ApproveThis manages your ProdPad Integration approvals.

When Product Management Meets Approval Automation

Let’s get one thing straight: building great products is messy. Between gathering feedback, prioritizing ideas, and getting buy-in from stakeholders, product teams often drown in bureaucracy. ProdPad helps you organize the chaos – roadmaps, customer insights, and feature ideas all in one place. But here’s the kicker: even the best product ideas get stuck waiting for approvals. That’s where ApproveThis comes in. It’s like adding nitro to your product engine – automating the decision-making bottlenecks so you can stop chasing signatures and start shipping.

What Happens When You Connect These Two?

ProdPad keeps your product vision aligned. ApproveThis keeps your processes moving. Together, they turn “idea limbo” into a well-oiled machine. Imagine this: every new feature request in ProdPad automatically triggers an approval workflow tailored to your company’s rules. No more Slack pings to the CFO for budget sign-off. No more lost email threads with legal. Just clean, auditable decisions that keep roadmaps on track.

Here’s What You’ll Unlock

For product teams: Cut approval delays from days to hours. For execs: Get real-time visibility into what’s being greenlit without micromanaging. For cross-functional teams: Collaborate without chaos – engineering knows what’s approved, marketing gets notified when specs are final, and nobody hassles the PM for updates.

Real-World Use Cases (No Fluff)

1. Auto-Create Approval Requests for New Ideas

The Problem: Your team brainstorms 50 ideas in ProdPad. Only 10 get reviewed because chasing approvals is a time sink.
The Fix: Use Zapier to trigger an ApproveThis workflow every time a ProdPad idea hits “Ready for Review.” Example: A SaaS company routes all feature requests through a compliance check (legal), a cost review (finance), and a roadmap fit assessment (CPO) – automatically. Approvers get email alerts with one-click approve/reject. Denied? The idea stays in ProdPad as archived, not deleted. Approved? It jumps to the “Prioritized” list instantly.

2. Turn Approved Requests into ProdPad Action Items

The Problem: Approved features get lost in spreadsheets or forgotten after the meeting.
The Fix: When an ApproveThis request gets the final sign-off, Zapier auto-creates a ProdPad idea with all specs, budgets, and stakeholder comments attached. Example: A fintech company uses this to convert approved fraud detection upgrades into versioned ProdPad entries, complete with regulatory requirement checklists.

3. Escalate Customer Feedback for Urgent Review

The Problem: Critical user feedback in ProdPad gets buried under routine requests.
The Fix: Set up ApproveThis to trigger a high-priority approval chain when ProdPad feedback matches certain keywords (e.g., “security flaw” or “outage”). Example: A healthcare app routes patient-reported bugs through a 1-hour SLA approval path, ensuring compliance teams and engineers are looped in immediately.

4. Sync Approval Statuses Across Both Platforms

The Problem: PMs waste hours updating ProdPad cards with approval statuses manually.
The Fix: When an ApproveThis decision is made, Zapier updates the linked ProdPad idea or feedback item automatically. Example: An e-commerce company marks approved vendor integration features with a custom “Approved for Q3” tag in ProdPad, visible to all teams without status meetings.

How to Set This Up (Without Losing Your Mind)

1. Zapier Account: If you don’t have one, sign up here – free plan works for basic automations.
2. Connect ProdPad: In Zapier, search for ProdPad and log in with your credentials.
3. Choose a Trigger: Like “New Idea in ProdPad” or “New Feedback Added.”
4. Connect ApproveThis: Select the action you want – “Create Approval Request” is the heavy lifter.
5. Map Fields: Drag-and-drop ProdPad data (idea title, description, owner) into ApproveThis’ request form.
6. Test: Create a dummy idea in ProdPad and watch it appear in ApproveThis within seconds.

Pro Tip: Use ApproveThis’ Calculated Fields to auto-flag high-budget ideas. Example: If a ProdPad idea’s estimated cost field exceeds $10K, route it directly to the CFO’s approval queue.

Why This Combo Works for Teams of All Sizes

Product Managers: Get Time Back

Stop herding cats. Set up approval rules once, and let ApproveThis handle escalations. Vacation Delegation means your team lead covers approvals while you’re OOO – no broken processes.

Finance & Legal: Control Without Bottlenecks

Use Approval Thresholds to auto-approve small expenses (under $500) but require manual review for bigger bets. All ProdPad ideas with “Contract” in the title? Route them to legal first. Bonus: Approvers don’t need ProdPad licenses – just email access.

External Partners: Keep Them in the Loop (Not Your Systems)

Client feedback in ProdPad? Use ApproveThis to send them email approvals without granting ProdPad access. They click “Approve,” it auto-updates the ProdPad card. Clean and secure.

Execs: See the Big Picture

ApproveThis’ dashboard shows pending requests by department, cost, or priority. Sync approved items to ProdPad’s roadmap view to spot resource conflicts early.

The Nuts and Bolts You’ll Actually Use

Email-Based Approvals: Stakeholders vote without logging into Yet Another Tool™. Replies get parsed automatically – even a “Looks good” in the thread updates the request.
Real-Time Tracking: Every ProdPad idea shows an “Approval Status” custom field. Red/yellow/green badges let teams know what’s stuck, what’s moving, and what’s ready to build.
Conditional Logic: If ProdPad feedback comes from a “Enterprise Tier” customer, add their CSM as an approver. For everyone else, standard routing applies.

Common Objections (And Why They’re Wrong)

“We’ll lose flexibility!” – ApproveThis workflows adapt to your rules, not the other way around. Got a weird 3-step approval for compliance-heavy features? Build it once, apply it to all relevant ProdPad entries.
“Our process is too complex.” – That’s the point. Approval thresholds handle tiered sign-offs. Sequential vs. consensus-based groups handle everything from budget approvals to UX reviews.
“We’re not technical enough.” – Zapier’s no-code setup takes 15 minutes. Seriously. If you can forward an email, you can automate this.

Bottom Line: This Isn’t Just Another Integration

ProdPad organizes what you build. ApproveThis organizes how you decide to build it. Together, they turn product development from a free-for-all into a structured machine – without killing creativity. You get faster launches, fewer meetings, and a paper trail that keeps auditors happy.

What Now?

If you’re using ProdPad, you’re already committed to building smarter. Take the next step: Sign up for ApproveThis, connect it in Zapier, and automate your first approval flow today. Or, if you like seeing the whites of someone’s eyes, book a demo. Either way, stop letting approval chaos slow down your product team.