Boosting ROI with CLM Software: The Strategic Advantage for Growing Businesses
In todayâs highly competitive business environment, effective contract management can make the difference between staying still and experiencing substantial expansion. Contracts are more than just legal documents; they represent the backbone of business relationships, revenue, and compliance. Nonetheless, managing contracts manually or with inefficient systems can drain resources, lead to delays, and result in compliance issues.
Below listed are a few reasons why businesses find it difficult to manage contracts â
- Contracts management take significant time to copy, file and store which businesses fail to give and thus the process becomes difficult for them.
- Thereâs no streamlined process to keep a track of price and payments which creates revenue loopholes.
- Lot of time consumption in approval process from various ends can put a wrong impression on the customers and can also make you less valuable in their eyes
- If working without a proper CLM software, split management can result in incorrect and incomplete information or even overlook policy compliance.
Introducing SAP Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software, an advanced solution created to simplify and automate the entire contract management process. Choosing SAP CLM can be very helpful in overcoming all the problems that you might face and can also be helpful in improving cost savings and efficiency of your business. Businesses that adopt SAP CLM not only achieve greater oversight of their contracts but also significantly enhance their Return on Investment (ROI). In this blog, we will delve into how SAP CLM can function as a strategic instrument for growing businesses and how it helps organizations in optimizing their resources.
Benefits of Using CLM (contract lifecycle management) for your business
Here are certain ways through which you can understand the use of automation software and how it can benefit your business with contract lifecycle management (CLM):
1. Standardized and managed process right from start to end
Many businesses struggle with inconsistent handling of contracts, as they often go through different departments and systems from initial requests to approvals, negotiations, and post-execution. You need to first properly understand how the complete process of customer lifecycle management works. We can take an example of following steps that a CLM could involve:
- The first step is âgenerating a quoteâ with the help of CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) that you might be using.
- Next, you will be sending over an e-sign document to bind the contract.
- Further, you might have to carry out the operation of making the sale and supplying the product
- Once all this is done, you will store your contract in a database
- And at the last, you will book the contract using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and keep track of your contracts from there.
CLM, instead streamlines all contracts based on the businessâs operations thus helping you in managing multiple applications like separate CRM and ERP software from the same place. By doing this, you will be able to manage all steps of all contracts in one single program, where the collaborating with your partner or client becomes faster and you can also easily manage and track different tasks.
CLM minimises your chances of missing any deadlines and also provides access to required information from any part of the process just with a few clicks.
Additionally, the transparency of a standardized process enables businesses to assess performance and identify bottlenecks in their contract management workflow.
2. Minimizes the Requirement and Dependency on Manual Tasks
Managing contracts manually consumes a lot of time, is prone to errors, and can result in expensive mistakes. Whether it involves keeping track of contract renewals, handling approvals, or staying compliant with regulations, manual processes place a heavy burden on legal and procurement teams. SAP CLM reduces the need for human involvement by automating routine tasks.
CLM is the best solution to automate the complete manual process and streamline it in the following ways:
- An auto-generated contract sent to the customer to sign based on the quote that has been selected
- Approval and renewal notifications are sent to the appropriate people and applications in charge of moving the contract along once the task is complete
- Contract is automatically updated and stored in the database once it has been signed by the customer.
Automating activities like generating documents, approving contracts, and sending reminders for renewals or obligations not only cuts down the time spent on administrative work but also reduces the risks of human error. By shifting the focus from manual, repetitive tasks to more valuable activities such as negotiation and building relationships, businesses can boost productivity and improve the quality of contracts.
3. Automate everything between and after first and last step of the contract
The above two steps clearly signify how CLM can imitate the contract procedure and manage it smartly for you. Though, these steps are covering up the entire process of managing a contract, there are many businesses that need to be smart enough while taking care of a few little details that they might come across before and after the first and the last step of the contract.
For instance, the setup of workflows can automatically initiate contract approvals when specific conditions are fulfilled. Likewise, stakeholders can receive notifications as important contract milestones are nearing, guaranteeing that no crucial deadlines are overlooked. Automating post-execution tasks like performance tracking and contract audits also improves the effectiveness of contract management.
