Contemporary business operations leverage technology to drive business sales, increase productivity, and enhance their customer relationships. Therefore, CRM tools have become the foundation of a sales group to efficiently manage their pipeline and confidently forecast sales. Moreover,contract management tools form a crucial component in mitigating risk,regulating compliance, and managing the lifecycle of contracts.
However, in many companies, these two systems seem to exist independently of each other. Sales teams live within their CRM world, and contracts live either within emails, folders, and other tools. This leads to delays, errors, and blind spots that affect the top and bottom lines.
The question asked in the title is a pertinent one. Why should a business integrate contract management and CRM software? Well, it is a very simple and effective answer. CRM and contract management software integration ties the execution of the sale with the execution of the contract.Once a business can combine both aspects of a transaction, they can manage their business with a streamlined process.
This is a blog discussing the fundamental functions of CRM and contract management software; the smart business practice of the two joining forces; and the benefits to an organization if contracts become part of the sales process rather than an afterthought.
When Sales and Contracts Finally Work as One
CRM applications have assisted sales professionals for many years. They have helped sales teams track leads, contacts, accounts, and opportunities, providing insights into each deal with which they are involved. Sales managers use CRM application dashboards to view leads, track performance,and forecast revenue for a month or a year. Simply put, CRM applications are good at handling customer information and sales speed.
However, as and when a deal enters into a contracting phase,sales teams are obliged to look beyond their CRMs because requests for contracts can be sent across emails, phone calls, or even simple message exchanges with legal teams. Moreover, documents are created, saved in folders,and even changed multiple times, creating unwanted hurdles.
Contract management software can address all these issues.It can manage all phases of the contract, starting with contract requests,writing, negotiation, authorization, execution, and storage. Contract management software can reduce manual labor and increase consistency through workflow automation and standardization, thus improving collaboration between legal, financial, and sales teams of an organization.
The true power of this lies in the potential for integration between the CRM and contract management systems. By allowing the sales force to interact or work with contracts via the sales CRM, it helps to ensure that they can manage contracts as they sell, allowing data to pass from system to system,increasing efficiency and eliminating data entry errors, as sales do not come to a standstill as they would once the contract process ends.
This integrated model ensures that contracts are no longer static parts of the process, but actual participants of the entire sales process. Deals are done faster, risks are minimized, and all participants work from a common fact base.
Why Integration Creates a Smarter Sales Engine
It would, therefore, not be wrong to suggest that unless integration is done, even the best available CRM solution or the contract management software will not be able to live up to expectations. Gaps that exist due to the non-integrated approach can sometimes be related to issues of lower productivity, data, and decision-making as well.
These gaps cease to exist when the CRM system integrates with contract management. Sales representatives can now send contract requests using data that already exists in a CRM system, which might be relevant contract information, such as data on the account or opportunity. The overall progress made on the contract is also viewable, similar to contract stages, so that managers have a better sense of which deals are actually close to closing.
Integration will also enable improved sales productivity. No longer will sales staff be required to juggle multiple systems, use email to keep things moving, or chase approvals from the legal department. Integration frees the sales staff to talk to customers.
When considering integration from a legal operations point of view, the benefits include structure and control. The CLM tool sends managers structured and controlled contract requests with all information provided. This enables them to concentrate on prioritizing and speeding upturn around. Automation helps in streamlining low-value tasks.
Ultimately, it integrates the entire sales process and contract management into an effective engine. In other words, it brings people,processes, and data together towards an ultimate aim of maximizing business while closing deals.
The Real Business Value Behind CRM and Contract Integration
However, the advantages of CRM integration with contract management software go beyond mere convenience. Such advantages have a direct influence on revenue, compliance, and even growth. The first advantage that is perceived is the improvement in the rate of closing deals. This is because contract generation is not a function of manual drafting but is rather automated. As a result, there are no more slow sales.
Yet another vital benefit is the ability to handle tasks.Sales teams usually end up wasting a lot of time checking on contract status,sending reminders, or retyping information. This gets eliminated through integration since contract-related tasks are integrated into the customer relationship management tool. This way, teams are freed to focus on customers rather than tasks.
Integration also helps in strengthening standardization and risk control in contractual agreements. A suitable centralized contractual management system allows a business to ensure that contractual language and templates are properly controlled and used. In conjunction with a CRM, the right data can be gathered in the phase of contract requests, thereby ensuring proper accuracy and consistency.
Access to the information is also enhanced. The executed contracts are safely archived in a digital space that is also connected to the CRM. This implies that during negotiations or renewals, one is in a position to access the required information without going through emails or archives. This guarantees effective decisions or interactions with customers.
Finally, integration also allows for proactive obligation management. In this regard, businesses will not have to worry about missing important dates or obligations with the integration reminders feature. Rather than dealing with problems after the fact, businesses will be able to proactively handle all obligations.
These advantages account for why a combined CRM/contracts software integration is no longer an option for an increasing organization, but has become a strategic step with direct implications for the organization’s efficiencies, revenues, and risks.
Conclusion
Integrating your CRM and contract management software answers a fundamental business need. It bridges the gap between selling and signing, ensuring that contracts support sales rather than slow them down. By connecting these systems, businesses gain visibility, accuracy, and speed across the entire customer journey.
The impact is clear. Sales cycles become shorter.Productivity increases. Contracts are standardized and secure. Decisions are made with confidence, and obligations are managed proactively. In a competitive environment, these advantages can be the difference between stalled growth and sustained success.
For organizations using Microsoft 365 and SharePoint,Dock 365 offers a powerful and cost-efficient contract management solution designed to integrate seamlessly with your existing environment. Dock 365 brings structure, automation, and visibility to contract processes while keeping everything within Microsoft 365.
If you are ready to transform the way your sales and contract teams work together, now is the time to take the next step.
Explore Dock 365 Contract Management System and see how integrated contract management can support faster deals and smarter decisions. Schedule a free demo with Dock 365 today.
