Not every company has a contract manager.
Contract managers typically assist key tasks along the contract lifecycle, including gathering data, facilitating discussions, confirming terms, minimizing risk, drafting, reviewing and revising agreements, obtaining approvals, collecting signatures, maintaining repositories, and tracking terminations and renewals.
Today, there are about 45,000 contract managers employed in the U.S. About 75% of them work for companies with more than 1,000 employees, and most of these companies are publicly listed. In fact, approximately 25% of contract managers are employed by the Fortune 500.
That means the majority of U.S. companies, mostly small and medium-sized businesses, have no contract managers administering company contracts. No contract managers supervising, guiding or handling day-to-day and down-the-line contract functions. No contract managers taking care of sales agreements, employment agreements, NDAs, software licenses, franchise agreements, or leases.
Though smaller companies often have someone trying hard to fulfill the contract manager role, they’re likely making serious mistakes, including not having templates or playbooks, keeping only paper contracts, storing them in scattered locations, retaining unnecessary duplicates, missing milestones, and having no formal contracting processes.
Now small and medium-sized businesses can turn to legal service providers offering contract support. These providers have commercial experts who draft, analyze and administer every contract critically, affordably, flexibly and effectively. Small and medium-sized businesses can benefit from legal service providers that have deep knowledge of precisely the types of contracts that smaller companies use every day.
Not every company has a contract manager. But every company needs lawyers, specialists and technologists who can improve contract workflow, increase efficiency, lower costs, and deliver results.
