#contractmanagementfeatures

[contraxaware]

How to Streamline Legal Team Productivity with an Online Request Portal and Request Procedure

For legal teams, keeping track of contracts can be a challenge. Even more of a challenge, though, is dealing with the numerous requests that come in, every single day, for new contracts, sample contracts, contract templates… The list can feel never-ending, and legal team productivity can take a hit. If your organization handles a lot of contracts (and most do), you can easily end up spending most of your time answering requests for contracts. While some team members may be able to handle the routine ones, there are always going to be complex issues that need the attention of an actual lawyer or at least a contract manager with strong legal training. Most contract management software is somewhat helpful, but it doesn’t always improvement legal team productivity. Maybe it lets you store contract templates and samples so that you can hand them out easily. Maybe it even merges data into new contracts so you can put them together quickly and give people an approved contract they can use. More advanced systems have AI capability. The closer you can get to complete automation and smooth communication, the better your legal team productivity can grow. ContraxAware offers more than that. In fact, ContraxAware includes an online request portal that allows users to easily request the contracts they need and for any approval they might need. The online request portal offers some amazing features — and if you want to see everything our contract management software has to offer, check out our full list of 99 features.

Users Can Request Contracts Anytime, Anywhere

ContraxAware is contract management software that works across any device. So users (for example, a salesperson on the road) don’t need to come back to the office to request a contract. They can simply make the request from their phone. Unless the request concerns a particularly complicated contract, it can even trigger automated action. This helps legal team productivity by removing the item from their to-do list altogether. For example, salespeople can ask for standard contracts and send straight to the potential customer or vendor. For simple legal contracts, the user just provides the details of the third party and can immediately generate the contract. The system will assign all of the required data elements and put the contract together. Legal team members will be notified of incoming requests both by email and in the system. If a contract type requires a specific person to approve it for compliance reasons, the system will ensure that the person receives a task alert. Even better, the request tool can facilitate communication and encourage recipients to act in a timely manner.

Users Can Easily Send in Third-Party Contracts for Approval

Sometimes, your vendors or customers have their own contracts they want to use. In this case, the system allows requesters to send the contract document to the legal team for review. ContraxAware allows direct communication between legal and the vendor providing the contract, with no need for anyone else to be involved in negotiations. The appropriate users can approve the contract quickly or start the process of negotiating specific terms. This cuts down on back-and-forth emails and delays. Having a process for non-standard contracts cuts down the time costs of each deal, too. Having standard practices for salespeople and contract administrators also boosts legal team productivity. The system may not be able to actually approve complex contracts for you. But it can send them to the right person or to a queue where they can be checked and approved by the next available team member. A version tracking system ensures that the correct version of the contract is the one ultimately sent out for signing. This also allows auditors and managers to trace back mistakes, too. Using third-party contracts can be frustrating and cuts down legal team productivity. But ContraxAware makes it a lot easier to keep track of every step, redline, and change.

Users Can Track the Status of Their Requests

Once a user triggers a contract request, they can track its status. They will know right away if a contract requires additional scrutiny. Contract managers and salespeople will know whether the contract has been approved. They can also track when it is signed by the required parties. The online request and contract management software system is collaborative. It allows communication between all parties, and it encourages productivity by offering transparency. This speeds the process of tracking and approving contracts. 

Users Can Attach Documents to the Contract Request

The self-service portal also allows users to attach documents to the request. This might include invoices, requests for proposals, third-party addendums, information about vendors, and more. These documents will then automatically attach to the approved contract and follow it through the rest of the workflow. ContraxAware stores everything centrally and securely in the cloud, so there is no risk of important documents disappearing. If your company’s legal team productivity levels are low because documents keep getting lost, switching to better software is the answer. ContraxAware offers fully integrated contract management software. That means it helps every user that touches contracts, not just your legal team. We help your company stay organized with an automated system that follows the entire contract process. Because of this, your legal team can concentrate on their part of the picture. They can be more productive when they know that the system will take care of everything else.If your legal team is spending more time writing and approving contracts than anything else, we can help. ContraxAware will bring this routine paperwork under control and free up their time for more important matters. Schedule a free 1:1 demo today to see how the tool can free up your time and inbox. Read the full article

[contraxaware]

4 Contract Management Software Features That Sales Managers Need

If you are a sales manager, then contract management is one of your top priorities. This single focus gives you insight into your team, your revenue, and the strength of your team’s performance. For everything from B2B sales standard subscription customers, formal contracts are part of the process. However, a lot of sales managers think that contract management is easy.  It's just a matter of getting people to sign the contract and putting it in a file somewhere, right? But taking a loose approach to contract management is a quick way to get into trouble. A poorly-written contract may turn out not to be legally binding or may put you on the hook for goods or services you did not, in fact, intend to provide. This is particularly true if you are selling to government agencies or hiring creative freelancers who work with intellectual property in ways a lot of people don't fully understand. Contract management software is part of the answer. ContraxAware has powerful contract management software features designed with sales managers in mind. You can read more about our comprehensive list of 99 features, but here are just a few that every sales manager needs:

1. Contract Templates

Writing up a contract takes time you would rather spend on other things. ContraxAware allows you to generate contract templates, which are already approved by legal. Not only is that faster than your status quo, but it also reduces interdepartmental friction. Once you enable your contract templates and contract management software features, you can have unlimited templates, covering all the types of contracts you need. You just have to enter the specific details such as the customer, the term dates, and other details. Then, in seconds, you will have a proper contract that can then be signed by the customer. The system also validates the data you enter. For example, if the customer already has an account, then you will be able to ensure that their name, shipping address, and other identifying details are correct. Contract management software features like this help sales managers train their teams and streamline sales. Contracts can only be created using pre-approved language, and the system won't allow invalid data (such as end dates before term start dates) or other errors.

