Sales teams spend way too much time waiting for approvals. If you’re drowning in email threads, lost quotes, or “just checking in” Slack messages, this guide is for you. We’ll walk through how to use Experlogix to set up approval workflows that actually work—without creating a maze of red tape. Whether you’re in sales ops, IT, or just the person who always gets stuck herding cats, you’ll find practical steps (and some honest warnings) to help you cut the nonsense and close deals faster.
Why Bother Automating Approval Workflows?
Let’s be real: manual approvals kill deals and morale. A single pricing change or exception can stall for days, sometimes weeks. Automating the process in Experlogix doesn’t just save time—it gives you visibility, consistency, and a paper trail. But set it up wrong, and you’ll just move your bottlenecks into a new system.
Here’s what actually improves when you automate:
- Faster sales cycles: No more chasing down managers for signatures.
- Fewer mistakes: The system enforces your rules (no more “Oops, forgot to CC the VP”).
- Clear audit trail: Know who approved what, when, and why.
- Happier teams: Less back-and-forth, more selling.
But don’t fool yourself: automation isn’t a silver bullet. If your approval rules are a mess, automating them just speeds up the chaos. So before you dive in, make sure you know why you want to automate and what “good” looks like for your team.
Step 1: Map Out Your Approval Needs (Don’t Skip This)
Before you touch Experlogix, get your team in a (virtual) room and answer these basics:
- What actually needs approval? Is it discounts, payment terms, bundles, exceptions?
- Who should approve what? Name roles, not people. Think “Sales Manager” or “VP of Finance,” not “Tom.”
- Are there dollar limits or risk thresholds? For example, “Only deals above $50k need VP sign-off.”
- What’s the fastest path to yes? The fewer steps, the better.
Pro Tip: Don’t automate every edge case. Start with your most common approval scenarios. You can always add more later.
Step 2: Get to Know Experlogix Workflow Basics
If you’re new to Experlogix, here’s what you need to know (without the marketing fluff):
- Workflows: These are the automated processes that move quotes, orders, or contracts through different steps—like “Draft,” “Submitted for Approval,” and “Approved.”
- Approval Rules: Logic that decides when something needs approval and who should review it.
- Notifications: Email or in-app alerts that let people know when it’s their turn.
- Roles and Permissions: Who can approve, who can escalate, and who’s just watching.
Experlogix is powerful, but it’s not magic. If your approval steps are constantly changing, you’ll need to revisit your setup every few months.
Step 3: Build Your First Workflow
Time to get your hands dirty. Here’s how to set up a basic approval workflow:
1. Define Your Triggers
Decide what kicks off the approval. Usually, it’s someone submitting a quote with conditions that meet your rules (like a discount over 15%).
- In Experlogix, you’ll configure conditional logic for these triggers.
- Example: “If discount > 15% AND product = ‘Enterprise’ → Send for Manager approval.”
2. Set Up the Approval Steps
This is where you lay out who needs to approve, and in what order.
- Add an “Approval” step after the trigger.
- Assign it to the right role (e.g., Sales Manager).
- Decide if approvals are sequential (one after another) or parallel (multiple people at once).
- For extra speed, keep it to the fewest approvers you can get away with.
3. Configure Notifications and Reminders
People can’t approve if they don’t know it’s their turn.
- Set up automatic email or in-app notifications for each approval step.
- Add reminders or escalations if someone sits on a request too long (e.g., after 48 hours, escalate to their manager).
- Pro tip: Avoid notification spam. One clear, actionable alert beats five vague ones.
4. Handle Rejections and Edits
What happens if someone says “no”? Decide if the workflow stops, loops back for edits, or moves to an alternate approver.
- In Experlogix, you can route rejected requests back to the original submitter with comments.
- You can also set “alternate approvers” for when people are out of office.
5. Test With Real Deals (Not Just Test Data)
Don’t trust a workflow until you’ve run a few real deals through it. Watch for:
- Missing notifications
- Approval steps that stall
- Loopholes that let stuff slip through unapproved
Get feedback from actual users, not just admins.
Step 4: Fine-Tune for Speed, Not Bureaucracy
Automated doesn’t mean “set it and forget it.” Here’s how to keep things moving:
- Review approval bottlenecks: If deals keep getting stuck at the same step, ask why. Maybe that approval isn’t needed.
- Shorten the chain: Do you really need three managers to sign off? Cut steps where possible.
- Set sensible thresholds: Only flag deals that are truly risky or unusual.
- Make rules visible: Sales reps should know what needs approval and why. Hidden rules just frustrate everyone.
- Track turnaround times: Experlogix can show you how long approvals take. Use this data to push for faster decisions.
Honest Take: The more approvals you require, the slower things will go—no matter how slick your automation is.
Step 5: Keep It Flexible (But Don’t Overcomplicate)
You’ll need to tweak your workflow as your business changes. Maybe you add a new product, or your boss gets obsessed with margin. Here’s how to stay sane:
- Document your approval rules somewhere everyone can find them.
- Make small changes, not big overhauls. If you need a bunch of exceptions, revisit your core process.
- Train new hires on how (and when) to use the workflow. Don’t assume it’s “intuitive.”
What to Ignore: Shiny features that promise to “revolutionize” approvals. Focus on speed, clarity, and accountability. Bells and whistles can wait.
Pro Tips and Gotchas
A few things the sales decks don’t tell you:
- Notifications get ignored. If people’s inboxes are a mess, approvals will still stall. Sometimes a quick Slack ping or stand-up reminder works better.
- Overly rigid workflows can backfire. If people have to jump through hoops for every small deal, they’ll find ways to work around the system.
- Auditors love clear logs. Experlogix tracks who approved what, but only if you set up roles and permissions right.
- Don’t try to automate everything at once. You’ll end up with a monster no one understands.
- Test out-of-office coverage. Deals shouldn’t die just because someone’s on vacation.
Wrapping Up: Start Simple, Iterate Often
Automating approvals in Experlogix is a huge win—if you keep it simple and focus on what really matters for your sales team. Don’t get lost in the weeds or try to please every department at once. Start with your biggest pain points, build a workflow that works, and adjust as you go. You’ll be closing deals faster (and your team will thank you for killing the endless email chains).