Get your FREE 30-day trial.
Please complete all fields.
Even the speediest sales and legal teams get bogged down in contract negotiations. This is particularly frustrating when all parties involved would like nothing better than to get across the finish line, where agreements are signed and they can move on to delivering or receiving the goods and services to which they’ve committed.
Frustration is not the only issue. Managing contracts well is a huge part of today’s business landscape. 60-80% of B2B deals are managed by contracts (Gartner), with the average business managing 20,000-40,000 contracts (PwC).
If these contracts aren’t managed well, there are considerable costs – and significant benefits if they are managed well. Ineffective contract management can cost businesses up to 9.2% of annual revenue (IACCM).
The answer to these delays is to streamline your processes with end-to-end contract management. This means integrating CPQ, your contract management solution, and eSignature capabilities, creating a seamless workflow.
Step #1: Quoting
Sometimes there are delays in the sales process from the beginning, in producing the quote. Factors that can slow down the quoting process include: quotes generated from a combination of tools (Excel, Word, ERP, email, etc.); difficulties in finding clear, accurate pricing and product information; and, slow approvals for discounts.
With Salesforce CPQ, the sales rep can quickly and easily pull accurate client data and complex pricing information into the perfectly customized quote. One major component in speeding up the sales process is getting the quote right the first time. Salesforce CPQ allows you to get it done right – and fast.
Step #2: Negotiation
Once the quote is ready to go, it is sent to the customer, who then responds with redlines. But emailing versions back and forth can have some serious down sides. It’s hard to tell where a contract is in the process, who it’s with, and how long it has been there. Sometimes the wrong version gets redlined, or changes are made to a document without being tracked. The process is slow and error-prone. Then, when there’s finally agreement on the final version, there are legal delays. It’s enough to discourage even the most intrepid sales rep.
With Conga Contracts, the sales rep takes the finalized quote in Salesforce CPQ and sends the document directly from Salesforce for secure, transparent negotiation. The customer receives a Word document for redlining. When the rep gets the redlines back, versions are tracked and all accepted changes are stored in Salesforce. It’s easy to see a contract’s status and how long it’s been at that stage. Best of all, the system creates a record of contract processes and creates visibility into system-wide slow-downs, pain points, and inefficiencies.
Step #3: Execution
The traditional method for executing contracts calls for printing and copying the contract, mailing it, then waiting for the other party to sign and mail it back. Not only is this expensive and time-intensive, it also creates a lot of paper that your company has to store and keep track of. It’s easy to lose track of the terms and conditions of paper contracts, just as it’s easy to lose them altogether (12-15% of contracts are lost, according to Aberdeen Group).
The simple solution to this last piece of the process is Adobe Sign. Send the finalized document for secure, instant electronic signature, with all needed signer authentication and document validation requirements in place. You can get your signed contract back within minutes, and move on to fulfilling the terms of the contract.
With the seamless integration of Salesforce CPQ, Conga Contracts and Adobe Sign, your contract processes will be accelerated, meaning shorter negotiation cycles and faster time to revenue. Your Salesforce will be up-to-date, your forecasts will be accurate, and you will have insight into how to further optimize your contracting behaviors. You’ll spend less – less time and less money – getting contracts done, and you’ll get them done right.
Find out more about this powerful alchemy of solutions in our webinar, the end-to-end contract experience, on July 13th at 1 pm EDT.
