Stop Revenue Leakage From Contracts

On his blog, Law Department Management, Rees Morrison shared that Mark Harris, the CEO of Axiom, referred to a surprising finding from one of his company’s projects. Harris referred to long-term contracts and their “revenue leakage.”

One company, he said, that spent more than $100 million a year on its commercial contracts suffered revenue leakage from them estimated at 5-7 percent. Harris did not elaborate, but it may be that failures to renew or to raise rates or shift costs accounted for that lost income.

Morrison adds that, "Somehow, better contracts should put fingers in some of those dikes or better oversight of executed contracts could [result in] law departments that can claim a portion of the saved money as profit centers."

Tim Cummins quickly weighed in on the Commitment Matters blog saying, " I observe that it is interesting that Mark cites 5 – 7% because that aligns exactly with a number IACCM has been highlighting for several years. It is indeed common as an average (not a maximum) and it comes from a mix of sources. Among them are the missed revenue opportunities due to poor negotiation practices; the inefficiencies generated through failure to align business terms with economic cost; and the many inefficiencies and missed opportunities in post award contract management."

Not surprising, it is our contention that the way to stop this revenue leakage is to automate your contracts process so you can capture and report on all of the data points AND better track negotiations. By capturing the data contained within the contracts, you are able to easily conduct analysis, gain visibility into the terms, set triggers such as renewals, and better manage your executed contracts.

And not only can you report on contracts coming up for renewal – but more importantly - which of those contracts are due for fee increases based on specific clauses and negotiated milestones. Or, you can report on any obligation or key event provision that isn't part of your standard contract.

To learn more about stopping revenue leakage by automating your sales contracts, download these new white papers: Four Ways to Improve Compliance and Reduce Revenue Leakage and Sales Contract Competence: On Time and Compliant.

Dickinson Dees Extends Use of Exari Document Generation

We have great clients. And nothing pleases us more than when we can contribute to their success. Take, for example, leading UK law firm Dickinson Dees. The firm originally implemented Exari two years ago to automate information technology and outsourcing agreements. Their experience to date shows that savings of up to 80% can be realized in the time taken to prepare their documents, with even greater efficiencies being available by grouping together associated documents.

Dickinson Dees will now be automating their engagement letters, which are heavily regulated and required, but must be tailored to each client -- the compliance department is rolling out a template for use across the 600+ members of the firm. And, they have as yet unannounced plans for further applications.

The firm is proactively working with clients in a variety of sectors, not only to deliver conventional legal services in new ways, but also helping clients automate their internal legal and risk management processes.

Andrew Scott, a partner at Dickinson Dees and Head of the Commercial Team says, “Exari has provided massive productivity savings in the time and cost of creating documents. For us, it has been a great way to help our clients’ business. We provide value well beyond just drafting documents and Exari has helped free up the time of our senior lawyers to provide more high-value consultancy.”

Dickinson Dees has devised some really innovative uses of the Exari technology. They are committed to providing value to their clients, which has earned them a national reputation for the quality of their work. And we are proud to be their technology partner.

Click here to learn more about how Exari can help your law firm.

Getting your Derivatives Data ready for Dodd-Frank

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and recent FSA regulations have put pressure on investment banks and buy-side institutions to consider new methods to manage both legacy and new master agreements (ISDA, CSA, GMRA, GMSLA, IFXCO etc.).

After the financial meltdown of 2008 it became clear just how important it is to have:

1. an ongoing understanding of how ISDA master agreements will be affected by the distress or failure of a counter-party or deteriorating market conditions and,
2. the ability to gain quick and comprehensive access to the data embedded in these agreements if those circumstances arise.

Having improved access to critical information and the ability to model contract portfolios against negative events will enable institutions to improve risk controls and operational processes – and ultimately advance the organization’s ability to make more informed decisions.

The current ‘cut and paste’ process that most documentation departments are using currently to produce these agreements is time-consuming and doesn't provide access to the data contained in them. There is no way to access or record the documentation data without ‘scrubbing’ or rekeying the data into downstream systems. And most importantly, there is little if any visibility across the entire portfolio of agreements.

By automating the creation of master agreements, you can capture every piece of data, making it readily available for reporting and analytics. You can improve risk controls, operational processes and the ability to make mission-critical decisions better and faster.

Want to see how?

Akin Gump Licenses Exari

We are pleased to share the news that Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has selected Exari to help streamline its clients’ decision-making process and to achieve efficiencies in delivering legal services to its investment fund clients.

One of the world’s largest law firms, Akin Gump serves as counsel to many of the top private equity and hedge funds in the world. We are especially gratified to have been awarded this contract after such a competitive selection process.

Other innovative law firms in the Exari Community have already implemented Exari for:

• Wills, Trust and Estate Documents
• Automating the M&A Due Diligence Process
• Creating Self-Service Portals for their Clients
• Engagement Letters
• Sales, Technology and Outsourcing Contracts
• Onboarding and Human Resources
• Banking and Asset Finance Facility Agreements
• Commercial Leases
• Security Deeds, Deed of Guarantee
• Online Legal Documents
• and much more.

Contact Us to learn more about how Exari can help you or, to see the solution in action, try a demo or request a live demo.

3 Sure Fire Ways to Lose Money on Your Next Sales Contract

So, you've worked hard to get the deal done. Now all you need is to hand over the sales contract for the customer's signature. That's it. Sounds simple, right? But it may not be. If you're not careful with that contract it may not be worth as much as you think it is.

Will your deal go up in smoke due to a poorly drafted or delayed contract? It happens more than you think. And here are the top three ways to see that it does:

1. Wait until the last second to ask the Legal Department to draft a contract -- Many legal departments are stretched thin and working hard to keep up with the demand from the departments they serve. The less notice you give them that you will need a contract - especially at busy times like the end of a quarter - the better your chances are of not getting your contract on time.

2. Cut and Paste Last Year's Pricing into the new contract -- It happens all the time. You copy and paste terms or clauses from an old contract to create a new one. Unless you are very careful, very lucky, or a little bit of both, this is very dangerous. It's easy to leave out important details or copy an out-of-date clause. One wrong move and the value of your contract drops.

3. File the executed contract in a filing cabinet or DMS -- No problem. You can remember how many active contracts you have. You know when each of them is scheduled to renew. And, of course, you know which contracts deviate from the norm, like those that are due for fee increases based on specific clauses and negotiated milestones. No need to worry about missing out on additional revenue.

To learn how to minimize risk, maximize revenue, and free-up your legal team from spending too much time creating contracts, read our new whitepaper Sales Contract Competence: On Time and Compliant, or forward a copy to your legal department.

Photo credit: Imagined Reality