How Ion Solar achieved 20% faster proposal revisions by switching from Docusign

The challenge

Ion Solar experienced challenges with Docusign’s pricing model, which became unsuitable for their growing team. Their 100-employee team was sharing four user seats amongst each other, which gave leadership minimal visibility into document management processes. Docusign's Salesforce integration was also complex to set up, causing unnecessary interruptions to their sales process.

The solution

PandaDoc filled the gaps left by Docusign, offering a robust solution Ion Solar needed as they scaled their business. With a seamless API, Salesforce integration and user-friendly interface, PandaDoc not only aligned perfectly with Ion Solar’s needs but also exceeded expectations by delivering more functionality, quicker setup, and more control over the document approval process.

Uncovering the potential of PandaDoc

Ion Solar is one of the top 20 solar companies in the United States, providing end-to-end solar solutions to their customers. They have achieved phenomenal growth in recent years, expanding from a team of just 50 to over 500. With this rapid growth, Brandon Mullen, IT Director at Ion Solar, led the charge to find ways to make their company technologies work smarter for them as they continued to evolve as a company.

One of their pain points was Docusign, their document and proposal management system. The limitations of Docusign's pricing model meant that many employees had to operate under a limited number of user accounts, creating a lack of transparency about the status of contracts. With only four user seats available to their expanding team, it became increasingly difficult for employees to collaborate effectively on documents.

The company also struggled with the complexity of Docusign's Salesforce integration, which was a crucial aspect of their organization's processes. Employees were often confused about the status of contracts and proposals, which hindered communication and resulted in missed deadlines. Brandon Mullen knew that Docusign was slowing them down from getting proposals out to customers, and took charge to find a solution that would support their growing operation.

The transition to PandaDoc

Ion Solar sought a new document management solution with clear priorities:

• A strong partnership that could provide support for seamless adoption of new features

• An intuitive Salesforce integration that would provide visibility on document progress directly within the Salesforce CRM without added complexity

• A pricing model that would allow Ion Solar to scale alongside their expanding workforce and growing business needs

• A robust API functionality that enables custom integrations, allowing Ion Solar to seamlessly connect PandaDoc with their existing workflows and third-party applications

• An efficient approval workflow that minimizes bottlenecks and enhances collaboration among team members

The transition to PandaDoc was quicker than anticipated, completing the setup in just a week and a half against the projected month. PandaDoc allowed Ion Solar to stay on top of all agreements, with critical information integrating directly via API and the Salesforce integration. This marked an essential step forward from their previous state of unsorted documents and user permissions.

PandaDoc's additional features — such as SMS texting and the ability to white-label documents under Ion Solar's brand — also strengthened the company's brand image and helped provide a better customer experience to their clients.

Business efficiency, amplified

With PandaDoc, all of Ion Solar's teams, including supply chain procurement and sales, found a single, streamlined platform for their operations. PandaDoc's seamless integration with Salesforce allowed different groups to work efficiently depending on their work process. 

For example, the field sales representatives could operate through a custom app via PandaDoc's API integration, while others could work directly within Salesforce. The improved process reduced the document-related workload, making tasks easier and quicker. As a result, the company saw a significant increase in sales velocity.

Impacting the bottom line

With PandaDoc, Ion Solar not only saved significant time, but it also saw a significant increase in adoption of their document management solution across their company. The revision process for contracts became 20% faster, as well, contributing directly to the business’ bottom line.es team to focus more on closing deals, enhancing customer interactions  and improving their overall sales performance.

Ready to see what PandaDoc can do for your business? Book a demo with PandaDoc today.

Migrating to PandaDoc gave us an edge in our operational efficiency. Don't let the lesser-known name fool you; PandaDoc delivered more value than its bigger rivals. It’s a robust, reliable solution that transformed our document management process for the better.

Brandon Mullen

IT Director at Ion Solar