Now that you have all this structured contract data, what good is it? With a little reporting and some basic process changes, you can use contract analysis to drive better contract policies and workflow.
Create a Truly Standard Agreement
First, contract analysis tools can tell you whether your "standard" agreement is actually standard, or just a jumping-off point for various custom contracts. Moreover, if the same changes are commonly made to your baseline contract, you can learn what your "real" standard agreement is (and maybe make that your actual standard agreement).
Identify Your Busiest Seasons
Do you close more sales contracts in the first quarter, or the fourth? Does hiring pick up in the spring or the fall? Do partnerships cycle out the most at the end of the calendar year, or the end of the fiscal year? Knowing when contracts are going to come in helps you staff your legal team properly.
If you know which months or fiscal quarters are going to generate what volume of contracts and when, you can also choose the least busy time to adjust standard agreements, adopt new processes, bring on new interns, or implement new software.
Set a Policy for Contract Variation
By looking back at the value and type of contracts you were willing to modify on an ad hoc basis, you can derive a written policy and workflow for systematically allowing contract modifications. For example, if a certain minimum contract value justifies more generous payment terms, create an explicit policy around that figure so sales representatives can request – or even make – those adjustments with minimal legal review.
Create Standard Contract Variations
If a certain contract value does often lead to similar price breaks for a customer, you can turn that analytical pattern into a "standard variation." By having an alternate pricing agreement already developed that can be substituted for the standard pricing clause for qualifying contracts, you can develop alternate contracts much more quickly and safely.
You can't manage your total contract liability if you can't monitor it, and the only practical way to know your up-to-the-moment liability is with automated contract analysis software. By using modern software tools to constantly analyze and organize your contract portfolio, you can uncover any unseen liabilities and make sure you're managing your contracts, rather than letting your contracts manage you.
LinkSquares employs cutting edge natural language processing artificial intelligence to bring enterprise-grade contract analysis tools to your organization. If you're ready to uncover your hidden liability, automatically categorize, organize, and analyze all your contracts, and improve your contract workflow with better rules and policies, then contact LinkSquares today.
