When you select contract management software, it needs to work for every member of your business. That doesn’t just include the contracts team. It includes everyone who uses it on a regular basis, such as your sales team. Your sales team may have unique needs that other employees throughout the company might not consider. Our guide to choosing the right contract management software for your company can help you find the best fit for everyone. As you’re selecting your contract management software, make sure you keep your sales team in the loop. Also, look for these high-priority features every sales team needs as you choose your software.
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1. Automated Renewal Reminders
Renewals, upsells, and repeat business are all vital sources of revenue. Your sales team has the responsibility of following up with current customers as well as working with new ones. That means your salespeople need to know when those contracts are up for renewal. One of the most important tools you can offer your sales team is automated renewal notifications. These will let them know well ahead of time when contracts are coming up for renewal and, in many cases, what they need to do about them.
Does this contract still work for the company? Do you need to make changes to the contract? Automated reminders can contain all of this information and more. Without this feature, contracts can lapse without anyone being the wiser.
2. Automatic Document Generation
Traditionally, there’s a lot of friction between the contracts team and the sales team. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Put procedures in place so salespeople can get the contract documents they need.
Sometimes, your sales team will need to come up with custom contracts and documents that specifically fit the needs of a given customer. In many cases, however, your customers will use the same standard documents, give or take a few pieces of data filled in. Automatic document generation will streamline the contract negotiation process and help your sales team complete their duties faster. Look for software that can generate the right standard documents based on product selection, pricing, and other input data.
3. Easy Access to Important Documents
Your company is often willing to negotiate within a specific range on some points of your contracts. On other points, the company might not be willing to give way at all.
But does your contract management software give easy access to those documents?
If salespeople don’t know the thresholds, they can’t make confident offers. So create two helpful tools: a work process resource, and warnings that will notify your sales team if they step outside your guidelines. Both of these features can guide salespeople through a strong, consistent sales process.
What about access to information the sales team might need in order to close a sale? This includes:
- Specific product features
- New launches
- Services included in a standard contract
When all of that information is easily accessible, preferably in a cloud-based storage solution that makes it easy for your sales team to access it from anywhere they are, your team can more easily close sales. They can also confidently answer client questions.
4. Access and Change Tracking
At many points in the sales process, your team may make changes to your contracts. But if the changes don’t reflect company policy or don’t look right, you need to know who made those changes. The team may also need to be able to tell at a glance where in the approval process the contract is so that they can get back to clients with the important details — including how long they can expect it to take to have their contracts approved and work started.
All of these details (and more) are accessible when you track changes to the documents in a centralized contract management system. With access and change tracking included in your contract management software, your sales team can more easily track contracts as they move through the process. Also, they can make sure the right individuals authorized any changes. Access and change tracking can also make it easier to identify bottlenecks in the contract approval process.
5. Streamlined Contract Scoring
Your entire business can benefit from contract scoring. This is the process that helps determine how much risk a contract poses for your business. When you automate and streamline the contract scoring process, it offers several advantages for your sales team, too.
First and foremost, it lets the team know when they have inadvertently created a contract that poses too much risk. This flags contracts that, more than likely, will not make it through the approval process as-is. This allows the sales team to fix any contracts that could pose a problem before the approval team sends them back.
Not only that, a streamlined contract scoring system will help contracts move through the approval process faster. That means that sales will close more quickly.
6. Electronic Signature Options
Obtaining a signature can seem like it takes forever, especially if you have to deal with physical documents. Fortunately, you don’t have to have a physical signature on your contracts and other important documents. Look for a contract management system that has access to secure electronic signature options like DocuSign. The faster the contract is signed, the sooner work can begin. Also, the sooner it’s done, the sooner the sales team can move on to the next sale. Secure electronic signature options can also provide an extra layer of security for your contracts.
When choosing contract management software for your business, don’t leave out the sales team! Instead, consider the features the sales team most needs in order to
- Create contracts effectively
- Move them through the approval process
- Get the signatures they need
Finding software that addresses everyone’s needs means you can close deals and monitor compliance with a higher degree of customer satisfaction. Sign up for a free demo today to see ContraxAware’s CLM software at work.
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