After investing in a contract lifecycle management (CLM) system, many organizations realize that getting a return on investment can be challenging, or worse, never realized. The most common mistake is thinking that all it takes is putting the system in place. That is not the reality. Gaining desired results from your CLM platform is a continuous process that requires resources and expertise to help organizations streamline all elements of your contracting process.
No matter where you are on your CLM journey, post-implementation care and feeding is vital to ensure that the processes, tools, systems, and people you have in place work smoothly leveraging established best practices and a cycle of continuous improvement. With proper training and expertise, an effective CLM can drive efficiencies and improved outcomes across a number of key functional areas.
How to Overcome 3 Common CLM Challenges
Some firms choose to establish outside of their headquarters or main locations, their own There are numerous potential challenges companies encounter that can lead to a CLM project not delivering its intended value. This blog will explore three common roadblocks that can hamper CLM performance and efficacy but can also be resolved with the right tools and support.
Challenge #1: Burdening In-house teams with CLM admin activities
Your in-house team most likely has their hands full already with day-to-day responsibilities and adding CLM admin duties to the list takes time away from more strategic tasks that rely on these resources. These menial but necessary admin activities range from configuring templates and keeping clause libraries updated to chasing signatures and uploading signed agreements. The most time-consuming admin process is the managing, testing, and training that comes with each new vendor system release.
Solution:
Partner with a service provider that enables cost-effective scalability to lighten the load.
External support can relieve the burden of CLM admin work, whether your contracts department needs a few extra hands or a significant extension of capacity to manage whole categories of transactions. Alternative legal service providers are well positioned to help organizations manage their CLM platforms via resources with legal and specific contracts expertise. These trained professionals act as an extension of your team, helping to manage admin duties and keeping in-house teams up to date with vendor changes.
Challenge #2: Accessing key information and metrics to make informed decisions.
Access to metrics and other reporting is crucial for legal leadership to help them report on department performance, improve internal and external relationships, and ensure data hygiene, which is essential to your CLM platform. Without the requisite experience, including the right enabling technology, in-house teams may not be able to employ the best practices and processes to make building and accessing dashboards and reports quick and seamless.
Solution:
Make data hygiene a key tenant for peak-performing CLM.
There are always opportunities to optimize CLM platform process and content. Organizations should break down existing processes, workflows, and their current technology environment to identify gaps and apply data science and process engineering to streamline the system. Take it one step further and harness robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and workflow technologies to accelerate processes and alleviate manual labor.
Challenge #3: Struggling with system adoption and change management
Not all organizations are equipped to handle change management and can struggle with system adoption for several reasons, such as a lack of tracking system usage, user reluctance, and lack of support. Teams tasked with using CLM software also need to be sufficiently trained and, if not, may experience frequent issues as users, resulting in frustration and the inability to maximize the system’s capabilities.
Solution:
Enlist help from industry veterans.
Engage with a respected service provider with a track record of providing change management support and training and is able to work with most major CLM platforms. Best-in-class service providers can also employ a mix of lawyers, paralegals, process engineers, technologists, and data managers to ensure that a team with the right skills and expertise can tailor-fit their services to your organizational needs.
One of the most desirable aspects of working with a service provider is having a dedicated help desk. This service ensures seamless assistance for users worldwide, guiding them on the optimal use of the CLM platform, tracking knowledge dissemination, and making necessary adjustments in real-time. The help desk support service is instrumental in troubleshooting contracting process issues, ensuring uninterrupted operations, and maximizing the platform’s utility.
