Overview of HubSpot Contract Management
In a world where digital transformation is crucial for sales success, mastering the tools at your disposal is non-negotiable. HubSpot, a powerful marketing and sales tool, has a feature dedicated to contract management that could help streamline your sales process and sales operations. But what does this feature do? What is contract management? How does it save you time? In this article we will discuss the basics of contract management in HubSpot , which includes what is a contract, how to find one, how to create one, send one, repeat and more. With so many benefits it’s easy to see why mastering contract management in HubSpot can be a game changer for your business.
Essential Features of HubSpot Contract Management
One of the most valuable aspects of HubSpot contract management is its automation capabilities. For example, users can create reminders for when contracts are up for renewal or nearing their expiration date. This helps businesses stay organized and on top of contractual obligations. Automated workflows can also be configured to send notifications to relevant team members or stakeholders when certain milestones are reached within a contract’s lifecycle.
Another standout feature is the availability of templates. HubSpot contract management offers pre-built templates for various types of contracts and agreements. This includes sales contracts, service agreements, and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). These templates can be customized with company branding, specific terms, and conditions relevant to the business. By having these ready-to-use templates, sales teams can respond to client proposals quickly and professionally, thus improving response time and boosting client satisfaction.
Integration is another key capability of HubSpot contract management. The tool seamlessly integrates with other HubSpot offerings, such as CRM and sales enablement tools. This centralization of data enables users to have a 360-degree view of their sales pipeline. Contracts can be accessed directly from CRM, ensuring that all sales team members have quick access to the latest agreement versions without having to navigate through different platforms or systems.
Overall, the combination of automation, templates, and integration capabilities makes HubSpot contract management a powerful tool for businesses seeking to streamline their contract management process. By reducing the time spent on administrative tasks, this software allows companies to focus on what really matters – closing deals and maintaining robust client relationships.
Advantages of HubSpot for Contract Management
Utilizing a tool that is already integrated into a company’s sales process presents numerous advantages that extend beyond merely being cost-effective. The familiarity with the platform, its versatility, and the ability to streamline processes all lead to time and cost-saving business synergies. When it comes to efficiency, using HubSpot for contract management has several benefits. The ability to send documents for electronic signature directly from the same ecosystem ensures customization across the organization. Additionally, this type of integration offers automatic tracking of both the signature request and the signature itself, so employers do not have to rely on human memory, and every business day starts with the confidence that contracts requiring action are in fact out for diligence. The subsequent review of which recipients signed in what order also brings certainty to the process, and the automatic date stamp exponentially improves internal or external timeliness reports. Cost savings result from improving the customer experience as well. Customers will be impressed by your ability to get contracts out for signature as they are able to fill them out from any device at their convenience, and this ease of signing sends the message that you value their time. Users also save the costs associated with scanning and printing hard copies of the document, and in the event a document is misplaced or lost, users do not have to worry about taking the time to recreate the original. Although the cost of sending out for signature is pennies, the value of having a single source of truth to memorialize the process is priceless. Easy access to signed documents for internal collaboration is another benefit to using HubSpot for contract management. Your team will have the tools necessary to work together, understand the status, and directly communicate updates to the client, eliminating confusion and ensuring an impeccable customer experience. Automated prompts cause no delay as legal and business teams can easily contribute to the drafting, revision, and approval process. Workflows can be established as to who is permitted to sign off on a contract, and alerts notify when contracts are nearing expiration or should be revisited for a legal update. Last but not least, the ability to change contracts instantaneously provides both clients and management accountability to refresh and renegotiate terms without having to start the process all over again. Using HubSpot for contract management gives your organization a competitive edge. Clients rely on timely interaction with your business and expect vendors to be innovative in a digital age. You can demonstrate awareness and adherence to these expectations by adopting a tech-savvy approach to all that your customers have come to know and expect from your brand.
Configuring Contract Management in HubSpot
Setting up contract management in HubSpot is relatively simple. Start by ensuring you have the right HubSpot tools in place, then follow these steps:
- Figure out which tools you have. Log into your HubSpot account and go to the Marketplace. You’ll find the contract management tools in HubSpot Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise.
