Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Ever watched a simple document approval turn into a three-week nightmare? You know the story: someone submits a proposal, it sits in an inbox for days, gets passed around via email chains, lost in Slack threads, and finally approved when half the team has forgotten what it was about.
I used to deal with this chaos constantly. Clients would come to me complaining about approval bottlenecks killing their productivity. Marketing campaigns delayed because legal hadn't signed off. Sales proposals gathering dust because finance was swamped. Product updates stalled because stakeholders couldn't coordinate reviews.
The problem isn't that approvals are inherently slow—it's that most businesses treat them as manual, reactive processes instead of systematic workflows. After years of helping startups and growing companies streamline their operations, I've learned that the right approval automation can transform how teams operate.
In this playbook, you'll discover how to build approval processes that actually work:
The 3-component framework that eliminates approval bottlenecks
How to set up conditional routing based on content type and urgency
Real webhook configurations that handle complex approval flows
Common pitfalls that break approval workflows (and how to avoid them)
Integration strategies for SaaS companies and growing teams
Industry Reality
What everyone's already tried (and failed)
Most companies approach approval processes the same way: they either stick with email chains or invest in expensive workflow software that promises to solve everything.
The email approach goes like this: someone sends a document for approval, it gets forwarded around, people reply-all with comments, versions get mixed up, and eventually someone has to manually compile feedback and make decisions. It's chaotic, but familiar.
Then there's the enterprise software route. Companies spend thousands on dedicated approval platforms with features like:
Multi-level approval hierarchies
Digital signature integrations
Compliance audit trails
Complex role-based permissions
Custom form builders for different request types
These tools work for large enterprises with dedicated IT teams and complex compliance requirements. But for most growing businesses, they're overkill—expensive, slow to implement, and rigid when you need flexibility.
The conventional wisdom says you either live with email chaos or invest heavily in enterprise-grade systems. But there's a middle ground that most businesses miss: building custom approval workflows using automation platforms like Make.com that adapt to your specific needs without breaking the bank.
The key insight? Approval processes aren't just about saying yes or no—they're about routing the right information to the right people at the right time, then acting on decisions efficiently.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
A year ago, I was working with a B2B startup that was drowning in their own growth. Their team had expanded from 8 to 25 people in six months, and suddenly every decision required multiple stakeholders. What used to be quick hallway conversations had become email threads with 15+ people.
The breaking point came when their biggest client almost walked because a contract amendment took three weeks to approve. The document itself was simple—just updating payment terms—but it got stuck in an endless loop of forwarded emails and missed responses.
Their process was typical startup chaos: someone would email the legal team, who'd forward it to finance, who'd loop in the CEO, who'd ask questions that went back to the original requester. Meanwhile, Slack notifications were piling up, people were @-mentioning each other in different channels, and nothing was getting tracked properly.
The client was frustrated, the team was stressed, and the founders realized they needed a systematic solution. They'd already tried a couple of project management tools, but those were designed for tasks, not approvals. They needed something that could handle different types of requests, route them automatically, and keep everyone informed without creating more noise.
This is where I learned something crucial: approval processes fail not because people don't want to approve things, but because the information doesn't flow efficiently between the right stakeholders. The fix isn't adding more tools—it's creating intelligent routing that eliminates friction.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of buying expensive workflow software or forcing the team to change their entire process, I built a custom approval system using Make.com that integrated with their existing tools—Gmail, Slack, Google Drive, and their CRM.
The system works on three core components: intelligent intake, conditional routing, and automated follow-up. Here's exactly how I set it up:
Component 1: Smart Request Capture
I started with a Google Form that captures all the essential information upfront. Not just basic details, but context that helps route the request properly: urgency level, type of approval needed, budget impact, and which stakeholders should be involved. The form automatically saves responses to a Google Sheet and triggers the Make scenario.
Component 2: Conditional Routing Engine
This is where Make.com really shines. Using conditional logic and filters, I created different paths based on the request type and urgency. Budget requests under $5K go directly to the finance manager. Marketing materials get routed to both legal and brand teams. Contract changes involve legal, finance, and the CEO. The system knows which path to take based on the form responses.
Component 3: Automated Communication Loop
Instead of relying on email chains, the system sends targeted Slack messages to specific channels and individuals. Each approver gets a direct message with all the context they need, links to relevant documents, and simple approve/reject buttons. When someone approves or requests changes, everyone involved gets updated automatically.
The webhook setup was crucial for handling responses. I configured custom webhooks in Make that receive approval decisions from Slack interactions, then trigger different actions based on the response. Approve moves to the next step; reject routes back to the requester with specific feedback; request for changes creates a new task with clear action items.
For document management, I integrated Google Drive so all related files are automatically organized in approval-specific folders, with proper version control and access permissions. The system even generates a final summary document once all approvals are complete.
Webhook Response
Set up custom webhooks that receive approval decisions and trigger different workflow paths based on the response type.
Conditional Filters
Use Make's filtering system to route different request types through appropriate approval chains without manual intervention.
Slack Integration
Configure targeted messaging that sends context-rich approval requests directly to relevant stakeholders with actionable buttons.
Automated Documentation
Build automatic file organization and audit trails so every approval decision is properly tracked and documented.
The transformation was immediate and measurable. What used to take an average of 12 days for complex approvals now completes in 2-3 days. The contract amendment that almost lost them their biggest client? Similar requests now process in under 24 hours.
More importantly, the team stress levels dropped significantly. No more lost emails, no more wondering if someone saw the request, no more hunting through Slack threads for approval status. Everything flows through predictable channels with clear visibility.
The system handled 150+ approval requests in the first quarter, with a 95% completion rate and average processing time reduced by 75%. Stakeholders started trusting the process because they could see exactly where things stood at any moment.
The unexpected bonus was that the data insights improved their decision-making. They could now see patterns: which types of requests took longest, who was the bottleneck in different processes, and where they needed clearer guidelines. This led to process improvements that made approvals even faster.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Building approval automation taught me several critical lessons that go beyond just the technical setup:
Context is king: The more information you capture upfront, the faster decisions get made. Don't just ask "what needs approval"—ask why, when, and what the impact is.
Parallel beats sequential: Most approval processes can run in parallel, not series. Legal and finance can often review simultaneously instead of one after the other.
Exceptions need escape hatches: Always build in manual overrides for urgent situations. Automation should speed up normal cases, not block exceptional ones.
Visibility reduces anxiety: When people know where their request stands, they stop sending follow-up messages that create more work for everyone.
Integration beats replacement: Don't force people to learn new tools. Build workflows around the communication tools they already use daily.
Start simple, evolve gradually: Begin with your most common approval type and perfect that workflow before adding complexity.
Measure everything: Track processing times, bottlenecks, and completion rates so you can continuously improve the system.
The biggest mistake I see is trying to automate everything at once. Pick one approval process that causes the most pain, build a solid workflow for that, then expand gradually.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
SaaS Implementation Focus:
Connect approval workflows to your existing CRM and project management tools
Set up automated stakeholder notifications for feature requests and technical changes
Create conditional routing based on development sprint cycles and release schedules
For your Ecommerce store
E-commerce Application:
Build approval flows for vendor contracts, product launches, and pricing changes
Integrate with inventory systems for purchase order approvals and supplier onboarding
Set up marketing material approval workflows that connect to campaign launch schedules