Nextian quote approvals are based on the standard Salesforce CRM / Sales Cloud approval processes featuring:
- Automated and manual approvals.
- Approval processes based on the standard as well as Nextian-specific quote financial fields such as MRR, margin, contract value and others.
- Single- and multi-person approvals.
- Seamless integration with DocuSign and other e-signature providers.
- Locking quotes for edition depending on their statuses.
Approval Types
Nextian supports two types of approvals:
- Auto-approvals – a quote is approved automatically by the approval flow, without any person being involved.
- Manual-approvals – if a quote cannot be auto-approved, it is routed for approval to a specific person, or persons configured in the approval processes.
Typically, most quotes are auto-approved (sales teams can be relatively large, and it is usually difficult for them to memorize all the rules); only exceptions should require manual approvals (e.g., a contract over $100K MRR may require a CFO approval, a contract on a margin lower than 5% needs a CRO approval, etc.).
Quote Locking
In certain statuses quotes need to be locked, i.e., they cannot be edited. For example, a quote that is approved should not be edited / changed without going through the approval process again; a quote that has been presented to a customer and is pending DocuSign signature also must not be changed.
| Important | Salesforce administrators are always allowed to edit locked quotes. Assigned approvers can also be allowed edit locked quotes, depending on approval process configuration. |
Quote Statuses
Nextian relies on the standard Salesforce quote statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft, Needs Review | Initial quote statuses. |
| In Review | A quote has been submitted for internal review (using Submit for Approval action) and the configured approval processes start running to determine auto vs. manual approval, relevant approvers, etc. Typically (based on the configured approval processes), in review quotes are locked for editing. |
| Approved | A quote is internally approved and can be sent to a customer along with a digital signature request via DocuSign. Typically (based on the configured approval processes), approved quotes are locked for editing. |
| Rejected | A quote was not approved internally and must be updated and re-submitted for approval. Typically (based on the configured approval processes), approved quotes are unlocked so they can be edited again. |
| Presented | A quote was presented to a customer and awaits a signature. Typically (based on the configured approval processes), presented quotes are locked for editing. |
| Accepted | A customer accepted the quote, parent opportunity is closed won. Typically (based on the configured approval processes), presented quotes are locked for editing. |
| Denied | A customer did not accept the quote. This may be associated with opportunity being lost but may also indicate that a quote needs to be updated, approved internally and presented to a customer again. Typically (based on the configured approval processes), denied quotes are unlocked so they can be edited again. |
Quote Lifecycle / Approval Overview
A quote goes through the following steps involving Nextian QTC, Salesforce approval processes and DocuSign:
- A sales rep creates an opportunity and a quote in Draft
- The quote is Submitted for Approval: quote status changes to In Review, the quote is locked, and the approval processes run.
- Approval processes run:
- Auto-renewal runs first, and if the quote can be auto-approved, its status is changed immediately to Approved.
- If the quote cannot be auto-approved, the manual-approval process starts: approvers are identified, notifications are sent, etc.
- A Rejected quote can be edited (lock is removed) and re-submitted for Approval.
- An Approved quote can be sent to customer for signature (DocuSign → Request Signature). Once a signature is requested, quote status is changed to Presented and the quote remains locked.
- DocuSign Cancel Signature moves the quote back to approved status.
- Customer signature moves to Accepted status and the parent opportunity to Closed Won. Accepted quotes remain locked.
