Finding the Best Salesforce Contract Management Tools

Alice M.

Hawk-eye editor with a passion for trailblazing Salesforce experiences

Updated: Apr 3rd, 2024

Is it challenging for your sales and legal teams to keep up with the number of contracts they have to review?

Simply put, you need to invest in the best Salesforce CLM solution that can help your business simplify the streamlined contract management process, making your teams feel more at ease and freeing up their time to close those deals.

What is CLM in Salesforce?

A Contract Lifecycle Management solution, as the name implies, is a solution built to help you manage, monitor, and track every stage of the contract lifecycle, from execution to renewal to expiration.

Choosing the right CLM solution for your business can help shorten the lengthy review processes.

Although companies use Salesforce for managing leads and contract management, despite its popularity, there are some disadvantages when it comes to CLM.

Looking for a Salesforce contract lifecycle management solution that offers additional integrations is easier than you think. Here are some points to consider as you search for the right CLM solution for your business.

Salesforce Contract Management System

On a high-level contract management software for Salesforce sounds great, but does Salesforce have a contract management system?
Salesforce does not have a dedicated Contract Management System solution, but they have apps, tools, and features to help manage your Salesforce contracts. For example, Salesforce CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) has contract management capabilities.

Conga CLM

Conga CLM (Contracts for Salesforce, formerly Apttus Contract Management) is an end-to-end contract lifecycle management solution built to automate the contract process.

Conga CLM software offers a platform that can be shared between teams simultaneously to review, negotiate, and redline agreements. They give you a 360-degree view of the entire contract cycle, including negotiations, emails, documents, and more.

Pros

Users complimented the contract redlining and e-signature capability.

Some users advised that the web-based templates help sales teams engage with the customer.

Contract automation connects every step from request to renewal.

Standardized workflows, negotiations, approvals, and amendments minimize risk.

Enable users to request contracts via a dynamic questionnaire.

Cons

Multiple forms need to be completed to advance the contract.

It’s not intuitive. People who don’t use the system daily have difficulty navigating through it.

The multi-step approval process requires too many clicks to trigger ad-hoc approvals.

Managed code is not easy to debug. There are fewer root causes of error identification, and older admin interfaces were not as usable as the newer interfaces.

Due to web-based coding, corrections can not be made quickly and require intervention from support teams to make changes to the behind-the-screen format.

Complexity in API integration and fewer options for integration compared to competitors.

The license renewal process is not very clear.

Features for Salesforce

You can use Conga CLM with Salesforce Lightning Experience and still accomplish the same tasks with the features available in the Classic Experience.

Quickly and accurately import legacy and 3rd-party contracts.

Provide alerts and notifications on critical events and dates.

Intelligent Salesforce workflows and approvals for speed across the contract lifecycle.

*As per recent online reviews

Verdict

Unfortunately, according to customer reviews, simple day-to-day tasks are sometimes frustratingly difficult to accomplish. It seems Conga CLM in Salesforce comes out last even in the conga line, judging from negative customer reviews regarding their technical features.

DocuSign CLM

DocuSign introduced its new solution, CLM Essentials, in April 2022. It was built specifically for growing businesses to automate and simplify the negotiating, creating, and providing secure storage of their contracts.

DocuSign CLM Essentials handles every stage of contract management for Salesforce, from document generation to contract management to renewals and reporting, and supports integration with external software solutions through API technology. 

Pros

Users noted that the system ensured they always worked with the most recent and up-to-date documents.

Various users complimented the product’s electronic signature capabilities.

Ability to establish custom workflows within the system.

The customer support team is beneficial.

Set conditional rules, i.e., to review non-standard terms.

Cons

The program did not alert users when new upgrades were available, and they often only found out about recent versions weeks after their release.

Customers found the installation process to be extended even with customer support assistance.

Lack of access to training materials and support response time when there are system errors.

Features for Salesforce

Generate agreements with Salesforce data from predefined templates with data populated from Salesforce objects, including opportunity and quote records.

It is powered by Lightning, is available for mobile, and is Salesforce Classic compatible.

Store contracts in a secure, searchable repository and make finding contracts easy. Access and search the repository right from within Salesforce.

*As per recent online reviews

Verdict

The good news for existing DocuSign eSignature customers is that they can begin the steps that happened before. After an agreement is electronically signed, the bad news is that they would have to upgrade CLM Essential if they require the benefit of the entire contract lifecycle process.

