CLM Hub:

Your Essential Guide

Choosing a Contract Intelligence solution is a big decision. This hub provides the content you need to evaluate the market, build your business case and ensure successful deployment.​

Explore our CLM Hub

Choosing a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution is a big opportunity for your business, but how should you begin? Let’s dive into the key CLM essentials you need to know.

Contract review software: ultimate guide

The ultimate guide to contract summaries

The ultimate guide to contract analysis

Contract management checklist: your guide to evaluating software

Contract automation: the ultimate guide

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) benefits

The challenges of contract lifecycle management (CLM)

The contract lifecycle management (CLM) process

Considerations for a successful CLM implementation

Best contract lifecycle management (CLM) software

How contract lifecycle management (CLM) works

10 contract lifecycle management (CLM) best practices

What is a CLM?

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is the management of a business’ contracts covering all parts of the contract journey, from creation, to review, to analysis, to renewal.



Implementing a robust CLM strategy can greatly benefit businesses by improving efficiency, reducing legal and financial risks and accelerating business revenue.

See how Summize works

Our selling points focused on the organization we’d achieve, the access Summize would provide, the single place where the business could get all of the resources, where they could in one place submit a request, all the visibility that it also provided, and the transparency was huge!

Lee Dorman
Contracts Administrator

What is the 
CLM process?

Even though each contract and each business is different, the contract lifecycle can be quite similar in terms of the process.



To help you understand the most common CLM process, we have put together the six stages of contract lifecycle management. From creation, to execution, to reporting.



Learn more about all six stages of the CLM process.

Learn more

What are the CLM benefits?

Reduced risk

Enable your sales team to close deals faster with easy contract creation and requests, all without leaving Salesforce.

Faster revenue generation

CLM software reduces legal bottlenecks, helps sales teams self-serve and ultimately accelerates the contract sales-cycles, enabling sales teams to close deals faster.

Uncovered key data

The best CLM tools reveal hidden data, helping stakeholders uncover patterns, assess risks and identify opportunities, empowering them to make informed business decisions driven by insights.

We've managed to close deals about 40% faster, and we've shaved the deal length down to 4 months from 8 months. So, the business is loving us right now.

Summize customer, Martin Cotterill of Thought Machine
Martin Cotterill
General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Thought Machine

What is the best CLM software?

The once underserved market of CLM is now overflowing with vendors, all with a different approach. Seeing a huge range of features can make you want them all, even if they are not the most useful or necessary for your team.

We've narrowed down the best contract lifecycle management software on the market, to help you identify the essential features you should consider in your search for your 
CLM solution.

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Considerations for a successful CLM implementation

CLM implementation is a process that requires strategic foresight and careful execution. From understanding how your chosen CLM provider executes your implementation plan, to making sure your entire business is prepared.

Learn more about how to avoid common pitfalls in your CLM implementation and gather expert tips for a successful contract management rollout.

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Frequently Asked Questions

View all
  • What does CLM mean?
  • What is the purpose of CLM?
  • What is CLM software?
  • Who uses CLM?
  • 5/5
    “Summize Centralizes Contracts and Streamlines Legal Request Submissions”
    Danielle M.
    07/27/2026
    5/5
    “Smooth Implementation and Always-There Support”
    Verified User in Package/Freight Delivery
    07/13/2026
    4.5/5
    “AI-Native Platform with Great Reporting, HubSpot Integration, and Smooth Onboarding”
    Verified User in Computer Software
    07/10/2026