The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Contract Management Software for Your Company
Signing on the dotted line of an important contract used to be a pen-and-paper affair requiring printing, faxing, scanning, and filing. If your company still relies on old-school practices for handling contracts, it’s high time you looked into streamlining the process through contract management software. However, not all solutions fit every organization’s needs.
Finding the best program for your unique requirements demands research and comparison shopping. Follow this ultimate guide on picking the perfect contract management software for your company so you can ditch the paperwork and bring contract handling into the digital age.
Determine Your Specific Needs
Rather than go for the flashiest platform right off the bat, first take stock of your company’s particular pain points when it comes to contracts.
Determine how your team uses contracts now and where you want improvements. Do you need electronic signatures? Workflow approvals? Analytics on contract terms over time? Speaking to internal stakeholders to understand pain points is crucial.
Define must-haves versus nice-to-haves so you can prioritize features during your search. Prioritize functions that would create the biggest impact or time savings company-wide. The more precisely you determine your needs, the better chance you’ll pick the ideal solution.
Research Top Contract Management Software Choices
Armed with your requirements list, dive into researching the top names in contract management software. Look beyond basic feature descriptions on company websites to dig deeper into reviews and product comparisons.
Key aspects to investigate for top contenders include:
- Specific tools and options for contract authoring and editing
- Customization for different contract types used by your company
- Organization and searchability of stored documents
- Mobile accessibility for remote access
- Integration capacities with your other systems
- Customer support and training options
Pay special attention to platforms with the flexibility to tailor functions and permissions to different user groups. Prioritize solutions offering implementation guidance and post-purchase support to ensure smooth onboarding.
Take Advantage of Free Trials
Before fully committing, take advantage of free trials or demos. Moving beyond basic specs to actually using the system hands-on gives the best sense of its real-life application for your business.
As you test drive platforms, have colleagues at different levels explore the tools relevant to their contract responsibilities. Gather feedback on ease of use for main features, workflow efficiency compared to current processes, and intuitiveness and speed of document search/retrieval.
Compare notes across users on the advantages and limitations of each software option. This insider experience helps determine if advertised capabilities translate into a streamlined system your team can efficiently adopt.
Choose the Best Platform for Both Current and Future Contract Work
Contract management software eliminates hassles while providing big-picture insights into this vital business function. Investing the legwork upfront to pick the right platform aligned to your company’s needs ensures you realize the full benefits of digital contract management.
You can handle contracts more efficiently with a tailored solution that fits your budget, integrates across systems, and provides ongoing support. That lets you focus on business growth rather than paperwork.
