Contract management is a critical business process that requires careful attention to avoid costly mistakes. With a robust Contract Lifecycle Management workflow solution, you can save time and improve organizational productivity.
Contract creation, also called drafting or generation, is the first step in the contract lifecycle. However, even after contracts are created, they must be negotiated with counterparties to come to an agreement.
- Invest in CLM Software
Contract management software can help streamline every step of your company’s contract process. It provides centralized access to contracts, and it allows you to search for them by any term in your document (for example, a particular clause or certain dates).
Contracts are essential for the function of commerce—they’re the foundation for all transactions between businesses and customers. But they’re also complicated, and managing them requires a lot of time and effort.
Fortunately, CLM can save you time and money by centralizing your contracts and automating the most repetitive tasks. By leveraging the power of artificial intelligence and establishing best practices for the entire contract process, companies can achieve improved working capital, cost savings, and higher margins.
Moreover, by standardizing contract templates and providing clause libraries, CLM software can simplify drafting and negotiation. This means that the contracts you generate will be precise and legally compliant, thereby increasing productivity and overall business profitability. Furthermore, it’s possible to use intake forms and other data collection tools within CLM systems to trigger contract creation requests with just a few clicks.
- Create a Contract Template
Contracts are legally enforceable documents that establish legal duties and responsibilities between two parties. Creating one, however, can be a challenge for many business professionals. Most contract generators online offer only a limited set of features and templates that are difficult to edit.
A great contract template is easy to edit and offers consistency in format and structure. This makes it easier for a team member to discover relevant aspects of the document quickly and without much tinkering.
Outstanding contract templates are also designed to be filled out easily using a variety of data fields. For example, the marketing language used in a business proposal may remain the same across all documents, but the payment and contact information will likely change for each new contract. Using a fillable contract template makes it easier to customize your documents and ensures that all necessary information is included before sending them off for review. This helps prevent misunderstandings and mitigates risk. It also allows businesses to save time while still ensuring that they’re following all applicable laws and guidelines.
- Organize Your Contracts
Contracts are a crucial part of your business. They define the scope of your relationships with vendors, clients, and subcontractors. They are often incredibly complex structures that require extensive, in-depth management. However, many businesses struggle to manage their contracts effectively. It may be due to a lack of coordination between departments, ineffective communication about key dates, or a lack of visibility into the status and location of contracts.
As such, it’s critical that your organization is able to properly organize its contracts. This will likely involve creating a contract repository with the appropriate folders and establishing a standard file naming system. This will ensure that every document is easily identifiable.
Additionally, it will be important to create a set of custom user groups and access rights that reflect established company processes for approvals and signatures. This will provide your team with a streamlined and efficient way to work with contracts. This will prevent bottlenecks, increase your organization’s productivity, and help you meet regulatory deadlines.
- Streamline Your Negotiations
The contract process is an importants one for businesses but it can also be a bottleneck. To make sure that your Contract Lifecycle Management processes are running smoothly there are certain steps you can take.
Organizing contracts is the first step in a smooth workflows. It’s important that they are easy to access and that you can locate them when needed. A digital repository can make this easier than ever before with textbased search functions and customizable filters.
Another way to streamlines contract negotiations is by using a single platform for all your contract documents. This will save you a lot of time as it will eliminate the need for lengthy email threads. This can help you to close deals faster and improve overall productivity. In addition, you can track all your contracts with a custom dashboard so that you know what working and what isn’t. This information can then be used to improve the contracting process for your business.
- Track Your Contracts
Contracts play a crucial role in every business. They are key elements for demand planning, compliance, and pricing. They also serve to manage important obligations like audits, reporting, and price increases. Without a strong contract management process, businesses can face major productivity issues and financial loss.
Contract tracking is often a critical component of Contract Lifecycle Management, yet it can be easy to overlook when your team has a lot on their plate. Without dedicated contract management software, many organizations store their contracts in a shared drive or filing cabinets where they can be hard to find. Others use spreadsheets to track contract metadata and rely on calendar reminders and email alerts to stay on top of deadlines, approvals, renewals, and other milestones.
Regardless of the contract tracking method you choose, be sure to allocate a team member responsible for ensuring that contract data is organized and accessible to all members. This person should also help other employees understand how to use the software and provide clarification and troubleshooting support when needed. In addition, make sure to invest in a cloud-secure repository that allows for rapid retrieval.
