An approval process is handy for things like:
- Ensuring everyone who needs to be in the loop on deal specifics actually sees each deal before it closes
- Request approval from management/leadership on discounts
- Getting feedback from management/leadership on deal specifics
This blog post will discuss our top options you can use to implement a Salesforce approval process into your company.
Option 1: Manually Send Opportunities Over Email or Slack
Your first option is one that nearly everyone should be familiar with. It’s a classic, the ol’ “Hey, can you approve this” email chain. This is where most companies start when it comes to their approval process steps, and it may work for some time if you don’t have a lot of submitted requests for approval to manage.
Pros:
- It’s free
- There’s no additional tech needed to get started
Cons:
- Each member of your team needs to log into Salesforce to get the data they need
- All actions have to be performed in Salesforce, and there’s no way to approve things externally besides email replies
- The above leads to a cluttered email inbox with responses from each person who needs to approve (and often without the proper approval order)
- There’s no central database tracking the approval status
Many businesses that try to handle approvals this way eventually seek out more efficient systems that keep their inbox clear of long email chains.
Option 2: Add Them to a Google Sheet
Another way to manage the approval process is to create a Google Sheet. Sales reps and managers use it to add new deal information that needs approval and receive the necessary approvals or feedback.
This takes the approval steps out of your email inbox and creates a central repository where you can track the status of approvals without digging through email chains. It also requires minimal software integration, as anyone with a Gmail account can create them.
Pros:
- It’s free
- Most people already use Google Drive
- It requires minimal setup time
Cons:
- It’s a manual process
- Everyone still needs to log into Salesforce to get the data they need
- You can’t take any additional actions directly from the Google Sheet (such as updating the Salesforce record)
- They can easily get cluttered and out of hand quickly if you have a lot of deal volume
The key drawback that stands out for us in this method is that it remains a very manual process with limited integration with Salesforce. No one likes managing approvals, and if your sales reps and managers have to:
- Log in to Salesforce,
- Retrieve deal information,
- Input it into Google Sheets
- Notify a manager of the need for approval
- Follow up on that approval
- Log back into Salesforce to input any updates for final approval actions
Well, they’re just a lot less likely to stay on top of their approvals. Manual processes like these tend to be abandoned at some point because they can slow down the overall sales workflow and make sales reps feel like they’re spending too much precious selling time tied up with admin tasks. What will likely start happening is people will just go back to emailing the people they need to get approvals or manually sending them to people in Slack.
That’s why we’re big fans of approval processes that automate as much of that process as possible. This way, sales reps can get the approvals they need without feeling like they have to slow down their sales flow, and managers can stay on top of outstanding approvals without feeling like they’re constantly chasing down information.
Option 3: Salesforce Approvals
Salesforce approvals are a native function where users can create approval processes (i.e. a discount matrix) where at certain levels different stakeholders need to be involved to approve. The approval can happen either via email (if enabled from SFDC) or directly in SFDC.
Pros:
- No additional tech needed
- Can send approvals via email or review it directly on the platform
Cons:
- Minimal data can be captured for emails, and often results in users logging into SFDC anyway
- Emails can get buried in inboxes, resulting in slower approvals (there’s no way to automate reminders either)
- Basic functionality out of the box - you’ll need a tool like CPQ to get more functionality, which comes at an additional cost
Using Salesforce Approvals is certainly a step in the right direction from the first two options, but, just like the above options, still leaves much to be desired as the process for notifying stakeholders of approvals and getting them to respond. Which leads us to our next option:
Option 4: Use Rattle
Rattle is being used by sales teams at some of the fastest growing companies to automate their Salesforce approval process. Rattle’s Slack/Salesforce integration allows you to create custom Slack alerts that trigger when information changes inside of Salesforce. You can use this to create alerts that are sent to sales managers whenever an element of a deal requires approval.
It doesn’t stop at simple reminders, though. Rattle’s alerts can also contain critical deal information and action buttons. This means that you can create custom alerts that contain all the relevant information a sales manager may need to approve the request, like details on the client and the reason for the request, as well as a button to approve in just one click. Since Rattle is bi-directional, this approval can be automatically sent to Salesforce and update the record with the approval.
Here’s a quick view of how approvals look in Slack with Rattle:
Pros:
- It’s an automated process
- It doesn’t require sales managers to log into Salesforce to get relevant deal information
- It allows for one-click approvals, rejections, and comments
- Alerts can be customized to include whatever information is most relevant to your organization during the approval process
- Approval history is tracked in Salesforce
Cons:
- Requires an additional software integration
- It’s a paid solution, unlike the other options on this list
While this option requires you to add a new tool to your stack, Rattle makes integration as easy as possible so you and your reps can reap the benefits as quickly as possible. Automation like this is the perfect intersection of accountability and speed, allowing your sales reps to stay focused on working with their clients while sales managers can be quickly notified of a need for approval, get the information to make a decision, and approve/reject a request faster than ever before.
So, which one is best for you?
Now that we’ve covered some of the different ways you can implement a Salesforce approval process in your organization, it’s time to get down to business and figure out which option is right for you. Before diving into a particular solution, evaluate each method's pros and cons to ensure you choose the best one for your company and design a process that ensures the right people get the data they need to make the correct decision.
Start by making a list of the actions that need approval in your company and the people who need to approve them. In your list, you’ll need to include the specific deal criteria that require approval. This should help you identify what roles are needed and how often they need to be involved in the custom approval process.
Next, consider the types of data that needs to be approved. Do you need someone in accounting, customer service, or IT? In most cases, the answer is “Yes” to some or all of these questions. That’s why you’ll want to break down these categories and assign specific individuals to them.
Finally, think about the frequency with which the actions need approval. Is your company dealing with a flurry of approvals on a daily basis? If so, a manual process probably won’t suffice to manage these requests efficiently. You’ll need to implement automation that can intelligently pass the right information to the right people at the right time.
No matter what you choose, once you have a dynamic approval process that works with you, you’d be amazed how much more time your sales team has on their hands to bring in and close more clients than ever before.