- Create the Contract. Within HubSpot Contracts, you can create a contract template or select from one of their existing templates. Make your necessary customizations.
- Check for Requested Customizations. In this window you can check any contract customizations that have been requested. Edit if necessary and then proceed to complete your contract.
- Review and Edit Contract Details: In this section you’ll need to fill in key contract fields like contract name, contact information, contract terms, milestones, etc.
- Send Contract to Affected Parties: Select who you want to send your contract to in the "recipients" tab. You will also choose who can view contract progress in the "viewers" tab. Select all applicable recipients.
- Review Contract Progress: Keep an eye on contract progress in the "progress" tab to avoid any hiccups.
Once you’ve successfully set up the contract, you can incorporate your preferred contract styles and colors. Keep in mind that HubSpot default settings will not allow you to upload any third-party contracts.
How to Connect HubSpot Contract Management with Your Current Processes
A significant concern for businesses is whether or not HubSpot contract management can integrate with what they already have. Fortunately, HubSpot contract management is compatible with most existing software you may already have. Many existing CRMs and other project management software offer integration with HubSpot. However, keep in mind that you will need to have the ability to add on plans with these software programs as well.
Most of the time, you will need to contact your current software service provider to find out if and how they integrate with HubSpot. The PRM (Partner Relationship Management) that HubSpot has let’s you manage all the offerings in one place . You can also easily assign and review contracts through their easy-to-use system. The cloud-based nature of the system makes it easy for everyone to access. You can also have documents automatically generated too so that there as little human error as possible.
In addition, if you were to switch to HubSpot, then moving all your data over will be seamless. There are HubSpot CRMs that make that happen. The HubSpot account executive will usually set up everything for you. As a customer, the only thing you would need to do is to upload any other information into the HubSpot platform when prompted. From there, you will have access to everything you need in one place in order to keep your business running smoothly.
Best Practices for Managing Contracts with HubSpot
To fully reap the benefits of using HubSpot for contract management, it’s essential to follow best practices for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Here are some key tips to consider:
Maintain contract security and compliance
One of the best practices to follow when using HubSpot contract management is to ensure that all contracts are secure and in compliance with legal and regulatory standards. Security is particularly important in industries such as finance, healthcare and defense, where confidentiality and data protection are a must. You can enable two-factor authentication for your team members with HubSpot credentials and restrict access to sensitive information only to authorized personnel to reduce the risk factors. Additionally, be sure to document all communications relating to a contract with functionality for real-time editing and collaboration. Once the contract is signed, store it on a dedicated server following legal and corporate principles, along with any relevant communications with the counterparties.
Ensure contract specificity
Every successful contract includes all the terms of an agreement, including clauses, subheadings and definitions. All missing components that leave room for interpretation or misunderstanding should be avoided as much as possible, which can often be accomplished by using templates. Templates enable you to standardize contract language in a systematized way without sacrificing flexibility. Using contract templates enables you to create custom variations by using Merge tools while ensuring the contractual terms remain unaffected.
Set up notifications and alerts
Another best practice relates to using HubSpot’s follow-up notifications. Alerts from HubSpot for each contract’s stage are essential to ensure better contract visibility. This will give you new leads to track and follow up with. In addition, you can include a To Do list to make sure no important tasks relating to any contracts will be missed. You can set custom notifications within a particular time period, such as every X number of days, or a specific timeframe before a contract becomes due.
Track contract performance
Another recommended best practice is to track metrics throughout the contract lifecycle using HubSpot analytics. For instance, you can review how long it takes your team to execute contracts, revenue generated and any anomalies, such as discrepancies and disputes. You can also obtain insights into the average duration and frequency of contracts. In addition, HubSpot enables you to access contract performance easily using the drag-and-drop dashboard for an easy-to-read contract report. Finally, you can also assess factors such as value, margins, terms and sizes.
Leveraging strong contract management tools such as HubSpot enables your organization to optimize contract management for better business outcomes. In addition to the above best practices, you can use e-signatures for contract authentication and approvals to minimize time delays.
