Let’s Get Real About Approvals
Tired of chasing down signatures while deals collect dust? Yeah, we’ve seen this movie before. Sales teams live in Nutshell – it’s where leads become wins. But when every contract, discount, or client request needs five people to sign off? That’s where things get messy. Enter ApproveThis. We’re the approval layer that doesn’t make your sales reps want to scream into a spreadsheet. And with Zapier, we plug directly into Nutshell to turn “waiting on approvals” into “let’s close this thing.”
Why This Combo Doesn’t Suck
Nutshell’s great at tracking leads. ApproveThis is great at getting decisions made. Together? They handle the entire sales lifecycle without your team playing email tag. Here’s the kicker: approvers don’t need a Nutshell license. Client needs to approve a proposal? Just email them. Vendor waiting on a PO? They click a link. No extra software, no “can you export this to PDF?” nonsense.
Actual Use Cases (Not Just Buzzwords)
1. Lead Qualification That Doesn’t Slow Down Sales
The Problem: New lead comes in. Sales rep jumps on it, but company policy requires manager approval before engaging. Cue three days of Slack pings.
The Fix: Zapier triggers an ApproveThis workflow the second a lead hits Nutshell. Managers get an email (or Slack alert) to approve/reject. Sales gets notified automatically – no meetings required.
Who This Helps: Agencies dealing with high-value clients. Example: A marketing firm auto-routes leads from enterprise companies to execs for vetting, while small biz leads go straight to junior reps.
2. Closing Deals Without Paperwork Hangovers
The Problem: You marked the lead as “Won” in Nutshell. Now accounting needs to set up billing, legal needs to review terms, and someone’s gotta order swag for the client. Good luck coordinating that.
The Fix: When a deal is marked “Won”, ApproveThis fires off parallel approvals:
- Finance approves payment terms
- Ops approves onboarding resources
- Legal gets final contract review
Who This Helps: SaaS companies with complex onboarding. Example: A cybersecurity startup auto-routes enterprise deals to their security team for compliance checks post-sale.
3. Client Requests That Don’t Fall Through the Cracks
The Problem: Client emails a change order. Your AE logs it in Nutshell as an activity. Then…crickets. Two weeks later, the client’s pissed because nobody approved their request.
The Fix: Any logged activity tagged “Client Request” in Nutshell triggers an approval chain. Product, billing, or support teams weigh in directly from their inbox. Once approved, Nutshell auto-creates a task for the AE.
Who This Helps: Consultants and professional services firms. Example: An IT consultancy automatically routes client infrastructure change requests to engineers based on severity thresholds.
Setting This Up Without an IT Degree
If you can build a Nutshell pipeline, you can handle this:
- Connect Nutshell and ApproveThis via Zapier (takes 3 minutes)
- Pick your trigger (new lead, won deal, etc.)
- Map the approval steps in ApproveThis’ drag-and-drop builder
- Test with one deal (we recommend using your boss as the guinea pig)
Pro Tip: Use ApproveThis’ calculated fields to auto-route requests. Example: Deals over $50K get CFO approval automatically. Under $10K? Just the sales manager.
Why Your Teams Will Actually Like This
Sales Teams:
Stop playing secretary. Get notified in Nutshell when approvals happen instead of refreshing your email every 30 seconds.
Finance:
No more digging through Nutshell for contract details. Approval requests include all deal data (payment terms, discounts) upfront.
Leadership:
See approval bottlenecks in real dashboards. Notice every deal gets stuck at legal? Maybe hire another lawyer.
Features You’ll Use (Not Just Corporate Jargon)
Vacation Delegation: Approver OOO? ApproveThis auto-reassigns their approvals. No more “per my out of office” replies.
Approval Thresholds: Deals under 5% discount auto-approve. Over that? Needs VP sign-off. Set it once, forget about it.
Conditional Routing: Enterprise leads go to execs. Renewals go to customer success. All automated based on Nutshell data.
Bottom Line: Stop Losing Deals to Red Tape
Nutshell tells you where a deal is. ApproveThis gets it unstuck. Together, they’re how mid-sized companies act fast without hiring a compliance army.
Book a 10-minute demo and we’ll show you how to set up your first Nutshell approval zap. Or just start a free trial – we’re not clingy.
Integrate with Nutshell 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.
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Best Approval Workflows for Nutshell
Suggested workflows (and their Zapier components) for Nutshell
Create approval requests for new Nutshell leads
Need to ensure all new leads meet specific approval criteria? This integration helps by sending new leads created in Nutshell to ApproveThis for immediate review and approval. It streamlines decision-making, guaranteeing that only qualified leads are processed further, significantly enhancing workflow efficiency.
Zapier Components

Trigger
New Lead
Triggers when a new Lead is created.
Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
Initiate approval workflows for won Nutshell leads
Ensure your team acts promptly on important sales by automatically starting an approval workflow in ApproveThis when a lead is marked as won in Nutshell. This automation aids in prioritizing follow-up actions, ensuring seamless transition from lead to client management.
Zapier Components

Trigger
Lead Won
Triggers when a lead is won.
Action
New Request
Triggers when a new approval request workflow is initiated.
Create Nutshell companies upon approval of requests
Streamline new company creation by integrating ApproveThis approvals with Nutshell CRM. Upon approval of a request in ApproveThis, automatically create a corresponding company in Nutshell, ensuring all required approvals are met before data entry, thus enhancing data integrity and workflow efficiency.
Zapier Components
Trigger
A Request Is Approved/Denied
Triggers when a request is approved or denied.

Action
Create Company
Creates a new Company.
Request approvals for logged activities in Nutshell
Automatically generate an approval request in ApproveThis when an activity is logged in Nutshell. This flow ensures activities are correctly vetted and approved, maintaining high standards and compliance in ongoing business operations, and reducing manual oversight.
Zapier Components

Trigger
Activity Logged
Triggers when an Activity is logged.
Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
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