In this episode of the Contract Heroes Podcast, hosts Pepe and Marc talk with John Roland, Contracts Manager at Qcells North America. Over the last 20 years, John has seen a lot of shifts in the contract management space. He has worked with contract management systems that span the gamut from gigantic rooms full of filing cabinets to the digital-first contract management systems of today. John has also learned a lot from his time helping different companies shift to CLM systems and what can make or break your CLM system implementation. You can hear all of his insights by listening to this episode of the Contract Heroes Podcast or read on to get a quick overview of his main points.
Meet John Roland: Contract Manager and CLM Implementation Expert
John started as a contract administrator in the technology space nearly 20 years ago, working his way up to paralegal and eventually into his current role. When he was at Broadcom, where he worked as a contract administrator and paralegal from 2007 till 2016, there were very few people using CLM systems. For the companies that did implement digital CLM systems, it was an expensive and heavily involved process. Now, John has gone through CLM implementation processes with multiple companies and platforms, and he has learned a lot about achieving success and maximizing flexibility along the way.
Signs It’s Time For A CLM Implementation or Change
At Qcells, the sign that it was time for a CLM was relatively straightforward: they did not have one implemented yet, and with his background in contract management, John could immediately see all the ways they would benefit from implementing one. If you frequently work with contracts and don’t have a CLM yet, adding a CLM to your operations can be a great next step to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
If you already have a CLM, here are some signs that it might be time for you to change your software option to something that is a better fit for the future:
- Scaling Trouble: Maybe the current CLM served your needs well when your business was smaller, but as your business grows and there are more contracts to manage, it has become less effective for your needs.
- Only Basic Functions: Your existing CLM may meet all your basic contract management needs, but leave a lot to be desired when it comes to automation, AI integration, and reporting.
- Budget Changes: It’s important to make sure whatever software you use is giving you the best bang for your buck, but which software that is can change over time. If your CLM budget has changed in either direction, that’s a good sign that it’s time to reevaluate your options.
Common Stuckpoints in CLM Implementation
Starting to use a new software can come with a lot of challenges, and the more complex the software, the more likely those challenges are to pop up. Here are some of the most common stuckpoints John has seen come up across CLM implementations over the years.
Overwhelming Options
When John was looking for the right CLM for Qcells, he vetted 35 options before identifying the best solution for their needs. To even begin narrowing down your options, you need to already have a good understanding of what systems your business currently needs, what you may need in the future, and what features would be helpful for you to have—not just excess bells and whistles that you’re paying for and getting no value from. Each solution has different details regarding workflows, data tracking, reporting, pricing, and scaling, which is a lot to research about each individual platform.
Once you have narrowed down your options based on the non-negotiables, it’s time to consider preferences, such as the aesthetic appeal of the interface, its user-friendliness, and the availability of one-click functions. While these details aren’t as important as making sure your core workflows will translate, they can impact the long-term usability of your CLM as well as the ease of integration.
Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen
While you may need to involve several people at various points in the process, needing buy-in from too many people is a quick way to slow things down. This is why Koho often recommends starting CLM implementation with a single workflow, rather than trying to migrate every contract process at once. That way, you can focus on getting buy-in specifically from the team that uses that workflow, see how that goes, and expand your workflows and implementation across other teams later on.
Games of Telephone
When a contract process goes through multiple people, it’s easy for things to get misunderstood. Instead of only including a few stakeholders involved in earlier stages of CLM implementation, it’s best to make sure everyone involved in evaluating what the workflow needs to look like is in each meeting so it’s crystal clear what needs to happen. Otherwise, endless iterations can eat up time throughout the build stage that could be used to create other features.
Why Koho Consulting’s Help Is Key
John completed his most recent CLM implementation, using Agiloft for Qcells, with Koho’s support and says it was “far and away the best implementation process that we’ve had.” He has been a part of CLM implementation without support from Koho before and had to manage many common pitfalls himself. Here are some of the things that made his experience with Koho stand out from the rest.
Transparency and Tutorials
Instead of setting everything up behind the scenes, Koho walked John and his team through exactly what they were doing as much as it was practical. That way, Qcells team members could get a better understanding of how things worked and, should issues arise down the line, build and fix things on their own.
Everything Working
While other transitions may involve a lot of trial and error, with Koho’s help, the Qcells team was able to jump into Agiloft and easily see where everything was. The team was able to avoid common glitches and appreciated how much easier it was to adjust to a new platform when everything was done right the first time.
The Speed of Updates
When the Qcells team began testing the build and ran into issues or areas where the process could be improved, the Koho team was on top of making those updates quickly to avoid delays. Often, these updates would happen within the same day that the Qcells team reached out.
Completing a Successful CLM System Implementation
John wrapped up the episode with two main pieces of advice for listeners. First, make sure you get a good implementor. He says, “I’ve worked with a lot of implementors and there’s no competition, Koho is by far the best,” and recommends their services as a top option. Second, he brings up having the buy-in of your decision-makers and getting them involved early in the build process to prevent unnecessary revisions toward the end. By following these tips, you can set yourself and your team up for a successful CLM system implementation.
This episode of Contract Heroes was brought to you by Koho Consulting, your trusted partner in implementing a CLM that fits like a glove for years to come.
