Contract management is a crucial task. Doing it incorrectly or inefficiently undermines a company’s profitability, its relationships, and its reputation. Contract management software offers a host of features to streamline and optimize the contract management process, prompting many businesses to adopt these next-generation solutions. Unfortunately, however, a staggering percentage of these implementations fail to deliver their expected benefits.
This high failure rate isn’t the result of faulty software. While some products are undoubtedly more robust and reliable than others, the reason that many contract management software systems don’t perform as expected lies in the implementation process. Contract management processes affect not only a company’s attorneys but also its procurement, sales, IT, executives, and other professionals. Successfully implementing a contract management system requires cross-departmental cooperation as well as a detailed plan for rolling out new processes.
In this article, we’ll explore six ways your business can help make its contract management software implementation a success. By taking the time and effort to do this preparatory work, you can smooth the transition process, increase adoption speed, and enhance the return on your CLM software investment.
1. Determine and prioritize your business needs.
Before seeking a solution, it’s important to fully understand the problem. Start by identifying the biggest pain points in your company’s contracting processes. For example,
- Slow manual workflow management
- Cumbersome process for retrieving contract information
- Delays in the sales cycle
- Limited ability to collaborate on contract negotiation and creation
- Key employees lacking visibility into contract terms
- Noncompliance risks
- Errors or inconsistent language in contracts
- Slow collaboration process that’s difficult to track
- Contract version control
- Inefficient procurement contracting
- Lack of visibility into contract performance
- Data security
Start by listing all the problems you wish to solve with your new contract management software, and then go back and rank them in order of priority. Think about which have the greatest impact on your organization, and when you begin introducing the new software, consider first implementing the features and processes that will help solve those specific problems.
2. Analyze your current contract management processes.
For an implementation to be as smooth as possible, it needs to fit the way you do business. Take some time to map out your current contract management processes and think about how contract management software can best support them. Consider how you’re currently doing various contract management tasks, including
- Negotiation
- Collaboration
- Creation, approval, and signing
- Maintaining version control
- Monitoring key dates and deadlines
- Ensuring internal compliance with contracts
- Ensuring contracts comply with applicable laws and regulations
- Verifying other parties’ compliance with contracts
- Contract performance analysis
- Retrieving and sharing contract information with key employees
- Workflow management
Each company’s processes are different, so use this list to spark ideas about how your company manages contracts throughout the lifecycle, from negotiation through execution and analysis. Then, research the various features that contract management software offers. Examples of contract management tools include:
- A centralized, searchable contract repository with self-serve features
- Automatic version tracking
- Customizable contract templates
- Collaborative tools
- Configurable automated workflows, alerts, and notifications
- Analytics and reporting
- E-signature
Consider not only how tools like these could improve the way your business operates but also the extent to which employees would need to learn and change how they perform daily tasks to implement those tools.
3. Develop an incremental plan and timeline, starting with the simplest, most impactful actions.
After laying the groundwork by following the first two tips above, you can begin to make an implementation game plan. While it can be tempting to try to get all the benefits promised by a new contract management system right away, it’s a mistake to try to implement everything all at once. Plan for an incremental rollout that addresses your highest priority needs first.
For example, getting contracts into a centralized repository can go a long way toward streamlining contract management by making information readily accessible for all staff who need it. This can save time for contract managers, who will no longer have to respond to requests for contract information because, with the proper permissions, employees can easily access it themselves. It can also support negotiators and contact creators by providing visibility into approved language and key terms, ensuring consistency across contracts.
Lay out a clear timeline for the various stages of your implementation and stick to it as much as possible. It’s easy to go down rabbit holes in an attempt to make the software accommodate complex processes. Avoid making endless tweaks that throw the implementation off schedule and remember to keep prioritizing actions that will make the most impact. For example, automating complicated processes that are required for a small proportion of your company’s contracts will likely be too much to take on in the initial stages of implementation. Instead, begin by automating processes for a relatively simple subset of contracts. This will allow users to identify any sticking points and work out kinks before moving on to automate more intricate procedures.
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4. Communicate the goals and benefits of the new software and get users’ input.
How employees integrate contract management software into their daily tasks can make or break the implementation. Before rolling it out, invest time and energy into educating your employees about how the new system will benefit them as well as the effort that will be required of them to make it work. When they express concerns, make sure to take them seriously and address them with real answers—not generic assurances that it will all be better in the end.
It’s undeniable that the more the software benefits users and the less effort it requires to adopt, the more employees are likely to embrace the change. By investing in a solution that makes employees’ jobs easier without the need to spend hours learning a whole new system, you can incentivize employees to get behind the transition and work as a team to implement it. In this interest, you may want to invite representatives from the various departments that will be impacted by the change to participate in the contract management software selection process.
5. Get adequate training and ongoing support.
In addition to choosing a system that’s easy for your employees to learn, it’s critical to purchase it from a vendor that has a reputation for providing reliable, responsive support. Questions will inevitably arise throughout the multistage implementation process. Having access to experts who provide timely, useful answers to these questions is key to keeping the entire process on track and keeping users happy and on board with the changes.
Not only does training and support give users answers to their immediate questions, but it also helps ensure they’re able to use the system to their greatest advantage. Work with a software vendor that prioritizes teaching users how to make the most of their product. This might include, for example, training on how to use AI-enhanced search features effectively or how to configure workflows to fit your unique processes. Vendor support should not stop after initial implementation but continue throughout the business relationship.
6. Use the contract management software’s reporting features to illustrate and maximize ROI.
Modern contract management software has robust analytics and reporting features that provide unprecedented insight into contract data. Reports, notifications, and dashboards can be customized to deliver information in formats that highlight the insights various users need to do their jobs as effectively as possible. This allows leaders to both optimize operations and demonstrate the return on their software investment.
For example, notifications can be set to alert employees of key dates, deadlines, and deliverables, enhancing contract compliance. Additionally, reports can track and illustrate contract performance based on customizable KPIs, allowing leaders to compare the results of specific strategies and measure improvement over time.
Contract management software Designed for Microsoft 365 Users
Contracts 365 is AI-enabled contract management software that’s designed to natively integrate with Microsoft 365. This makes it easier for businesses using Microsoft 365 to adopt and implement the software. Users can access the repository using their existing Microsoft credentials and upload information from the apps they use every day, such as Word, Excel, Dynamics, SharePoint, Salesforce, and even Outlook. With native integrations like these, it’s easier for employees to start using the software in their daily tasks and make it a regular part of their routines.
Additionally, adopting contract management software that leverages your existing Microsoft 365 tenant allows you to get more out the technology investment you’re already making. Your contract data will be protected by Microsoft’s unsurpassed security features like Defender, BitLocker, and identity management through Azure Active Directory. Collaboration can be both seamless and secure with easy integration of tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams as well as leading e-signature software.
To learn how businesses like yours have successfully integrated Contracts 365 and the benefits they’re enjoying, browse our customer stories. For more detail about implementation, including making the business case, conducting an RFP, and more, see our library of complimentary Ebooks. Or request a demo below and we can show you how it works in real time.
