ApproveThis manages your Relate Integration approvals.

When Your CRM Needs a Decision-Making Sidekick

Let’s be real: CRMs like Relate are fantastic at tracking leads and deals until someone needs to make a decision. That’s where everything grinds to a halt. Sales teams wait days for budget approvals. Marketing sits on campaign spend requests. Customer success hesitates to delete outdated accounts without three layers of sign-off.

ApproveThis acts like a decision-making turbocharger for Relate. We don’t replace your CRM – we fix the part that leaks time: getting clear approvals from humans. Connect them via Zapier, and you’ve got a system where Relate handles the data, ApproveThis handles the bureaucracy.

Why This Combo Doesn’t Suck

Most approval tools force your team into yet another app. ApproveThis works where decisions actually happen: email inboxes. Approvers don’t need a Relate license (or even to log into anything). Here’s the breakdown:

• Relate does: Contact records, deal tracking, pipeline management
• ApproveThis does: “Is this spend OK?”, “Can we delete this account?”, “Who signs off on discounted deals?”

Example: A $50k deal hits a new pipeline stage in Relate. ApproveThis automatically routes it to the VP’s email with context from the CRM. They approve via reply. Relate updates instantly. No chasing, no lost requests.

Use Cases That Actually Matter

1. New Contact Vetting (Without the Paranoia)

Problem: Sales teams add sketchy leads to Relate just to hit quotas. Legal gets pissed when unvetted contacts trigger compliance issues.

Fix: Auto-create approval requests in ApproveThis when Relate gets a new contact. Triggers for:

• Contacts from certain domains (competitors, regulated industries)
• High-value leads over $250k potential deal size
• Missing required GDPR consent fields

Who cares: Compliance teams sleep better. Sales ops stops cleaning up garbage data.

2. Deal Discounts That Don’t Bleed Profit

Problem: Sales reps offer 20% discounts to close deals, destroying margins. Finance only finds out during quarterly reviews.

Fix: When a Relate deal’s stage changes to “Proposal Sent”, ApproveThis checks the discount percentage against your thresholds. If it’s over 10%, routes to the CFO. If approved, Relate auto-generates the contract. If denied, the sales manager gets a coaching task.

Who cares: CFOs regain control. Sales learns to negotiate better.

3. Safe Account Deletion (Without the Witch Hunts)

Problem: Deleting old Relate accounts risks losing audit trails. But keeping everything makes your CRM a cluttered mess.

Fix: Any organization deletion in Relate requires ApproveThis sign-off. The request automatically includes:

• Last activity date
• Open deals associated
• Contact count

Who cares: IT avoids data loss blame. Managers stop hoarding dead accounts.

Setup That Takes Less Time Than Your Daily Standup

Connect Relate + ApproveThis in Zapier:

1. Pick a trigger in Relate (new contact, deal stage change, etc.)
2. Map key fields to ApproveThis – deal size, contact type, etc.
3. Set approval rules: Who needs to approve based on data thresholds

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ calculated fields to auto-flag requests needing exec review. Example: “If deal size > $100k AND discount > 15%, route to CFO + Sales Director.”

Features Your Team Will Actually Use

ApproveThis isn’t just another approval queue. These matter when connected to Relate:

• Email approvals: Approvers click “Approve” or “Deny” without logging in. External partners can approve too.
• Vacation coverage: Auto-reassign approvals if someone’s OOO. No more “Waiting on Jim” delays.
• Audit trails: Every decision linked to the Relate record. Perfect for compliance audits.

Real Companies, Real Results

(Note: We don’t make up customer quotes. But here’s what’s possible:)

A 200-person SaaS company reduced deal approval time from 72 hours to 4 hours by connecting Relate pipeline stages to ApproveThis thresholds. Their sales ops lead said: “It works because reps stay in Relate, approvers stay in email.”

A manufacturing firm stopped $240k/yr in unauthorized discounts by requiring CFO approval for all Relate deals over 15% discount. Approval rate for those requests? 38%. Turns out reps were giving discounts just to hit quotas.

Why This Isn’t Just Another Integration

Most CRMs have approval features. They suck because:

• Approvers need a Relate license ($50+/user/month)
• No conditional logic – everything goes to the same people
• Zero visibility once a request is sent

ApproveThis adds decision-making muscle without turning your CRM into a bureaucratic nightmare. Example: A marketing team auto-approves Relate event spend under $5k, but anything higher requires director review. All done via email, no Relate logins needed.

Teams That Benefit Most

Sales Operations: Enforce discount policies without playing cop. Auto-approve small deals, escalate big ones.

Finance: Get context-rich approval requests pulled from Relate data. No more “Why does this deal need a discount?” back-and-forth.

IT/Compliance: Audit-ready trails of every decision, linked directly to Relate records. Automate GDPR/compliance checks on contact additions.

How to Not Screw This Up

Common mistakes when connecting Relate + ApproveThis:

• Over-approving: Don’t require sign-off for every tiny Relate change. Use thresholds.
• Under-documenting: Add Relate context to approval requests (deal history, contact notes).
• Ignoring delegations: Set up vacation rules so approvals don’t stall.

Get Started (It’s Less Painful Than You Think)

If you’re using Relate, you’ve already done the hard part. Adding ApproveThis takes:

1. Sign up for ApproveThis (free trial, no CC required)
2. Connect to Relate via Zapier – takes 8 minutes
3. Build one approval workflow (start with high-impact area like deals or deletions)

Or schedule a 15-minute demo to see how other Relate users cut approval delays by 80%.