Key Takeaways:
- A CLM will not automatically fix broken processes. Instead, it will reflect them back to you with even greater visibility.
- The success of a CLM project depends on mapping intake, metadata, approvals, playbooks, and ownership before you begin.
- You do not need a perfect system to succeed. What you need is self-awareness and a process you are confident enough to scale.
Let’s be honest. Too many CLM implementations fail before they even begin.
Specifically, Gartner predicts that about 50% of first-time CLM implementations will fall short of expectations, meaning they won’t deliver the benefits organizations hoped for, often because contract processes weren’t defined or streamlined before the tool was put in place (Cimplifi, 2023, citing Gartner).1
I have heard it all:
“Once we buy the system, the process will fix itself.”
“Vendors said it would be plug and play.”
“We will figure approvals out once it is live.”
Here is the truth: you don’t need a CLM, you need a mirror.
A CLM is not a magic wand. If your foundation is messy, the CLM will reflect it. Every bottleneck. Every unclear approval. Every habit you have avoided fixing. All of it will show up in high definition.
If you are thinking about implementing a CLM, here are five things you need to fix first.
1️⃣ Intake
Start with how contracts actually enter the process. Who submits them? How are requests made? What information is required?
If your intake is a free-for-all, your CLM will become a dumping ground. Standardize the process early and make sure it is clear and repeatable.
2️⃣ Metadata
You do not need thirty fields that no one will maintain. Choose the ones that matter most for reporting and renewals. I recommend starting with the basics:
- Title
- Counterparty
- Effective date
- Expiration date
- Renewal terms
- Notice period
- Contract type
- Contract value
These fields give you what you need to answer the most common questions: Do we have a contract with this vendor? When does it expire? What are the renewal terms?
A good question to ask yourself is: what do you want to report on in the near future? For example, I focused on running a clear expiration report for our procurement team. That report allowed them to cancel contracts with vendors we were no longer using, which created cost savings and streamlined our preferred vendor list. Having the right metadata fields made that possible.
Start small, maintain consistency, and let your reporting goals guide what you track.
3️⃣ Approval Flows
Approvals are often the hidden reason contracts stall. Map them before you put anything into a CLM. Who needs to see what, and at what stage?
A useful question here is: where do approvals actually get stuck today? If you cannot answer that now, a CLM will not magically solve it. It will only make the bottlenecks more visible.
4️⃣ Playbooks
A contract playbook does not need to be perfect. Even a simple guide with fallback positions, escalation points, thresholds for routing, and a few standard responses is better than nothing. The thresholds piece is key. It defines when a contract should be routed for review to procurement or sales only, for example, versus when it escalates for legal review.
A CLM cannot create consistency where it does not exist. If you want automation and workflows to work, give the system something to anchor on.
When embedded in a CLM, the playbook becomes actionable: the system suggests clauses, enforces thresholds, and routes contracts automatically. For example, low-risk deals (under $100K, no data/IP) can stay with procurement, while high-risk terms escalate to legal. If left as a separate doc, playbooks still help, but they rely on human discipline.
Playbook = the rules. CLM = the execution. Together, they make negotiation faster and more consistent.
5️⃣ Ownership
Finally, decide who owns what. Who owns the contract once it is signed? Who owns the process inside the CLM? If accountability is fuzzy, the system will only amplify that lack of clarity.
Clear ownership keeps the process moving and prevents your repository from turning back into chaos six months after launch.
Final Thoughts
You do not need a perfect process. What you need is awareness.
A CLM will reflect whatever you put into it. If you feed it clarity, you will see efficiency. If you feed it chaos, you will see confusion.
So fix these five things first. Map before you scale. And when the mirror shows you the reflection, make sure it is one you are proud to see.
You’ve got this.
Stay tuned for more practical legal ops tips and strategies from the trenches in my column Beyond the Fine Print, right here with Contract Nerds.
