In this age of technology, the world is moving at a fast pace. I’m sure at least some of your business is done online. You would be hard pressed to find a business that doesn’t own a computer these days. And yet surprisingly, there are a large number of businesses that still rely on paper for most of their work. Many offices have filing cabinets full of files, that are full of papers, that are taking up valuable space. Some people may prefer to use paper, and that is fair enough. But even those ones would generally agree that having copies of those papers backed up online is a good idea. However, most people are open to the idea of moving their business online as they see the benefits to doing so. Having copies of your paperwork online is never more important than when you are dealing with contracts, and this is where a good contract management platform can make all the difference to your business. How?
Let the software do the work
Dealing with contracts, I’m sure you are well aware, is a lengthy process. They need drafting, they need negotiating, they need negotiating some more, they need approval, maybe a little bit more negotiating, they need to be sent to all involved parties for signatures, and they need to be reviewed, terminated or renewed when necessary. This is a lot of work and when done manually, it can drag out for weeks, months, even years. However, there is software available that does much of the work for you. You can create templates based on existing contracts as a framework for your contracts going forward. As it is online, a contract can be automatically sent to everyone who needs a copy, meaning that even if you are on opposite sides of the world, everyone can access the contract immediately, discuss any negotiations, make the necessary changes and have everyone sign it, much quicker than if you were to wait for paper copies to be sent backwards and forwards, delivered to various locations and back again, etc.
But there are more advantages to using software. Having it all there online, the software can collate data to maximise business opportunities and to reduce risks to you and your company. It can search for the cheapest and most effective ways of doing things to get the most out of your business. And all of this can be done immediately with just a few clicks of the button. Using a contracts management platform can mean your whole business, each separate department is brought in line and works in sync with each other so your business runs more smoothly and each team, or department, will benefit from this.
As this is all cloud-based, there is even less risk to your business. Many may have tried moving online with their business, but now store everything on hard drives. This can still take time and some search work to find what you are looking for. There is also always the chance of losing the hard drives or them being damaged, so it isn’t as reliable as using a contract management platform. As mentioned, the cloud-based platform means it does not matter where all the parties that are involved are located, they could even be on opposite sides of the world, and yet everyone is kept completely up to date, and all have access to the same information at any given time.
A major advantage to having all this available to everyone online is what it saves you in time and money. How many hours have you spent travelling to meetings, only to sit around a table for hours on end, without little progress being made and ending the day feeling frustrated and that a whole day has been wasted? That day could then turn into weeks, maybe even longer. You may then have junior members of staff spending hours upon hours trying to re-word and change the contracts, only for them to be re-negotiated again. The costs in labour can be huge, and then add to that the costs of all the paper, the ink, etc. But if it is all online and each party can access it, the time saved can be enormous. So, the costs benefit to you if you use a contract management platform will most definitely be well worth it.
We mentioned before how it can help each department to work together, which will in turn, improve how your business performs. This is because the cloud-based contract management platform works like a central system that each department flows from. Instead of each department having its own rules and procedures, it will all be coming from the same place. So, each department will be on the same page and working in harmony.
There is always a risk with paperwork that it may be seen by someone who should not see it. Especially in busy offices where piles of paperwork are everywhere you look, something confidential could be seen by others, or even lost. So, it is the more security conscious approach to use an online platform, especially when dealing with sensitive or private documents.
How much time have you spent printing out pages, marking with a cross all the places where a signature is required, arranging a meeting to have all the signatures put in place, having to go back through everything to check that it is all in order and every signature has been done, usually to find one has been missed and they need to be called back in to complete the forms, then have all the pages scanned, and sent over to the other party, then when you receive them back, check it all again to make sure everything is as it should be? All of this is avoided by using a contract management platform as with it comes the ability to have all document signed digitally. As we’ve already said, each party has access to the documents immediately so all signatures can be done instantly with no need for any delays or missed signatures.
As you can see there are many advantages to having a contract management platform so don’t delay in getting it set up for your company and start enjoying the rewards it offers.
