PDFs are nonetheless used everywhere in the world.
Nevertheless it does not come with out challenges. In an period with rising cyberattacks and threats to companies, it’s extra necessary than ever to make your contracts digital.
On this weblog, we’ll check out among the most important disadvantages of PDFs, however first let’s focus on what precisely a PDF is.
What’s a PDF?
A PDF, or moveable doc format, is a standard sort of file used to maintain the structure and formatting of a doc in place when it’s considered throughout totally different gadgets.
In contrast to different doc codecs which will show in another way relying on the software program or gadget, PDFs preserve their authentic structure and design, making them a standard selection for sharing paperwork throughout numerous environments.
Initially developed within the early Nineteen Nineties, PDFs have turn into the norm in contract administration, from enterprise reviews and educational papers to authorized contracts and authorities types.
The format’s reputation comes from its capability to seize textual content, pictures, graphics, and the rest on any web page right into a single file, making certain consistency in look whatever the software program or working system utilized by the receiver.
PDFs generally supply choices for encryption and may even supply password safety, offering a point of safety for delicate info. This function has made PDFs seem significantly helpful when doc integrity and confidentiality are important, corresponding to in authorized proceedings or delicate company communications.
PDFs can help some fundamental options for doc navigation and interplay. Customers can simply navigate via pages, seek for particular content material, and annotate paperwork with feedback or highlights utilizing their gadget’s search and discover capabilities.
PDFs can even incorporate interactive components like hyperlinks, buttons, and type fields, permitting for extra dynamic and fascinating content material. These capabilities make PDFs appropriate for numerous purposes, from creating interactive shows to distributing digital types.
4 key disadvantages of PDFs
PDFs have advanced into a flexible and broadly adopted format for sharing and preserving digital paperwork. However they don’t seem to be with out their disadvantages, so let’s go into extra element about a couple of key ones.
1. PDFs might be the reason for cyberattacks
PDFs can fall sufferer to cyber threats, with malware or viruses embedded inside seemingly atypical information. This may trigger a danger to a number of gadgets inside your tech ecosystem, as viruses can unfold shortly.
PDFs can even incessantly function bait for phishing assaults, the place attackers create realistic-looking paperwork that persuade customers at hand over confidential info or open dangerous hyperlinks. These phishing PDFs are often properly disguised, so it may be onerous to detect a a phishing PDF from a traditional one.
2. PDF metadata issues
PDFs can inadvertently expose metadata. If revisions have been made to the PDF — often relating to contracts — made by a number of individuals, then that may nonetheless be seen within the metadata when a PDF is shipped.
Metadata issues may result in an elevated danger of phishing assaults. If metadata isn’t correctly encrypted, components of it might doubtlessly be used to hint the server the place delicate buyer information and private info is saved. This leads properly to the subsequent level.
3. Potential for information breaches
One of many key disadvantages of PDFs is that they go away scope for information breaches.
Consider it this manner. Most PDFs — be a contract or one other sort of doc — can’t be secured or encrypted. Because of this anybody who comes throughout it might learn it. Typically, this may be innocent. Nevertheless, somebody with extra malicious intentions may use your PDF to glean extremely confidential info.
Equally, had been your doc administration system to be breached, the hackers may bulk obtain your entire PDF contracts — and all paperwork — in moments. The outcomes might be catastrophic for your small business.
Many Britons properly keep in mind the Individuals’s Vitality information breach of 2020. Individuals’s Vitality, a sustainable power provider primarily based in Scotland, noticed all of its 270,000 prospects’ private info stolen in a single single obtain throughout a cyber assault. The ensuing injury to its repute was large, as had been the authorized implications. The victims of the assault noticed their private info freely posted on-line.
It is a worst-case situation, however PDFs go away your small business extra susceptible to assaults of this kind and on this scale.
4. Revisions can result in lengthy threads
Each time you make a revision, you may’t replace the ultimate PDF. This implies it’s a must to generate a very new PDF and ship it to the receiver yet again. This may result in seemingly infinite electronic mail threads and leaves loads of area for human error.
For instance, suppose an older model of a PDF contract is signed. In that case, it might result in confusion because the phrases won’t match what was agreed upon following negotiations and revisions.
However this isn’t the one instance of the disadvantages of PDFs relating to signing your contracts. With attainable revisions, the passing of the contract between signees, and the truth that emails might be misplaced and forgotten in cluttered inboxes, it might take a very long time to get a PDF contract signed.
This may decelerate your pipeline and, consequently, your ARR, resulting in a backlog to your gross sales group as they attempt to navigate an ever-increasing variety of offers on the cusp of closed-won.
For instance, if a prospect takes some time to signal and return a contract, it may properly get misplaced in a salesman’s inbox. This might result in an embarrassing second for them as they ask for a standing replace, solely to get “I’ve signed it and despatched it again” because the reply.
In any case, PDFs, like paper contracts, solely result in much more scope for human error.
How you can overcome the disadvantages of PDFs in your small business
We talked concerning the quite a few disadvantages of PDFs, however there are methods by which companies can curb the potential challenges.
Rent a contract admin worker
It’s comprehensible why some companies favor to stay with PDFs.
