ApproveThis manages your Charles Universe approvals.

When Chat Meets Checks-and-Balances

Let’s cut through the noise: approvals suck. They’re the traffic jam in your workflow highway. But here’s the kicker – they don’t have to. Not when your team uses Charles Universe for customer conversations and ApproveThis to slam-dunk decisions. Together, they turn “waiting on approvals” from a company meme into an actual process that works.

Why These Two? Spoiler: It’s Not Just About Zapier

Charles Universe lets your team talk to customers where they already are – WhatsApp, Instagram, you name it. But every time a customer asks for a refund, a discount, or a custom order, someone’s gotta hit the brakes and get sign-off. That’s where ApproveThis comes in. No more forwarding Slack messages or digging through email chains. The second a request pops up in Charles, ApproveThis routes it to the right person’s inbox (or WhatsApp – more on that later).

The Nerd Stuff Made Simple

ApproveThis handles the “who says yes” part. Think multi-step approvals, automatic escalations if someone’s OOO, and rules like “anything over $500 needs CFO review.” Charles Universe handles the “what’s happening” part – customer requests, new leads, support issues. Zapier just connects them. No coding, no PhD required.

Real Uses for Real Teams (No Fluff)

Use Case 1: Instant Approvals for Customer Requests

Picture this: A customer messages your team via WhatsApp asking for a return on a $1,200 order. Your support rep isn’t authorized to approve that. Normally, this becomes a 3-day email chain. With the integration:

• Charles Universe detects the refund request
• ApproveThis auto-creates an approval task for the ops manager
• Ops manager approves via email in 2 clicks
• Charles automatically messages the customer with the return label

Who cares: E-commerce teams, retail chains, anyone dealing with high-value returns. Cuts resolution time from days to hours.

Use Case 2: No More Stalker-Level Follow-Ups

HR teams – this one’s yours. Every time a new hire is added in Charles Universe (like a contractor or temp), ApproveThis can require sign-off from department heads before onboarding starts. No more lost paperwork or “I didn’t see the Slack message.” Approvers get emailed or WhatsApp’d. They approve. HR gets notified. Done.

Use Case 3: Escalate Without the Awkwardness

Your sales rep promises a discount. Problem is, they’re not allowed to approve that. Instead of having to say “let me check with my manager” (and making the customer wait), ApproveThis triggers the approval process the second the discount is mentioned in Charles Universe. The sales manager gets a WhatsApp message, approves it, and the deal closes faster.

Setup That Doesn’t Need IT on Speed Dial

If you can set up a Zoom call, you can do this:

1. Create a Zapier account (free tier works)
2. Choose your trigger in Charles Universe (new message, new contact, etc.)
3. Select ApproveThis as the action app
4. Map the fields (what info goes into the approval request)
5. Test it with a real request

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’s calculated fields to auto-flag high-risk requests. Example: If a Charles Universe message contains “refund” and the amount is over $X, route directly to the finance team.

Why Your Finance Team Will Stop Hating You

Approval thresholds. Set it so any discount over 15% needs VP sign-off. Any refund over $500 needs two approvals. Charles Universe feeds the numbers; ApproveThis enforces the rules. No more “Oops, I didn’t know the limit changed.”

The External Approval Hack

Clients need to sign off on a project change? Vendors waiting on PO approvals? ApproveThis lets them approve via email without needing a Charles Universe login. Your team stays in Charles for communication; external parties stay in their inbox. Everyone’s happy.

When Approvers Ghost You (Thanks, OOO Messages)

ApproveThis’s vacation delegation automatically reassigns approvals if someone’s out. No more digging through Outlook calendars to see who’s covering. Combine this with Charles Universe’s chatbots to auto-reply: “Your request is being reviewed by [backup approver].”

The Bottom Line for Each Team

Customer Support

Stop playing operator between customers and managers. Get real approvals while the customer is still in the chat.

Sales

Close deals faster by getting discount approvals in real-time, right from your chat platform.

Operations

Track every approval in one dashboard instead of 17 different apps. Escalate bottlenecks before they blow up.

Finance

Audit trails for days. Know who approved what, when, and why. No more mystery discounts.

No, This Isn’t a “Replace Your Team” Thing

ApproveThis doesn’t auto-approve everything (unless you want it to). It just removes the junk – the chasing, the lost requests, the “I thought you did it” mess. Your team still makes the calls. They just spend less time babysitting spreadsheets.

Ready to Stop Being a Human Router?

If your approval process still lives in email hell or requires a PhD to track, it’s time to upgrade. ApproveThis and Charles Universe via Zapier work for teams that hate bureaucracy but love getting shit done.

Get Started with ApproveThis (free trial available) or schedule a 10-minute demo to see the integration live.

Charles Universe users: Check out their conversational commerce features here.