This degree of automation not only accelerates contract processing but also ensures that all tasks are completed on time, decreasing the chances of non-compliance and missed opportunities.
4. Streamlined Process of Personalizing Contracts
Customizing contracts to meet the distinct needs of the parties involved is crucial. However, manual customization of contracts can be burdensome, particularly for businesses managing a high volume of contracts. SAP CLM provides a simplified method for customizing contracts, allowing businesses to effortlessly adjust contract templates to match specific requirements.
Contract Lifecycle management software along with easy tracking options also offers advantages like:
Transparency: When using CLM, you donât have to worry about where and by whom the contract has been drafted. The details of the contract will always remain easy to track so there is no pressure on manager of going back and forth to manage the contract.
Effectiveness: Using CLM increases efficiency as you and your customer will get alert notification about the latest drafts that are being used so that both the parties are not wasting time on the incorrect draft.
Accuracy: Stay more accurate as any manual or automatic change is always being tracked, documented and automatically stored along with all the previous versions.
5. Measure and stay updated about the Success of your contract
SAP CLM that you can use for the Contract Lifecycle management of your business comes with an analytics tool which will help you in having a 360-degree view of your success. It is very important to keep a track of how your contract is moving and how is the progress and this can be easily done with the help of SAP CLM Software. Here are a few ways how CLM software with the help of already installed analytical tool can help you in managing and tracking the whole process of contract signing or renewing:
- The software can easily find out steps in the process that are taking too long for the approval and get them wrapped up quickly.
- You can also check for step that require permanent changes in a pricing model.
- You can also remain updated about any change that customer might want to make in the e-sign document that needs your attention.
The CLM software keeps you ahead in the race so that there is no delay from your end when it comes to signing the agreements of making very important changes in contractâs lifecycle early on. This makes it easy to verify whether or not that particular contract is helping your business to reach the planned goal. By this it will be easy for you to determine if there is any serious change that you have to make in the process or even you have to continue working on the project. This is very helpful at the time when your business is dealing with a large number of complicated contracts.
Reasons to Implement Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software for your Business
- Saves money and Time: When you choose good CLM, there are less chances that your business will have to deal with issues like penalties for non-compliance, missing important opportunities from special terms and rebates, missed payments or other payment errors, incurring fees and other penalties. This is all handled in the right manner because of good contract administration thus saving a lot of money and valuable time for you. CLM helps in simplifying processes in the contract administration and thus saves a lot of time and cost.
- Prevent any legal process from contract non-compliance: There are many contracts that deal with a major of compliance. If contractual commitments remain incomplete, the potential for legal action can be higher. Good CLM software prevents you from any such situation.
- Deliver best to your customers: Being a business, what else would you need than fulfilling and exceeding your customer demands and expectations. This is only possible through a planned contract performance that can enhance any organizationâs value and lead to better customer relationship.
- Justifies the difference between the functionalities of contract managers contract administrators: Contract managers and contract administrators are different and are assigned to do different tasks. CLM software helps in letting them do their tasks the best, thus saving time and it also avoids any confusion that might occur.
How Acuiti Labs can help?
From contract drafting, itâs management, to its completion, SAP CLM software that we provide at Acuiti Labs is capable of supporting businesses to simplify their entire process of Contract Lifecycle. So, choose SAP CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) for your business today and see how it plays an important role in closing deals faster and growing your business. Contact us for more details about CLM and Acuiti Labs.
Our team works closely with you to tailor SAP CLM according to your workflows, ensuring that all aspects of your contract lifecycle are optimized for maximum ROI. We focus on automating manual processes and providing support to ensure that you can fully leverage the potential of SAP CLM software.
Why Choose Acuiti Labs?
- Proven expertise in SAP solutions.
- Tailored CLM implementations designed for your business.
- Comprehensive support and training throughout your SAP CLM journey.
- Focus on delivering measurable results and boosting ROI.
If youâre ready to take your contract management to the next level, reach out to Acuiti Labs today and discover how SAP CLM can transform your business operations.