Costa Cruise + Concord

I like when I send contracts on Friday and find them signed in my Concord inbox on Monday.

Challenges

A European division of Costa Cruise relies on numerous major travel agencies and distributors as well as 2,000 small travel agencies to drive revenue in various markets. The primary challenge of these partnerships is that the contracts are typically 50 to 70 pages long and require signatures by both parties on all pages. This time-intensive activity could take up to 8 weeks to complete, and it caused delays because partner projects could only be funded after contracts were fully executed.

Securing major partnerships required Costa Cruise’s President to review, initial, and sign two original copies of each document. These agreements were printed and mailed, which resulted in significant postage costs along with delays in operations. The legal department also had to constantly check on contract statuses to ensure that the agreements were being processed in a timely fashion.

The drawn-out contract management process prevented Costa Cruise’s legal department from focusing on essential tasks such as managing daily current affairs and client relationships, drafting business contracts, and handling litigation matters.

The sheer volume of smaller travel agencies that Costa Cruise works with prevented the cruise line from sending each agency a contract. This presented a missed opportunity for increased partner loyalty and increased market share.

Solution

The driving factors for Costa Cruise to adopt contract management software were:

  • Project delays due to the long contract processing cycle
  • Frequent inquiries from larger partners regarding contract status
  • Smaller partners did not receive contracts

When exploring contract management solutions, the legal team found that many digital contract management solutions had unnecessary features and were priced beyond the designated budget. The team chose to present Concord to their supervisors because it fit their needs and was easy to use.

“ Using Concord is incredibly easy. I was pleasantly surprised by the well-thought-out interface. ”– Legal Counsel

Results

Since implementing Concord, Costa Cruise’s legal team has been able to substantially cut contract processing time. Contracts are now executed in a day, whereas in the past it could take up to 2 months for Costa Cruise’s partners to execute an agreement.

The president of Costa Cruise now views and executes contracts with a single signature at his desk, as well as remotely when he is traveling. This ensures key documents are signed off promptly, enabling projects to start on time.

In addition to managing new agreements, Costa Cruise’s teams are able to store previously executed agreements in a central location. Staff members are now alerted about upcoming deadlines and receive notifications when agreements are fully signed.

While only large partners received contracts in the past, Costa Cruise now sends agreements to all of its partners. Every stakeholder is able to review, discuss, and receive clarification on contract terms and conditions regardless of its size or location, improving partner relationships as a whole.

“ Using Concord brought serenity to our partners. ”– Legal Counsel

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