Learn how to create a workflow for effortlessly setting up new vendors & contract in Gatekeeper
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Estimated Read Time: 8 Minutes
Estimated Configuration Time: 15 - 60 Minutes
Sections in this Article
Additional Configuration Steps
Getting Started - How to start using your new workflow
The Workflow - Introduction & Demonstration
This workflow can be leveraged to streamline and automate the addition of vendor records & users to your Gatekeeper repository
The Touchless™ Form will allows your new vendors to self-register while previewing and agreeing to your contractual terms (in this case, that contract being an NDA)
For an introduction to this feature, see our webinar:
This workflow is designed to remove the administrative burden of getting new Vendors added to your Gatekeeper repository by:
a) Shifting some of this burden onto the vendors, and
b) Leveraging our AI Autobuild solution to pre-populate key vendor metadata
So now, you and your users can save time filling out forms and speed up the time it takes for you to begin new partnerships!
Not only that, but this workflow will handle the automatic generation of a initial contract document so you can rest assured that - during any further discussions & negotiations with your new vendor - they have reviewed and agreed to your initial contracting terms
💡 In this article, those "initial contracting terms" take the form of an NDA
However, you are free to use this workflow for any other template agreement of your choice like a Terms of Service, Code of Conduct, DPA etc.
Example Demonstration of a new NDA Request
Workflow Diagram: XML / PDF
🛠 Configuring the Workflow 🛠
To configure the whole workflow in one sitting, you can watch the below video
Otherwise, you can read the subsequent chapters where all of the steps have been broken up into smaller steps....
Adding the Template Workflow
Step 1) Head to the Workflows page
Step 2) Hit Add > Workflow Template
Step 3) Select the Touchless NDA Request Template
Step 4) If necessary, amend the new workflow's Title
For example, If you prefer to call these CDA's (Confidentiality Disclosure Agreements) or are using the workflow for a different contract type
Step 5) Hit ✅ Create
🛠 Mandatory Configuration Steps 🛠
Configure your Contract Template
Part 1 - Adding the contract Template
Step 1) Head to Settings > Configuration > eNegotiate Contract Templates
Step 2) Hit Add > MS Word Template
Step 3) Use the Handlebar Instructions document to set up all the sections of your template's dynamic/configurable content in Microsoft Word
Step 4) Once finished, upload your MS Word template as the Document file along with the other values (like Title & Contract Type)
Set Status to Live to make the template available for use in your workflow
Step 5) Hit ✅ Save to store this template
For a full Walkthrough guide showing how to create this template, see our below article:
Part 2 - Add a Contract Template PDF Preview
To enable the Contract Preview within the touchless request form, a PDF Document needs to be uploaded to the eNegotiate Template
This is also required to enable the form requestor decisions to either "Suggest changes" or "Proceed to eSign"
Step 1) Still in the eNegotiate Contract templates screen, click to open your NDA
Step 2) Hit View Test Template
Step 3) After this PDF Preview downloads, hit Edit
Step 4) Upload this newly-downloaded PDF for the PDF Document option & hit ✅ Save
Part 3 - Selecting this template in the Workflow
Step 1) Head to the 📄 AutoCreate NDA Draft 📄 phase and hit Edit this Phase
Step 2) Navigate to the Actions tab
Step 3) Alongside AutoAction | Generate Draft from Contract, hit Edit AutoAction Values
Step 4) Alongside NDA, choose the new template you have just created
Step 5) Hit ✅ Save
Set the ⚙️ AutoAction default values
Within the AutoAction: Create Contract, set the default values for Category*, Entity & Team - these are mandatory metadata items to store a valid contract record in your Gatekeeper Repository
💡 Internal Owner can also have a "backup" value set in case personalised links have not been configured
*If you wish to eventually leverage the RBAC for ALL use case, it is advisable to create a new Contract Category called "Confidentiality Agreements" and use this in the above AutoAction field settings!
🛠 Additional Configuration Steps 🛠
Add Personalised Links
To enable the selection of variable "Internal Contract Owners", Personal links can be created so that - when new vendors initiate an NDA request - the forms can be linked back to specific users who prompted the request
Apply/Amend your Company Name
The name of the Start Phase will appear at the top of the form being initiated by suppliers. Changing it to your own company name is useful to add reassurance that the supplier is in the right place! (See Editing a Phase)
Similarly, the Vendor | Draft Review notification email sent to suppliers can include your Company Name in the Email Subject line (See Configuring Workflow Notifications)
Branding: Form Header Logo
(see Branding)
This logo will appear at the top of the form being initiated by suppliers. If this is not set, the Gatekeeper logo will be the only one visible and suppliers expecting to complete a contract for your organisation may be confused!
