Aberdeen Group Study Identifies Contract Management Critical to CRM Strategy

http://www.crmmanager.net/magazine/news_h22941_aberdeen_group_study_identifies_contract.html

Contracts are a dynamic representation of an enterprise’s relationship with its customers. In this electronic age paper-based records are likely to become a thing of the past. It will become more and more essential for enterprises to have data at their fingertips, such as that within sales contracts. Amongst a range of other things, this sort of data will be used for historical analysis, as well as forecasting and risk assessment and analysis.

In the recent Aberdeen Group study, available on CRMToday.com, 41 percent of respondents report that management of sales and customer contracts is becoming more important in their organization. Moreover, when asked how important contract management is in the entire quote-to-cash cycle, over 50 percent said that it is essential, and 31 percent said it is important.

Vishal Patel, author of the Aberdeen Group study reports, "The way in which contracts are managed on the sell-side is becoming important within enterprises."

The study also found that contract management may increasingly impact company revenues. In fact, the study predicts that the average percentage of a company's revenue from contracts is expected to increase from 56 percent to 68 percent over the next two years.

20.02.2007, Jo Violet, CRMToday.com