When Approval Workflows Meet Digital Commerce
Let’s cut to the chase: managing memberships sucks when you’re stuck playing middleman between payment issues, access disputes, and customer complaints. ApproveThis and Whop are like the Swiss Army knife and duct tape of subscription management – not flashy, but they’ll fix your operational leaks in ways you didn’t know you needed.
Why This Combo Works (Besides the Obvious)
Whop handles the digital marketplace mechanics – payments, access gates, product delivery. ApproveThis handles the human decisions – exceptions, overrides, and “should we really let this slide?” moments. Connect them through Zapier, and you’ve got a system where:
- Failed payments auto-trigger approval chains instead of lingering in spreadsheets
- Membership terminations require actual human review before finalizing
The kicker? Approvers don’t need Whop licenses. Your finance team approves refunds without needing access to customer databases. External partners can greenlight special access without seeing your backend. Less software sprawl, more actual work getting done.
Real Problems This Solves for Actual Teams
Use Case 1: The “Ghost Membership” Cleanup
Scenario: A Whop membership goes invalid (non-payment, expired card, user self-terminates). Left unchecked, these become zombie accounts cluttering your system.
Automation Fix: When Whop flags an invalid membership, ApproveThis:
- Routes to customer support for retention attempts
- Simultaneously alerts finance to pause recurring billing
- Requires final sign-off before archiving the account
Who Cares: Customer success teams reduce churn by intercepting cancellations. Finance avoids issuing partial refunds for services already cut off.
Use Case 2: The High-Stakes Checkout
Scenario: Enterprise clients need custom checkout terms (bulk licenses, special NDAs). Letting them self-serve through standard Whop checkout risks contract violations.
Automation Fix: New ApproveThis requests trigger Whop checkout sessions only after legal and sales approve deal terms. No more “Oops, we accidentally sold 500 seats at the wrong price.”
Who Cares: Sales teams lock in upsells without manual order reprocessing. Legal sleeps better knowing non-standard deals get reviewed.
Use Case 3: The Payment Glitch Triage
Scenario: Credit card declines happen. But automatically cutting access after first failure torments good customers. Doing nothing costs you revenue.
Automation Fix: Whop payment failures trigger ApproveThis workflows that:
- Route to support for personalized follow-up
- Temp-extend access while investigating
- Require manager approval before permanent suspension
Who Cares: Support teams fix payment issues before customers notice. Finance recovers revenue that’d otherwise be written off.
The Nuts and Bolts (Without the Jargon)
Setting this up takes 45 minutes if you’ve used Zapier before. Here’s the cheat sheet:
- Connect Whop → Zapier: Use Whop’s “Membership Went Invalid” trigger
- Add ApproveThis Action: Map Whop data (user email, membership tier) to a new approval request
- Set Approval Rules: Assign approvers, add conditional logic (e.g., >$100 purchases need CFO review)
- Add Post-Approval Actions: Auto-create Whop checkout sessions or update member status upon approval
Pro Tip: Use ApproveThis’ Calculated Fields to auto-flag high-risk scenarios. Example: If a Whop member’s lifetime value exceeds $5K, escalate failed payments directly to account managers.
Why This Isn’t Just Another Integration
Most approval tools make you choose between speed and control. This setup gives both:
- Thresholds That Actually Work: Auto-approve routine membership renewals under $1K, but require human eyes on enterprise deals
- Delegation Without Drama: Approvers on vacation? ApproveThis shifts their Whop-related approvals to deputies automatically
- Audit Trails That Matter: Every Whop membership change ties back to an approval chain – crucial for SOC 2 compliance
Who Wins (Besides Your Sanity)
Customer Support: No more manually cross-checking Whop dashboards against Slack approvals. All context lives in one audit trail.
Finance Teams: Approve subscription exceptions without logging into Whop. Just hit Approve/Deny in your email.
Product Managers: Test premium membership tiers with automatic approval gates for early access lists.
Let’s Not Pretend This is Magic
This won’t fix broken membership pricing models or replace your entire CRM. But for teams drowning in Whop-related approval tickets, it’s the oxygen mask you need before solving bigger issues. The setup’s straightforward, the ROI’s measurable (fewer missed renewals, faster exception handling), and the alternative is… well, keep chasing approvals in Slack if you prefer.
Next Steps for the Pragmatic
If you’ve got >50 members and <3 people handling exceptions, this integration pays for itself in <90 days. Start with one workflow – like failed payment approvals – then expand. ApproveThis offers a free trial, and Whop’s starter tier scales as you grow. No need to overcomplicate it.
Bottom Line: Approval processes shouldn’t be the bottleneck in your membership engine. Fix that first, then tackle world domination.
Integrate with Whop 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 Whop
Suggested workflows (and their Zapier components) for Whop
Create approval requests for invalid memberships in ApproveThis
When a membership goes invalid in Whop, this workflow triggers a new approval request in ApproveThis. It ensures terminated memberships are reviewed by the proper team for next steps and customer outreach.
Zapier Components

Trigger
Membership Went Invalid
Triggers when a membership goes invalid.
Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
Launch Whop checkout sessions for new approval requests
Automatically create a Whop checkout session when a new approval request is initiated in ApproveThis. This enables immediate processing of member requests for streamlined subscription management.
Zapier Components
Trigger
New Request
Triggers when a new approval request workflow is initiated.

Action
Create a Checkout Session
Creates a new Checkout Session to attach specific data to a Membership upon purchase and customize the checkout experience.
Initiate approval requests for failed payments
Once a payment fails in Whop, set up this automation to create an approval request in ApproveThis for additional review or potential follow-up actions, ensuring no oversight in customer payment failures.
Zapier Components

Trigger
Payment Failed
Triggers when a user's payment to your company fails.

Action
Create Request
Creates a new request, probably with input from previous steps.
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