A Recipe for How to Achieve Contract Lifecycle Management Success

By Karen Howe

Gearing up for the holidays, the other day I found myself pulling out my old recipe cards. I have some tried-and-true favorites but like to mix things up every year by adding a little something new. I’ve found that the best cookies follow a recipe but leave room for me to add my own personal touch.

The same could also be said for the way you approach or position yourself for contract lifecycle management success.  The “recipe” might be the workflow you follow to move a contract from draft to final execution. It might be the set of legally approved clauses that result in a clear and enforceable set of terms to reduce your risk. Or maybe it’s the way you capture and use contract-related data to provide valuable business insights.

Download our Introduction to Contract Management Software to learn more.

How do you define contract lifecycle management success?

At Contract Logix, our customers come from a wide variety of industries but have many of the same needs when it comes to managing their contracts. When asked what they’re looking for in a solution, they tell us they want to reduce risk, increase visibility, enhance security, save costs, or stay on top of contract-related dates. But each definition of contract lifecycle management success is slightly different. That’s why every member of our team is focused on learning what will make YOU successful and helping you get there.

It starts even before you sign on the dotted line, with our Sales team learning about you, the business challenges you are trying to overcome, and providing demos tailored to your specific interests and needs. It continues once you’re a customer, when you are assigned an experienced Customer Success Manager (CSM) who will help you discover the many resources we offer, such as the Power User Onboarding Workshop, the focused mini-workshops, and the library of video tutorials. And it doesn’t stop once training is complete – your CSM will be there to assist and advise you on ways to get the most value out of your contract management system and consult with you on best practices.

Is there a contract lifecycle management success “recipe” you can follow?

What can YOU do to ensure you’re successful when implementing a contract management system?  Here are a few ideas.

  • Start with a definite and attainable goal in mind. It doesn’t have to be large or all-encompassing. “Get all NDAs into the system and train users how to find them” is a perfectly reasonable first step.
  • Know your current business process and have clear, unambiguous rules surrounding it. What happens if your request for contract approval comes back denied, or doesn’t come back at all? The better you can articulate what should happen, the better we can make the contract management software work for you.
  • Be open-minded to change and communicate change effectively to staff. Implementing a new contract management solution might mean looking at your processes with a fresh pair of eyes. Does Judy in Finance really need to get an email with the contract attached or can she look it up herself in the system? Do you still need someone to walk that cover sheet around the office, gathering signatures, or can you transition to electronic signature requests sent directly from the contract management system?
  • Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. My favorite shortbread recipe requires me to blend the mixture by hand to work out all the lumps. Our CSMs have seen it time and time again. Unless you stop talking about it and start using it, your contract management system is just a vision of sugar plums dancing in your head.

Takeaway

An experienced baker will tell you that to be successful, you need to know what the final product is supposed to look and taste like. You need to be willing to try a new technique if what you’ve always done isn’t working. You must be confident enough in your skills to substitute ingredients you have on hand for the ones called for in the recipe.

Contract Logix takes your contract lifecycle management success seriously. We’ll work with you and help you improve your contract management methods to get the most value from the software. Because just as there are countless “best” cookie recipes, the “best” formula for contract management success is the one that’s right for your business.

If you’re interested in seeing how we can help you, please schedule a call to discuss your needs.

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