Much attention is paid to post-contract obligation and relationship management, with articles and presentations focused largely on technology tools designed to assure that your company is getting the full benefits of what has been agreed. But what about the pre-contracting process and tools that help pave the way for better contracting and relationship management? Set your company up for success with these pre-contracting best practices:
Implement a simple, user-friendly request and intake process. Ideally, this will be an online tool or application available from any device where requesters go to seek contract support. They simply provide the key information, upload any relevant documents and hit submit. The request is routed to a triage team and a record with the request information is created. An intake process including required data fields ensures that the relevant information is collected upfront, avoiding the back and forth between legal and business requestors that can slow cycle times.
