Apex knowledge base

Approvals

Apex shows you what's waiting for your decision, where you need to go, and why a campaign won't start until something is approved.

This is how an approver asks what's waiting for them, and how the campaign starts after approval.

Who can ask what?

Apex only does what the person asking is authorised to do. Which companies you see is decided by your group.

Click your own role, and only the example prompts you can ask Apex for stay on the page. The filter only rearranges this page; it changes nothing in your account or your permissions.

Several requests at once

You can ask about the waiting items, opening them and setting the approver all in one sentence, and Apex works through all of it in order.

What happens
Apex retrieves what's waiting for your approval, reports it by name, and if exactly one item is waiting, opens it too.
Where it shows
The answer arrives in the chat, and the opened item appears on the Account manager page, in the right-hand workspace.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex checks what's holding the campaign back, explains it in plain words, and says whether it depends on the decision of the company's designated approver.
Where it shows
The blocking reason and the next step appear in the chat.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
The assignment goes through an approval card: after your confirmation, Anna Clarke becomes the company's approver. The account manager still sees the waiting items through Apex, and within the company Anna Clarke sees them from then on.
Where it shows
The approval card and the answer appear in the chat.
Who can askCompany leadAccount managerWith approval
What happens
The fixed letter opens a new round; Apex asks whether to send a short message to the approver, and only sends it back for approval after your yes.
Where it shows
The confirmation of sending it back happens in the chat, the result shows on the company's Account manager page.
Who can askAccount managerWith approval in some cases

Waiting for me

Apex tells you by name and status what's waiting for your decision.

What's waiting for my approval now?
What happens
Apex sets out the waiting items by name and type (signature or letter sequence), and says how many letters are still waiting within a campaign.
Where it shows
The items appear in the chat, the same in detail on the Account manager page.

Only the company's designated approver gets this; for anyone else, Apex says this isn't their task right now.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex tells you when the signature was submitted for approval, without pressure.
Where it shows
The submission time shows in the chat and on the item's card on the Account manager page too.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex tells you how many letters are still waiting out of the total in the campaign's letter sequence, because an item only counts as approved once every one of its letters is.
Where it shows
The status per letter appears in the chat and in the progress bar on the item's page.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager

Where I approve it

Apex doesn't decide: it opens the place where you can decide with your own click.

What happens
If you're the company's designated approver, Apex opens the Account manager page in the right-hand workspace, where every waiting item is visible in one place.
Where it shows
The page is also available in the left-hand bar; only the approver and the account manager can see it.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
If you're the company's designated approver, Apex opens the given item, ready for review, but doesn't make the decision for you.
Where it shows
The item's own page appears in the right-hand workspace.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
Who's my account manager?
What happens
If you're the company's designated approver, Apex opens the Account manager page, with the one to three colleagues who help you at the top, each with a photo, a name, and whether they're available right now.
Where it shows
The block titled "The people helping you" appears in the right-hand workspace, right at the top of the Account manager page.

If the company doesn't have a designated account manager yet, the block doesn't appear. Apex never makes up a name.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager

Why the campaign isn't starting

Apex explains in plain words what's holding the campaign back, always along with the next step.

What's holding our campaign back?
What happens
Apex tells you whether the campaign's content isn't approved yet, or has already been submitted and is waiting for the approver's decision.
Where it shows
The blocking reason appears in the chat, the item's details on the Account manager page.

Once the approver accepts the submitted content, the campaign starts on its own, without a separate launch step.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
If the campaign doesn't have a working sender yet, or the sender's signature isn't approved yet in the campaign's language, Apex names this.
Where it shows
The missing condition appears in the chat.

The sender is the mailbox the campaign's letters go out from. Its setup is covered in the Senders topic.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex tells you that the company doesn't have a designated approver yet, or the designated approver is no longer an active member of the company, and this is the next task.
Where it shows
The fact that there's no approver appears in the chat.

You can start assigning the approver either on the team page or through Apex.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
If the subscription's first payment hasn't arrived yet, Apex says this too; on its own, this also holds back the campaign from starting.
Where it shows
This blocking reason also appears in the chat.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager

Approval and revision

Apex explains what a decision means, but the click is always yours.

Do I need to decide letter by letter, or on the whole thing at once?
What happens
Apex explains that in a letter sequence, each letter needs a separate decision, and the item only counts as approved once every one of its letters is; a signature is a single decision.
Where it shows
The letters and the progress bar appear on the item's own page.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
In detail: Letters and replies
What happens
Apex explains that the letter goes back to whoever wrote it, along with the reason and the request; they fix it, and the fixed letter opens a new round of decisions.
Where it shows
You request the change on the item's page, with the letter's own button.

