How Contract Management Software Can Speed Up Your Sales Process

Many sales leaders agree that the highly anticipated and crucial part of a sales cycle is when the deal moves into the contract stage. 

But do you know that time kills deals? Every second spent looking for the latest contract version, waiting for legal approval, and going back and forth in the negotiations process is an extra chance for the deal to fall through. 

So, how can you get rid of these roadblocks and reach the finish line much quicker? The solution is leveraging contract lifecycle management (CLM) software. 

In this post, we’ll define contract management software and how it can speed up your sales process. 

Contract Management Software Defined

In a nutshell, contract management software is a tool sales teams use in preparing, delivering, and signing digital documents and legal agreements. This can be in the form of contracts and proposals electronically delivered, reviewed, and then signed by leads. 

Various contract management software providers in the market provide these services, but all are focused on one end goal- to streamline the contract management process. 

How Contract Management Software Can Speed Up Your Sales Process

1. Streamline contract creation

Typically, the contract process starts with several emails being sent back and forth when the sales rep requests the contract, and then the legal department creates it and makes manual revisions, either from templates or from scratch. This process can be time-consuming and can be prone to errors. 

A clm software will automate the entire contract creation according to the requirements of the legal department. It will eliminate manual contract creation, saves time, and ensures accuracy. 

Usually, automated workflows, up-to-date templates, redlining, and e-signature decrease the time it takes to develop contracts, share, edit, and sign.

2. Easier admin and collaboration

Another benefit of contract management software is that it’s easy to use. From personalized templates to real-time analytics, you’ll have access to various contract data available at your fingertips. 

You can also have the client sign electronically, making the process seamless. It creates an easy process that oversees traditional contract negotiation. 

Cloud-based solutions also allow you to create bigger opportunities with other sales managers. You can use the version control to collaborate with team members by leaving comments and suggestions. 

Similarly, you can see your contract’s audit trail. Here, you’ll see who has made changes to the documents, how engaged your lead is, and whether or not they’re on the verge of signing. 

3. Expedite approvals

Waiting for a new sales contract to be approved can slow down the entire sales cycle. Internal approvals take anywhere from days to weeks to acquire. You may run into a situation wherein the approver is busy, someone forgot to send the request, or they just haven’t received the approval request. 

Contract management software will automate the approval process. You can have it as soon as the contract’s ready for approval. It will automatically send it to the next person in the process. That way, there’s no chance that it will get lost along the way. You can also ensure that it happens when it needs to happen. 

4. Real-time audit trails and alerts

As mentioned earlier, you and your team need to know what’s happening with their sales contracts. Aside from that, salespeople must also ensure compliance in all their sales contracts. 

For both of these, contract management software can help. Firstly, after changes are made to the contract, it sends a notification of the change. This lets the salesperson discover what happened and know what to discuss in future meetings. Secondly, ensuring your sales contracts comply means you must spend less time checking issues. 

Contract management software makes it easy to track and get audit trails to ensure new issues with your contracts. 

5. Automate contract workflows

Just like contracts, customer relationship management software is the lifeblood of any organization. Most teams heavily rely on it as a source for all important customer data. 

Once integrated with a CLM, you can automatically set up workflows to accelerate the sales process and shorten the sales cycle. 

6. Automatic renewals and deadline alerts

Many organizations rely on customer success or an annual calendar reminder that kicks them into gear when locking in a renewal. Doing so leaves a lot of it to chance. 

An excellent contract management system has built-in reminders and notifications. You can easily set up a renewal notification time. Every time a new contract is drafted and renewal is set, you’ll receive automatic alerts. 

7. Digital signatures

By offering a number of signature options, you remove the hurdle between you and the final signature on the sales agreement. 

Think about how convenient is if customers can sign an agreement with a single-click signature, bank ID or a two-factor signature. 

8. Boost revenue

When it comes to it, revenue for your company is vital. 

However, you can’t win or lose revenue simply in prospecting and lead nurturing. Poor contract management causes businesses to lose approximately 9% in lost revenue each year. 

A reliable contract management system reduces delays and enhances governance during the most crucial part of the sales closing stage, document signing. As a result, you’ll close in more deals and get faster, higher revenues.  

Over to You

So, there you have it. The faster you can close your sale cycle, the more you’re likely to close in deals. Your prospects don’t want to feel that you left them in the lurch. Using as many tools as possible to shorten the sales cycle would be best. 

You can’t afford to have an outdated contract management process. If the whole process and approval workflow are complicated, this can slow down your sales cycle and hurt a customer’s experience with your business. 

A contract management tool can be a great tool in your arsenal to make faster sales. On the flip side, it also makes the buyer’s end easy. So, as much as possible, it helps you embrace the digital revolution and start using contract management software.