ApproveThis manages your Keen Integration approvals.

When "Just Approve It" Meets "Let’s Scale It"

Let’s get real: partnership teams at growing companies are stuck between two nightmares. Sales wants referrals processed yesterday. Legal needs everything triple-checked. Finance won’t stop asking why Partner X gets 15% instead of 12%. Meanwhile, your actual job – building relationships that drive revenue – gets buried under approval gridlock.

This is where ApproveThis and Keen become your secret weapons. Keen automates referral management so you can focus on scaling partnerships. ApproveThis slaps structure on your approval processes so decisions happen faster. Together? They turn partnership ops from bottleneck to growth engine.

Why This Combo Works (Besides Saving Your Sanity)

Keen’s great at tracking referrals and partner activities. ApproveThis specializes in making sure the right people say “yes” to those opportunities – quickly and auditably. Connect them through Zapier, and you’ve got:

• Zero manual handoffs: New referral in Keen? Approval request auto-creates with all context attached.
• No license headaches: Approvers only need email access – critical when working with external partners or execs.

We’ve seen teams using this combo cut approval times by 60% while reducing errors on commission payouts and contract terms. Not bad for a setup that takes 20 minutes.

Real-World Use Cases (No Fluff Edition)

1. Killing Spreadsheet Roulette for Partner Commissions

Scenario: A SaaS company pays partners 15% on direct referrals, 20% if the deal includes a premium add-on. Their old process? Finance manually checked each Keen referral against Salesforce, then Slack-pinged VPs for approval.

The Fix: Zapier triggers an ApproveThis request whenever Keen logs a new referral. Calculated fields auto-determine commission tier based on deal details. Legal gets first approval (contract compliance), then Finance (payout amount), then the partner gets auto-notified. All approvals happen via email – no app logins required.

Result: Commission processing time dropped from 11 days to 72 hours. Finance stopped hating Thursdays.

2. Escaping Legal’s Black Hole

Scenario: A fintech’s partnership team loses 3 weeks/month waiting for legal to review referral program changes. Legal complains they’re constantly clarifying requests.

The Fix: Keen tracks proposed program changes (new tiers, promo periods). ApproveThis routes requests with:

• Auto-attached historical performance data
• Conditional routing (dollar value >$50k? Escalate to CFO)
• Deadline reminders that actually work

Result: Legal review cycles shortened by 40%. Partnership team stopped bribing legal with artisanal coffee.

Setup That Won’t Make You Hate Tech

Step 1: In Zapier, create a new Zap with Keen as the trigger (New Lead/Referral).
Step 2: Set ApproveThis as the action (Create Request). Map these Keen fields:

- Partner name → Request title
- Referral value → Custom calculated field
- Attach Keen’s referral details PDF → Approval request attachment

Step 3: Configure ApproveThis workflow:
- Approval path: Sales Lead → Finance → Legal (if over $X)
- Auto-reminders: Every 48 hours
- Post-approval action: Auto-update Keen status + notify partner via email

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’s approval thresholds to auto-approve small recurring referrals (under $5k?) without human review.

Why Teams Actually Stick With This Combo

For Partnership Managers:

No more herding cats for approvals. Set up once, then focus on scaling partner networks. Vacation delegation means approvals don’t stall when someone’s OOO.

For Finance:

Real-time visibility into pending referrals/commissions. Approval thresholds prevent micro-managing small deals. Audit trails make quarterly reviews less painful.

For External Partners:

They get clear timelines (“Your request will be approved by Tue 2 PM”) without accessing your internal systems. Status updates via email keep them off your back.

The Nuts and Bolts You Care About

License Math: Approvers (internal or external) only need ApproveThis licenses if they’re initiating requests. Partners approving via email? Zero seats required.

Security Stuff: ApproveThis maintains SOC 2 compliance. Data passed through Zapier is encrypted. You control which Keen fields are exposed in approvals.

Pricing Trap to Avoid: Keen charges per lead? Use ApproveThis’s calculated fields to auto-reject referrals below your ROI threshold before they count toward your quota.

When to Steal This Setup

This isn’t just for tech companies. Any team managing partnerships/referrals with:

- Tiered commission structures
- Compliance requirements (FINRA, HIPAA, etc.)
- External partners who need visibility but not system access
- More than 2 approval steps per request

Latest case study: A healthcare referral platform reduced compliance violations by 82% in 6 months by adding approval checks between Keen and their provider network.

Your Move

If you’re spending more time chasing approvals than building partnerships, you’re leaving money on the table. ApproveThis + Keen via Zapier isn’t magic – it’s just workflow design that respects everyone’s time.

Next steps:
1. Book a 15-minute demo (We’ll show existing Keen setups)
2. Zapier integration docs: ApproveThis + Keen
3. Got edge cases? Our support team actually knows partnerships. No chatbots.