Most business leaders know that the process of managing contracts in a hurry can entail many risks. Missing expiration dates, unreserved drafts, or inadequate governance/approval processes can disrupt business operations and result in lost revenue. When a business reaches a point of sustainable growth, it lacks sufficient automation and centralized storage to track the number of legal deals made across the organization.
Contract management software is a complex way to ensure that the entire contract lifecycle of your business is compliant. Companies are supplying such a free software trial for new customers or introducing new features in the market. This article describes the benefits of contract management software, the top features to look for, and whether contract management software is right for your business.
Contract management software includes a set of powerful tools to help businesses simplify the creation, negotiation, version control, approval, execution, and renewal of legal contracts across multiple teams and departments. It also acts as a central, secure storage location to keep your documents safe and accessible only to authorized employees. Setting date reminders, tracking revisions, and accelerating document retrieval can all be implemented in a suite of tools provided by high-quality contract management software. In other words, it eliminates the hassle of managing the legal consensus process for the entire organization.
What are the advantages of contract management software?
Contract management software can improve visibility, compliance, and security throughout the contract management lifecycle. It also speeds up the contract management process, completes transactions, and increases revenue.
Before the period of accelerated growth, start-ups and small businesses can use spreadsheets, shared drives, and calendar reminders to manage the lifecycle of their contracts. This can be effective in the short term, but as the business grows, it quickly reaches the point where this approach poses a risk. As the growth of the business begins to deteriorate and the number of contracts begins to deteriorate, the risks associated with the contract management process increase at the same time. By automating many components of the contract lifecycle, business leaders can accelerate business development and the movement of legal agreements within the organization while managing risk and protecting documents.
Good contract management software can also give you peace of mind as your documents are stored in a central location, and you know approved team members can easily access them from anywhere. Intuitive search and authorization functions allow skilled employees to find the information they need when they need it quickly. This saves a lot of time and eliminates the hassle of contract librarians who have to be responsible for backing up and retrieving files. By making it easier for teams to work together in the contract management process, you can dramatically improve your company’s ability to attract new customers and partners over time.
Additionally, many contract management programs allow executives to stay in touch as they can quickly see the status and location of a particular document. With high visibility into the legal review process and the ability to set reminders for the next due date, managers can make informed business decisions instantly, and the onboarding process for new customers or suppliers is underway.
What features should I consider when purchasing contract management software?
The specific functionality you need depends on the number of employees, volume of activity, and industry. However, some of the essential features that any business should look for when researching a new solution.
Efficient research and reporting
The contract management system also serves as the primary repository for all contracts in your organization, so effective search tools are essential for different stakeholders to find documents quickly.
Alarm setting
Alarm settings or reminders are an essential advantage of contract management software. Alarm settings allow the team to remember when the contract renewal or expiration date is approaching, so the team never misses an expiration or expiration date. However, the software must communicate reminders effectively.
Central repository
Contract management software should serve as a single point of storage for all legal documents. A searchable central repository helps you access your documents from anywhere while ensuring the security of your documents.
Sharing and role permissions
Not all employees need to perform the same tasks or access different documents, controls, and functionality at the same level. User roles and permissions are among the essential components of contract management software because they can manage risk in ways that spreadsheets and shared drives cannot provide.
Security
User privileges are one way to manage document security, but just as important is protecting contract repositories from hackers and data breaches. If you consider cloud-based contract management software, make sure it is integrated into a trusted hosting environment such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). You should also make sure that you have complete security features like encryption and virus detection.
Integration method
Depending on the size of your business, you can also rely on other third-party platforms as part of your contract lifecycle. Finding a solution compatible with CRM, digital signature platforms, or single sign-on solutions is essential. You don’t have to implement a business solution that doesn’t fit into the ecosystem.
Support
Dedicated support staff can work with the team during the initial onboarding to provide personalized training courses to employees and provide ongoing support in the event of issues or errors.
Is contract management software suitable for my business?
Contract management software helps businesses of all sizes manage the risks associated with the lifecycle of their contracts, but the best time to implement a new solution depends on the business.
Generally speaking, if your business has reached a point of significant growth and the number of contracts is increasing rapidly, it may be time to invest in contract management to streamline the process. Additionally, if the current process poses a risk, hinders team collaboration, or misses an expiration date, it may be time to consider another solution.
No matter the size of your business, contracts are essential to your business. As your business continues to grow, so makes the demand for effective contract management systems.
