How I successfully chose a CLM tool

Choosing the right CLM tool can make or break your legal function’s efficiency.

When I was building a legal team from scratch at a fast-growth tech company, I knew we needed a solution for our growing contract volume - but I also knew that rushing the purchase would be a costly mistake.

The legal tech landscape has evolved dramatically since I first wrote about this experience.

The explosion of generative AI has transformed what's possible in contract management, and we now have numerous point solutions targeting specific contract pain points.

However, this guide assumes you've already determined that you need a comprehensive, end-to-end CLM platform rather than a collection of point solutions.

Here's exactly how I approached the CLM selection process and successfully implemented a tool that transformed how our legal team operated 👇

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🔹 Didn't buy the tech first 

The golden rule when buying any legal tech is to map the people first, then the processes, and only then buy the tool. I didn't even think about buying CLM until I first figured out who would manage it internally. This meant identifying not just who would be the system administrator, but also understanding who would be the primary users. Then I mapped out exactly which processes needed to be replaced with automation and AI.

🔹 Audit first 

You must first do an audit of your business pain points, what they are currently costing the business and why legal tech will fix all this. Aka a business case! Mine were:

• Order form control: previously created in Xero (an accounting tool!), anyone could put anything in them regarding pricing and legal terms.

• Intake and versioning chaos: no standardised way to receive contract requests.

• Silos: needed a tool to integrate contract management from opportunity level through to execution in DocuSign.

• Speed: all the above were slowing down deal closures, directly impacting revenue.

• No repository: no centralised place to track contract obligations or renewal dates.

🔹 Consensus-building 

You must have buy-in and support from the right internal stakeholders otherwise you won't successfully select or implement CLM. I worked closely with Revenue Operations, deal desk and finance who shared the business pain points I had identified. These stakeholders became champions for the project, helping with user adoption.

🔹 Vendor scorecard 

I turned our business pain points into a CLM scorecard with (1) non-negotiables and (2) nice-to-haves. I needed:

• Out-of-the-box integrations (SFDC to DocuSign)

• Digitised contracts to get away from email + Word

• One-stop Legal shop to service the business

• Controlled Versioning

• Back-end Repository to store contracts with searchable metadata and obligation tracking.

🔹 AI Considerations 

When evaluating modern platforms, you'll need to consider AI capabilities that weren't available when I first went through this process. Key questions to ask:

• AI Transparency: How does the AI make decisions, and can you audit its recommendations?

• Data Security: How is your contract data used to train AI models and what are the privacy implications?

• AI Accuracy: What's the error rate for clause extraction or risk scoring, and how do you validate results?

• Human Oversight: Can you maintain appropriate human review and approval processes while leveraging AI efficiency gains?

• Integration: How will this complement existing AI tools in your legal function? Don't be swayed by "shiny" features; the fundamentals remain the same - focus on your actual needs first.

🔹 Structured Evaluation Process 

We conducted demos with approximately eight vendors. This gave us a comprehensive view of the market and helped us understand what was possible within our budget range. After initial demos, only two vendors made it to the final stage for technical deep-dives, reference calls, and pilot testing. I sat down with internal stakeholders and we made the final decision together. This collaborative approach ensured everyone felt heard and bought into the final choice.

Choosing a CLM tool is one of the most impactful decisions you'll make for your legal function.

Take the time to do it right.

The extra time invested in proper selection pays dividends in implementation success, user adoption, and long-term value delivery.

Your future self will thank you for taking a strategic approach rather than rushing into the first shiny tool that catches your eye!

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