IronClad CLM

The global leader in contract management software, or so it seems. IronClad, founded in 2014, was once a digital contracting platform sought after by legal firms; you end up working with a 3rd party app for the implementation, often leading to unplanned costs.

Pros

Ironclad is easy to navigate and user-friendly.

This Salesforce contract management app keeps track of all legal agreement versions.

It’s easy to tag another colleague into a workflow for their input and approvals as necessary.

Cons

It takes a minimum of two months to operationalize your first workflow.

The user interface could be improved to differentiate internal and external workflows better.

Your data (by default) is hosted in the US, which may or may not meet the regulatory requirements where your company is based.

The ability to create formulas with fields mapped over from Salesforce is lacking.

Customers note that their sales pitch is great, but the functionality is terrible.

Once you add someone to a workflow, there is no way to remove them.

It is impossible to lock down contracts to prevent unwanted or accidental edits.

Iron Clad provides customer support – but at a cost. YES, you read right, you pay for customer support.

Features for Salesforce

The Salesforce contract management integration is straightforward and provides the flexibility required to launch Salesforce workflows from multiple objects.

The integration brings Salesforce data into the contracting process to increase speed and maintain data quality throughout the contracting lifecycle.

*As per recent online reviews

Verdict

It is a great product built around Microsoft Word, but is it the right choice for companies picking up speed in digital transformation and looking for an all-in-one platform for their contracts?

Icertis CLM

Icertis provides cloud-based software intended to digitize the business contracts process. The software is licensed to companies through the software-as-a-service model – Icertis Experience.

Pros

The platform supports different languages, with variations in workflow, rules, clauses, and templates based on regional needs.

Identify and assess risk by automatically tracking commitments, expiries, deviations, and other contract obligations.

You can access Icertis on your mobile/smartphone.

The system is built on MS Azure, making it a secure and stable platform.

Customers widely reported the intuitive user interface of Icertis was a significant benefit to their business.

Cons

Too many downtimes to implement changes.

Some features are unnecessarily limiting. For example, there is an inability to delete records or change fields.

Limited integrations.

There are no free trials available, and pricing is not readily available on the internet. You must contact their sales team for a custom quote.

Features for Salesforce

Enable contract management in Salesforce for functionality across a variety of use cases.

Stay up-to-date with chatter notifications on contract milestones.

Manage contract authoring, workflow, milestones, and approvals within Salesforce.

*As per recent online reviews

Verdict

Unfortunately, you have to be prepared to pay the price to use all their features fully. If you are a top legal firm, their limited functionalities and downtime can disrupt your busy legal eagles.

SirionLabs CLM

If you are looking for an alternative to Icertis, SirionLabs is worth the effort. They go by the name of SirionOne and advocate that they are the foundation of more innovative contracting and that you can digitize and streamline all phases of the contract lifecycle for sales, procurement, and all other enterprise contracts on an integrated, AI-powered platform.

Pros

They have prebuilt integration adaptors for ERP, CRM, and other third-party enterprise systems.

Enable anytime-anywhere access with an access-controlled cloud repository.

Users noted that they could auto-extract contract clauses in various languages using AI, populating meta-data directly into Sirion, which can be used for reporting.Users noted that they could auto-extract contract clauses in various languages using AI, populating meta-data directly into Sirion, which can be used for reporting.

User-friendly Dashboard creation and reporting and customizing the views on the user level.

The communication channel within Sirion reduces the number of emails received and facilitates taking action on the proper Contract ID.

Cons

The contracts cannot be arranged chronologically. All new contracts created go down in the hierarchy, even if the contracts are older.

The tool could have more robust senior-level dashboard reporting or perhaps some direct integration with Power BI or a similar tool.

The meeting governance module has been challenging to implement.

Some workflows could be more straightforward with fewer steps for the non-managed service clients.

There are too many buttons and clicks to submit a request.

Features for Salesforce

Sync metadata updates from Salesforce to Sirion for fields such as contract ID, essential dates, renewal information, stakeholders, etc.

Get a holistic view of sales, evaluate new and existing opportunities, CSAT/NPS, revenue target realization, and contract renewal metrics.

*As per recent online reviews

Verdict

The initial setup and getting the actual value out of the software does take a bit longer. It is nice to have but does not come cheap.

Agiloft CLM

Agiloft has been one of the oldest contract lifecycle management tools surviving the tough competitive market. Agiloft is good for its enterprise-grade features that seek to deliver value at all stages of the contract lifecycle.

