How Panther eliminated approval delays with targeted Salesforce automation

Panther ingests security data at scale and surfaces what matters in real time, but inside the sales motion, the quote process told a different story. Approvals moved by email, fields were missed, routing was unclear, and there was no single place to see who approved what or when. Deals slowed, not for strategic reasons, but for operational ones.

This case study is the success story of how we managed to replace that friction with a Salesforce Approval flow that matched the discipline Panther expects from everything else it does.

Also read: Salesforce implementation 101

On any given day, a quote might sit waiting for the right person to approve a discount, but the path was not defined inside the CRM. Required fields were incomplete, which meant back-and-forth later. There were no reminders. No audit trail. The team could not lean on the system because the system did not exist.

The ask was pretty clear: build an approval process inside Salesforce that is fast, predictable, and auditable.

The objectives were explicit and practical:

• Automate quote approvals with Salesforce Approval Flows.
• Route based on discount tiers.
• Enforce DealDesk review for compliance.
• Block incomplete submissions with validations.
• Add notifications, reminders, and delegation so approvals do not get stuck.
• Capture reasons for rejection and maintain an audit log for transparency.

This was not about adding red tape. It was about making the right actions automatic, and making the next action obvious.

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• 0 to 5 percent: Auto-approved, then a dedicated RevOps specialist on DealDesk validates compliance.
• 6 to 24.99 percent: Dedicated RevOps specialist on DealDesk approves or rejects.
• 25 percent or higher: Dual approval by VP Sales and dedicated RevOps specialist on DealDesk.

Delegation is explicit. A backup operator can act for the dedicated RevOps specialist on DealDesk if and only if they have not already approved.

Validations that prevent incomplete work

Submission is blocked unless the quote has Contract Start Date, Contract End Date, Primary Contact, Quote Terms, Opportunity lookup, Expires On, and status equals Draft. Discount percent can be blank. If anything is missing, the flow does not start.

Rejection and resubmission with guardrails

• Targeted re-approval: if VP Sales rejects, both VP Sales and the dedicated RevOps specialist on DealDesk can re-approve on resubmission. If the specialist rejects, only they can re-approve.
• Prevent duplicates: a new submission cancels any active approval.
• Confirmation modal: users must confirm before resubmitting.

Notifications and reminders that keep work moving

• Approval requests go to the RevOps specialist and, for the top tier, to the VP, Sales.
• Decision notifications go to the quote owner.
• If something is pending more than 24 hours, the approver receives a reminder.
• Email templates are standardized and sent with an org-wide address.

An opportunity guardrail that aligns stages with reality
Sales cannot move an Opportunity to POC Scoping until at least one quote is approved. This is enforced by a validation rule or flow.

Audit and traceability by default
Every action is logged with timestamp, approver, and comments. The team can see the path in an Approval Trace component, and the system stores records in Approval Submission and Work Item objects.

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Entry validation
Background step checks required fields and Draft status. If any are missing, submission is blocked.

Decision element
The system routes the quote to one of four paths: 0 to 5 percent, 6 to 24.99 percent, 25 percent or higher, or the Pre-Approved path.

0 to 5 percent path
The system auto-approves, then sends to the RevOps specialist on DealDesk for compliance validation, then notifies the quote owner.

6 to 24.99 percent path
The specialist reviews. The record locks and moves to In Review. The system notifies the owner on decision.

25 percent or higher path
The specialist approves first, the system logs and updates status, then routes to VP, Sales for the second approval. If pending more than 24 hours, the system sends a reminder. On final decision, the owner is notified.

Pre-approved path
A separate branch is triggered by a Pre-Approved flag. The system auto-approves, updates the quote, and confirms with the owner.

Rejection handling
Rejection requires comments. On resubmission, the system cancels any existing approval and shows a confirmation modal. Targeted re-approval logic applies, as above.

Opportunity stage guardrail
A separate evaluation flow prevents advancing to POC Scoping until an approved quote exists.

Audit and traceability
All actions are written to the appropriate objects and displayed in the Approval Trace component.

The same quote that once required chasing now follows a defined path inside Salesforce. A rep clicks submit, the system checks the data, the right approver is notified, and the record locks while in review. If approval waits, reminders go out automatically. If rejected, the reason is captured, the resubmission path is targeted, and duplicate threads do not spin up because the active approval is canceled.

Nothing relies on memory. Everything leaves a trail.

• Reduced approval time through automation and clear routing.
• Lower manual effort because chasing is replaced by system reminders.
• Better data quality since validations block incomplete quotes.
• Consistent compliance due to DealDesk enforcement.
• Transparency through rejection reasons, audit trail, and standardized notifications.