When I say "DocuSign," what comes to mind? You know immediately that I'm talking about electronic signatures and transaction management. You can probably visualize the DocuSign interface, the familiar fonts and colors. You may even have an emotional reaction, most likely a positive one. These are the signs of a winning brand. What may surprise you is how quickly DocuSign was transformed from a bright idea into a household name. We talked to Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tom Gonser to understand how this happened and to generate some ideas you can use in your own business.

The DocuSign Magic

DocuSign has undeniable appeal in a multitude of industries, but it seems particularly successful with real estate professionals. We asked Gonser to explain this "magic."

"Real estate has a paper problem, perhaps more so than any other industry," he says. "So they were primed for a paperless solution. Secondly, we made DocuSign a really familiar process. Other companies were offering really complicated software; we focused instead on making it feel natural. We invented the yellow 'sign here' tab. Additionally, we worked with the documents real estate professionals were already using, and that flexibility was incredibly important."

Gonser also credits DocuSign's mobile technology with creating the DocuSign appeal. "Today, consumers are incredibly mobile and so are agents. It's really important to provide the entire process on a mobile platform." He continues that the cross-industry use of DocuSign makes consumers and agents more comfortable. "People are using DocuSign in many contexts, not just in real estate."