The legal, security, procurement and budget-release steps a deal must clear after commercial agreement; a leading driver of late-stage slippage.
Also known as:
Procurement process, Contracting process
The Paper Process is the contracting path a deal must clear after both sides agree commercially: legal review, security and data assessments, procurement, vendor set-up and budget release. It is the P added in MEDDPICC, and in modern software it is one of the most common reasons a won deal still slips a quarter.
Surface it early rather than at the end. Document the exact steps, the artefacts each requires and the standard terms; identify likely redlines; and run streams in parallel where you can. A strong champion helps you pre-wire legal and security before the contract arrives.
We do not let a deal reach commit without a visible paper path. "We did not think legal would be a problem" is a forecast killer, so deal inspection asks who owns each step and how long it really takes, well before close.
In 60 minutes, get a clearer view of what to fix or build first. A no-cost operator-led working session for founder-led teams and revenue leaders.