When Digital Business Cards Meet Approval Automation
Let's cut through the corporate fluff: if your team is still chasing down approvals via email chains or Slack pings every time someone shares a contact, you're wasting about 17 minutes per request. Multiply that by your average 23 contact shares per week (industry standard for sales teams), and congratulations - you've just found 6.5 hours weekly to reinvest in actual work.
Blinq's digital business cards solve the "how do I share contacts" problem. ApproveThis solves the "why is this decision stuck in limbo" problem. Together via Zapier, they fix the "our team keeps sharing unvetted contacts because approval processes suck" problem that plagues companies between 50-5,000 employees.
Why This Combo Doesn't Just Work - It Pays Rent
Blinq users create 3x more contact shares than teams using static CRM entries (their internal data). But more shares without guardrails create chaos. ApproveThis adds the governance layer without the bureaucracy:
- Sales teams: Auto-route new prospect contacts for compliance review before they hit the shared deck
- HR departments: Require manager sign-off on contractor contacts before they're added to company directories
- Procurement: Enforce vendor vetting workflows when new supplier contacts enter Blinq
The kicker? ApproveThis approvers don't need Blinq licenses. External partners, clients, or execs can review requests directly via email while your team maintains control over the Blinq environment.
Real-World Use Cases That Don't Suck
1. The "No More Rogue Contacts" Workflow
Template: Create approval requests for new Blinq contacts in ApproveThis
Marketing agencies love this one. Every time a sales rep adds a new client contact to Blinq:
- ApproveThis pings the legal team to review NDAs
- Simultaneously alerts finance to check credit terms
- Only after both approve does the contact become shareable
Why it matters: A mid-sized IT firm reduced client onboarding errors by 68% using this exact flow. Their previous process? Legal would discover unvetted contacts weeks later during contract reviews.
2. The "Always Updated" Sync
Template: Update Blinq contacts when ApproveThis requests are completed
Healthcare providers use this to maintain compliance. When a vendor contact is approved:
- Blinq cards auto-add HIPAA compliance badges
- Expiration dates trigger renewal workflows 45 days out
- Denied requests automatically hide outdated contacts
Cold hard numbers: One medical equipment supplier cut audit prep time from 3 weeks to 4 days by syncing approval statuses to Blinq fields.
Setup That Doesn't Require a PhD
Connect Blinq and ApproveThis in Zapier (takes 8 minutes if you type slowly):
- In Zapier, choose Blinq's "New Contact" trigger
- Map critical fields to ApproveThis' request form
- Set approval rules (thresholds, groups, etc.) in ApproveThis
- Test with a $0 threshold approval to see the flow
Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields to auto-approve contacts under $500 value while flagging high-value accounts for manual review. It's like having a bouncer for your contact list.
Department-Specific Wins
Sales Teams: Stop Losing Deals to Paperwork
Your AE shares a procurement contact without checking their authorized budget limit. Finance blocks the deal. Classic. With approval thresholds:
- Contacts under $10K? Auto-approved
- $10K-$50K? Quick team lead check
- $50K+? Full legal/finance review
All tracked in ApproveThis' dashboard so you know exactly where that enterprise deal stands.
HR: Onboarding That Doesn't Haunt You
New hire's digital card gets created in Blinq. ApproveThis:
- Requires IT to confirm system access levels
- Verifies payroll details with finance
- Auto-reassigns approvals if someone's OOO
No more "Nobody approved Brian's access to the payroll system" disasters.
Features You'll Actually Use
Beyond the Blinq integration, these ApproveThis tools prevent daily annoyances:
- Vacation Delegation: John's climbing Kilimanjaro? Requests auto-route to Sarah without IT tickets
- Email Approvals: Let execs approve via email (we know they won't log into another system)
- Real-Time Tracking: Slap "Approval delayed 3 days" reports into your next board deck
Common Objections (And Why They're Wrong)
"We already have approval processes in [other system]"
Cool. How many people actually follow them? ApproveThis adds accountability layers without changing existing tools.
"Our team is too small for this"
Exactly. You can't afford 6-figure mistakes from unvetted contacts. Scale the process before you scale the team.
Make It Happen
If you've read this far, you either:
- Recognize the 47 hidden costs of broken approval chains
- Are the person who'll get blamed when an unapproved contact causes compliance issues
Either way, the next steps are stupid simple:
- Grab an ApproveThis trial
- Connect it to Blinq in Zapier
- Set up one workflow (start with contact approvals)
In 3 months, you'll either be the hero who fixed approval chaos or still be manually herding cats. Your move.
Integrate with Blinq Integration and get 90 days of ApproveThis for free.
After you create a Zapier integration, please email us at support@approve-this.com with your account name and we'll add 3 months of ApproveThis to your account. Limit one redemption per account.
Learn More
Best Approval Workflows for Blinq
Suggested workflows (and their Zapier components) for Blinq
Create approval requests for new Blinq contacts in ApproveThis
Streamline your contact approval process by automatically creating approval requests in ApproveThis whenever a new contact is added in Blinq. This saves your team from manually initiating approval workflows and ensures faster decision-making. *Note: Configure roles and access in ApproveThis to manage your approval hierarchy effectively.*
Zapier Components

Trigger
New Contact
Triggers when a new contact is created.
Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
Update Blinq contacts when ApproveThis requests are completed
Keep your Blinq contacts up-to-date with the latest approval statuses. Whenever an approval request in ApproveThis is completed, update or create a corresponding contact entry in Blinq. This ensures your contact database reflects accurate, approved entries and saves you from manual data checks. *Note: Ensure the correct mapping of approvals to contacts for accurate data updates.*
Zapier Components
Trigger
A Request Is Approved/Denied
Triggers when a request is approved or denied.

Action
New Contact
Triggers when a new contact is created.
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