5 Benefits of Contract Templates

Contract templates are an obvious way to make the document creation process easier. They speed up contract drafting and make work less repetitive. However, there are lots of other benefits to using agreement templates.

Let’s start by reviewing the reasons better contract creation is important.

Contract Creation Statistics

Did you know that from start to signature, the average contract takes about three and a half weeks? That’s a lot of time that your legal team, approval team, and signatories are on hold. Until the contract is completed, business is stalled.

Inefficient manual contract management costs organizations an average of 9.2% of annual revenue.

If you need another reason to make your contract generation process shorter and more efficient, consider this. World Commerce and Contracting estimates that accounting for the salaries of all involved, a simple contract costs $6,900. More complex contracts can be as much as $49,000!

Therefore, you should strive to improve this process as much as possible. Contract templates are a smart way to take agreements to the next level. Now, let’s go over exactly how they can help.

Benefit #1: Contract Templates Help Your Team Be Consistent

Does this sound familiar? One person on your Sales team emphasizes pricing but isn’t as strong with defining terms of delivery. With contract templates, every member of the team can draft contracts that are consistent and worded just right.

Consistency in contracts is a major headache for Legal Teams. With templates, in-house counsel doesn’t have to wonder if contract drafters will forget major clauses or use unapproved wording. Everything is formatted and worded properly ahead of time. When it comes to multiple contracts across several departments, consistency is a must.

Benefit #2: Using Agreement Templates Reduces Approval Time

Speaking of Legal Team approvals, templates make this crucial step faster and easier. Of course, less approval time is needed when the wording is pre-set by counsel. They don’t need to check contracts that they have templated in the first place.

However, there is more to the approval process. If much of the contract is templated, Legal can focus specifically on the variable fields of the document. With contract software that has custom fields, for example, approvals can be triggered for contracts that meet certain criteria. By focusing in-house counsel on the non-templated areas, approval time is much shorter.

Benefit #3: Document Templates Make Clause Updates Easier

Have you ever needed to update one clause at your business, and then tried to search for every contract that contains that clause? It can be a nightmare to do, and more importantly, leaves you open to risk.

Instead of chasing down individual agreements, using contract templates allows you to quickly and efficiently make universal adjustments. Simply update the clause in your template, and you can be sure that every contract going forward is compliant. Concord Contract Lifecycle Management Software even has a clause library feature, making this easier than ever.

Benefit #4: Templates Let You Duplicate Knowledge in Contracts

Each business has common contracts that they draft often. It is easy to store a library of these frequent contract templates. Using them allows you to draft agreements much faster and not replicate your work.

Additionally, agreement templates allow you to leverage others’ work, too. For example, using the Concord Template Center, you can find unique contracts that you may only use once or twice a year. With a few tweaks to customize the contract template for your needs, you have a strong document with just minutes of effort.

Benefit #5: Contract Templates Streamline Negotiations

Every negotiator knows there is an advantage to having a contract on your own paper. This is another area where contract templates really shine. By using your own template for each new business deal, you can consistently protect your interests with the language of the contract.

Furthermore, when it is time to negotiate terms, you can direct all your attention to the variable parts of the contract. Having peace of mind that the rest of the contract is favorable for you opens up more time to focus on the details of the terms.

Best Tools for Maximizing Agreement Templates

Get the most out of these benefits of contract templates by integrating them into your contract lifecycle management process. Look for a platform that offers both a template and clause library. Support your contract approval process with automated workflows. Before you know it, you will be saving time (and revenue!) with more consistent and efficient agreements.