Contract management is a set of time-consuming processes. Waiting for legal teams to review and approve each contract can slow down your business. However, this can be partially solved with self-service contracting through our Contract Advantage™ software system.
What Is Self-Service Contracting?
Self-service contracting refers to a process or system where individuals within an organization can create, review, and execute contracts without the direct involvement of legal or procurement teams. Or, at least, automate some of these processes before going to legal for final approval and signatures.
This system allows employees to create and manage contracts without the traditional detailed legal review. You empower your team while maintaining control over the legal aspects of the contracts. The idea is that some contracts can be standardized and made available to staff for what is essentially a “fill in the blanks” exercise.
At its core, self-service contracting provides access to pre-approved templates and language for standard contracts. It ensures that every contract follows company policies and legal guidelines. With self-service contracting, you streamline the contracting process. Employees get the contracts they need, and legal teams can focus on more complex tasks.
The Effectiveness of Self-Service Contracting
Self-service contracting can transform how your company manages contracts. Enabling your team to create contracts independently based on predefined templates, you speed up the simpler contracting processes and reduce bottlenecks. So, does self-serving contracting really work? The answer is “Yes. Definitely!”
This type of contracting system works because it streamlines the contract management process. It empowers your team to handle contracts independently without losing control over the legal aspects. Automating routine contracts reduces the need for constant legal oversight and improves overall efficiency.
Speeding Up the Contracting Process
One of the most significant benefits of self-service contracting is speed. The traditional method of managing contracts requires multiple steps. Considering standard, simple contracts like non-disclosure agreements, employees submit contract requests–by email, phone, or perhaps even filling out a contract intake form provided by your legal team–and then wait for legal to draft the contract. The contract draft is invariably based on an existing contract template your legal department uses–or on the contracting party’s contract document. Only then can contracts be sent out. This back-and-forth delays the process. Self-service contracting cuts down on this time. There is generally a much more structured and complicated process for complex contracts.
Anyone in your organization can access the Self-Service Contracts Portal™ (SSCP) through your intranet to select the contract template. The Requester selects the contract template from a menu of choices. “fills in the blanks”, and the system generates a contract using the appropriate language. This eliminates legal department intervention in simple agreements, allowing your team to close deals faster.
Self-service contracting also empowers your employees by giving them greater control over executing contracts.
Reducing Legal Team Workload
Your legal team doesn’t need to review every contract. Many contracts, like NDAs and standard agreements, use the same language repeatedly. The contract details can be entered as a Self-service contracting allows you to automate these tasks. Legal professionals draft the templates once, and the system applies them whenever needed.
This reduces the workload on legal teams. They no longer need to handle simple requests. Instead, they can focus on high-value contracts that require negotiation and detailed review. Reducing the legal team involvement in routine contracts frees up their time for more strategic work.
Ensuring Compliance with Company Policies
You might wonder about losing control over contract language. However, self-service contracting is designed to ensure compliance with corporate standards and policies. All contract templates in the system use pre-approved language. Your employees can only access contracts vetted by your legal team.
With predefined templates and standardized clauses, self-service contracting promotes consistency and compliance across contracts. This ensures that contracts adhere to legal requirements and follow the organization’s predefined guidelines.
This also reduces the risk of non-compliance. You no longer need to worry about employees using unauthorized, incorrect, or risky contract language. The system ensures that every contract follows company policies and protects your interests.
Self-Service Contracting for Complex Agreements
While self-service contracting is ideal for simple agreements, the SSCP can also be used with more complex contracts. The key is setting up automated workflows that trigger negotiation and other approval workflows when necessary. Contracts with higher financial stakes can still be managed through a self-service system, for example, automating complex contracts
For contracts that exceed certain thresholds, the system can automatically route the contract for additional review. This ensures complex agreements receive the necessary attention without slowing down the process. When you use self-service contracting for more complex agreements, you introduce efficiencies into the process while maintaining rigorous oversight.
Self-service contracting is a versatile solution that extends beyond the scope of NDAs and sales agreements. It supports contract templates with flexible design capabilities. Each type of contract may have multiple templates, depending on the variations needed. , including procurement agreements and partnership contracts. Contract Advantage offers the tools to create and use contract templates. This approach streamlines the contract management process and enhances efficiency across the organization.
At Great Minds Software we offer a powerful tool to support self-service contracting: the Self-Service Contract Request Portal™ (SSCP). The self-service contracts portal is a specialized alternative to our larger Contract Request Portal™ (CRP).
The CRP is the main end-user contract request or intake system that provides a fully managed contracting process. So depending on what is required one or the other can be used.
Customizable Templates for Different Needs
The Contract Request Portal offers customizable templates that fit the needs of the organization’s business units and departments. Your legal team can create templates for different contract types, such as sales agreements, NDAs, and procurement contracts.
Once these templates are in place, your employees can generate contracts quickly and easily: pick the type of contract needed, fill out a few fields, then click “Generate contract”.
Automated Workflows for Approval
Most contracts, except for simple contracts (like NDAs, etc.) still require higher-level approval. The Contract Request Portal includes automated workflows that manage this process.
If a contract exceeds a certain financial threshold or involves unique terms, the system can automatically route it to the appropriate person for approval. This ensures that contracts are still carefully reviewed when necessary while keeping the process efficient for simpler agreements.
Access Anytime, Anywhere
Your team needs quick access to contracts. With our Contract Request Portal, employees can generate contracts from any location, at any time. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for remote teams or employees working in the field. With our latest online contract request portals, your employees can now initiate the contracting process before legal needs to get involved.
Self-Service Contracting Should be Part of Your Efficient Contracting Repertoire
Self-service contracting is a game-changer for modern businesses. It empowers your employees to handle many simple contracts independently, reduces the workload on legal teams, and ensures that every contract meets company standards.
With our Contract Request Portal, you can implement a self-service system that streamlines your contracting process. Ready to simplify your contracting process? Contact us today to learn how our Contract Request Portal can help. Get started with self-service contracting!
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