A study examining the reasons for contract management process failure found that key indicators of contract mismanagement include (among others) poor contract lifecycle planning and scheduling, late or improper contract submission and approvals, weak leadership, and lack of counterparty collaboration and communication (Mohamed, Norazida, et al., 2019). Luckily, with leading contract management software and the proper contract management services, your organization can streamline contract management, decrease risk, increase revenue, and much more. To that end, let's examine our top eight contract management services for more robust contract lifecycle management.
Contract Management Services
Contract management services can help facilitate, streamline, and centralize contract lifecycle management and related processes. The cost, availability, and turnaround time of these services can vary depending on the contract management software solution your organization leverages. However, contract management services should include a robust CLM software system and various avenues to improve or support contract management software processes.
As you search for the leading CLM platform you need, be sure to keep your eyes open for a contract lifecycle management solutions provider that offers the contract management services below.
#1 - Contract Management Software Implementation
One of the most crucial contract management services is contract management software implementation. Your organization should select a contract management solutions provider with decades of successful implementations. Implementation specialists understand that every business has unique contract management software system requirements. As such, good implementation specialists take the time to understand your organization's needs and work toward them with your team.
A trusted contract management software provider should provide a detailed implementation plan and coordinate dates with your organization. Your provider should balance structure and flexibility to help your organization adopt contract management software quickly and efficiently. Additionally, your contract management software implementation should be structured for scalability so your CLM system can gradually evolve with your organization's growing contract complexity and volume without requiring an overwhelming system replacement or re-engineering.
#2 - Contract Management Software Integrations & Connectors
Contract management software integrations and connectors can centralize contract lifecycle management with mission-critical and convenient business processes.
Some leading contract management software connectors and integrations to look out for include:
- integrations with leading word processing tools - such as MS Office 365, Google Workspace, MS Word, and MS Outlook - for improved document editing, contract authoring, and contract negotiations.
- simplified security and simplified MFA (multi-factor authentication) login procedures.
- seamlessly integrated CRM and contract lifecycle management process.
- OFAC search integration for improved regulatory compliance and risk prevention.
- electronic signature software integration.
- integrated contract management, vendor management, eProcurement, and eSourcing processes.
#3 - Contract Data Extraction Services
Does your team have many contracts to extract data from and organize? Pulling contract data - especially from hundreds or thousands of legacy contracts - can seem impossible and tedious; however, it doesn't have to be.
Contract data extraction requires identifying and pulling information from contract documents - including legacy contracts - that can include key contract data fields such as dates, conditions, terms, and provisions. Full-bodied data extraction services combine contract data extraction professionals with AI-backed technology to extract data from contracts and foster its use within CLM software.
Looks for a contract management software provider that supports you with:
- collecting contract documents and identifying contract data fields.
- electronically extracting data (sometimes in-house by the provider, sometimes with an external extraction services partner).
- maximizing extract data with artificial intelligence with machine learning.
#4 - Contract Data Import Services
Your organization should seek a CLM software provider that offers professional data import services.
This contract management service involves your contract management software provider performing a bulk import of contract metadata, electronic files, and attachments. All you should need to do is provide contract metadata in a structured spreadsheet format, and then your contract management software provider can prepare data and perform an import.
#5 - Contract Management Software Configuration Assistance
Leading contract management software should provide a user-friendly, easy-to-adopt, intuitive user interface that supports high flexibility and manageable and robust configuration of system areas. It should support contract management software workflow configuration and more without the need for IT intervention.
Despite this, sometimes we need extra help. Your solutions provider should be able to help. Look for a contract management software provider that offers application configuration services if assistance is required in configuring contract management software workflows and other areas for the CLM system.
#6 - Contract Management Software Support Services
Your organization should select a contract management software provider that offers leading contract management services for support. Leading contract management software provides user and technical support for clients with a support or maintenance agreement.
Contract management services for user support should include support for mission-critical use cases with a targeted response time consistent with problem severity, as expertly informed by the leading CLM provider.
Leading contract management software providers provide:
- dedicated support professionals to contact.
- a dedicated and easily-navigable user manual/wiki.
- contract management learning videos.
- & much more!
#7 - Contract Management Software Training Sessions
Contract management services should include contract management software training sessions so that your organization's contract software users can maximize all that your system has to offer.
Training sessions should ideally cover contract lifecycle management software system features and functionality in a collaborative, one-on-one setting with a dedicated training resources.
Structured contract management software training plans for your new system admins and end-users can be made available - as well as sessions that are flexible based on your training needs and budget. These incredibly helpful sessions can be dedicated to exploring contract management software resources, answering questions, and even going hands-on into your contract management system.
#8 - End-To-End Contract Lifecycle Management Software
The ultimate self-serve contract management service for your need is end-to-end contract lifecycle management software itself. The contract software solution that offers the features mentioned above and many more is CobbleStone Contract Insight®.
CobbleStone's leading CLM software system - as well as the many leading contract management services they offer - have received widespread critical acclaim from users and third-party analysts alike. CobbleStone's seamlessly integrated and user-friendly contract management software is built on contract AI with machine learning so users can enjoy a platform that grows with continued exposure to contracts. CobbleStone Software's highly flexible, scalable, and low-friction platform has been lauded for its ease of use and has been trusted by organizations in various industries.
Learn why thousands of contract management teams worldwide trust CobbleStone Software's AI-powered contract management software and contract management services. Book your free demo today!
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Works Cited
Mohamed, N., Ridwan, A. M., Saoula, O., & Issa, M. R. (2019). Factors causing mismanagement in public/private contracts: An Indonesian perspective. Growing Science, 9(9).
