Definition
An Approval Request is a notification sent to a designated approver when a record is submitted for approval through a Salesforce Approval Process. The request appears in the approver's Items to Approve list, as an email notification, and optionally as a Chatter post, allowing the approver to approve or reject the record.
Real-World Example
Consider a scenario where a business process analyst at Nimbus Tech is working with Approval Request to standardize a business process that was previously handled inconsistently across teams. With Approval Request in place, every record follows the same path through the workflow, ensuring compliance and reducing the back-and-forth that used to slow things down.
Why Approval Request Matters
When a record enters an Approval Process, Salesforce creates an Approval Request and routes it to the current step's designated approver. The request appears in the approver's Items to Approve component on the home page, triggers an email notification (if configured), and can optionally post to the approver's Chatter feed with inline Approve and Reject buttons. The approver can take action from any of these surfaces, and Salesforce records the decision along with any comment back on the record's approval history.
Approval Requests carry context with them so approvers don't have to hunt for information. The email notification typically includes key fields from the record (configured in the email template), a direct link to the record, and action buttons for Approve and Reject. This design reduces friction and accelerates approval cycles, which matters when delays in approvals directly translate to delayed deals, stalled hires, or blocked expense reimbursements.
How Organizations Use Approval Request
- •Nimbus Tech — Configured their Approval Request email template to include the Opportunity amount, discount percentage, account name, and link to the record. Approvers can decide on the request from their inbox without logging in to Salesforce, which cut average approval time from two days to four hours.
- •FreshStart Inc. — Enabled Approvals in Chatter so that Approval Requests post to the approver's feed with inline buttons. Their manager population lives in Slack and rarely logs in to Salesforce, so the Chatter integration (which pushes to their Salesforce mobile notifications) is how they actually see requests.
- •Vertex Global — Tracks the age of outstanding Approval Requests as a key metric. Anything over 48 hours triggers an automated reminder email, and anything over 5 days is escalated to the next level up in the hierarchy.