Improve Efficiency with Energy Contract Management

Managing energy contracts and renewals is a core function of an energy brokerage. Energy Contract Management from Edge enhances the value you deliver.

 

Maintain Customer Relationships and Increase Efficiency

Searching for customer contracts among several electronic and manual filing systems?

Energy Contract Management from Edge organizes all of your customer contract data into an easy-to-use application. Visual reporting and dashboards will also help your sales team identify renewal opportunities. Manage your energy customer contracts with simplicity:

 

  • Store critical contract information such as start dates, end dates, and margins

  • Upload electronic copies of customer contracts and assign them to specific customer accounts

  • View contracts by utility, state, supplier, and sales agent

  • See upcoming renewal opportunities in a single dashboard

 
 

And did we mention that Contract Management fully integrates with CRM?
Now you can fully manage your energy broker business from anywhere.

Energy Contract Management Features

Contracts

Never forget an energy customer contract again.

  • Centralized application with all customer contract data.

  • View specific terms, price, end dates, and margin.

  • Download and store contract copies directly in Edge.

Renewals

Retain your customers with contract renewals.

  • See contracts that are due for renewal.

  • Send contract data for renewal pricing.

  • Click and send contract renewals to customers.

Pending Renewals

Identify future market opportunities with pending renewals.

  • See a timeline of all future contract expiration dates.

  • Identify pricing opportunities for future-dated contracts.

  • Deliver value to customers through reduced renewal rates.

Contract Groups

Manage multi-location customers with contract groups.

  • Group customer contracts by customer or location.

  • Stay organized when managing national customers.

  • Impress your customers with detailed contract data reporting.

 

Competitor Contracts

Win new opportunities with competitor contract data.

  • Store competitor contract data on prospects.

  • Identify pricing opportunities that beat existing competitor rates.

  • Give your sales team the tools they need to stay organized.

 

Contract Management Tips & Facts

What Is a Contract Management System?

A contract management software system is a program that aids companies in the creation, storage, and management of their contracts. The program is useful for both large and small businesses alike.


Contract management software systems are used by many different types of businesses. These businesses include manufacturing companies, which use them to keep track of their supply chain, financial institutions, which use them to manage their client's contracts, and service companies, which use contract management software to keep client data organized.A contract management system is a way for you to manage all of your contracts in one place. You can use it to track your contracts, make changes, sign documents, and automate a lot of the tedious elements of managing contracts. Here are some of the important elements of a good contract management system:

Customer Contact Information

All contract management systems have a way of storing the important details related to your client, that signed the contract. This information is typically signer name, title, email address, phone number, organization name, address, and more. Some systems that also function as CRMs will tie the contract to a specific customer that lives in the CRM application.

Contract Term Data

Another important feature of a contract management system is to store the pertinent data related to the contract terms. In many industries, client contract terms are standard with a few variables. Data points such as contract start date, contract end date, contract length, contract price, and contract payment terms are critical pieces of information to track for reporting and billing.

Contract Storage

Furthermore, many contract management software programs are cloud-based and offer document management solutions. Most systems integrate with existing cloud storage applications such as Google Drive and DropBox. Other systems offer proprietary document storage that lives on the software’s server application. Either way, document storage gives you easy access to copies of customer contracts and helps you to stay organized.

ERIC SCHMIDT, CHAIRMAN AT GOOGLE

“There were 5 exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every two days.”

 

How a Contract Management System Can Promote Organization On Your Team

As a business owner, you know how important it is to keep your team organized. You want to make sure everyone on your team is working in the best way possible, and that everyone is on the same page when it comes to what the company's goals are.

But how do you ensure that everyone stays organized? How do you get everyone on the same page so they're working together, not just in their own little corners?

The answer is contract management software. Contract management software helps keep your team organized by making sure every member of your team has access to all of your contracts and can see who signed them and when. By using contract management software, you can ensure that all of your employees have access to all of the contracts they need at any time.

Contract management software also helps keep your team organized because it helps to keep track of all of your customer contracts, so you can make sure that everyone who needs to be notified about an upcoming contract renewal or deadline gets the message loud and clear. There are several important features to look for in a contract management system if you plan on using it for your internal team:

User Permissions

First, it is important that your contract management system has some sort of user permission settings. Remember, your entire team should not be able to access all company records, unless you expressly want them to. User permissions allow you to limit access to certain customer contracts and records based on individual users.

Contract Dashboard

Another important aspect of a contract management software program is a dashboard users can interact with that allows them to easily visualize tasks and important data. A well-structured dashboard can help your team to save time and become more efficient.

Detailed Reporting

Finally, reporting is crucial for your contract management systems. You may need to run reports for the billing department or the executive team. In addition, customers may ask for a list of their contracts by location. Good reporting allows you to accomplish all of these tasks with ease.


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Contract Management Software and Reporting

Contract management systems are ideal for managing customers across multiple locations. If you service national clients or clients that have multiple facilities, a good contract management system is critical. Here are some of the reports you should be able to generate from your customer data to help better manage your multi-site clients:

  • Contract data by client site location

  • Contract data by state or region

  • Master view of contract data across all locations

 

Contract Management Efficiency Tips

Using a contract management system to organize your customer data, understand your receivables, and renew customers can be the cornerstone to a successful business. Here are some great tips for improving efficiency when it comes to contract management

Keep It Uniform.

