Are you an operator looking for a solution that can help with sorting through your many contracts to determine which are in need of renewal?
Our clients are always looking to increase efficiency. Purchasing executives are required to do more with less, leaving them with more responsibilities and less time. InsideTrack offers services that save our clients time, including negotiating direct contracts, implementing contracts into distribution, monitoring contract compliance, and reviewing contract impact analyses.
Think of the InsideTrack tool as a giant filing cabinet for all your contracts. Contracts that are in need of renewal, or coming up for renewal, are all housed in one place.
Contract Renewal Report
The InsideTrack Contract Renewal Report gives operators the flexibility to search, not only by contract name, contract owner, and start and end dates, but you can also search by manufacturer, distributor, and vendor. The Contract Renewal Report shows you contracts that have either expired or coming up for renewal. InsideTrack alerts you when contracts are coming up for renewal. You will be sent an alert 30 or 60 days prior to renewal. These alerts can be set up as an automated reminder.
Once your search completes, a quick snapshot of the items you ordered under the specific contract will appear. The report looks at everything that an operator is buying from a manufacturer that’s covered in the current deal. It also highlights items that are not covered by identifying which items being purchased by the manufacturer are not on the contract.
Operators are also able to invite other users within their organization. This is especially helpful if you have multiple people working on the same contract. Once the new user is invited, they receive a new workflow chat and can jump right into the contract workflow process. No matter the role, the added user will be kept in the loop. The great thing about this feature is if you switch users or contacts within your organization who were working on that contract, all that previous history is all in one place and easy to locate.
Once the contract is ready, the manufacturer receives a notification in their email that will allow them to open the workflow chat and start negotiating back and forth with the operator.
During our recent InsideTrack Contract Renewal Report Master User Group session, we sat down with Shelle Heaton, Vice President, Procurement Services at San Manuel Casino. She provided insight on how her team at San Manuel Casino has been able to benefit from the Contract Management Tool.
Q: What part of the Contract Renewal Report does your team rely on the most?
I would have to say the reminders.
Q: How has the Contract Management Tool helped your team stay organized?
By centralizing all the contracts and documents in one place. Before this tool, we were using white boards. Now, contracts are easily accessible to pull up and see what is and what’s not covered and when things are expiring.
Q: How has the Contract Management Tool streamlined communication for your team with manufacturers?
By giving my team instant access to communicate directly with the person who put the manufacturer deal together. We can simply pull up the chat with the manufacturer and have instant communication with them. Having access to the entire chat history eliminates having to sort through hundreds of emails.
Q: Do you negotiate contract with manufacturers?
Yes! I can send renewal reports directly to the manufacturer to get new items added and begin negotiating with them through the contract workflow.
Q: What is something that you feel people in your position should know about the Contract Management Tool?
The amount of money and time it saves my team. The volume of hours that are saved with the autogenerated reports that go to my team members and the process of adding new items to contracts.
Q: Is there anything else you want to add regarding your experience and use of the Contract Renewal Report?
I have been fortunate enough to work with the InsideTrack team for many years. I’ve been able to use the tool for things like price audits, contract pricing, review of proposals from vendors, and contract negotiation from a bigger broadline perspective. Just to be able to take those proposals and have InsideTrack expertise to be able to tell me what’s right and what I should be able to push back on, compared to the rest of the industry, what’s out there, and what looks right or not. It’s nice to have that expertise and second set of eyes to give me the right information. There has definitely been occasions where my team does not have the time to go and manage the RFP’s. Having the ability to hand over RFP’s to the InsideTrack tool, we’ve been able to get stuff done on an extremely professional level is very helpful.
Here is some added insight from the InsideTrack team:
Is the Contract Renewal Report for included in when I already pay for InsideTrack?
The Contract Renewal Report is one of the suite of services InsideTrack offers. Operators can sign up for the feature with an added cost – it depends on what agreement they have in place. Speaking with an InsideTrack team member first is the way to go.
If I send a renewal through the portal, what email address does it display and how will the vendor know its specifically from me?
Vendors will receive an email from InsideTrack that will include the contact persons name.
How will an operator know if a particular manufacturer is set up to work within the tool – do they have to have access to InsideTrack to use it?
No, the notification goes right to their inbox. For example, the manufacturer will get a message in their email where they can open it which pops the chat. Chats are tied to each individual contract. When the manufacturer opens the chat, it will be specifically for that contract being discussed. They will not have access to all of your contract chats.
Does the software keep the renewal terms of the contracts to make sure nothing is missed or is that something the operator will need to upload?
InsideTrack received the contract and sets the date range as well as the autogenerated reminders before the contracts expire. We will then be able to notify the operator on a monthly, quarterly or yearly contract from 30, 60, or 90 days prior to the contract expiring.
We’d love to work with you to develop a purchasing and spend intelligence solution that provides savings and insights for your operation. Contact us today and set up a consultation.
