Outlook mail merge with attachments from Word Using an all-in-one contract automation platform like Juro is a much more reliable way to generate and send documents at scale, and you can also gather legally robust eSignatures natively in the platform too. And if you realise that you made a mistake in your document, or missed something, then guess what? You need to start the whole thing again. This increases an already complex workflow even further, making it not just risky but in fact likely that documents, data and precious time will be lost. That means that even basic requirements like advanced electronic signature (read more about eIDAS) will require a third-party platform to be plugged in. Mail merge from Excel: limitationsĪll that said, Excel and your mail platform - likely Outlook - are both tools that weren’t designed to handle contracts. Once you can get the spreadsheet formatted correctly, large document assembly exercises from defined lists should be possible with fairly reliable accuracy, and at considerable scale. Relatedly, although it’s a blunt instrument, mail merge from Excel is effective. Most obviously, almost every business uses Excel (or understands how to), so the platform’s availability makes it an accessible option for a large number of businesses. There are a few advantages to using an Excel-based workflow to create contracts via mail merge. You then need to edit a recipient list in your email client (make sure you exclude list members who you don’t want to receive the document in question). Separate first and last names during a mail merge.Įxcel spreadsheets intended for mail merge are best formatted in the comma-delimited format. To mail merge from Excel, simply prepare a spreadsheet where the column headers match the field names you want to include in your mail merge.įor example, if you’re mass-generating offer letters, and you want to send them to several recipients, personalizing each letter with each individual’s name, then you’ll need a separate column for first name and last name: Mail merging using an Excel spreadsheet is one of the most common legacy techniques for generating large numbers of documents at a time. Let's explore some of the most common mail merge tools and use cases for mail merge in a business context. That said, let’s look at some examples of the mail merge process. This means contracts created through this kind of mail merge are at a disadvantage from inception. Data being lost at every stage of the process.Files needing to move between email, Word, shared drives and likely an eSignature provider.Lack of advanced electronic signature in Word.It’s well known that Word documents are limited when it comes to contract functionality. While this is an option, the outputs from a mail merge-led contract creation process will be severely limited by the platforms involved.įor example, an Excel-via-Word mail merge results in dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of contracts in Word document format being sent to recipients. Simple contracts, like employment offer letters, non-disclosure agreements, share option agreements and so on are still sometimes handled using mail merge. However, Microsoft Word is still the dominant currency for business documents in millions of businesses globally, so it’s useful to explore mail merge as a technique for contract automation. If this looks like a process that’s out of place in a cloud-first, SaaS-dominated business environment … well, it is.
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