It is important to track the same data for each customer so that you can easily sort your contracts and gain valuable insights.

Keep It Simple.

Try not to track too many data points. Keep it simple. Track the most important aspects of your customer contracts.

Understand Your Metrics.

It is important to understand what is most important to you. Is it the contract expiration date, total value, or something else? Understanding key customer contract metrics can make managing your business easier.

Energy Broker Contract Management Systems

Why Use An Energy Broker Contract System?

As an energy broker, your customer contracts are key to your business’s revenue. Each contract represents a certain number of utility accounts and income potential. It is critical that you have a system in place to manage your customers’ contracts so that you do not miss out on income opportunities. 

Furthermore, energy brokers and consultants bring value to the energy supply chain through service. In addition to finding their customers favorable rates from energy providers, brokers are also responsible for helping to manage their customers’ accounts. When a customer calls and asks a question about a specific location or needs a copy of a supplier agreement, it is important to have quick access to this information. A contract management system will help you to better serve your customers. 

Additionally, customer retention is the key to any successful energy brokerage business. Knowing when to renew customers is the mark of intelligent energy management professionals. An energy broker contract management system can help you to time renewals with market opportunities so that you can offer lower rates to your customers and keep them on service with you!

How Energy Brokers Can Best Use a Contract Management System

There are several ways to implement a contract management system into the operations of your energy brokerage. By doing so, you can increase your operational efficiency, win more renewals, and provide a higher level of service to customers. Here are some of the ways energy brokers can utilize contract management:

Renewal Data

Energy brokers can utilize contract management to run reports on expiring customer contracts. Let's assume there is a market opportunity six months into the future based on how natural gas prices are trading today. Contract reporting will allow you to see all of your customers that have contracts expiring in six months. This presents an opportunity to contact these customers and present them with an attractive offer.

Revenue Forecasts

In addition, an energy contract management system can help brokers understand their accounts receivable. Since energy brokers are paid on customer energy consumption and contract margin, a management system can help you forecast your anticipated receivables well into the future. Maybe you want to invest in new marketing campaigns but do not know if you can afford it. Simply run an accounts receivable aging report from your contract management system to get your answer!


 

“Keeping track of current contracts is a key part of our business. Since going onto the Edge platform we haven’t missed a renewal yet and have grown our book 25%. Thanks Edge team, for your knowledge and great service.”

—PJM Broker

Generic Contract Management Systems vs. EDGE

Yes, there are several contract management systems on the market that can be tailored to meet your needs. These systems, however, are not specific to the energy broker industry and were not designed with energy brokers in mind. Here are some of the benefits to utilizing Edge over a generic contract management system:

Cost to Customize

Generic contract software programs must be customized to suit your needs. Larger systems like SalesForce can cost tens of thousands of dollars to customize.

Nuances of Retail Energy

Unlike many other business sectors, the retail energy industry has its nuances. Whether it is varying supplier payment terms or contracts with future start dates, energy can be complex. Generic systems, even when customized, cannot meet the unique needs of the energy broker sector.

Edge Was Built For Brokers

The Edge On Demand contract management system for energy brokers was designed and developed with the energy broker in mind. In fact, our system is only utilized by retail energy professionals to manage their customers’ energy supply contracts. With that said, Edge’s functionality meets the needs of the niche retail energy market.

How Technology Is Changing The Retail Energy Sector

Technology is changing the way we do business throughout the world, and although the retail energy sector might be lagging, it is no different. Energy brokers who take advantage of technology have an unfair advantage over those who do not.

Overview

The retail energy industry has been late to adopt technology as a way of transacting business. Many energy brokers and suppliers still process energy quotes and contracts via the telephone and email. As technology continues to develop and grow, the retail energy industry is beginning to transform. Today, there are online energy brokers who allow residential and small commercial customers to transact with suppliers on their websites. Other brokers are implementing reverse-auction functionality where suppliers bid on customer contracts in real-time. As this industry continues to evolve, it is important to be positioned for success with the right technology.

Workflows

An energy broker software application, like Edge, allows brokers to be at the forefront of this technological revolution. Not only does a system like Edge allow brokers to replace manual processes with automated workflows, but it also streamlines the broker-supplier relationship. Applications such as Edge’s RFP enables brokers to submit custom price requests to multiple suppliers with the click of the mouse. On the other end, suppliers can turn around price quotes directly in the Edge system, allowing brokers to manage opportunities from a single dashboard.

Utility Data

Furthermore, access to utility systems such as the Eligible Customer List (ECL) has given brokers an unprecedented opportunity to create prospect lists, confirm customer utility data, and structure pricing. Edge’s ECL application is another example of how technology can transform the way you transact business. In the current climate, finding the lowest rates for your customers is paramount. Utilizing the ECL, Edge clients can automatically calculate load-factor to determine the best way to quote a customer.

Payments

Additionally, many energy brokers have commission pay structures in place to pay agents, channel partners, sales employees, and referral partners. Trying to manually reconcile supplier commission payments while figuring out who to pay is an operational nightmare. Systems like Edge allow energy brokers to process commissions automatically. Not only will our system identify errors in supplier commission statements, but it will also calculate multiple levels of sales commissions based on your pre-set parameters.