Contract Design Starts With Market Data, Not Markups

For decades, contract design has been reactive. Legal teams drafted templates, sales sent them out, and negotiations spiraled into endless cycles of redlines and markups. The result? Delays, friction, and agreements that often felt more defensive than customer-friendly.

That era is ending. Forward-looking businesses are moving away from reactive edits toward proactive, data-driven contract design. Instead of waiting for buyer pushback, they’re using contract benchmarking and structured contract data to design agreements that are market-ready from the start.

Why Contract Design Needs a Rethink

When contracts start with boilerplate and evolve through redlines, companies lock themselves into risk-averse, seller-biased terms. This slows deals and erodes buyer trust.

But when organizations design contracts with contract data, they build fairness and transparency into the DNA of the agreement. By analyzing contract data requirements lists and benchmarking against thousands of real-world agreements, teams uncover:

• Which terms are standard in the market
• Where their contracts deviate from norms
• How certain clauses affect buyer trust and deal velocity

This approach transforms contracts from legal obstacles into business accelerators.

From Redlines to Market-Backed Confidence

Modern buyers expect more than promises; they want proof. A consumer-friendly terms and conditions contract that has been benchmarked and certified signals fairness and builds immediate confidence.

With TermScout Certify™, companies validate that their agreements meet independent, market-standard benchmarks. This provides both sides with transparency and trust. Certified contracts face fewer objections and close faster.

Meanwhile, Predict™ scores agreements in advance, showing where risks or bottlenecks may appear. This lets sales teams, legal teams, and procurement teams align on strategy before deals stall.

How to Design a Contract That Closes Deals

If you’re wondering how to design a contract that accelerates business instead of slowing it down, the answer is simple: start with the data.

1. Benchmark against the market – Compare your agreements against thousands of live contracts to see what’s standard.
2. Identify high-risk deviations – Use structured contract data to pinpoint clauses that consistently create friction.
3. Normalize terms where possible – Align your agreements with market norms to eliminate unnecessary back-and-forth.
4. Certify fairness and transparency – Leverage independent certification with Certify™ to give buyers confidence.
5. Forecast risks with Predict™ – Prioritize contracts and deals that are more likely to close quickly.

The outcome is not just a more efficient workflow, but a customer-friendly contract that reflects fairness while protecting business interests.

Design Smarter Contracts with Market Data

Stop reacting to redlines. With TermScout’s contract intelligence, you can design contracts that are benchmarked, certified, and ready to close faster.

Why Buyers Prefer Contracts Built on Data

Reactive redlining creates bottlenecks. Proactive, market-data-driven contract design eliminates them.

• Buyers feel reassured when contracts are benchmarked against industry norms.
• Sales cycles shrink because legal reviews focus only on true outliers.
• Legal teams preserve bandwidth by avoiding repetitive clause-by-clause reviews.
• Companies build stronger, trust-based relationships with customers.

In fact, TermScout customers have seen contracts close up to 30% faster by shifting from markups to certified, benchmarked agreements.

Turning Contract Design Into a Strategic Advantage

Contract design is no longer about tweaking templates; it’s about building smarter agreements that set the tone for strong business relationships. By starting with contract intelligence instead of markups, companies gain:

• Faster deal cycles
• Lower legal costs
• Stronger buyer confidence
• Clear, defensible contract standards

Final Thoughts

Contracts are more than legal safeguards—they’re business accelerators. When designed with contract data and certified against the market, agreements create momentum instead of friction.

With TermScout’s Certify™, Predict™, and Contract Intelligence, businesses can transform contracts into customer-friendly, high-conversion tools that drive revenue and trust.

Olga Mack

CEO

Olga is a distinguished legal innovator, executive, and thought leader specializing in the intersection of law, technology, and digital transformation. Currently serving as the CEO of TermScout.