Contract Management Software Demo: What to Look for when Reviewing a CLM?
You’ve finally convinced leadership that your organization needs a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution. The next step? Sitting through vendor demonstrations. But here’s the thing! Watching a CLM demo isn’t like test driving a car. You can’t just kick the tires and trust your gut. These demonstrations represent significant investments in both money, time, and organizational change, so you need to approach them strategically.
Many make the mistake of passively watching demos, mesmerized by flashy features they’ll never use while missing critical functionality gaps that will haunt them later.
This guide will help you become an active, informed evaluator who knows exactly what to look for during a contract management software demo. Whether you’re upgrading from spreadsheets or replacing an outdated system, you’ll learn how to spot the difference between genuine solutions and expensive digital filing cabinets.
Preparing for Your Contract Management Software Demo
Poor contract management practices drain approximately 9.2% of company revenues each year through missed obligations, unfavorable renewals, and compliance failures. That’s real money disappearing into inefficiencies that proper CLM tools can prevent.
The work begins long before you log into that video call or welcome a vendor to your conference room. Smart preparation transforms a generic sales pitch into a conversation and valuable evaluation opportunity that addresses your specific challenges.
Assembling Your Demo Team and Defining Success Criteria
Don’t make the mistake of limiting demo attendance to just legal or IT. A contract management demo affects multiple departments, so include representatives from procurement, finance, sales, and operations. Each brings unique perspectives on contract pain points. Your sales team might prioritize faster contract generation, while finance focuses on payment term tracking and audit trails.
Before scheduling any demos, gather these stakeholders to define what success looks like. Create a scoring rubric that weights features based on your organization’s priorities. Maybe automated approval workflows matter more than AI powered analytics for your current maturity level. Document these priorities so everyone evaluates consistently across different vendor presentations.
Documenting Your Current Workflow and Pain Points
Take time to map your existing contract processes—the good, bad, and ugly. How long does a typical contract take from request to signature? Where do bottlenecks occur? Which manual tasks consume the most time? This baseline helps you evaluate whether a contract software demo shows genuine improvements or just digitizes your existing inefficiencies.
Create a list of your most frustrating contract scenarios. Maybe it’s the scramble to find contracts during audits, or perhaps it’s the manual tracking of hundreds of renewal dates. Bring these real examples to the demo. Ask vendors to show how their system handles your specific situations, not just their prepared “happy path” scenarios.
Critical Elements to Observe During Your CLM Demo
Watching a demo requires active engagement. You’re learning about features, but at the same time, you also need to think about whether this tool will transform or frustrate your team’s daily work.
User Experience and Adoption Potential
This might seem a bit surprising suggestion, but pay attention to how many clicks basic tasks require. If creating a simple NDA involves navigating through 8 different screens, your team won’t embrace the system. The interface should feel intuitive, with logical workflows that mirror how people actually think and do their jobs.
Watch for signs of complexity masquerading as comprehensiveness. Some vendors pack every possible feature into cluttered interfaces that overwhelm users. Others hide critical functionality behind obscure menus. During the demo, note whether you can follow along without constant explanation. If you’re confused during a guided demonstration, imagine how your colleagues will feel using it solo.
Ask about customization options for different user roles. Your legal team needs different dashboards than sales reps or procurement specialists. The system should adapt to each user’s needs without requiring extensive configuration.
Real Time Performance and Response Speed
Vendors often demo their contract management system features with perfect conditions—small datasets, dedicated servers, and no competing users. Push for realistic performance demonstrations. Ask them to search through thousands of contracts, not just a handful. Request that they show bulk operations like updating multiple contract templates simultaneously.
A few question ideas that may shine light on real-world edge case scenarios:
- Can you show me how the system performs when searching across 10,000+ contracts for a specific clause variation?
- What happens to system speed when 50 users are working simultaneously during the end of the month closure?
- Demonstrate bulk updating of obligation dates across 500 contracts. How long does this take?
- Can you upload and process 100 legacy contracts right now and show the AI extraction accuracy rate?
- Show how the system handles generating 200 contracts from templates in a single batch operation.
Vendor Expertise and Demo Customization
The person conducting your demo reveals much about the vendor’s commitment to customer success. Do they understand your industry’s unique contract challenges? Can they speak intelligently about regulatory requirements affecting your sector? Generic demonstrations suggest generic solutions.
Quality vendors customize their demos and should demonstrate workflows using contract types you actually use, not just standard examples. If you’re in healthcare, you want to see physician contracts and BAAs, not generic sales agreements. This customization shows whether the vendor has relevant experience or just good marketing materials.
Contract Lifecycle Management Best Practices in Demo Context
Beyond individual features, evaluate how well the solution embodies proven CLM principles that drive long term success.
AI and Automation Capabilities in Action
Artificial intelligence in CLM has moved beyond buzzword status into practical applications. During demos, look for AI and agentic features that provide genuine value. Watch how the system extracts key terms from uploaded contracts. Does it accurately identify parties, dates, and obligations? Can it flag unusual clauses based on your organization’s standards?
