Contract Management is the process of managing a company’s contracts from vendors, partners, customers, and/or employees. A Contract Management Software at its most basic and simplified definition is the electronic version of a filing cabinet. It is an automated system that supports your company’s entire customer and contract lifecycle. This covers all the processes important to Contract Management --- from the drafting, signing, renewals, and negotiation.
An effective Contract Management Software requires an understanding of every step in the contract process including the terms, KPIs and important dates to remember.
As time passes by, the business industry gets tougher and tougher. Numerous competitors have sprung up and it becomes a problem for managers and business owners to bring themselves to the top of the field. There are thousands if not millions of strategies being employed and devised right now by companies. As the competition becomes fiercer, companies must think of new ways to distinguish themselves away from other companies.
One strategy that will surely bring you to the top of the game is to employ a Contract Management Software. A Contract Management Software is just effectively more efficient and will optimise your business functions. Studies actually proved that companies with poor contract management lose over 9% of their annual revenue. On the other hand, having your human staff direct your contract management leaves a lot of space for human error and is obviously more expensive. A software, meanwhile, is a one-time expense while staff has to be paid monthly with benefits.
Here are 5 Things That A Contract Management Software Can Do That A Human Can’t.
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Provide a Full Visual of your Business Processes and Contracts
A Contract Management Software will manage all your contracts in a centralised system. This means that the location of all files and contract information will be loads faster and easier. As everything will be in one system this also means that you can access them at any time you want.
A business owner knows just how important having a full visual of the business is. This helps you make fully informed decisions when it comes to your contracts. When we have to make important decisions, often, we do them without full knowledge of things. This is not intentional but rather, it is usually because the data needed takes time and a lot of effort to retrieve.
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Give Valuable Insights
A Contract Management Software also provides valuable insights that will prove to be helpful for your business. Some of these insights include but are not limited to which contracts are performing well, which ones underperforming, which contracts need to be monitored closely, etc.
Insights like this may seem nothing but for a manager or a business owner, these are actually valuable as this means a lot as to whether contracts get renewed or not.
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Identify Problem at its Roots
One important difference between a Contract Management Software and an employee is that a software can easily identify the problems your companies are facing while also helping your find them before they become actual problems. Any aspect of your contract process that brings more harm than good can easily be targeted and taken care of.
A Contract Management Software will also help you mitigate the risks that you take. When faced with having to decide whether certain contracts should be renewed or not.
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Detect Inefficiencies
As mentioned above, a Contract Management Software is far more superior than an employee managing your countless contracts for you. The three points mentioned above all result to the ability to detect any slight inefficiency in your system. As a business owner, you would want your company to be running smoothly --- all the cogs should be well-oiled and properly working.
If you can detect inefficiencies, you would obviously want to fix it. Majority of the companies do not use their resources efficiently. Many of these resources are used up improperly and can be considered a sorry waste. Resources are important if you want your company to grow.
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Automated System
Another thing that a software can do that a human can’t is to provide you with automated reminders without fail. A human is only as good as her memory and sadly, our brains do not have the same capacity as a computer does. This leads to a tendency to miss important deadlines like contract renewals. Often, this can bring you to not knowing whether a certain contract has lapsed or not.
A Contract Management Software also allows you to send over to your clients the drafted contracts which they can electronically. This means that you don’t have to meet personally just to go over and sign contracts. These eSignatures are legally binding and will make your life much easier.
Published by knorr kendra