Contract administrators are often responsible for an overwhelming amount of job duties. Remembering each step in the process is a challenge when manually drafting RFPs and contracts. The process can easily result in a task being missed or a deal falling through because of contract mismanagement. It’s important for your organization to consider utilizing modern processes to achieve streamlined contract administration.
It’s been found that effective contract management and contract administration processes can lead to lower operational costs and efficiency in delivering services.
Companies should implement contract administrative tools that will set them up for success.
To support contract administrators in their job duties, CobbleStone has outlined 4 best practices that can be used as a guide when executing contract administrative work.
1. Get Organized With a Secure Repository
Keeping contracts, RFPs, and other related documents all in one place across departments will ensure you won’t be spending your day identifying contract locations for others. You can easily search for related documents including Word docs and PDFs and ensure you always identify the most recent copy of a document.
When drafting and editing documents, there’s nothing worse than having someone else edit a document and save it somewhere you can’t find. With a secure repository, users can track who has edited a document and when. A repository provides one location that is easily searchable and offers controlled access to important documents.
2. Never Miss a Deadline With Automated Alerts
Reduce bottlenecks by having automated alerts sent to you and your colleagues when action needs to be taken. Whether it’s for document review, approval, or another task, you’ll never miss a step in the process again. Automated alerts can help with managing timelines and handling many RFXs and contract renewals at once. Stay on track and be notified whenever an important deadline or renewal arises.
3. Accelerate Deals With E-signatures
Stop wasting time with wet signatures when you can easily send and receive signed documents with e-signature software. With just a few clicks, you'll be sending an agreement out for signature and receiving the signed version back within minutes. This is especially helpful when dealing with many employees, vendors, or counterparties.
As a bonus, e-signatures are generally considered more secure than a basic handwritten signature.
4. Reduce Risk and Automate With Smart Tools
As a contract administrator, you’re probably juggling RFPs and related agreements on a daily basis. Whether you’re using a template, or creating each one from scratch, you can take advantage of smart tools that allow you to choose a contract or RFX type and it will automatically pull the correct template and clauses based on your organization’s preferences.
Lastly, accelerate data entry and risk assessment mapping with powerful artificial intelligence and machine learning. You’ll gain better visibility of your contracts and will be able to easily determine goals for the future based on real-time results.
Contract administration can be made easy with the right tools and software. CobbleStone Software offers several different options for contract administrators to help them effectively do their jobs. Consider checking out Contract Insight™ Software to help you achieve the processes that are outlined above. You’ll find yourself more organized and successful than ever before!
