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3 Reasons Why Legal Teams Need Contract Management Software
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Today’s legal leaders have a difficult job. They have to manage day-to-day legal operations to keep the business moving forward. They need to stay ahead of regulatory changes and prepare for the challenges that may lie ahead. They’re increasingly asked to partner with sales and take a bigger role in the revenue process. And in many organizations, they’re doing all of this—and more—with fewer resources than ever before.
These tasks can feel insurmountable, especially since they often seem to conflict with one another. The key to success is to transform legal processes and become more data-driven, using a contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution.
What is a CLM solution?
Contracts are the lifeblood of any business—but managing contract creation, execution, and analysis can be time consuming. CLM software is designed to replace manual contracting processes, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline disjointed workflows.
A CLM system also collects critical contract data—like customer information, agreement terms, and contract statuses—and stores it in a central repository, so you can easily access the data you need and manage complex contracts at scale. The ultimate goal of CLM is to optimize the contract lifecycle from start to finish.
4 ways CLM helps to mitigate risk
Managing risk is a fundamental role of any legal team. However, it can feel like a moving target in today’s constantly evolving regulatory environment. The right CLM can help legal teams identify and mitigate risk across hundreds, thousands, or even millions of contracts. For example:
- Eliminate data leakage. When contracts are stored in shared folders, email archives, and filing cabinets, sensitive information can easily fall into the wrong hands. With a CLM, contract data is safely stored in a single, central, secure contract repository.
- Combat rogue terms. Without appropriate guardrails in place, outdated or noncompliant contracts may be sent out for negotiation. A CLM solution lets you build a library of preapproved language and contract templates, enabling a self-service approach without added risk.
- Avoid missed obligations. It’s almost impossible to know what your contracts contain when they’re stored as basic electronic (or even paper) files. A CLM turns contracts into usable data, so you can easily monitor upcoming obligations and their deadlines.
- Prevent compliance failures. Keeping up with ever-changing regulatory requirements is a constant struggle. With a CLM in place, you can search and extract relevant clauses from your contracts, then map those obligations to relevant business functions to avoid compliance issues.
3 ways CLM supports revenue processes
In many organizations, the legal team is siloed from other functional areas. However, with a CLM system in place, they are better integrated into the flow of business processes. From there, they can more easily partner with sales teams and support revenue management. For example:
- Accelerate legal reviews. The contracting process is complicated, with countless handoffs between different parts of the organization. With a CLM, you can implement automated workflows to keep contracts moving forward and give everyone involved visibility into their current status.
- Automate standard contracts. Getting legal approval on every contract can slow down the sales cycle. A CLM system lets you build pre-approved templates and clause libraries, so you can automate approval of contracts that fall within these pre-set guidelines.
- Avoid surprise expenses. Maximizing revenue isn’t just a matter of selling more—it also means spending less. A CLM lets you monitor key events that will affect your budget, like the auto-renewal of contracts you no longer want to extend.
3 ways CLM can increase efficiency
In many organizations, the legal team is viewed as a barrier to closing deals quickly—but it doesn’t have to be that way. With the right CLM in place, legal teams can streamline contracting and negotiation processes to accelerate the sales cycle.
- Reduce manual tasks. With a CLM, repetitive manual tasks can be automated. This frees up valuable time, so the legal team can focus on high-value deals and more substantive work.
- Enable real-time collaboration. A CLM lets all parties view and act on contracts in real time, using the same data set—to streamline contract review, negotiation, editing, and approval.
- Balance workloads effectively. CLM technology lets you formalize processes and automate workflows so every task is routed to the right person, right from the start.
Balance all your legal responsibilities with Conga
Legal leaders are under tremendous pressure, but the right CLM can act as a release value. Get a demo to find out how Conga CLM can help you reduce risk, improve processes, and take control of your contracts.
Interested in hearing some expert perspective on this topic? Watch our LinkedIn Live event, Navigating Legal Leaders’ Concerns: Cybersecurity & Regulatory Growth with special guest Lisa Bloomberg, Principal Director at Accenture.