Pros

They are designed to map any business process, from the simplest to the most complex, without programming.

Helpdesk and Workflow BPM modules included.

Easy-to-use wizards and Help resources.

Customization of print template request forms.

Cons

Logging details about contracts should be easier to customize.

It would be nice if there were a way to upload an executed agreement and have the system pull the details into the contract record.

Their lengthy implementation time prevents teams from getting the tool’s value.

Users have complained that the software is bulky and difficult to navigate, meaning it may not be ideal for companies looking to empower their commercial teams to self-serve on contracts.

They do not offer any specific pricing information online for their plans, and you have to contact them through the website to request a quote and begin a free trial.

Users who want to sign contracts electronically must integrate the software with an eSignature solution.

The UI can use a lot of improvement – many simple steps are unnecessarily complicated.

Understanding the relationships between tables when setting up new fields and revising user permissions can confuse non-technical teams.

Features for Salesforce

Run syncs at any time from either system manually or automatically when a record is created/edited, or run sync on a time-based schedule.

Customize data sets in Agiloft and Salesforce by mapping specific tables and fields from one system to another.

*As per recent online reviews

Verdict

Wow, Agiloft, agility in action or not. As much as they are an agile Salesforce contract lifecycle management software, its user interface can feel dull and outdated. In contrast, Titan’s contract automation software designed for Salesforce has a user-friendly interface and is implemented in a few clicks.

Titan CLM: Contract Management Software Salesforce

Negotiating contracts involve two or more parties, which can become lengthy, with version after version getting exchanged. Ugh! How do you keep up?

If real-time data mapping is what you require between Salesforce and your CLM, then look no further. With Titan, you can be assured that you get the most up-to-date information, edit contracts online or via Microsoft Word, and all documents can be worked on collaboratively in real time.

Wait, that is not all we are good for! Our CLM tool is made explicitly for Salesforce. You can easily automate signing processes for your clients and streamline contract approvals in minutes instead of spending hours with numerous emails back and forth.

Your teams can adjust collaborator actions to allow for edits, comments, or sole viewing of documents, making the review process automatically managed in Titan as collaboration rounds.

Easily send contracts for Esignatures and track that they have been properly signed and stored in the right place, saving you the hassle of finding out that some parties did not sign the contract or initial the pages you sent them.

Most importantly, Titan CLM has capabilities that allow you to create automated and connected contract lifecycle processes for Salesforce using zero-code applications.

Pros

Build flexible and integrated contract lifecycle experiences, bringing together users inside and outside of Salesforce.

Legal and other teams can work with Titan Sign and CLM without logging in to Titan/Salesforce directly from Word.

Access Titan’s CLM robust functionalities within Salesforce without switching systems to create and process contracts from within accounts, opportunities, or quote screens.

Create a contract and configure it within a few minutes with no code to add collaborators to a review process.

Titan’s rich-text editor allows users to create, edit, and amend contracts in a user-friendly and intuitive environment.

Add collaborators at any stage of the contract lifecycle.

Get dynamic contract templates pre-filled with live Salesforce data.

Fully track your document in Salesforce from start to finish.

Our data-rich contract repository enables users to easily capture and retrieve important contract data.

All documents are dynamically generated through live push and pull of Salesforce data.

You can start your CLM process via a template or Titan’s Microsoft Word Add-in.

Seamlessly import emails and attachments and link them to the final contract or client for safekeeping.

Collaboration is fully flexible, and you can add participants at any stage of the CLM journey.

Titan’s contract lifecycle management software in Salesforce supports 2FA and complete end-to-end security for your documents.

You don’t need to integrate our CLM with digital signatures because you can seamlessly use Titan Sign eSignature for Salesforce, which is built on the same platform.

Create Salesforce workflows in minutes with clicks-not-code.

Every change in the contract and every step made by the collaborators and signers is automatically tracked in Salesforce and available in real-time.

Cost-effective and requires zero development costs.

Cons

If you find any, please let us know.

Features for Salesforce

Digital and Electronic Signatures

Dynamic Signers

Document Tracking

Clicks-only configuration

List views, reports, custom, and standard objects

Lightning components

Verdict

When searching for the best CLM software that integrates seamlessly with Salesforce, only one name will often come up: TITAN.

The best part is that all this can be achieved with live push and pull of Salesforce data using zero code.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

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Disclaimer: The comparisons listed in this article are based on information provided by the companies online and online reviews from users. If you found a mistake, please contact us.