01

Determine your evaluation criteria

Qualifying suppliers is fiddly and multi-step—but making sure you’re getting the right information upfront can reduce back-and-forths and speed up your onboarding process. That means getting tight on what your evaluation criteria includes, which might include:

• Budget
• Testimonials
• Processes
• Organizational information
• Health and safety
• Quality management
• Data protection and privacy
• Environmental and equal opportunity goals
  

02

Standardize information collection in reusable frameworks

Prequalifying suppliers involves collecting a lot of information—so it makes sense to make the collection process as simple as possible.

Instead of asking suppliers to send you a ream of different documents, you can build a templated document that allows suppliers to provide all the essential information by filling out a single form. You can even create a digital supplier onboarding workflow in HelloWorks for free.

Tools like HelloWorks also have in-built data validation, which lets you set rules on text fields in your documents to help you collect more accurate information. That means suppliers won’t miss essential fields.‍

03

Define exactly what passes your evaluation your criteria

Just as important as getting the information you need to assess suppliers is knowing what passes your evaluation. Being clear with everyone involved in supplier decisions on what passes your evaluation criteria and how to test those evaluation criteria—while being realistic about the expected time investment on both your side and your suppliers’ side.

01

Deploy reusable NDA and policy templates

To save time searching for the same information and copying and pasting repeatedly when creating new agreements and policies, you can build templates for common documents that speed up the process significantly.

Using the Dropbox Sign Templates, for instance, you can upload a PDF and then simply click and drag editable fields onto the document—like name, address, and company. That way, every time a new supplier comes along, you already have your agreements and policies ready to go.

02

Make NDAs and policies easy for suppliers to sign

Rather than attaching PDFs to emails and expecting your supplier to figure out how to sign, you can give your suppliers the tools to sign documents fast. Uploading your paper contracts and PDFs into a document storage system like Dropbox or Sharepoint makes them easy to share with prospects. And because these storage tools have in-built eSignature tools, you can add editable fields and send all your documents for signature without ever leaving the interface.

And on your suppliers’ end, they’re presented with everything they need to sign your documents right there in their browser—on any device. Get the full step-by-step here.‍

03

Automate reminders and follow-ups

Rather than wondering if a supplier even got your agreement, many eSignature tools track progress and automate the reminder process. So after you’ve sent a contract to a supplier, you can see whether it’s been opened, when, and if it’s been signed. What’s more, sophisticated eSignature tools send automatic reminders for unsigned contracts, so you don’t have to spend time sending chase emails.

Negotiating with solution service providers

• Set your walk-away price before the deal: Knowing when to walk away from negotiations means you’ll never agree to terms that’ll lose money. It helps to research industry costs so you know where to draw the line.
• Communicate what you’re negotiating over: Letting both sides know which areas you want to discuss means you can get straight down to business and reach an agreement both parties are happier with faster.‍
• Explore opportunities for discounts: If one supplier offers a less comprehensive service you may be able to negotiate a lower price point. But you can also negotiate over things other than price. For example, you might negotiate speedier delivery at no additional cost or additional features.

Negotiating with individual contractors and consultants

• Understand and share the full scope of work: Defining the full scope of work and sharing it with individual contractors and consultants means they can provide accurate costs, and you can both come to negotiations on the same page.    
• Set a clear budget: Researching the market rate for freelances and knowing how much budget you’re willing to spend to complete a job means you won’t overspend or negotiate an unfavorable price. ‍
• Define what is and isn’t negotiable and share it with your team: When everyone is on the same page with what is  negotiable, there are fewer sticking points when it comes to internal approvals.  

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But there are also universal processes you can put in place that will make even the toughest contract negotiations run faster and easier, regardless of who you’re negotiating with.

01

Automate internal approvals

Agreements often need the approval of several parties—heads of departments, the CEO, legal, finance—and coordinating sign-off can be a challenge.

It pays to automate your internal approvals by building a checklist of who exactly needs to review and approve every agreement, and in what order. That way, whenever a new agreement comes through, it goes straight to the relevant party without delay or confusion.

