Are You Making These 5 Contract & Sales Mistakes?

Let’s be honest contract management and sales are the backbone of any thriving business. But even the most experienced teams can trip up over the same painful mistakes, often without even realising it. These missteps don’t just cause the odd headache; they can quietly stall your growth, erode trust, and cost you real money. So, are you making any of these five costly contract management and sales errors? Let’s take a closer look.

1. Relying on Outdated Spreadsheets

If your team is still tracking customer contracts on spreadsheets or, worse, digging through email threads to find the latest versions, you’re not alone. But this “old school” approach opens the door to errors, missed renewals, and inconsistent terms.

Take, for example, a mid-sized software company I worked with last year. Their sales team lost track of key contract expiry dates, leading to sudden lapsed services for several longstanding clients. The fallout? Frantic calls, rushed discounts to appease angry customers, and a dent in their reputation. Once they moved to an automated contract management system, they saw a marked drop in missed renewals and even managed to spot upsell opportunities they’d previously overlooked.

Actionable tip: Invest in a dedicated contract management platform that offers reminders, version control, and easy document retrieval. This way, your sales team can focus on building relationships, not wrestling with admin.

2. Neglecting Clear Contract Ownership

Who actually owns each contract? If your answer is “the sales team, I suppose,” you might have a problem. Without clear responsibility, contracts can fall through the cracks—especially when staff move on or roles change.

A real-world case: An engineering firm had several key contracts tied to a single sales manager. When she left, her replacement had no idea where to find the details or what obligations were outstanding. The confusion delayed project kick-offs and let a couple of lucrative clients slip away.

Actionable tip: Assign contract ownership explicitly—ideally, to a specific individual or role. Make sure all contract details are accessible in a shared system, not buried in personal folders or inboxes.

3. Failing to Standardise Terms and Templates

Every time your team draws up a new contract from scratch, you’re inviting inconsistencies and potential legal headaches. Non-standard terms can lead to disputes or even unintentional breaches.

I recently spoke with a marketing agency that had three versions of their client agreement floating about, each with slightly different payment terms. The result? One client paid late every month, convinced they had an extra 30 days. Sorting out the confusion cost the agency both time and goodwill.

Actionable tip: Develop clear templates for your most common contracts. Get legal to review them, and ensure everyone uses the latest version. This protects your business and speeds up negotiations.

4. Overlooking Performance Clauses and KPIs

It’s easy to focus on the headline numbers—total contract value, upfront fees—and forget about the nuts and bolts that drive success. Without specific performance measures written into contracts, you’ll struggle to hold either party accountable if things go awry.

Picture a managed services provider who failed to include service-level agreements (SLAs) in half their client contracts. When response times slipped, clients had little recourse, and the provider found it difficult to justify their own performance. In contrast, contracts with clear KPIs allowed for better conversations and even upsell discussions.

Actionable tip: Make sure each contract includes measurable outcomes—whether it’s delivery deadlines, response times, or quality metrics. Review these regularly with your clients to keep everyone on track.

5. Ignoring Post-Sale Contract Management

Too many teams treat contract signing as the finish line rather than the starting point of the relationship. Neglecting ongoing management means you’re likely to miss renewal dates, upsell chances, and potential risks.

For example, a SaaS company I know missed the chance to renew a three-year client simply because no one tracked the contract end date. The result? The client quietly moved to a competitor, and the sales team only realised weeks later.

Actionable tip: Treat contract management as a continuous process. Set reminders for key dates, schedule regular check-ins, and keep communication lines open with clients throughout the contract lifecycle.

Wrapping Up

Contract management and sales mistakes can creep in unnoticed, but their impact is anything but subtle. By ditching spreadsheets, clarifying ownership, standardising templates, including clear KPIs, and actively managing contracts post-sale, you can protect your growth plans and build stronger customer relationships. Take a hard look at your own processes are you making any of these mistakes? A few simple changes could make a world of difference. Try Contrax