Deal Desk Approval Workflow

Why should we automate deal desk approvals instead of managing them by email and spreadsheets?

Manual deal approvals typically rely on scattered email threads and spreadsheets to track discount, margin and terms exceptions, which makes it easy to lose track of where a deal sits. This workflow captures every deal request as a record with a reference number and status, so reps, finance and approvers can see progress without chasing updates. Routing to legal review and CFO or Sales Director approval happens automatically based on the thresholds entered, reducing the coordination overhead of manual handoffs.

What is the ROI of using this workflow for deal desk requests?

The workflow reduces the time finance and sales leadership spend manually triaging which deals need legal input or CFO sign-off, since routing is based on the discount, margin and non-standard terms values captured on the request form. Automatic acknowledgement, revision request and decision emails reduce the manual follow-up reps and reviewers would otherwise need to send. Because each cycle of revised pricing or terms is capped at three rounds, deals are less likely to stall indefinitely in back-and-forth review.

How does this compare to handling deal approvals manually across finance, legal and sales leadership?

Handling this manually usually means someone has to track who reviewed a deal, chase revised pricing or terms, and manually decide whether a deal needs CFO or Sales Director sign-off. This workflow automates those decision points using the discount percentage, margin percentage and non-standard terms fields from the request form, and keeps a timeline of every status change on the record. It also keeps reps updated automatically at each stage rather than relying on someone remembering to notify them.

Who is involved in reviewing and approving a deal request?

The rep submits the initial request through the public form, then finance completes a review task and records whether the deal is acceptable or needs changes. If the deal has non-standard terms, legal completes a similar review task; the deal then goes to either the CFO or Sales Director for final approval depending on discount and margin thresholds. Each of these tasks is assigned to a workspace member, and their decisions and comments are saved to the record.

What happens if finance finds the deal pricing unacceptable?

If finance's review result is 'Changes needed,' the record status updates to Changes Requested and the rep receives an email with finance's comments along with a form to submit revised pricing. Once the rep submits the revised figures, they are saved to the record and the deal restarts finance review, with this cycle available up to three times. This keeps pricing issues resolved before the deal moves toward legal or final approval.

How does the workflow decide whether legal needs to review a deal?

The routing step checks the 'Are there non-standard terms?' answer from the request form. If the answer is 'Yes,' the record status updates to Legal Review and a legal review task is created; if 'No,' the deal proceeds directly to the CFO or Sales Director routing step. Legal's decision and comments are saved to the record in the same way as finance's, including a revision loop back to finance if legal requests changes to the terms.

How is it decided whether the CFO or the Sales Director gives final approval?

The workflow routes to CFO approval if the discount percentage exceeds 20% or the margin percentage is under 25%; otherwise it routes to Sales Director approval. This threshold-based routing means higher-risk deals are directed to the CFO without anyone needing to manually flag them. The status updates to CFO Review or Sales Director Review accordingly, and the outcome of that approval determines whether the deal is marked Approved or Rejected.

Can this workflow be customised for our own discount and margin thresholds?

Yes, the routing conditions, such as the 20% discount and 25% margin thresholds that determine CFO versus Sales Director approval, can be changed by describing the change in plain English or editing the steps directly in the workflow editor. Earlier versions of the workflow are kept, so changes can be made without losing the previous configuration. This makes it straightforward to adjust thresholds as deal desk policy evolves.

What information does the rep receive throughout the process?

The rep receives an acknowledgement email with their reference number when the request is submitted, followed by emails requesting revised pricing or revised terms if finance or legal flag changes needed. At the end of the process, the rep receives an email confirming whether the deal was approved or rejected. All of these emails are sent using the workspace's built-in email capability, or through a connected AWS SES account if configured.

What does the record show if we need to review how a deal was handled?

Each deal request record keeps a timeline of what happened, including status changes such as Submitted, Finance Review, Legal Review, CFO Review or Sales Director Review, Approved and Rejected. The finance and legal review results and comments, along with any revised pricing or terms submitted by the rep, are saved on the record. Businesses should confirm their own record-keeping requirements against what this timeline and these saved values provide.