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02

Set deadlines and proactively send reminders

When fast negotiations can mean the difference between a project starting on time or being delayed, the stakes are high. That’s why it pays to put deadlines on negotiation timelines. With Dropbox Sign, you can see track documents that have been sent out for signature, see where they are stuck, and have Dropbox Sign automatically send reminders.

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03

Keep a trail of negotiated terms for future renewals‍

Knowing who compromised on what in initial negotiations can lead to smoother negotiations and renewals down the line.

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01

Send contracts in a way that makes it easy for prospects to sign

Transform your paper contracts and PDFs into fully digital contracts. That way signers aren’t waiting for contracts to arrive in the mail, or caught uploading, signing, exporting, and attaching PDFs.

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And turning contracts and proposals digital is as easy as uploading your existing PDFs, adding signer details, and hitting send with Dropbox Sign. Find out how to sign PDFs fast.

02

Automate your reminders and follow-ups

Rather than waiting and hoping prospects will sign, using Dropbox Sign you can automate the reminder process. After you’ve sent a contract to a prospect, you can track whether it’s been opened, when, and if it’s been signed. What’s more, Dropbox Sign sends automatic reminders for unsigned contracts, so you don’t have to spend time sending chase emails.

01

Create a single source of truth

Better contract management starts by creating a single source of truth where everyone in the supplier onboarding process can access the necessary documents. That way, every time you need to review a supplier contract or find a specific piece of information, you don’t have to go hunting through old email attachments or outdated document versions.

This might be in a shared document like Google Docs or Dropbox paper or, if you’re managing larger multi-document hires, you can manage feedback directly in cloud storage tools like Dropbox.

02

Identify key points of contact

Having a single point of contact who manages all supplier communications can simplify information flows and prevent information silos. In addition, insisting on a dedicated point-person from your supplier can make sure services adhere to the contract and information about change orders are prioritized appropriately.

03

Use secure tools

The security of your contracts should be your number one priority. That starts by ensuring you’re using secure tools to create, share, and send contracts. For instance, Dropbox Sign eSignatures use encryption and store every document in a SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type I, and ISO 27001-certified data center.

04

Practice secure behavior

All the technology in the world can’t protect you from human error. That’s why it’s important to instill secure practices in your employees on top of the tech you deploy. Here are a few security tips to ensure you’re protecting your customers’ information with secure practices:

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• Educate staff on what they can and can’t share with suppliers: Whether it’s customer data, software logins, trade secrets, or financial information, being clear with your employees about what they can and can’t share with your suppliers protects you against security breaches and takes the confusion out of decisions for your employees.
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• Regularly review access permissions: It’s natural that you’ll change suppliers from time to time. But when you do it’s easy to forget to revoke their access to sensitive folders and contract information. Routinely reviewing your permissions can save you from costly privacy breaches and information leakage.
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• Prevent fraud with audit trails: Whether you’re onboarding a new supplier, renewing a contract, or processing a change order, every time you send a contract, it’s at risk of fraud. It’s why you want to use an eSignature tool with built-in audit trails that are tamper-proof and secure.

01

Know your approvers, and their order

With stakeholders and their signing order mapped out, you can automate much of the approval process. Using theDropbox Sign signing order feature, for instance, you can decide who receives contracts for approval and when. And once the first person has given their approval, Dropbox Sign will automatically send it to the next signer.

The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants, for instance, uses built-in Dropbox Sign signing logic to streamline its internal approvals so the right contracts always go to the right people at the right time.

02

Create a system for changes and edits

By centralizing all internal contract reviews in a shared document storage system like Dropbox or Google Drive, instead of relying on email exchanges, all feedback is in one place so you don’t have to search for it.

What’s more, using centralized documents means you can track changes, so you have a trail of what’s changed and who’s changed it. That way, you can easily compare edits when someone has updated details.

03

Know who you’re waiting on

Visibility is key to a fast approval cycle. By sending approvals through software like Dropbox Sign, you can track where an approval is stuck in the internal process and follow up. You can even set up Dropbox Sign to automatically send reminders for unsigned documents.