4 Document Templates to Effectively Work Remote in 2021

There’s been a massive shift from in-office to remote work in response to the global pandemic, COVID-19. For most businesses and their employees, this is uncharted territory and both have had to adapt quickly to the “new normal” through the adoption of software and productivity tools. 

Although every business is facing its own unique set of challenges right now, there is one that unites them: lack of face-to-face time with clients; no more in-person meetings to present proposals, negotiate pricing, or to collect signatures and payment. 

One of the most effective ways to mitigate this challenge is through the use of electronic documents. When businesses digitize their documents, sales reps can draft, edit, and send collateral to clients who can then comment, electronically sign, and pay directly within them without ever having to meet. There’s a variety of ways to create digital versions of your documents, but the easiest and most comprehensive way is to use pre-made templates. 

Templated versions of proposals, quotes, and contracts allow sales professionals to save more time, stay connected to their customers, and close more deals while working remotely.

The three electronic document templates below, plus one bonus infographic template, touch every stage of the sales cycle, regardless of industry type, and are sure to help you and your team effectively close deals while working from home. 

Designed to help you deliver a professional-looking proposal to your prospects, this template clearly displays your businesses’ identity, value proposition, pricing, and terms. 

Use this template as a framework to create stunning, personalized proposals in a matter of minutes within. Professional, error-free documents are easier than ever to generate when you combine the power of pre-built templates with a drag & drop library of content and data from your CRM. You’ll cut your proposal creation time down significantly and make the perfect first impression with your clients, despite never meeting in-person.

While working remotely, communication with your team might be limited. As an added bonus, proposal templates allow you to stay in control of the look and feel of your documents, no matter who on your team sends them or from where when you utilize the custom content locking feature within it. 

It can be difficult to build trust with a prospect without having the opportunity to build rapport in-person. While working remote, it is critical to the buyer/seller relationship that you provide accurate and transparent pricing. This sales quote template enables you to do just that, while also eliminating the headache of complex calculations for your sales reps. 

Error-free quotes that once took hours to draft are now possible to create in minutes. Minimize manual data entry tasks by connecting your CRM with the template to automatically pull in customer data. The template allows you to enter and store your most commonly used product information into a product catalog that you can use at any time, in any quote. 

In the event of negotiation, you can drastically reduce the back-and-forth by giving your potential customers the power of choice. The template’s interactive pricing table allows recipients to select from multiple options, change quantities, or remotely chat with the sales rep directly. Once they’re ready to commit, they can sign your quote digitally from anywhere, on any device. 

The template also offers engagement and usage details that are tracked in real-time and will send a notification the instant your prospect opens, views, or eSigns your quote, enabling you to reach out at the most opportune times and keep the deal moving forward.

This standard business contract template provides you with a simple way to display your terms of the agreement and legally seal the deal. This template’s content library is filled with pre-approved legal clause choices that enable you to build, customize and populate error-free contracts lightning-fast. Same as the quote template, you have the ability to task your CRM integration with the heavy lifting and pull customer data directly into your contract.

To make the most of this contract template, pair it with contract management software. This will remove any and all obstacles from your sales cycle by combining creation, negotiation, and management into a single workflow that helps you close more deals while working remotely. Streamline your sales operations even further by using the contract management software to establish an internal approval process, recipient signing order, and user permissions to keep your team organized and automate formerly burdensome tasks.

During this time of social distancing, open communication with your clients is more important than ever. This template allows all parties to comment directly within the contract to ensure that everyone receives the same messages and is able to stay on the same page. 

This bonus template you’ve been hearing all about doesn’t directly affect the traditional sales cycle, but it does serve as excellent supplemental material. This one happens to be structured into a “10 Myths” format, where businesses can address the 10 most common misconceptions about their product or service and set the record straight. In these times of misinformation, it gives companies a topical way to both market and sell their products and services. 

Anyone on your team can access this template to create collateral, so it is the perfect creative outlet for your sales team to better understand their target market while working remotely. By encouraging your reps to get in the mindset of their prospects they will be better equipped to answer any tough questions that come up during the deal. 

These three templates (and one bonus infographic template) are the answer to the question of, “How can I effectively take my sales cycle remote?” They provide an easy, streamlined way for anyone to create dynamic, professional-looking documents that give every deal the opportunity to get noticed and build trust with clients who aren’t available to meet face-to-face. 

Emily Roberts


Content Associate at PandaDoc

Emily is a Content Associate at PandaDoc. She’s passionate about creating content that converts, SEO, and true crime podcasts.