business correspondence you will be able to attach a real person behind a letter or email. In turn, this can help to amplify the credibility of your message.

From an advertising perspective, you can budget for the number of emails or pieces of print media that you send out. However, what makes those ads profitable is the ability to convert leads into clients and even more so to maintain a client relationship.

The key to improving your response rates and in turn driving up your conversion rates is personalization. Being able to boost your response rates can in turn drastically increase your conversion rates. If you can make each of your messages more impactful you can see a tangible result in your response rates and client conversions.

In many cases, businesses act like giant robotic conglomerates. Adding a human signature to these messages can encourage people to respond because they feel like they are responding to something real, rather than a machine.

3. Improve Client Relations Through Personalization

Rapport is a relationship between two parties that have established a mutual respect for one another. Rapport is how two parties can connect and share feelings. From a business standpoint, it’s essential to connect and build relationships with others.

One of the greatest benefits of establishing a rapport with your clients is the ability to keep a customer. As an advertiser, it’s more cost-effective to maintain a client than recruit a new one.

You can use custom handwriting services to ensure that customers feel appreciated. By personalizing your correspondence you can take an extra step to connect with clients. If you equip your client-facing letters and emails with their name in the introduction and a signature you can make a business communication seem personal.

Does Your Signature Need to be Legible?

Your signature needs to be identifiable more than “legible”. As long as your signature is consistent it becomes a tangible part of your brand. If you can embed your signature into your brand you can ensure that when people see a few strokes of a pen, they instinctively relate it to you.

Randomly signing a document with little to no variance between each signing, can help you make your handwriting an attribute of your personal brand. When you have a consistent signature with no variation you can make it a part of your personal brand.

Digital signatures do not need to be perfectly identical to your handwritten signatures. In terms of marketability, you want to ensure that the signatures are comparable.

Handwritten Letters Compared to Other Popular Communication Channels

Handwritten notes confirm the importance of a client relationship. Handwriting takes undoubtedly longer than typing. This time acquisition showed that you thoughtfully invest time into communicating with the individual who receives your correspondence.

Writing reminds people that they are special to you it also means that it is likely that they will in turn pay you that same care in a handwritten letter. Reading a handwritten note forces your brand to mentally engage with the information. They require a greater sense of attention from both the sender and receiver.

When everything is produced by the masses, it can be difficult to ensure that content consumers feel a personal connection. An interesting tactic for media production is to screen print a handwritten note to be mass printed. If done correctly, this can mass-produce a personal connection.

Emails 

Emails allow for a quick transfer of information, however, can seem extremely impersonal. They can increase the efficiency and productivity of a business, however, by adding a personal signature you can add a more human element to this digital correspondence. 

In the world of online marketing, mass email marketing is one of the cheapest forms of lead generation. Utilizing an email signature is an essential part of branding. The average office worker receives over 100 emails a day, making it increasingly difficult to make your messages stand out in an overflowing inbox. 

Surveys have indicated that emails with handwritten signatures attached to their messages can significantly increase response rates. By attaching your handwriting to a digital signature you can make it more personable. Even if this is a digitally uploaded signature. 

Printed Media 

Sending mailers will never fail as an inexpensive method of advertising. Mail is slightly harder to ignore than a simple email. Print media ensure that there is a higher frequency of viewing. Printed ads such as mailers are a great tool to create a diverse range of media touches.

Through printed media consumers can hold a reader’s attention for a longer time. The age of digital has significantly cut content consumers’ attention span. Consumers also have a naturally greater sense of trust from print media than digital.

Many major companies may reject using print media because the world seemingly transferred to using digital-only content. Understanding the lasting benefits of print is important. Because many companies have switched over to digital media there is now untapped potential in the field of print.

Use Handwritten Signatures to Boost Your Client Relations

There is a hearth of untapped potential that comes with being able to connect with your clients on a personal level. Handwritten notes allow you to convey a more intimate connection. This can make a message more personal than that of purely digital correspondence. 

Handwritten signatures are a nearly inexpensive tool that allows you to invest in your customer-clientrelationship. Connect with us to learn more about how you can capitalize on the benefits of handwriting.