Maybe your buyer base prefers extra conventional signing strategies. Maybe you principally work in or promote to nations the place digital contracts and digital signatures are much less widespread. Regardless of the purpose, some companies are compelled to stay with conventional PDF contracts.
Nevertheless, there’s a solution to clear among the backlog issues they’ll create: rent an worker who works solely, or principally, with contract admin work. Somewhat than leaving it as much as particular person salespeople or somebody from HR or authorized to type via a mountain of paper or information, you may have a contract admin specialist whose major focus is to handle these points.
Such staff can arrange workflows and submitting programs that guarantee your contracts are correctly categorized, updated, and as safe as might be when utilizing PDF-level encryption.
Though hiring an worker to deal with contract admin work would represent an additional enterprise expense, for those who merely have to make use of PDFs, then that is unavoidable.
Spend money on contract administration software program
When you can, make the swap to a better, extra advantageous means of managing your contracts. It would sound simpler mentioned than finished, however the affect and financial savings for your small business might be enormous, each in financial phrases and by way of the enhance to your ARR it might present.
On this part, we’ll check out just some of the explanation why.
Your entire paperwork in a single place
Gone are the times of getting to go looking folders or drives for one particular contract or model of a contract. As a substitute, they’ll all be in a single place, as long as the contract administration software program in query comes with an archive function inbuilt.
Earlier than a contract is archived, you may categorize it. Also called including tags, a function corresponding to this implies which you can make a contract retrievable primarily based on the place it’s within the cycle, which ICP the signee falls into, when the contract was signed, who the salesperson accountable was, and a lot extra.
When archived, contracts might be simply retrieved in just some clicks. Higher nonetheless, some archive options can help you put restrictions on entry in place. Because of this solely particularly chosen customers and admins can entry both particular person contracts or the archive as an entire.
As soon as that is in place, you’ve added an additional layer of safety to your contracts, overcoming one of many most important disadvantages of PDFs.
Automated contract administration system
Generally, a number of stakeholders might want to signal a contract, and generally, one might want to signal earlier than the subsequent one can. With PDF contracts, it’s not attainable to manage this course of, which may imply delays relating to signing and even needing to ship your contract out a number of instances.
Luckily, contract administration software program will help right here, too. Some options include a function that lets you set a signing order to your contract. In different phrases, you may set the contract in order that till the primary signatory has signed, the second can not.
The most effective half is that some options have options permitting you to arrange automated electronic mail sequences. These sequences imply that these within the signing order are notified when it’s their flip to signal.
Because of this you want by no means chase signatories once more. It additionally signifies that your gross sales group spends much less time chasing signatures and extra time doing what they do greatest — promote.
Superior contract safety programs
As we’ve already mentioned right here, PDFs can pose a risk to the safety of your small business — no matter whether or not there’s a information breach or the contract or doc is inadvertently despatched to the incorrect recipient.
Some contract administration options include particular security measures that solely enable your contacts to be accessed by their supposed recipients. Talking from a Swedish perspective, some instruments solely can help you entry the contract after getting signed in utilizing an app known as BankID. BankID is a extremely safe identification app that makes use of codes and facial recognition to confirm that you’re who you say you might be.
With security measures corresponding to these, you may ensure that your entire metadata, your buyer’s private info, and any non-public information that could be included in your contracts is as secure as might be.
Some European suppliers home their information inside the EU, which signifies that it’s secured to among the highest requirements on the earth.
Contract administration integrations
Integrations in contract administration software program will help you overcome one other key drawback of PDFs: your gross sales group doing double the work.
At any time when a PDF contract is signed, your CRM must be manually up to date with all the key particulars of the contract. A replica of the contract might also need to be manually uploaded.
Some contract administration options include a two-way sync function. A two-way sync removes the very notion of double work, as, in some instances, you may create, ship, and get your contracts signed and your CRM up to date, all with out having to go away mentioned CRM.
As soon as the suitable integrations are in place, it will likely be simpler than ever to your gross sales group to considerably cut back their admin work, enhance their pipeline, and improve your small business’s ARR.
Modifying and amending a contract made straightforward
One recurring downside that we hear again and again from our new prospects right here at Oneflow is that they discover the static nature of PDFs to be a burden, not solely by way of creating electronic mail threads but in addition by way of discovering important info or figuring out the place to make edits.
That is one other downside that contract administration software program will help to resolve. An rising variety of software program firms depend on HTML code to assemble and help contracts throughout the creation course of.
As such, which means HTML contracts are dynamic, simply editable, and might be created utilizing pre-made blocks and templates. With the suitable contract administration software program, modifying and amending a contract might be as straightforward as modifying or updating an internet web page in your CRM.
Even simply these few benefits make for a improbable ROI on contract administration software program for your small business, all whereas overcoming among the key drawbacks of PDFs.
Prepare for a less complicated, smoother signing expertise
On this article, we explored a number of key disadvantages of PDFs and the way they’ll pose a problem to your small business.
Nevertheless, it’s now clear that contract administration software program not solely makes for an important ROI but in addition helps you overcome the ensemble of challenges PDFs can create. Many platforms supply a free trial as customary. So, why not attempt it right now?
Uncover the intricacies of assorted contract sorts and learn to choose the proper one to your wants.
Edited by Jigmee Bhutia
