Why agreements stall
A signature request competes with everything else in a signer’s inbox. It arrives on a busy afternoon, gets marked “I’ll do that later” and slides out of sight. Nobody has said no — the document is simply waiting, and so are you.
The old fix was to chase by hand: a polite email, then a slightly less polite one, then a phone call. It works, but it eats time, it’s awkward, and with several signers it’s easy to lose track of who you have already chased. SignPe takes that job off your plate. Automated reminders nudge signers so agreements don’t stall, and you always have a one-click way to send a reminder yourself.
| Chasing by hand | SignPe reminders | |
|---|---|---|
| Who to chase | Work it out from replies | Every signer who hasn’t signed, automatically |
| Writing the message | A new email each time | Nothing to write |
| Reaching mobile users | Email only | Email plus push and in-app notifications |
| Passing to the next signer | Forward it yourself | Emailed automatically when it’s their turn |
| Keeping a record | Scattered across inboxes | Every action logged with date and time |
How reminders work in SignPe
There are three ways SignPe keeps a document moving, and they work together:
- Automated reminders. SignPe nudges signers who still have a document waiting, so a request doesn’t quietly stall while everyone gets on with their week.
- The Remind button. Whenever you want to push things along, press Remind on a pending document. SignPe asks “Send reminder?”; choose Send reminder and you’ll see “Reminder sent to pending signers”. That’s it — the emails go out immediately.
- Next-in-line emails. When you set a signing order, the next signer is emailed automatically as soon as the person before them signs, telling them it’s their turn. Nobody has to pass the document along by hand.
Reminders only go to pending signers
When you send a reminder, SignPe emails every signer who hasn’t signed yet. Anyone who has already signed isn’t bothered again, so you never have to work out who to leave off the list.
What your signers receive
Each pending signer gets an email with the subject “Gentle Reminder: Required Signature on <document name>”. It points them straight back to the document waiting for their signature, so they can sign in a couple of minutes from their phone or computer. Recipients without a SignPe account still sign as guests — a reminder never asks them to sign up.
Signers who use the SignPe app also receive a push notification and an in-app notification, so the reminder reaches them even if the email is buried. Observers on the document — the colleagues or managers you copied so they could follow along — are kept informed too.
The tone is deliberately friendly. A “gentle reminder” from SignPe reads as routine, not as a complaint, which is often easier for both sides than a personal “just following up” email.
Reminders and signing order
Sequential signing is where reminders matter most, because one slow signer holds up everyone behind them. SignPe handles both halves of that problem:
| Situation | What SignPe does |
|---|---|
| A signer finishes their part | The next signer is emailed automatically that it’s their turn |
| A signer opens the link before their turn | They see “Waiting for <name> to sign” instead of signature fields |
| The current signer is slow to sign | Press Remind to email every signer who hasn’t signed yet |
| Every signer has signed | Everyone receives an email with the completed, signed copy |
If you don’t need a fixed order, leave it off and everyone can sign at the same time — reminders then simply go to whoever hasn’t finished yet.
Who it helps
- HR teams with offer letters and onboarding forms that must be signed before a start date. See e-signatures for HR.
- Agents and landlords waiting on a lease with several tenants, where one missing signature delays the whole move. See e-signatures for real estate.
- Sales teams who need a contract back before the end of the month, and can’t afford for it to sit unopened.
- Accountants and tax preparers collecting engagement letters and authorisations from clients during a busy season. See e-signatures for accounting and tax.
- Anyone sending one document to many people, where keeping track of who still needs a nudge by hand quickly becomes a spreadsheet.
Tips for following up without nagging
Reminders work best when they arrive at the right moment. A few habits make a real difference:
- Check the status first. Status tracking shows whether a signer has opened the document. If they haven’t, a reminder is exactly what’s needed. If they opened it days ago and haven’t signed, they may have a question — a quick call might move faster.
- Give people a fair window. Sending a reminder an hour after the original request rarely helps. Allow a working day or so for routine documents, and less only when there’s a genuine deadline.
- Mention the deadline up front. If a document has to be signed by a certain date, tell signers when you first send it — in your own email, a call or a message — so the reminder lands as a prompt, not a surprise.
- Time it for when people act. A reminder sent at the start of the working day is more likely to be dealt with than one sent late on a Friday.
- Don’t send a second copy. Re-sending the document creates two versions and confuses the audit trail. Use Remind on the original instead.
- If the details were wrong, void and resend. A reminder won’t fix a wrong email address or an outdated file. Void the document, correct it and send it again.
When a reminder isn’t the answer
Reminders solve the most common problem — a signer who simply hasn’t got round to it. A few situations call for something different, and SignPe has a tool for each:
- The signer has declined. If someone chooses Decline to sign, you’re notified straight away. That’s a conversation to have, not a reminder to send — find out what they need changed, then correct the document and send a new request.
- The signer is away. A colleague who is travelling or on leave can delegate their signing to someone else in the same organisation, who can then sign on their behalf. The delegate is notified, and the document keeps moving.
- The wrong person or file went out. Void the document so its link stops working, fix the mistake and send it again.
- The signer is in the room. Skip the email entirely and use In person Signing: hand them your phone or tablet and they sign on the spot.
- The signer doesn’t want another account. They don’t need one. Recipients without a SignPe account sign as guests from the email link after accepting the electronic records consent.
Between automated reminders, the Remind button and these options, there’s very little reason for a document to sit unsigned without you knowing why.
How to send a signing reminder in SignPe
Find the pending document
Open Documents and filter by Waiting for Others to see documents that are still out for signature.
Check who hasn’t signed
Open the document’s history to see which signers have received, opened or signed it.
Press Remind
Select Remind on the document. SignPe asks “Send reminder?” so you can confirm.
Send the reminder
Choose Send reminder. You’ll see “Reminder sent to pending signers”, and every signer who hasn’t signed yet is emailed straight away.
