A quotation can be ready, the customer can be interested, and the sales team can be ready to close the deal.
But sometimes, one approval is enough to bring the entire sales process to a stop.
The quote sits in someone's inbox. Nobody is sure who needs to approve it, nobody follows up, and the customer keeps waiting.
The problem isn't necessarily the approval itself.
It's the approval process.
A Real-World Example
A company had a $12,000 quotation ready for an interested customer.
The quotation required management approval before it could be confirmed. The assigned sales manager, however, was unavailable.
The salesperson wasn't sure who else could approve the quotation, so the quote remained pending for almost three days.
By the time the approval was finally completed, the customer had already accepted another supplier's offer.
The company didn't lose the deal because of pricing.
They lost it because the process was too slow.
When Approvals Become a Bottleneck
Approvals are often necessary, especially for larger quotations, special discounts, or specific customer agreements.
But without a clear workflow, approvals can create unnecessary delays.
Common problems include:
- Unclear approval responsibilities
- Quotes waiting in personal inboxes
- No backup approver
- Manual follow-ups
- Lack of visibility into pending approvals
- Delays in responding to customers
These problems become even more costly when the customer is ready to make a decision.
How Odoo Can Help
Odoo can be configured with approval rules based on different business conditions.
For example, a company may require approval when:
- A quotation exceeds a certain value
- A discount goes beyond an approved percentage
- A special price is offered
- A particular customer type is involved
The important part is not simply creating an approval rule.
The workflow needs to make it clear who should approve the quotation, when the approval is required, and what happens when the assigned person is unavailable.
With a properly structured process, sales teams can track pending approvals instead of wondering where a quotation is stuck.
Approval Shouldn't Stop the Sales Process
A good approval process provides control without creating unnecessary friction.
Management gets the oversight it needs, while sales representatives can keep deals moving.
The goal isn't to remove approvals.
It's to make approvals predictable, visible, and fast.
Final Thought
A customer doesn't see your internal approval process.
They simply see how quickly you respond.
If a quotation is ready to go but spends days waiting for an approval, the problem may not be your sales team.
The process is getting in the way of the sale.