In today’s world we are increasingly accustomed to knowing “where things are” from both a physical and service standpoint. Ecommerce sites can tell you where your order is, when it leaves the warehouse and estimate when it will arrive at your house. You can find out where a flight is on a map and get an estimate of when it will land. Uber lets you know when your car will arrive. If you enable the service, you can even find out where you left your smart phone. Near instant knowledge of a particular item’s status and location is an example of a capability that substantially improves the customer experience.

Amidst this general increase in insight and awareness across multiple domains, one area that hasn’t kept up for many companies, is the contracting process.

This was driven home earlier this month when Icertis held its Client Advisory Board (CAB). During a discussion about the many hard and soft benefits customers experience following the implementation of an enterprise-wide contract business management solution, a recurring theme surfaced around the value in knowing the status of a contract at all times.

Having a solution in place cuts down on email traffic. It reduces repetitive queries (such as, “Is it ready yet?”). It allows contract teams to focus on their jobs versus providing front line support for questions on urgent contracts. It also can have a profound effect on internal relationships and the perception of the contracting team.

One CAB member illustrated the challenge perfectly when he shared a story about how, before he became an Icertis customer, one of his frustrated internal customers asked:

“If Domino’s can tell me when the cheese goes on my pizza, why can’t you tell me where my contract is?”

There are myriad reasons to explore and implement a contract business management solution – getting deals done faster, lowering risk, improving governance, ensuring contract compliance and reducing procurement spend to name a few. A simple but powerful reason that shouldn’t be overlooked is that by knowing the status and location of your contracts, you can confidently answer the question “where is my contract?”.

 

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