One important must-have of companies and offices is a Contract Lifecycle Management Software. For newly hired office managers and business owners, one Frequently Asked Question is “What is a CLM?” This article will discuss what a Contract Lifecycle Management Software is and the benefits of having one mixed into your business operations.
A contract is a legally binding document that acts as proof of agreement. For companies, contracts are the lifeline of a business. It serves as the governing body that ensures that all of your vendors and clients are following through with the agreed-upon terms.
Here are some benefits of a Contract Lifecycle Management Software
Consolidated Contract Data
Even a small company will handle dozens upon dozens of contracts. It is unthinkable for someone to make a staff memorize all of these data and ensure that they are all followed. The human psyche is prone to error. It is easy to miss some important information that could spell out disaster for your company.
A computer though is infallible. It follows a set of guided code that goes without a hitch 99% of the time. A Contract Lifecycle Management Software will consolidate all of your contract data while providing you with an error-free way of Contract Data management.
Risk Mitigation
With a full visual of your contracts and a more streamlined contract signing process, it becomes so much easier to determine which vendors or clients are underperforming and thus present a big risk to your company. This plays an especially crucial role when you are in the stage of making big decisions for the company.
Online Security
Physical contracts are naturally more susceptible to damage. They can be stolen, damaged, lost, or forged, which undermines the security of hardcopies. But by adopting a contract lifecycle management system, these contracts become digitized and are safer from physical harm. In fact, even signing contracts electronically is safer and more secure than relying on traditional wet ink signatures, as there’s a lot of data captured to ensure that the signatory is who they say they are and have signed in a compliant way.
Fewer Mistakes
The Contract Drafting process is a fickle process. This is without a doubt a tedious procedure that gets doubled for every time that there are mistakes that happen. Even a single typographic error can lengthen the entire process, pushing the signing date for a week or even months. A Contract Life Cycle Management Software will keep these errors in check and ensure that your contract is as error-free as could be. Aside from this, it would also be easier to edit them should there be any errors.
Faster Contract Signing Process
With hard copies of contracts, it understandably takes a while to get it signed. Every time a new term is negotiated, one copy has to be printed and submitted to all parties for evaluation. This process is inefficient and can cost the company a lot of valuable resources like manpower and money. There is also the case of having to deliver the hard copies to your client which is another vacuum of resources and time. Just think of how difficult it becomes when your clients are overseas.
For most companies, this discourages them to get international clients, a very much wasted opportunity. With the age of the Internet upon us, a Contract Lifecycle Management Software takes advantage of the invention of electronic signatures and allows companies to sign documents without the need for a physical meeting. This is much more efficient. Electronic signatures are as legally binding as the physical signature.
Contract Performance
When you have a Contract Lifecycle Management Software, you will be able to see the performance of each contract. This allows the big guys to make informed decisions instead of blindly taking unnecessary risks. The performance of a contract will also provide you with valuable insights such as which contracts are underperforming and need improvement.
These are just some of the countless benefits of having a Contract Management Software into your system. There are much more tangible and intangible advantages which could prove to be the difference between succeeding and failing.
