Forrester Total Economic Impact Study Found a 449% ROI for Docusign CLM

Key takeaways:

• The Total Economic Impact™ of Docusign CLM study (2024) estimates that a composite organisation experienced a 449% ROI from Docusign CLM.

• Based on customer interviews, Docusign CLM reduced the time spent generating a new sales contract by 90%.

• Procurement teams reported an 80% decrease in labor costs spent researching business terms for vendor contracts.

• Docusign CLM customers reported an 85% reduction in errors, significant efficiency gains, increased profit due to accelerated revenue, and risk reduction due to improved contract quality.

• CLM’s connected end-to-end platform simplifies agreement work for employees and customers. By removing friction from the contracting process, CLM saves time and offers a better experience.

To help teams study the benefits real customers see from Docusign CLM, we commissioned Forrester Consulting to analyse the technology's broader impact. This post summarises the findings, but you can also download the full Total Economic Impact™ of Docusign CLM study.

Docusign CLM transforms organisations through contract process improvements

Before adopting Docusign CLM, the teams Forrester interviewed didn’t have any tools to connect steps throughout the contracting process. Manual work completed across disconnected systems resulted in problems related to inefficiency, human error, version control, and poor visibility. Teams missed auto-renewal dates and exposed their contracts to unnecessary risks. They agreed to different baseline terms in different agreements, which created new problems as work moved downstream.

At the organisational level, those frustrations increased operational costs, reduced the value of completed contracts, and delayed revenue from new contacts. Employees wasted time manually creating reports that combined information from various technologies. Some contracts went missing because of poor storage practices.

According to the Forrester study, “Interviewees reported that after the investment in Docusign CLM, their organisations saw significant improvements in efficiency, transparency, and compliance across contract management processes.” Their contracts were completed significantly faster and executed earlier. They could even use historical data to improve negotiations with vendors so their terms become more favorable.

Mature customers were using AI functionality in Docusign CLM+ to uncover data-based insights that helped them make more informed decisions. In some cases, CLM+ detected and corrected errors, which reduced costs and strengthened compliance efforts.

Translating better contracting into quantifiable savings

Adopting Docusign CLM improved both the efficiency of the contract process and the quality of the contracts. Together, those gains can create millions of dollars in savings. Here are some of the benefits experienced by the composite organisation:

• Faster contract turnaround: By centralising, standardising, and automating the agreement process, Docusign CLM customers dramatically improved end-to-end contracting speed. The composite customer experienced a 90% reduction in contract generation time, which allows employees to use their time more productively and increase the volume of contracts that they can complete. 

• Accelerated revenue: One of the most straightforward ways to increase profit with contracts is to finish contracts faster and receive revenue sooner. With more contracts getting completed and a shorter turnaround time on each of those contracts, the overall effect is more money today and less pushing revenue recognition back to tomorrow. 

• Reduced risk: When agreement data lives in different locations with varying levels of security, there’s an increased risk of either losing that data or accidentally exposing it to a breach. CLM ensures that contract data lives on a central system, with much better visibility into all the ways the data is connected to other data. It’s an easy way to ensure that the data in your contracts is more consistent, accurate, and secure. 

• Less contract value leakage: Value leakage occurs when suboptimal contract language or execution decreases the total revenue that contracts generate. CLM reduces leakage in a variety of ways such as more uniform contract terms, error reduction from automated data entry, better decision-making from improved visibility, etc.

More enjoyable contracting processes for employees and customers

In addition to the dollar-and-cents impact on an organisation, Forrester explores several other ways in which Docusign CLM created value for customers. A theme running through their findings is that CLM’s ability to connect technologies and processes leads to simpler contract experiences for everyone involved. That simplicity has a powerful effect on the people who perform everyday contracting tasks.

For example, by integrating CLM with other critical business systems, contract creators can save hours of time finding and entering data on new agreements. Once the contract is signed and finalised, data can be pushed back into the CRM or to other systems to deliver on the terms.

CLM also gives teams unprecedented visibility into the contracting process. Since all of the contracting steps take place on a single central platform, any individual with the right permissions can check on the status of a document at any stage in its lifecycle. This can be especially useful for procurement or financial services teams that need accurate details about when a deal will close and when money will officially change hands.

Several of the CLM customers Forrester interviewed mentioned improvements in customer experiences from easier agreement interactions. CLM automates manual contracting steps, and those efficiencies can be passed directly to the customer. Quotes can be generated and approved faster. Information can be auto-filled to reduce paperwork friction. It’s an easy way to show customers that you value their time and have made a commitment to their convenience.

Download the full TEI study

If you want to read more about the impact of a modern contract lifecycle management solution, download The Total Economic Impact^TM of Docusign CLM.