Case Studies and Practical Examples
While there are limited published case studies regarding contract management in HubSpot, I can provide a few real-world examples and scenarios based on my own experience helping businesses utilize HubSpot for contract management.
A digital marketing firm confronted these contract challenges: When they signed up a new client, they needed to send contracts quickly, and collected payment information over the phone. They didn’t have visibility into the status of contracts or what went to clients. Sometimes the contracts went out but payment information was never collected. It was a nightmare. Here is how we solved their problem using HubSpot. In HubSpot, we could send contracts via DocuSign eSignature integrated with HubSpot. We created a separate deal pipeline drive for contracts to move when the contract was signed, which would complete the deal in HubSpot. While the contract is out we send a cancellation email copy to prospects via HubSpot to get a signed contract. If a contract were canceled for some reason, we’d be able to follow up with that contract will end in its respective stage. The contact record would then be tagged with a "Contract Status" labeled as "In progress", "Waiting Owner" or "Signed".
A law office who provides immigration services, help clients obtain Green Cards, Fiancé Visas and other visas explained their challenge: I want to be able to send a contract to a client and be able to accept payment online knowing it will come back as an accepted contract and still be able to integrate with the accounting system I use. I also need to have the ability to track who signs the agreement. The HubSpot tool helps us do just that. This law office started using Contractbook and now they can send a contract to a client, and once the contract is accepted, they are automatically notified and can follow up using HubSpot tools. They added a custom field to identify the contract status and the person who signed contract and added it to a property workflow so that anybody who has signed a contract, known as "Committed", both "In Progress" and those who haven’t been signed will be "Declined" in HubSpot. (The contract status field is a dropdown where you can add any contract statuses you would like.)
Another digital marketing agency faced this challenge: We service multiple contracts with a similar product offering to the same client. How could we avoid sending several contracts one at a time? We want to get them all signed at once, all at the same time and start the projects quickly. This agency is using a HubSpot integration with HelloSign and was able to send multiple contracts at once via a single email communication to the same person. The process only required an email with a link to the contract vs. having a PDF contract mailed for signature. The client receives a hyperlink from the agency to the contract for review and execution. Now we add contract statuses to HubSpot and add them to a contract pipeline so a contract can be closed on the agency side once signed. The contracts are integrated so the data is captured in HubSpot, and then it can be tracked in HubSpot using a contract status field. In this case, they could have chosen to add a contract status property to a deal record instead of a contact record.
Emerging Trends in HubSpot Contract Management
The landscape of contract management within HubSpot is on the brink of several exciting developments and innovations. As the demands of businesses grow and evolve, so too does the push for greater efficiency in contract management. Technology has always played a significant role in this evolution, and as we look to the future, we see several areas where change is on the horizon.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already showing its potential in the realm of contract management, automating parts of the review and negotiation process, and helping teams make better decisions about timing and strategy. The incorporation of more sophisticated AI tools into HubSpot could further optimize processes and open new avenues for automation, such as automatically flagging key dates or creating alerts for follow-ups.
Another future trend involves the integration of blockchain technology. As cryptocurrency gains traction, so do the capabilities of blockchain-based contracts, which can be self-executing and provide a tamper-proof record of contract compliance . This could potentially serve as a boon for parties who require complete transparency and trust in larger deals.
In addition, we can expect to see more robust integrations between HubSpot Contract Management and CRM systems beyond the existing ones. This could facilitate a seamless flow of information between all parties involved, from sales to contracting to completion, reducing the friction often encountered during the contracting phase.
Finally, the growing importance of collaboration tools within HubSpot will likely influence how contract management is handled. For example, enhanced collaboration between sales, legal, and the client during the entire life cycle of a contract could become standardized, possibly through an integrated Wiki or a project management tool that’s a part of HubSpot.
These developments have the potential to shape the way we interact with contracts in the coming years. What remains constant, however, is the need for continued evolution and growth. Those who integrate these changes into their ongoing contract management function will see far reaching benefits for their organization.