During contract lifecycle management (CLM), the business owners and contract managers must understand and get familiar with contract processes, including negotiations, reviews, and approvals.
Different CLM processes are usually very detailed, taxing, and time-consuming, requiring the people involved to deliver the highest level of attention. Even if you are an experienced contract manager, you may still need additional insights from relevant stakeholders when conducting contract reviews and contract negotiations.
While you are still in the negotiation stage, contract lifecycle management software is a great help to ensure all the contracts are properly written and all the terminologies are correct. The software also ensures centralized communications from person to person or across departments while the agreements undergo several iterations and updates.
If you are new to contract lifecycle management software, here are several different ways how it will assist your organization during contract negotiations:
Contract Version Control
In the past, you have to sift through thousands of emails to find a single version of a contact. The introduction of CLM software made access to the contract’s most current version extremely easy. You do not need to spend more time searching for a specific contract. It can halt the contracting process and increase the risks of inaccuracies and miscommunications in the final version.
Increased Compliance and Fewer Risk Potentials
CLM software comes with a contract template and clause management features, which are necessary for increasing compliance. It also reduces risk potential within the contract lifecycle management processes. The software helps to save time during the contract’s first draft preparation. As a result, you can create a more accurate contract at a faster rate.
You can use the pre-approved legal language for contract templates and clauses to easily apply them when developing a contract draft. The software can also set predetermined clause rules and conditions based on the contract templates. The auto-population is available to help you create contracts that use particular vendor or client information from the contract request intake forms.
Improved Contract Authoring
Creating contracts takes a bit of time, a lot of attention to detail, and extensive fine-tuning. After all, contracts contain highly specific and crucial terms, obligations, and requirements. If you use CLM software, increasing the accuracy of the final contract versions is a lot easier. It also enhances communication and collaboration along the way.
Since CLM software is readily equipped with advanced redlining and versioning tools, you can start collaborating with external and internal parties smoothly during the contract negotiation and review phases of contract lifecycle management. Through version monitoring and tracking, you can stay up-to-date with each contract’s iteration with timestamping. This will allow you to know who worked on every document at a particular time.
The system then collects and records contract data and information, keeping the whole contract management team on the same page regarding various tasks, responsibilities, and updates.
Conclusion
Contract lifecycle management contract provides excellent features to achieve the productive and seamless approach necessary for managing an organization’s contracts. Contract negotiations may be a tricky and time-consuming process, but CLM software can streamline each stage of the contract lifecycle.
