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A contract management process is a crucial tool for preventing legal risk. Several risks could arise when working with customers, particularly if your business services many customers. Effective contract management can help you implement a robust contract process and best practices to avoid risk. This article will explore how a contract management process can help prevent legal risks and benefit suppliers of products and services.
What is Contract Risk Management?
Contract risk management is a process to help prevent potential risks of what could go wrong under business contracts. By having a method to mitigate the possible risks, you can position your business to deliver its contracts smoothly.
Your business takes on many risks when entering new contracts, such as unexpected liabilities, dissatisfied customers, and the threat of litigation if things go wrong.
Risks could arise in many circumstances, including:
- your team failing to deliver their obligations under a contract – for instance, missing critical timeframes;
- poor security resulting in data breaches, which could result in breaches of data protection law rules; or
- customers fail to pay their invoices on time, for instance, if they suffer from financial difficulties.
Contract risk management from the outset can help you prepare for such risks and resolve them if they arise during your contractual relationships.
What Contract Risk Management Measures Can I Take?
Contract risk management can include various vital steps. Some examples of contract risk management include:
- researching new potential customers to gauge whether you can have a good working relationship and whether they seem reputable;
- considering the key legal risks around your contracts by taking legal advice from the outset, such as advice on applicable laws that you need to comply with;
- continuing to take ongoing legal advice on regulatory changes and rules your business must comply with from time to time;
- entering robust written contracts with your customers to protect your business from risk. This includes negotiating important terms to safeguard your best interests, such as terms limiting your liability to customers for breaching your obligations under your commercial agreements with them;
- considering if you need to appoint individuals into a contract manager role to help manage contracts you enter into and serve as a point of contact for customers;
- keeping a record of your signed contracts and storing them in an easily accessible place so you do not forget your contractual obligations;
- considering a process for managing customer complaints and disputes. For instance, by including a contractual dispute resolution procedure in your customer contracts;
- training your team on your contracts and what their obligations are;
- having reminders of key contractual delivery dates and timeframes;
- implementing a process to update customers as required under your contracts;
- taking out insurance to cover your potential liabilities under the agreements to protect you in the event of legal claims against your business; or
- learning from past contractual mistakes and putting processes in place to prevent the same mistakes from happening again.
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How Can Contract Management Prevent Legal Risk?
You can benefit in several ways by implementing a robust contract management system.
Let us explore a couple of the potential benefits below.
1. Contract Management Processes Can Help Your Contracts Run Smoothly and Grow Your Business.
Contract management processes encourage good contract management. It can also give your business confidence in your internal contractual processes and procedures.
If your contracts run smoothly and effectively, customers are more likely to be happy with your work and work with you again. This can help enhance your supplier reputation and generate growth for your business.
Download this free Supplier Contracts Checklist to ensure your contracts will meet your business’ needs.
In contrast, poor contract management can result in breaches of contract, customer complaints and lack of repeat business from customers.
2. Contract Management Processes Can Prevent Risk and Disputes
By implementing a robust contract management process, you are more likely to avoid critical legal risks and disputes from arising.
A common cause of contract disputes is unclear contract terms, misunderstandings, and mismatched expectations from customers. By managing contracts effectively, you are more likely to comply with your obligations and avoid arguments from arising. For instance, transparent and robust contracts prevent the chance of mismatched expectations over your contractual obligations.
As such, putting time and effort into developing a contract management process for your business is essential. This can be particularly valuable if your commercial projects are high-risk or long-term or if you work with numerous customers.
Key Takeaways
A contract management process is a crucial way to prevent legal risk. It can include various measures, from researching new customers to implementing robust contractual documents. By implementing a contract management process, you are more likely to deliver your contractual obligations successfully. This can help ensure your contracts run smoothly and your customers develop long-standing relationships with you. Significantly, contract management can help prevent the risk of disputes and save you time and money in the long run.
If you need advice on a contract risk management process, LegalVision’s experienced commercial contract lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers who can answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today at 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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