Advanced platforms might demonstrate ensemble LLM approaches that use multiple AI models for better accuracy. For instance, one model might extract clause text while another assesses risk levels, and a third suggests alternative language. This multimodel approach reduces errors compared to single model systems.
Ask vendors to demonstrate their AI training process. Can you teach the system to recognize your unique clause variations? How does it handle your industry’s specialized terminology? The most sophisticated systems learn from your feedback, improving accuracy over time. Request specific examples of how AI reduces manual review time while maintaining accuracy.
Integration Demonstrations and Data Flow
Integration capabilities separate professional CLM platforms from glorified document repositories. Don’t accept static slides showing integration logos. Ask for live demonstrations of data flowing between systems. Watch a contract creation triggered from your CRM, or observe how signed contracts automatically update procurement systems.
Pay attention to error handling during integrations. What happens when systems are temporarily unavailable? How does the platform handle conflicting data between systems? Quality solutions include robust error logging, retry mechanisms, and clear user notifications about sync issues.
Ask about API flexibility for custom integrations. While prebuilt connectors cover common systems, your unique tech stack might require custom connections. Vendors should demonstrate their API documentation and provide examples of custom integrations they’ve built for similar organizations. The goal is seamless data flow that eliminates duplicate entry and reduces errors.
Industry Considerations for Your Contract Management Demo
Different industries face unique contract challenges. Your demo should address these specific requirements, not just generic functionality.
Healthcare and Life Sciences Contract Requirements
The healthcare industry hemorrhages over $150 billion yearly through contract related inefficiencies from missed reimbursement deadlines to credentialing lapses that void provider agreements.
During a healthcare contract management software demo, focus on HIPAA compliance and FDA regulation tracking. The platform must manage physician credentialing alongside contracts, automating alerts for expiring licenses. Ask for demonstrations of BAA management and specialized workflows for clinical trial agreements versus vendor contracts.
You can download our Whitepaper focusing on how a CLM can ease the regulatory challenges of the healthcare industry here.
Manufacturing Contract Management Needs
Manufacturing demos should cover complex supplier agreements with warranty tracking and multi-tier vendor relationships. Focus on international contract capabilities—multiple currencies, languages, and governing laws. Request examples of component pricing with escalation clauses and ERP integration for syncing contract terms with purchase orders.
CPG Industry Demo Focus Areas
CPG companies need high volume contract management for retailers and distributors. Ask vendors to demonstrate trade promotion agreements, rebate tracking, and complex pricing tiers. Evaluate copacking agreement features and seasonal contract management with automated promotional deadline alerts.
Retail Contract Management Demonstrations
Retail CLM must handle vendor agreements and real estate leases efficiently. Focus on lease administration features—rent escalations, CAM charges, and regional expiration dashboards. Request vendor compliance tracking demonstrations, including insurance certificates and diversity certifications, with separate approval workflows for category managers and legal teams.
The Evaluation Phase
After watching multiple demos about the best contract management software, you need a systematic approach to compare options and select the right solution.
Comparing Implementation Approaches and Timelines
The implementation approach often determines project success or failure. Some vendors promise deployment in weeks using prebuilt configurations and templates. Others propose projects requiring several months and extensive customization. Neither approach is inherently wrong, but each suits different situations.
For straightforward implementations, look for vendors offering phased approaches. Start with core functionality for quick wins, then add advanced features over time. This method builds user confidence while delivering early value. Ask vendors to provide detailed project plans showing major milestones and resource requirements from your team.
Evaluate the vendor’s implementation methodology. Do they assign dedicated project managers? What training do they provide? How do they handle change requests during deployment? The best vendors share examples of similar implementations, including what went well and what challenges arose.
Total Cost of Ownership Beyond the Demo
Pricing discussions during demos often focus on license fees while glossing over total costs. Dig deeper into implementation fees, annual maintenance, training costs, and charges for additional users or storage. Some vendors charge extra for “premium” contract lifecycle management software features that others include standard.
Calculate costs over five years, including likely growth. A solution that seems affordable today might become prohibitively expensive as your contract volume doubles. Understand how pricing scales per user, per contract, or flat enterprise fees. Factor in costs for integrations, customizations, and ongoing support.
Consider hidden cost savings from efficiency gains. If the platform reduces contract cycle time by X%, calculate the value of faster revenue recognition. When obligation tracking prevents missed renewals, quantify those retained contracts. These benefits often outweigh pure licensing costs but require realistic projections based on demo observations.
Conclusion
Approaching a CLM demo with preparation and strategic thinking transforms a sales presentation into a valuable evaluation exercise. Focus your evaluation on solving real business problems, not collecting features. The flashiest demo doesn’t always represent the best solution for your needs.
At Malbek, we understand that watching countless demos can be overwhelming. That’s why our demonstrations focus on your actual workflows using your contract types, not generic examples. Our Ensemble LLM approach, which uses multiple AI models working together for better accuracy, means you’ll see real AI value during the demo, not just buzzwords. With implementation in weeks rather than months and a platform built with AI from day one, we’re designed to deliver quick wins while scaling with your growth.
Ready to see how Malbek can transform your contract management? Schedule a personalized demo today and bring your toughest contract challenges. We’re ready to show you real solutions!
