Fast-tracking contract approvals without sacrificing control

We received positive feedback on our 2025 KPI playbook, with requests to dive deeper into the process optimisation side of things. For our first deep-dive, we want to focus on the part that directly impacts senior leadership, with tips and tricks to fast-track the approval and signature of contracts, without cutting corners. 

This aligns perfectly with recent studies that have found an increasing gap between top performing organisations and laggards when it comes to contract cycle times. The gap is now as large as 80% between the two (WorldCC, 2025). 

With Docfield, you’ll stand out amongst the top performers. Take a free trial today and get started. 

The Cost of Slow Contract Approvals

“Executive focus on contract and commercial management is increasing! Almost 50% of organizations report a growth of attention and interest” (WorldCC research, 2025). 

It’s easy for senior leadership to underestimate the cost of sluggish approvals, because it’s hard to quantify. Somewhere in between a frustrated workforce and outright erosion of margins. Here’s some metrics to help you think about the hidden costs of your slow contract approvals. 

• Revenue delay in days: Sales cycles stretch when contracts don’t close on time
• Vendor onboarding delay in days: Delayed contract sign-off pushes vendor start dates by 10–15 business days on average, affecting project timelines.
• Lost deals as % of pipeline: Prospects go cold or competitors swoop in
• Low-value task time in hours per contract: Teams waste hours chasing signatures or digging through inboxes to find the correct version. 

The larger your organisation, the more invisible yet impactful that drag becomes, and the more value you’re leaving on the table. 

Why "Control vs Speed" Is a False Dichotomy

It’s easy to put things into boxes. It’s either this or that. Either we move fast, or we stay in control.

In contracting, these two go hand in hand. You can go fast, because you’re in control. And with the right processes and systems in place, going faster shows is a signal you are more in control, not less. 

What slows down contract approvals isn’t complexity. It’s actually quite easy to define who should approve what, and when. It’s the manual routing, version chaos, and unclear responsibilities that cause drag in the process. Fix those, and the speed follows without losing grip. Systems like Docfield automate this entire process for you. We’ve summarised below our 5 top ways to optimise approval flows. 

5 Ways to Optimise Approval Flows Without Losing Control

1. Set clear approval thresholds
Approval and Signature are not the same thing. Not every contract needs C-level approval (meaning a review is conducted and a deal is evaluated). Define approval logic based on risk, value, or department and automate routing accordingly.

2. Use standardised templates
Templates that are pre-approved by legal reduce review time and ensure compliance from the start. Sales, HR, and procurement should never start from scratch. With Docfield, legal can prevent clauses from being edited and automatically serve others using conditional logic. 

3. Automate the workflow
A modern CLM tool like Docfield can automatically route contracts to the right stakeholders, notify them, and track who’s next. No need to  guess or send reminders manually.

4. Get visibility in real-time
Executives need a bird’s-eye view of where contracts stand — and where they’re stuck. Dashboards make it easy to spot bottlenecks and act fast. 

5. Built-in accountability
Assign clear owners to each step in the process. When everyone knows who’s responsible, approvals don’t slip through the cracks.

What High-Performing Teams Get Right

When your team can trust a structured process that limits ad-hoc re-reviews, jolted decisions, and question marks you are making it easy to collaborate and execute effectively. It is about empowering your teams with the smartest templates, tools that take over low-value task-time, and with complete visibility. CLM tools take out the guesswork, and the legwork for all contracting related workflows. Your team will thank you. 

See also: Cegeka closes deals 2X faster with Docfield. 

Final Thought: Move Fast Because You’re in Control

Contracts are your most valuable and critical documents. They are the code-base on which your organisation runs. They require and deserve structure. But structure shouldn’t slow you down. 

With a streamlined contract workflow, your legal team is an enabler that can proactively steer behaviour and prevent bottlenecks. With a CLM, leadership always has access to the latest, and can execute approvals without requiring further back and forth. 

And you don’t have to choose between speed and control. You get both.