Why Salesforce Is Effective As A Customer Contract Management System

Contracts are an integral part of the sales process. To finalize deals and reach their income targets, the salespeople must make customers sign on the dotted line. Therefore, customer contract management is always a top priority for any organization, particularly for the sales team. Even if the salespeople have a lot riding on getting the sales agreement to the customers, contracts are typically strictly the legal department's domain inside a company.   

Because of this, more and more companies are searching for contract management solutions with room for input from other departments. One way of achieving that is upgrading the Salesforce CRM to function as a contract management system. Salesforce is one of the leading choices for companies to streamline the sales process. Integrating the CRM platform with contract management software provides the sales team with continuous access to the contract lifecycle. Keep reading to find out more about the customer contract management system and how Salesforce integration improves it.

What is customer contract management?  

Customer contract management is the process of creating and managing the sales agreements of an organization. It enables businesses to expedite the sales contract lifecycle, from drafting to execution and obligation management. The customer contract management system offers a centralized platform for salespeople to stay on top of products, finances, deliverables, services, and other obligations outlined in the sales agreement.   

It automates and simplifies the entire lifecycle, thus increasing the productivity and efficiency of the business. Moreover, customer contract management software eliminates bottlenecks in the contracting process and makes it easy for clients to do business with the organization. Thus, organizations across industries can handle countless sales agreements without unnecessary roadblocks. Next, we will discuss in detail how Salesforce integration improves customer contract management.  

How does Salesforce CRM help with customer contract management? 

A seamless experience is essential for organizations to retain customers. From a sales perspective, long and complex processes are a disaster in and of themselves. Because the efficiency of contract management directly impacts the sales process. The client will appreciate the customer contract management's automated workflows and short lifecycle when it is time to sign the contract.  

That is why salespeople need to be more involved in the contracting process than the traditional approach has to offer. Upgrading Salesforce to function as a customer contract management system means complete access for the sales team. 

• Sales agreements are readily available to salespeople

When an organization's operations are fragmented, salespeople remain uninformed of finer details and the progression of sales agreements. The legal departments generate contracts without necessary input from other departments. Salesforce contract management enables the sales team to access sales agreements and related documents. They can use this abundance of knowledge to enhance the sales process and provide better service to clients. Moreover, the salespeople would not have to contact the legal team for every tiny bit of information they require about the contractual agreements.   

• Import customer data 

Manual data entry is something every organization aspires to eliminate from contract drafting. When you have countless agreements to create, negotiate, approve, and execute, there is no time to spare for repetitive administrative tasks. Therefore, Salesforce is the answer to all our data entry issues in the contracting process. The integrated system allows users to import customer data from the CRM platform to generate sales agreements. They can auto-populate essential fields within minutes and remove the scope of human error.  

• Initiate contract requests from within CRM 

When organizations depend upon traditional or disconnected processes to handle contract lifecycle, legal professionals take a long time to author sales agreements. The salespeople resort to emails or other means to send contract generation requests to the legal as they do not share platforms. CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) integration in Salesforce allows the salesperson to send a contract request directly to the legal team from within the CRM system. There is no unnecessary delay between request and generation, and it accelerates the entire contract lifecycle. Moreover, the customer details in Salesforce get automatically transferred into the contract management software and auto-populated in the sales agreement. 

• Self-serve contracts 

It significantly slows down the entire sales process when the legal department is solely responsible for producing sales agreements. Thanks to Salesforce integrated contract management software, salespeople can self-serve contracts from within the CRM platform. They can utilize ready access to pre-approved templates and clause libraries through the integrated system to ensure the competency and legality of the agreements. It considerably lessens the burden on the legal team; also, the salespeople would not have to wait long to get the sales agreements to the customers.  

• Salespeople can track contract status 

For a smooth sales process, the salesperson must be able to track the current contract status and progress. A lot of the time, the sales team lacks the visibility and accessibility necessary to oversee contract management. Integrating Salesforce with contract management software empowers salespeople to manage the entire sales contract lifecycle from within the CRM platform. They can set up automated reminders to remain appraised about the real-time status of sales agreements. It lets them mitigate risks and act during unforeseen delays. 

• Open communication 

When the sales and legal teams do not have a centralized platform to collaborate on the contract management process, there is a high scope for miscommunication and conflicts. During the contract lifetime, the salespeople must resort to switching between various platforms to share information and coordinate. That is why organizations require Salesforce-integrated contract management software to establish open communication and transparency between the sales and legal departments at all stages of the sales contract lifecycle.  

What are the benefits of adopting Salesforce for customer contract management? 

Businesses are expanding faster than ever, so the sales team needs all the assistance it can get to stay up. A contract management software integrated Salesforce system empowers salespeople to stay on top of the sales contract lifecycle without leaving the CRM platform.  

• Seamless Sales Process 

Advancing Salesforce as a customer contract management system enables the sales and legal teams to communicate and collaborate throughout the sale contract cycle. The sales team can self-serve contract requests to accelerate contract generation and get the sales agreement to the clients faster. Sales teams may concentrate more on the selling process and revenue targets by turning a time-consuming contract lifecycle into a frictionless operation.  

• Advanced Reporting  

Integrating Salesforce with contract management software provides a centralized platform to collate customer and contract data. Users can combine the advanced capabilities of both systems to generate comprehensive reports with actionable insights. The sales team can utilize contract data to make informed decisions during the sales process. Also, detailed contract reports will enable salespeople to improve the company’s compliance with industry standards and legal regulations. 

• Improve Client Experience 

Convenience means a lot to customers when engaging with an organization. They need the processes to be quick and painless. Integrating Salesforce with contract lifecycle management software reduces the last-minute chaos and bottlenecks in the sales contract lifecycle. The sales and legal teams can collaborate to ensure the competency of the sales agreement.  

• Retain Customers  

When organizations guarantee smooth business operations to clients, they are much more likely to repeat the experience. Integrating Salesforce with customer contract management software allows companies to reduce inefficiencies that result in lost sales. They are better equipped to establish compliance and adhere to all the stipulations in the contractual agreement. Thus, the integrated system empowers the sales and legal departments to manage customer agreements more effectively.  

Bottom line 

As contracts are the decisive point before closing the deal, an efficient contract management process is integral to a scaling business. The competency of a contract lifecycle is tied irrevocably to the tied to their sales and customer-retention strategies. Hence, the sales department has a high stake in contract management and needs to be involved more in the process.  

Customer contract management software is a reliable approach to streamlining the entire contract lifecycle, from generation to execution and management. Integrating Salesforce with contract management software opens doors for the sales department to contribute to the contracting process. They can ensure that the sales agreement smoothly progresses through the system without unnecessary roadblocks. Moreover, salespeople can initiate requests and self-serve contracts to reduce legal dependency and delays.  In short, Salesforce contract management enables organizations to get sales agreements signed faster. 

Learn all about the ins and outs of contract management software with a one-on-one session with our experts. Book a live demo now!