2. Self-Service Requests

No need to ask legal to send over the contract. ContraxAware has a web portal that allows you to request new contracts easily — including while on the road. Juggling management responsibilities while traveling can cause a substantial drop in productivity, but the right software makes all the difference.  With ContraxAware’s contract management software features, you can request a redline review, ask questions, or start the approval process at any time. Communication between contract management, sales, and legal becomes easy, and you can even facilitate better interdepartmental communication with financial teams or IT.  Emails can disappear, fade from the top of someone’s to-do list, and require you to attach unsecure data to your message. In-system request portals also keep you up-to-date on the progress of the requests and any contracts pending approval. That means you can give your customers reasonable status updates and keep an eye on sensitive projects.

3. Electronic Signatures

There’s an end in sight to printing off copies, getting them signed, and then leaving them in your car or your office. ContraxAware supports digital signature requests, which you can send in seconds to both internal and external signers, right from within the system. You can send the signature request simultaneously to legal and your customer and then electronically send the customer a signed copy.  ContraxAware works in the cloud. So it backs up the electronically signed document and you don’t have to worry about losing it. If your customers prefer to use DocuSign, there is a preconfigured workflow. You can sign on any device, as can they. Signatories can execute contracts on the spot at the job site or after you leave them to sleep on it. The system will send emails to relevant parties as soon as the customer signs the contract. If you’re operating on a tight deadline, the smart contract software can notify the project manager automatically. That means they can start on the product or service right away. The system will store audit trails so that, no matter what happens with your contract, you have a record of exactly who signed it and when. The signed contract can be: ViewedDownloaded and printed whenever it is neededLocked so it can't be amended without the approval of all relevant parties Your salespeople aren’t contract negotiators, so you can remove the responsibility (and temptation) from their user access.

4. Contract Reporting

ContraxAware has full features for reporting on contracts. You can see reports in grid, list, chart, or timeline format. This allows you to: Check on the performance of contractsKeep track of what customers have wanted in the pastPrepare for the end of every month and quarter  Use full-featured contract reporting to get the information you need to make better decisions. Also, you can help your customers make the right decision. Contract reporting can also be used to help track customers who are potentially a problem. You can give them careful treatment or a bit of extra TLC without filling up your schedule. Enterprise contract management software is vital for sales managers and sales professionals. Contract templates can save time you can then spend closing more deals. Robust contract tracking software can make sure that contracts are properly signed. Even better, you can pull reports that provide vital data your team can use. In other words, ContraxAware is designed to help sales managers do their job with a lot less time and hassle. So, browse our sales-specific features or schedule a live one on one demo. Read the full article

[contraxaware]

How Contract Management Software Helps Your Customers

In the best-run companies, nothing is undertaken unless it will ultimately benefit the customer. Contract management often operates in a separate realm from the parts of the organization that are more directly customer-facing like sales and customer service. But, having a more efficient contract management process directly benefits your customers. When your organization is using the right contract management software, your customer will enjoy a better experience with your entire organization.

Faster Contract Approvals

One of the most frustrating bottlenecks from the customer’s perspective is the length of time it takes for a contract to be approved. Contract management software speeds up the contract approval process with the use of smart document management and automated alerts. Everyone who needs to sign off on a contract gets an alert the moment the agreement is ready for review. The document can be pulled up in the contract management software in just a few clicks. There is no need to transport physical appears to different departments. Software eliminates lost paperwork. Contract management software also makes it easy for the sales team to monitor the progress of the approval process. This allows them to give accurate updates to the customer.

Better Follow-Up

Contract management software improves communication within your organization and between your organization and the client. Automated alerts notify your team before a critical deadline passes. It allows your organization to be proactive in the management of the contract instead of reactive. Stronger communication and follow-up practices give the customer more confidence in your ability to execute the agreement.

Increased Productivity

Contract management software allows your contract management team to spend more time managing contracts instead of chasing down physical contracts or crucial information. The software is like a combination of a digital filing cabinet and an efficient virtual assistant. Automation, powerful search functionality, intuitive analytics, and cloud-based storage makes it easy for everyone in the company to have the information they need when they need it. Everyone can get more work done in less time.

Fewer Compliance Issues

If there are no cracks, nothing can fall between them. Contract management eliminates many common contract management mistakes. The software allows the contract management team to have more direct contact with the team responsible for executing on the contract. Deadlines never go by unnoticed because the automated alerts signal the contract manager to follow-up long before the deadline is reached. This results in fewer compliance penalties and happier customers.

More Efficient Renewals

The last thing your customer wants is an interruption in your delivery. Inefficient contract renewals can wreak havoc on your customer’s supply chain and can crimp your cash flow. Contract management software makes it easy to manage contract renewals. The system will generate alerts to review contracts set to auto-renew before the current contract expires. It will also generate alerts for contracts that have no renewal date. Your team will never be surprised by an expiring or a renewing contract. Customers will appreciate your proactive approach to the management of the deal. Contract management software isn’t just a way to make your contract management department more efficient. It’s also one of the best ways to improve the service you deliver to your customers. Read the full article