How To Choose The Right Contract Management Software

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March 17, 2021 Business

Regardless of the size of your business, you are bound to encounter contracts at some point in time. Many small businesses have to deal with a diverse range of contracts, from employment contracts with their staff to supply agreements with their suppliers, and tenders with their clients, just to name a few. As your business grows, the volume of the contracts you handle is also likely to grow and at some point, the active agreements will require a more sustainable approach to manage.

Thanks to today’s innovations, digital solutions are available to help make contract management easier and less daunting. Contract management computer programs help streamline the entire process from the point of creation to organizing, retrieval, and tracking. Whenever you need to refer to a particular contract with an employee, client, or supplier, for instance, you just need to type in a few keywords to get what you are looking for. As a business, this comes with numerous benefits, including saving time and money while ensuring productivity, checks, and balances.

However, different computation programs are designed differently. Even the ones that perform the same functions may not provide the same level of convenience, efficiency, features, reliability, and results. This means that when it comes to delicate issues such as contract management, you need to be keen on the software you choose. With this having been said, here are some tips on how to choose the right contract management software.

1. Consider the Ease of Use

Have you ever tried using a phone you have never used before, and it becomes hectic to operate it? What happens next is that you lose interest and leave it. That is how you can lose in business when you have software that is the roughneck. Take an instance, in a law firm. Lawyers are highly educated but may not have an IT background in their field of study. Also, they may not have the time to attend training sessions on operating software in the company. This means that they need intuitive, clean, and simple software, which will take less time to learn and use. It should also provide technological support.

On a similar note, it pays to get software that allows the transfer of information from one platform to another without wasting time, money, and other resources. As pointed out at https://www.contracthound.com, great contract management software should allow easy integration with other tools you already use. For instance, DocuSign integration can help you add signature signs easily to contracts during creation to simplify approval workflows. You can also find contracts quickly and scan through the major details at a glance so you don’t miss crucial dates such as renewal and expiry.

2. Efficient Search Tools

It will not go unmentioned that we get stressed when we cannot get that one document needed to process the loan you urgently need. You curse and wish the form can walk out of its hiding place. Lost files, misfiles, and lost contracts are not a new thing in the business corridors, and as long as it is not filed correctly, you will have a repeat of this in your organization till the need of time. However, reliable CLM software provides a solution to this problem. All the files can be stored and retrieved with a click of a button.

Instead of perusing files and documents on the shelves to find a form, the CLM software offers a digital solution to your analogue problems. The documents should be stored in a cloud-based repository for easy access, sharing, and reference. Great contract management software should have search features that allow just this.

3. Think about Training and Support

It is essential to pick software from companies that offer training and support. Besides researching, getting reviews from previous clients and requesting references can help you gather information about the software you are about to choose. This ensures that in case of any glitches during usage, you will have somewhere to turn to. It should also be easy for new staff to learn and adapt to.

4. Customization

A customized contract management platform allows its users to identify and handle risks related to the identified areas throughout the entire life of a particular contract. Appreciably, an automated system saves time since all personalized documents have inbuilt templates and integrated data. In pursuit of speeding up the contract process, CLM allows users to gain valuable insights into the organization’s contracts. Let us not forget the strength that the data fields in your organization need to be up-to-date with the office’s current situation. Moreover, get a system that customizes and updates automatically for customer satisfaction.

5. Delivery and Storage options

Nothing gives customers a good rest like knowing that all their data and information is secure. With the availability of an online option of submitting and signing contracts, many clients find it more convenient compared to having to go to the physical location to seal that deal. Depending on the deal in question, contract management software allows you to reduce delays and fast-track deals while giving clients/stakeholders the confidence to do other operations with you online.

6. Collaboration and Sharing Capabilities

It is every user’s wish that they execute their duties in minutes. They want to be creating, assigning, collaborating, managing and completing tasks in a blink of an eye. Despite the automation benefits from this software, however, it should also ensure security and confidentiality of data while allowing collaboration and easy sharing. This way, designated parties can check the status of the contract document, drop comments, make amendments, or share suggestions without worrying about their online safety. This helps accelerate the approval TAT, simply the signature system, and enhance access by stakeholders, all of which are helpful to business.

7. Solution to Fit Organization Needs

Contract Lifecycle Management is today among the easiest ways to increase productivity and reduce operational costs in your business. Significantly, different organizations vary in needs. On this note, there are a few things you need to consider when picking on your software:

Organization size- As your business expands; it is advisable to find a solution that scales your growth.
Sales complexity- A streamlined digital process with technical and complex sales processes get the most out of this because of the automation of administrative tasks
Compliance Concerns- One has to have instant access to risks when serving an industry with regulations.
Department Access – Ensure that your team has access to other departments to get familiar with the available software.

Nothing is more rewarding than signing contracts you can adhere to and keep up with. It is a common challenge to many businesses, but digital solutions help make it easier. To wrap it up, your business structure and workflow will dictate your ideal contract management software.