As a solution expert, Ariela’s main goal is to accompany clients through their onboarding and implementation. She also assists with the strategy and configuration of the DealHub environment. As a tech lead, Ariela also supports Solution Experts and provides advice on leveraging DealHub’s capabilities. She’s seen it all and understands approval workflows from top to bottom, making her the perfect person to break down approval workflow best practices.
Today, we’ll dive into the common challenges faced by deal desk managers when seeking approval for deals (including the CPQ approval process) and explore the do’s and don’ts that can significantly enhance your approval workflow efficiency while sharing Ariela’s expertise and insights. By the end, you’ll have a better understanding of workflows and how DealHub can be leveraged to streamline your processes.
Common deal approval challenges
Approval workflows can often become bottlenecks, causing delays and frustration for deal desk managers. Several hurdles need to be addressed, from complex approval chains to missing approvals and ambiguous workflows. But fear not! Leveraging automation, consultation, and information will streamline processes. There are also specific pitfalls to avoid – and we’ll lay some out for you.
Deal Desk best practices to expedite approvals
Ariela’s best practices focus into leaning into efficiency. “I’ve always believed in the power of efficiency, especially in a business setting, and Dealhub is truly a technological manifestation of efficiency,” she says. Here are a few ways you can manifest efficiency with DealHub:
Do’s
Automate approval workflows
Ariela: “Take advantage of all the capabilities Dealhub has to offer to automate your approval workflow requirements, including deal desk, financial, discount, margin, and legal approvals!”
DealHub has simple, flexible functionalities designed to automate your approval workflows. Whether it’s the deal desk, financial, discount, margin, or legal approvals, DealHub offers user-friendly features that expedite the approval process. By leveraging these automation features, you can significantly reduce manual effort and save valuable time.
Consult solution team on complex approvals
Ariela: “Dealhub Customer Success Team has lots of experience with almost every type of approval workflow scenario. Allow them to help guide you on the best path for your needs.”
Facing an intricate approval workflow process? Seek guidance from DealHub’s Customer Success Managers (CSMs) and Solution Expert team. Gaining expert insights enable you to save time and get workflows up and running faster. These experts also have a wealth of experience and have encountered nearly every workflow for approval process scenario. Use their knowledge to unlock the best path to success that aligns with your organization’s unique requirements.
Leverage the solution’s knowledge base
Ariela: “Take advantage of Dealhub’s Knowledge Base Center for more articles on approval workflow configuration.”
DealHub offers a vast Knowledge Base Center of informative articles on approval workflow configuration. This constantly expanding resource provides a treasure trove of information to guide you through DealHub functionalities and configurations. Use these insights to deepen your understanding of the platform and configure approval workflows more effectively.
Don’ts
Don’t forget to close the loop
Ariela: “The Number 1 mistake that most make when configuring a general workflow is that they forget to include a final approver to the bottom of the table in a general workflow.”
One common mistake of workflow configuration is forgetting to include a final approver at the bottom of the table in a general workflow. It’s essential to add one last row with a person who doesn’t have an approver above them. This ensures that the workflow for approval process functions properly and avoids potential hiccups.
Don’t use the wrong workflow for the use case
Ariela: “Don’t forget that there are multiple workflow capabilities available to you, such as: general, rule-based, and even validations! Remember to use the right one for your workflow to work best.”
Choosing the right workflow type that aligns with your specific use case is essential. Using the right one allows you to achieve what you want faster. Each capability is designed to cater to different scenarios, so selecting the appropriate one is critical to achieving optimal workflow performance. Still trying to decide which to choose? A quick call with the team at DealHub can put you on the right track.
Don’t be afraid to experiment
Ariela: “Don’t be scared to experiment! Dealhub offers such wide flexibility that you may even discover a new and better way to configure something!”
DealHub is incredibly agile, enabling you to explore various configuration possibilities. Be curious and experiment with different settings and approaches, especially when creating a new draft version. Experimenting reveals novel ways to enhance deal desk process flows and find more efficient configurations.
How DealHub boosts approval workflow efficiency
As Ariela points out, “Approval workflow configuration can seem, at times, complex.” However, DealHub is designed to streamline workflows. After all, with its user-friendly interface, easy-to-teach nature, and remarkable flexibility, DealHub stands out as a platform that maximizes efficiency. The platform empowers deal desk managers to standardize and automate their approval workflows and achieve faster deal approvals. And, with the its ability to constantly grow and evolve, deal desk experts always have something new to learn and explore.
DealHub can optimize and streamline sales approval workflows and the CPQ approval process through its Configure Price Quote (CPQ) solution. By automating deal Desk process flows, DealHub enables salespeople to efficiently close deals promptly. Automated/digital approval workflows offer users:
- Improved cross-team collaboration: Automated approval workflows make the sales process more streamlined and efficient. DealHub CPQ clearly outlines the required approvals, eliminating the need for salespeople to chase down employees. This improves cross-team collaboration and communication, so sales professionals can focus more on selling.
- Speed and efficiency for sales teams: Automated approval workflows provide sales teams with an efficient way to obtain the necessary sign-offs quickly. Once approval workflow standards and conditional logic are set within DealHub CPQ, sales teams can easily navigate the sales process, resulting in faster deal closures.
- Enhanced organizational transparency: By reducing confusion and improving communication among departments, digital workflows increase productivity, efficiency, and trust. The workload in the Operations department is also lightened, freeing up personnel and diverting attention to more critical tasks.
- Consistent processes: Consistency is achieved via automated approval workflows that guarantee a standardized and streamlined sales process, reducing errors and bottlenecks. It also facilitates the onboarding and training of new sales professionals, resulting in higher transparency, trust, and control.
- A better customer experience: Modern clients have high expectations, and maintaining an exceptional customer experience can be challenging. Automated approval workflows foster these relationships by removing non-value-adding manual tasks. Sales teams are empowered to spend more time nurturing prospects and delivering a more personalized and professional sales experience.
DealHub CPQ has the power to automate various processes, including:
- The discount approval workflow automates the process of approving discounts so representatives can generate quotes with consistent and accurate pricing that aligns with discount guidelines.
- The billing approval workflow validates and pays invoices, ensuring correct and efficient bill processing. By facilitating transparency and timely payment cycles, it minimizes discrepancies caused by manual errors.
- The legal or compliance approval workflow focuses on contract management, simplifying and expediting the approval of contract requests.
Final thoughts
“Don’t be intimidated by approval workflows. With DealHub and the collaborative efforts of our clients, we can achieve remarkable results. Efficiency is within reach!” say’s Ariela.
DealHub’s CPQ solution for Sales is a game-changer for approval workflow efficiency. By automating approval processes, organizations can streamline their sales operations, reduce errors, and enhance collaboration among departments. With improved speed and efficiency, enhanced transparency, consistent control over processes, and a better customer experience, DealHub empowers teams to close deals faster and more effectively.
Boost your approval workflow efficiency with DealHub and witness the positive impact it can have on your deal desk operations. Get started today and experience the power of streamlined approvals like never before!
