Salesforce Opportunity Approval Flow Design

Overview

This article documents the designed approval workflow for Salesforce opportunities, developed during a working session between Mark Hope and Karly Oykhman. The flow gives Lincoln visibility and control over new opportunities before they enter the active sales pipeline, using a "Draft" stage as a holding state pending his approval.

The flow was sketched in Mural and is pending validation with Lincoln before Dimitri implements the automation.

Flow Design

Entry Point: New vs. Existing Client

The first decision determines whether to create a Lead or an Opportunity:

Sales rep identifies potential engagement
        ↓
  Is this an existing client?
     /           \
   No             Yes
   ↓               ↓
Create Lead    Create Opportunity
               (Stage = "Draft")

No (new client): Create a Lead. No approval step required — leads proceed through the standard lead process.
Yes (existing client): Create an Opportunity with the stage set to Draft. This triggers the approval flow.

Approval Step

Once an Opportunity is created in Draft stage:

Automated email is sent to Lincoln notifying him of a new opportunity awaiting approval.
Lincoln reviews the opportunity in Salesforce.
Lincoln makes an approval decision.

Opportunity in Draft Stage
        ↓
Automated email → Lincoln
        ↓
  Lincoln approves?
     /           \
   No             Yes
   ↓               ↓
TBD with        Stage auto-changes
Lincoln         from "Draft" to
(e.g., convert  first active stage
to Lead,        ↓
archive)        Automated email →
                Sales rep ("approved")

Approval Outcomes

Decision	Action
Approved	Stage automatically changes from "Draft" to the first active opportunity stage; sales rep receives automated email notification
Not Approved	Action to be defined with Lincoln — options include converting to a Lead or archiving

Automation Requirements

The following automations need to be implemented (to be handed off to Dimitri via annotated Mural sticky notes):

On Opportunity creation: Set stage to "Draft" automatically (or enforce via validation rule).
On Draft stage entry: Send automated email to Lincoln — "A new opportunity is awaiting your approval."
On Lincoln approval (Yes): Automatically change stage from "Draft" to the first active pipeline stage.
On stage change to first active stage: Send automated email to the opportunity owner — "Your opportunity has been approved."
On Lincoln rejection (No): Action TBD — confirm with Lincoln whether to convert to Lead, archive, or another disposition.

Potential Expansion: Multi-Step Approvals

The flow may be extended to include downstream approval steps after Lincoln's initial sign-off. Possible additional stages:

Finance review: Approve margin, pricing, and estimates.
Design review: Confirm feasibility and resource availability.

These would be added as sequential steps after Lincoln's approval, each with their own notification and response logic. Confirm with Lincoln whether he wants these to run in parallel or in sequence.

Implementation Plan

Step	Owner	Status
Clean up Mural flowchart	Karly	Pending
Add automation logic as sticky notes for Dimitri	Karly	Pending
Present flow to Lincoln for validation (Friday 11 AM call)	Karly	Scheduled
Define "not approved" disposition with Lincoln	Karly	Pending
Implement automations in Salesforce	Dimitri	Blocked on Lincoln sign-off

Key Decisions Still Needed

What happens when Lincoln rejects an opportunity? Options: convert to Lead, archive, return to rep for revision.
Does the flow need multi-step approvals (Finance, Design) and if so, do they occur before or after Lincoln's approval?
Who is the opportunity owner at creation time, and does assignment change on approval?

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