This latest benchmark report by AberdeenGroup demonstrates how Contract Lifecycle Management, once used solely for procurement and supplier contracts, is quickly gaining interest from executives looking to stem the tide of revenue leakage in their sell-side agreements. On average, poor contract management practices cost companies 9 percent of their revenue due to regulatory penalties, missed deadlines, lost sales, long sales cycles, maverick pricing, and transactional errors.

The report provides an in-depth look at sell-side contract management by examining the contract management strategies, procedures, and investment plans of the 189 companies who participated in a 2006 survey. The report also recommends best practice next steps for improving contract management procedures and performance, and highlights key performance benchmarks.

• The percentage of an enterprise's revenue that is dictated by a contract is likely to rise from 56 percent to 68 percent during the next two years .
• 83 percent of respondents said contract lifecycle management is “essential” or “important” to the quote-to-cash cycle.
• 67 percent report a disconnect among the various sales processes, including pricing, proposal creation, negotiation, contract management, as well as order management and invoicing.
• 43 percent face challenges with the lack of standardization of language used in proposals, contracts and service-level agreements ( SLA’s)