Scaling Client Contracting at a Global Business With Ease

Leading organizations across every industry are transforming the way that they do business to be more connected and digital. For many, these efforts have led them to modernize the way they sign and execute contracts with tremendous results. However, the lifecycle before and after signature tends to be largely ignored and often managed through manual processes.

Having a robust contracting system in place can help global businesses scale comfortably—even during abnormal times. Take Heidrick & Struggles, for example. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and many employees were catapulted into working from home, the executive search giant saw quarter-after-quarter growth—as companies everywhere appointed a record number of CEOs.

Using DocuSign CLM, Heidrick was able to manage that steady growth with ease.

DocuSign CLM streamlines every step in the agreement process—automating complex tasks while increasing visibility for users across all departments.

Here are a few takeaways from our talk with the firm’s VP of Business Operations:

DocuSign CLM and Salesforce are a winning combination 

Heidrick had been using DocuSign eSignature to streamline internal processes, but there were still lots of documents being passed back and forth between the firm and its clients. With CLM, Heidrick took efficiency to the next level by giving hundreds of sales users the ability to generate contracts from the tool they spend a big chunk of their day in: Salesforce.

Integrating CLM with Salesforce eliminated a lot of heavy lifting for sales reps—like manual data entry—while saving time and reducing errors. Now, sales users can initiate proposals and contracts directly from the opportunity in Salesforce and submit them to the right people for review with a simple click of a button.

After streamlining the end-to-end agreement process—including contract generation, approvals, storage and ongoing management—DocuSign adoption really took off. “We saw a massive jump in the number of agreements going out to clients through DocuSign,” Baderman said.

Visibility and flexibility are everything

One of the many downfalls of manual agreement processes: They’re incredibly difficult to track. With CLM, “it’s crystal clear who’s holding the baby, so to speak,” Baderman said. 

Sales users and other stakeholders can see exactly where agreements are in the approval process right from Salesforce or DocuSign—and make changes to the workflow on the fly. If a contract is stalled because someone’s out, for example, it can easily be routed to a delegated signer or reviewer. “Practical things like that have been very useful because we’re looking to turn approvals around as quickly as possible,” said Baderman.

Faster agreement flows=faster time to revenue

Another added benefit for Heidrick is accelerated time to revenue. Previously, when a client would send a signed agreement back via email or post, an executive assistant at the firm had to manually attach it to the Salesforce record and inform the contract administration team. With CLM, that workflow happens entirely without human touch. Contracts automatically flow into Salesforce as soon as they’re signed—and the team is alerted when it can commence with billing.

A center of excellence can grow the value of CLM 

Transformation is a journey. It takes a village—or at least a team of champions—to manage things like prioritizing the roadmap, building out support and enablement plans—and, most importantly, serving as a hub for best practices. Heidrick created a DocuSign Center of Excellence to help ensure a meaningful implementation across the organization—while making it easier to replicate its success as it expands.

Read the full Heidrick & Struggles DocuSign success story.