7 reasons sales teams should invest in a CLM platform

Published Date:
May 11, 2023

Sales departments know that when a deal moves into the contracting stage, time is of the essence. Contracts are an incredibly important part of the sales process because they quantify the amount of money exchanging hands, reduce risk for both parties, and serve as proof of both parties’ intention to execute the deal. 

Delays in finalizing a contract mean delays in revenue-generating opportunities. Every extra moment spent searching for the latest contract version, waiting on legal approval or going back and forth on negotiation is another chance for the deal to fall through. Further, when companies rely on manual management, they waste time and resources and invite unnecessary legal and financial risks. 

Sales Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software can easily solve these issues by automating and streamlining contract processes during key stages, which include drafting, negotiation and approval, execution, ongoing management and compliance, and contract renewal.

 Investing in an automated contract management system will help sales teams alleviate related pain points and  instead gain many advantages. 

1. Generate high quality contracts quickly

When a deal moves into the contract stage, sales teams typically request for a contract to be drafted by the legal department. At this point, delays often occur for various reasons: Legal doesn’t get the complete information they need or there are competing priorities. This slows the sales process down and increases company risk when sales teams bypass the legal team to get their deals done faster. 

A CLM solution provides countless opportunities to improve operational efficiency. For example, it allows legal teams to build a library of approved clauses and standard contract language. Using these pre-approved terms and conditions means sales teams can quickly generate compliant contracts with correct and current language without waiting for case-by-case legal approval. Legal teams can reduce risk and ensure consistency across contracts, while sales teams are empowered to create, negotiate, and close more deals, faster. 

2. Expedite internal approvals

Gathering internal approvals has always been troublesome for sales especially when multiple levels of approvals are needed before a contract can be sent out externally.

CLM software enables the establishment of automated approval workflows. Notifications and email reminders help to keep the task in front of approvers and keep deals moving forward. 

3. Reduce costs

By creating a common language, core templates, unified terms, and consistent conditions buyers and suppliers save time and reduce errors. Most contract management software is designed to provide greater visibility into corporate spend, create greater efficiencies in the contract process, and lower administrative costs.

4. Visibility for future actions

A CLM offers many automated insights into the contracts, such as dates for renewals, deal status, upcoming events etc. This allows teams to stay on top of transactions without wasting time that could be better used in seeking new opportunities.

5. Track deal status with audit trails

Without a proper system in place, it can be a huge problem for sales to track and follow up on each deal’s progress throughout its lifecycle.

A CLM automatically tracks all deal interactions and changes in an audit trail. All contract updates send in-app notifications and email alerts to relevant stakeholders, and everyone can see exactly where any deal stands and what steps are still required. This helps all contract stakeholders stay up to date with contract progress and keeps deals moving forward seamlessly. 

6. Guaranteeing Customer’s Information Safety & Privacy

Safety and privacy are always a top concern when it comes to sales agreements. Everybody wants their confidential information to be 100% secure. However, that isn’t the case when you store documents in the office or on a desktop. A sales CLM is the best way to protect your documents because of its technical features such as encryption, cloud storage, certifications, permissions, and data breach tests.

7. Generating Sales Reports

The best sales reports give companies insight into what areas they need to improve and which ones are optimized. Real-time agreement data enables you to distribute your resources more efficiently but is often a weak point for companies that rely on manual management. A CLM can read through hundreds of documents and generate up-to-date sales reports at the click of a button, which can be used to effectively guide future sales actions.

 

To conclude, a CLM will enable a company to close sales deals faster because it will no longer waste time on creating, reformatting, researching regulations, and checking for errors in their legal process. Instead, the company can spend its time negotiating great deals that benefit it, and increase revenue by minimizing delays.