Monitronics Award-Winning eContract Saves Dealers Time, Money
Monitronics developed its eContract app to help its dealers cut down on paperwork and time spent filling out a new customer contract.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With the goal of eliminating the paperwork traditionally filled out for a new customer contract, Monitronics developed an electronic contract (eContract) application for its dealers.
The endeavor proved fruitful, as the eContract app not only became a cost-effective alternative to paper contracts, but it also earned the Maximum Impact Award in the Best Accessories and Aids: Mobile Applications category at ESX 2013.
Using eContract, salespeople can quickly complete an electronic version of each contract in a customer’s home on an iPad or Android tablet. Designed to centralize funding processes and reduce potential mistakes that often occur when filling out traditional paperwork, eContract walks a salesperson through the required steps to fill out the entire contract. Once the customer confirms the information and acknowledges their understanding of it, the salesperson hits “submit.” Immediately after the transaction, both the dealer and the customer receive a PDF copy of the contract.
The firm decided to create the app on the suggestion of a number of its dealers who even attempted to develop their own electronic contracts, according to Bruce Mungiguerra, vice president of operations for Monitronics.
“We felt that electronic contracts were likely to catch on fast. We acted quickly to develop an application that met legal requirements, was user friendly and could be offered to all of our dealers,” he tells SSI.
A three-member development team designed the application with the goal of making it attractive, responsive, and most importantly, keeping the contract secure. To make sure all contracts were compliant and protected, the developers requested recommendations from the firm’s internal operations and compliance groups. Several members of the IT staff also contributed ideas to the months-long project.
Developing such a service didn’t come without its hurdles. It was imperative that the app was simple for dealers to use and easy for customers to read and sign. And, because electronic security firms have their own business procedures, the developers wanted the app to work for all dealers. So the firm sought feedback from a variety of its dealers to gauge what would work best, according to Chris Soda, Monitronics’ operations manager for dealer development.
“We didn’t want to be so specific to one business model that others would not find it useful,” he tells SSI. “We also didn’t want it to be so basic that it would not be suitable.”
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