ApproveThis manages your SmartDialog Integration approvals.

Why Your Approval Process Needs a Text Message Intervention

Let’s face it – most approval workflows move at the speed of stale email threads. Someone submits a request. It gets lost in someone’s inbox. Two days later, accounting’s chasing you down because the vendor still hasn’t been paid. Meanwhile, your field team’s waiting on a decision that’s stuck in purgatory between three managers who can’t figure out Slack DMs.

This is where ApproveThis and SmartDialog become your secret weapon. Combine structured approval workflows with SMS/WhatsApp messaging, and suddenly decisions happen where work actually gets done – in the warehouse, at job sites, or while your team’s grabbing coffee.

How This Combo Works (Spoiler: It’s Not Just “Notifications”)

Most teams think of approval apps as glorified email forwarders. But when you connect ApproveThis to SmartDialog through Zapier, you’re building actual two-way workflows that:

• Turn inbound customer messages into approval tickets automatically
• Push urgent requests directly to phones via SMS/WhatsApp
• Update contact lists based on approval decisions (goodbye manual data entry)

We’ve seen construction companies approve change orders from the field in under 10 minutes. Healthcare clinics get lab result sign-offs during night shifts. Even boring stuff like procurement becomes less painful when approvers can tap “Yes” from their messaging apps.

Real-World Use Cases That Don’t Suck

1. Customer Support Escalations That Don’t Require 7 Emails

Picture this: A high-value client texts your support line asking for a service upgrade. With the SmartDialog → ApproveThis integration:

1. The message triggers an approval request with all client details
2. Your sales director gets an SMS with key info:
"Approve 12-month contract for Acme Corp? $15K/mo, 20% discount. [Approve] [Deny]"
3. One tap updates both CRM and billing systems

Who this works for: MSPs, SaaS companies, anyone dealing with upgrade requests that need quick executive sign-off.

2. Field Operations That Actually Move

Your construction crew finds unexpected site damage. Instead of waiting for the office to open:

- Foreman sends WhatsApp photo/via SmartDialog
- Zapier creates ApproveThis request with damage assessment
- Project manager approves extra budget via SMS
- Crew gets auto-notification to proceed within 15 minutes

Secret sauce: ApproveThis’ calculated fields auto-add 10% contingency budget based on initial estimate. No back-and-forth.

3. Vendor Onboarding That Doesn’t Make You Want to Quit

New supplier submission → ApproveThis checks compliance docs → Upon approval:

- SmartDialog adds them to vendor broadcast list
- Auto-sends WhatsApp instructions
- Procurement team gets SMS confirmation

Bonus: Use approval thresholds to auto-approve small vendors under $5K without committee meetings.

Setup That Takes Less Time Than Your Daily Standup

Here’s why technical teams love this integration:

Step 1: In Zapier, set SmartDialog’s “New Message” as trigger
Step 2: Map key data to ApproveThis fields (amount, contact, notes)
Step 3: Set up SMS approval messages with deep links to ApproveThis’ email-less review interface

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ vacation delegation so approvals never stall when someone’s OOO. Field teams won’t even notice the difference.

Why This Beats “Just Using Email”

Email approvals fail for three reasons:

1. Visibility: CC’d approvers miss threads
2. Compliance: No audit trail when things go sideways
3. Speed: Urgent requests get buried under newsletters

ApproveThis+SmartDialog fixes this by:
- Enforcing approval order (sequential vs parallel)
- Logging every decision with timestamps
- Sending reminders via WhatsApp/SMS after 1hr inactivity

Department-Specific Wins

For Operations Teams:

Cut equipment purchase approval time from days to hours. How? Set approval thresholds:
- Under $1K? Auto-approved
- $1K-$5K? SMS alert to manager
- $5K+? Full committee review

For Customer Success:

Escalate contract exceptions without leaving SmartDialog. Client messages trigger:
1. Approval request with deal terms
2. Legal gets SMS with redline options
3. CSM shares approved terms via WhatsApp

For Finance:

Stop chasing down approvers for expense reports. Now:
- Receipts submitted via SmartDialog
- Approvers get SMS with amount breakdown
- Auto-reconcile in QuickBooks after approval

The Silent Killer Feature: External Approvers

Client needs to sign off on a deliverable? Vendor approval required? ApproveThis lets external users approve via SMS without needing:
- Your internal tools
- Yet another user license
- Training on some complicated portal

They get a text. They click approve. Done. No “I forgot my password” nonsense.

When Not to Use This Integration

We’ll save you time – this combo isn’t for:
- Teams that still fax purchase orders
- Companies where all decisions require 17 signatures by default
- Anyone who thinks “ASAP” means “within two weeks”

But if you’re scaling past 50 employees and approvals are becoming a bottleneck? This is your stopgap before hiring three coordinators.

Getting Started Without the BS

1. Grab an ApproveThis trial
2. Connect to SmartDialog via Zapier (takes 8 minutes)
3. Start with one workflow – expense approvals work well

Pro move: Use calculated fields to auto-flag requests that exceed department budgets. Because apparently, some people think “miscellaneous” is a valid $10K line item.

Bottom Line: Approvals Shouldn’t Be a Full-Time Job

If your process still relies on people checking inboxes or (god forbid) physical forms, you’re leaving speed and accountability on the table. The ApproveThis+SmartDialog integration isn’t magic – it’s just applying modern messaging to ancient approval problems.

Either keep doing what you’re doing, or fix it in an afternoon. Your call.