Deals don’t always close as quickly as we would like. The contract review, approval, and negotiation phase are too often a stumbling block on the road from quote to cash.

Any sales force knows that speed is the most important factor in closing a deal. If you can't move prospects through your sales cycle quickly, you'll lose them. That's why you can't afford to waste your prospects if you spend time looking for the right contracts, waiting for approval from specific people, or agreeing on different terms.

As you develop your sales operations goals and plans for the coming year, many compelling questions come to mind, such as:

If you could reduce your contract approval time from 25 days to 4 days, what would be the impact on your sales cycle? How many more deals could you push through your pipeline? How much more revenue could you get? - We are a hungry lot, and no matter how good the situation is, we know that it can always be better.

Well, the success formula? Utilizing contract lifecycle management (CLM) software.

You know, according to Forrester and Aberdeen research, contracts take an average of 3.4 weeks to approve, frequently put off when buyers and legal teams take weeks while the buyer shifts on to other priorities, and deals disappear off the radar. Did you also know that using a contract management solution can reduce contract approval times by an average of 82%?

Don't worry; we've got you covered. Here's what you need to know about how you can use CLM to close your sales deal as quickly as possible.

‍

1. Quick Contract Generation

One of the immediate benefits of using contract management software is that it allows you to quickly develop a sales process and provides contract templates and clause libraries that allow non-legal teams to create self-service legally approved contracts in seconds.

A clm software automates the creation of the entire contract according to the requirements of the legal department. This will eliminate the manual creation of contracts, save time, and ensure accuracy.

Commonly, automated workflows, up-to-date templates, redlining, and e-signatures reduce the time required to develop, exchange, edit and sign contracts.

Investing in contract management software can help you speed up your sales process. Not only can this improve the speed at which your sales team can close a deal, but it also reduces the risk of losing customers to competitors.

2. Expedited Approvals 

If there's one thing that can slow down the sales cycle, it's waiting for a new sales contract to be approved. Internal approval can take any amount of time from a few days to even weeks. There are times when the approvers are preoccupied, the request was sent inadvertently, or they simply never get the request at all.

Contract management software allows you to automate the approval process. When using it, you can have it so that once the contract is ready for approval, it automatically sends it to the next person in the process. That way, there's no chance of it getting lost, and you can make sure it happens when it's supposed to.

Top sales leaders use CLM software as a tool to eliminate internal silos. By bringing all departments together in one digital environment, conversations are centralized, teams stay in sync, and deals close faster while maintaining proper controls.

‍

3. Real-time audit trails and alerts

As mentioned earlier, you and your team need to know what is going on with your sales contracts. In addition, sellers must also enforce all their sales contracts.

First, when changes are made to the contract, it sends out a notification of the change. Second, ensuring your sales contracts are compliant means you can spend less time reviewing and verifying issues. Contract management software makes it easy to track and pull audits so you can make sure there are no issues with your contracts.

4. Automatic Renewal and deadline alerts

Many organizations rely on customer success or an annual calendar reminder to push them to work on subscription renewals. Nevertheless, a lot is left to chance.

A great contract management system has built-in reminders and notifications. You can easily set the renewal notification time. You will receive automatic notifications whenever a new contract is signed, and renewal is set.

5. Increase Revenue

When it comes down to it, income is the only factor used to evaluate a salesperson.

However, you cannot win or lose revenue simply by finding and nurturing leads. Poor contract management causes businesses to lose an estimated 9% of lost revenue each year.

A robust contract management system reduces delays and improves management during the most crucial part of the sales closing phase- the signing of documents.

As a result, you will close more deals and earn faster, higher revenue.

SpeedLegal - Easy to use

At SpeedLegal, we feel your pain. We are so certain in our excellent contract management solution that we use it to manage our own deals and contracts. We ‘drink our own wine’ or something along those lines! This solved the contracting challenges faced by many sales teams and allowed them to:

• Close deals faster
• Contract Summaries for legal professionals and non-lawyers.
• Increase contract visibility
• Search for contracts with ease
• Automatically identify Red-Flags.

Sales leaders benefit when they can clearly see where a deal is at each stage of the process and collaborate with legal entities knowing exactly which attorney is working on their contract. They have peace of mind knowing what terms and clauses they can use without getting into trouble and ensuring the right people have approved the deal. Such promptness makes it possible to complete the deal faster.

CONCLUSION

So, there you have it. The faster you can close your sales cycle, the more likely you are to close deals. 

A contract management tool can be a great tool in your arsenal to accelerate sales. On the other hand, it also makes it easier on the buyer's end. So, as much as possible, help yourself embrace the digital revolution and start using contract management software.