According to a new survey from EY law and the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession, businesses trying to change the way they manage their contracting are hindered by inefficient processes. This leads to a loss of revenue and business opportunities. By not correcting these processes, over half of the companies in the survey are behind when trying to improve their contracting.
In this short guide, we’ve put together some of the most important questions to ask when updating your contracting process — whether you’re evaluating a CLM platform for the first time or reviewing your existing setup.
What are your highest-volume contract types?
Start by identifying the five or ten contract types your organisation processes most frequently. These are the best candidates for template automation, because the ROI of standardising them is highest. For a guide to building effective templates, see Contract Templates: A Practical Guide for Legal and Business Teams.
Where do contracts slow down?
Map your current contract lifecycle and identify where time is lost. Common bottlenecks are: approval waiting time, back-and-forth negotiation over email, and delays in signing. Each has a specific structural solution. For a full look at the challenges and how to address them, read 7 Common Contract Management Challenges and How to Overcome Them.
Who needs to be involved in contract management — and who doesn’t?
One of the biggest efficiency gains from CLM comes from enabling non-legal teams to self-serve on standard agreements. This requires clarity on which contract types genuinely need legal involvement and which can be safely delegated. For a look at how to avoid the common pitfalls of CLM adoption, see Avoiding Common Pitfalls in CLM Adoption.
How will you measure success?
Any contracting process improvement should be tied to measurable outcomes: contract cycle time, self-serve rate, missed renewal rate. Define these metrics before you start so you can demonstrate value after. For practical examples of what CLM typically delivers, see CLM Savings Examples: Real-World Contract Metrics.
