The Key Skills You Need to Ensure the Negotiated Contract is Ratified

Jim Bergman

In the world of procurement and contract management, negotiation is only half the battle. The real victory lies in ensuring that the negotiated contract is ratified – formally approved, signed, and implemented without delay or derailment. Ratification is where strategy meets execution, and it demands a distinct set of skills beyond the negotiation table.

Whether you’re working in government, higher education, or industry, here are the essential competencies that ensure your hard-won agreements become binding commitments.

1. Stakeholder Alignment and Influence

Why it matters:  Contracts often require approval from legal, finance, compliance, and operational leaders. Misalignment can stall or sink ratification.

Key skills:

  • Stakeholder mapping and engagement planning
  • Active listening and empathy to surface concerns
  • Framing contract benefits in terms of risk mitigation, ROI, or mission alignment

Tip: Use pre-ratification briefings to build consensus and preempt objections.

2. Legal and Policy Literacy

Why it matters: Ratification hinges on compliance with internal policies and external regulations. A contract that violates procurement thresholds or statutory requirements won’t get signed.

Key skills:

  • Understanding of applicable laws (e.g., FAR, UCC, GDPR)
  • Familiarity with internal approval workflows and delegation of authority
  • Ability to flag and resolve redlines that may trigger legal review

Tip: Maintain a checklist of ratification prerequisites tailored to your sector.

3. Strategic Communication

Why it matters: Ratification is often a political process. The way you present the contract can determine its fate.

Key skills:

  • Executive-level summarization (e.g., one-page contract briefs)
  • Visual storytelling (e.g., risk-reward charts, timeline infographics)
  • Persuasive writing for approval memos and email escalations

Tip: Frame the contract as a solution to a strategic problem, not just a transactional document.

4. Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) System Proficiency

Why it matters: Many organizations rely on CLM platforms to route, review, and approve contracts. Missteps in the system can delay ratification.

Key skills:

  • Workflow configuration and routing logic
  • Metadata tagging for visibility and auditability
  • Integration with ERP or e-signature tools

Tip: Build a ratification dashboard to track contract status, bottlenecks, and turnaround times.

5. Relationship Management and Diplomacy

Why it matters: Ratification often requires navigating competing priorities, egos, and risk appetites.

Key skills:

  • Conflict resolution and negotiation beyond the supplier
  • Building trust with approvers and gatekeepers
  • Knowing when to escalate – and when to wait

Tip: Cultivate allies in legal, finance, and compliance who can champion your contracts.

6. Post-Negotiation Discipline

Why it matters: A contract that’s “almost done” is still not done. Ratification requires follow-through.

Key skills:

  • Deadline management and follow-up cadence
  • Document control and version tracking
  • Closure rituals (e.g., ratification checklist, final approval log)

Tip: Treat ratification as a project with milestones, not a passive outcome.

Final Thoughts

Negotiation may win the deal, but ratification seals it. By mastering these cross-functional skills, procurement and contract professionals can ensure their agreements don’t just sit in draft—they drive value, mitigate risk, and deliver results.

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Published by Jim Bergman

Jim Bergman is a commercial contract professional with global experience spanning the USA, Latin America, UK, Europe, China, South Korea, Japan, India, SE Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. He has worked on a wide range of direct and indirect spend categories in numerous sectors, developing a deep knowledge of services, goods and technology procurement and sales. Across this wide array of commodity and services experience, Jim has found the keys to success in maximizing value for money through customer-supplier relationships founded on innovative category management and strategic sourcing practices, key performance metrics and measures, as well as Total Cost of Ownership principles and collaborative contracting tenets. He has shared his knowledge through advisory engagements, as well as in developing and delivering training programs both on-line and in classrooms, in both open-enrollment and internal environments. Jim has assisted his clients through all phases and steps of contracting, negotiation, strategic sourcing and bidding processes, demonstrating value generation in excess of $250 million. His audiences and clients have included over 7,000 attorneys and commercial professionals students from over 1,000 corporations and public-sector entities.

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