If you do not have access to the Branding sidebar menu option, you can reach out to your CSM for assistance in updating the branding for your tenant
Create/Assign Workflow Groups (see Creating WF Groups)
For the Internal | Draft Review phase, it may be necessary to set a default responsible party in case the contract owner is not appropriate to assign for legal discussions
Legal or Contract Management Teams are usually recommended here
eSign: Internal vs External Signers (see Workflow eSign)
If the eNegotiate template being used is a pre-signed version, "External eSign Only" can be selected within the eSign action to only request signature from the supplier user
Remove "I'd Like to Suggest Changes" option
Depending on the Vendors you usually deal with, you may encounter the problem that many of our clients do:
"If we give our vendors the option to suggest changes, they may think it's expected and create more work for me!"Especially if you are using a pre-signed template & you want to avoid vendors making updates to your NDA, you can remove their ability to hit "I'd like to suggest changes", effectively mandating that they agree to your standard NDA terms
Enable Supplier | Draft Review "Reject" option
(see Configuring eNegotiate)
By default, the ability for a supplier user to Reject a draft during the revision cycle has been removed because it can be seen as "unproductive".
They may only Accept or Submit a new draft
"Reject" can be re-enabled if it believed that suppliers may decide to opt of of continuing negotiations
Enable OFTW
If your company uses Microsoft Office for the Web to perform document editing, you can enable this within the workflow to facilitate the Internal Draft Review phase actions:
Add Local Workflow Collaborators/Administrators
Aside from the stakeholders within each phase (and any Workflow Admins), there may be members of your organisation who should be made "Local workflow Administrators/Collaborators"
This means they will be able to retain oversight of all cards created on this specific workflow
Gatekeeper Expert: Connecting a Vendor Onboarding Process
See this Knowledgebase article for an introduction to this use case
Part 1 - Amend the Vendor Approval Status
At the end of this workflow, AutoActions will update the status of your Contract/Vendor records in your repository;
Once fully signed, The NDA Contract Record will be set to Live & Approved
The Vendor record will also be set to Live & Approved
However, you may wish to instead require a more thorough Vendor Onboarding/Due Diligence assessment take place before you class this Vendor as "Approved"
Step 1) Head to the NDA Executed ✅ phase & hit Edit this Phase
Step 2) Navigate to the Actions tab
Step 3) Alongside ⚙️ AutoAction | Update Vendor, hit Edit AutoAction Values
Step 4) Change the Approval dropdown value from Approved to Awaiting Approval
Step 5) Hit ✅ Save
Part 2 - Triggering your Onboarding Workflow
Once your Vendor has been set to Live by this workflow it can be used for other internal contract requests by your users
This status switch can also be used to begin the next step of your Vendor Management Ecosystem: Vendor Onboarding
Step 1) Head to the Workflows page
Step 2) Click to edit your Vendor Onboarding Workflow then select the Workflow Triggers option
Step 3) Hit ➕ ADD TRIGGER & name this something like "NDA Executed, ready for Onboarding"
Step 4) The 2 conditions for this onboarding workflow should be those statuses set above
Vendor / Status is Live
Vendor / Approval is Awaiting Approval
Getting started! ⚡️
Now your workflow is fully configured, all that's left is sharing the link!
If you have Employee Portal, your users with a Personalised Link can access & copy this link in their Submit Requests dashboard
If you do not have Employee Portal (or wish to access the non-Personalised link), Workflow Admins can get this on the Form Access tab of the initial workflow phase:
The link/s can be shared share directly with your vendors or even stored somewhere they can access in their own time
E.g. Embedded in onboarding forms, on your website, hyperlinked in email signatures
Additional Reading 📚
Review all the necessary steps to be able to use our native eSign solution
💡 Pay attention to the designation of Authorised Signatories so that any user who wants to sign NDAs via this workflow will be allowed to do so! 💡
While you may not need to create a new diagram for your version of this Workflow, this article may provide useful in helping you decipher the version at the top of this article
See a full overview guide of the feature for setting up a contract template so you may create an NDA document for this workflow