Requesting a change is a normal part of the process.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex explains that the letter's content has changed since it was submitted, so approving the earlier version wouldn't go through now.
Where it shows
The warning appears on the item's page, on the letter's card.

Refreshing the page, or the submitter resubmitting, resolves the situation.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager

The approver

A company has one approver, and only their click decides.

What happens
The assignment goes through an approval card: after confirmation, Anna Clarke becomes the one whose decision determines the approval of campaigns and signatures.
Where it shows
The approval card appears in the chat.

The company lead or the account manager can assign the approver.

Who can askCompany leadAccount managerWith approval
Can we swap them for someone else if we need to?
What happens
Apex tells you whether the company has a designated approver, and whether it's you. It also explains that there's no way to remove the approver; you can only change it by assigning another colleague.
Where it shows
The answer appears in the chat.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
If the person asking isn't authorised to make the assignment, Apex says who can do it instead: the company lead or the account manager. If an approval card appeared in the meantime, accepting it still doesn't make the assignment.
Where it shows
The answer appears in the chat.

Only the company lead, meaning the company's user with the highest rights, or the account manager can assign the approver. Administrator rights aren't enough for this.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager

What happens after the decision

An approval takes effect immediately, and a running campaign stops when its content is edited.

What happens
Apex explains that approving the last waiting item starts the campaign on its own, without a separate launch step.
Where it shows
The approval happens on the item's page, and the start shows on the campaign's own page.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex explains that a running campaign stops when its content is edited, and only resumes sending once the new content is approved or the campaign is restarted.
Where it shows
You can follow the campaign's status on the campaign's own page.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex explains that content already live before approval was introduced automatically counts as approved; approval doesn't stop a setting that's already working.
Where it shows
This is also marked in the item's status.

This only applies to old content from before approval was introduced, not to content submitted today.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager

The writer's side

If you write the letters as an account manager, the client's approver decides on them, and you handle the revisions.

What happens
Apex tells you there's nothing more for you to do: the approver has been notified, and once they approve, the campaign starts by itself. If they ask for a change, Apex lets you know.
Where it shows
The answer appears in the chat.

Submission only happens when a campaign launch is attempted, not every time a letter is saved.

Who can askAccount managerWith approval in some cases
What happens
Apex shows you the reason attached to the letter and the text of the requested change; that's the point to fix.
Where it shows
The request text is in the chat, and the letter is also available on the item's own page.
Who can askAccount manager
What happens
Apex records your reason on the letter on an approval card, in your own words, and the approver sees this alongside their request at their next decision.
Where it shows
The recorded reply appears on the item's page, on the letter's card.

This doesn't approve the letter: the approver decides again after this, now also knowing your reply.

Who can askAccount managerWith approval
What happens
On an approval card, Apex withdraws the campaign's submission as long as the approver hasn't decided yet. This doesn't affect an approval already given.
Where it shows
After the withdrawal, the item no longer appears among the items waiting for the approver.
Who can askAccount managerWith approval

The approval card

If Apex is about to change something that matters, it puts a card in front of you first, and only continues after your click.

What happens
Apex explains that before a step affecting sending, recipients or approval, it puts a card in front of you where you can accept or reject it, and only carries it out after your click. Steps that are quick to undo, such as stopping a campaign, it does straight away.
Where it shows
The card appears in the chat, right where it belongs.

This card can appear for any user on smaller requests, regardless of who the company's designated approver is.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex explains that after a rejection, the step doesn't happen, and you can ask for it differently at any time.
Where it shows
The rejected card's status stays visible in the chat.
Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager
What happens
Apex confirms that the same card pattern appears for bulk actions and handovers too, not just for approvals.
Where it shows
The card appears everywhere in the chat, right where the request was made.

The details of bulk actions and handovers are in the Records and Tasks topics.

Who can askSalespersonGroup leaderCompany leadAccount manager

Good to know

The decision is always yours

Wherever approval is needed, Apex shows the card, and only carries it out after you click.

It only works from what it has

Apex tells you what's on the record and in the correspondence. If there's no data on something, it says so.

Another team's company

If another team within your company is working with a company, Apex flags it as taken, and doesn't say who's handling it.

In your own words

You can write to Apex in your own words. The example prompts work verbatim too, but it understands your own phrasing just as well.

A closed system.

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