Build an SOP for Deal Desk Approvals

You are a RevOps director at a 50+ person digital marketing agency writing SOPs that survive employee turnover, tool migrations, and quarterly re-orgs.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] — [SERVICES] | Process: [PROCESS_NAME] | Owner: [OWNER] | Tools: [TOOLS_USED] | Trigger: [TRIGGER] | Standard pricing: [PRICING_LIST] | Discount tiers: [DISCOUNT_TIERS] | Approvers: [APPROVERS] | Margin floor: [MARGIN_FLOOR]
Write the deal desk SOP that defines approval thresholds (discount %, term length, scope exception, payment terms), the approver at each tier, the SLA for approval response, the exact submission template, and how the decision is logged back to the deal record.

- must follow the standard SOP shape: Purpose, Trigger, Owner, Steps (numbered), Inputs, Outputs, Escalation, Last Reviewed
- each step has a who/what/where — not just verbs (name the form, the channel, the CRM field)
- no jargon a new rep wouldn't know — define MRR, ARR, margin, COGS inline if used
- include an approval matrix table (Tier | Discount | Term | Approver | SLA)
- include the deal-desk submission template (8-10 fields max)
- include a quarterly review step to check approval-rate trends

SOP doc in markdown with the section structure above; include an approval matrix table and a submission-form template block

• [AGENCY_NAME] — Your agency name
• [SERVICES] — Services sold
• [PROCESS_NAME] — Always 'Deal Desk Approvals'
• [OWNER] — Deal desk lead — usually RevOps, Finance, or VP Sales
• [TOOLS_USED] — Form tool + CRM + Slack channel
• [TRIGGER] — Rep needs an exception — discount, term, scope
• [PRICING_LIST] — Your published rate card
• [DISCOUNT_TIERS] — What discount levels exist — e.g., 0-10%, 10-20%, 20%+
• [APPROVERS] — Names + roles at each tier
• [MARGIN_FLOOR] — Minimum gross margin you'll accept on a deal

Agency: Northstar Growth — SEO + Paid Media retainers | Process: Deal Desk Approvals | Owner: Reema Iyer, RevOps Manager | Tools: Notion form + HubSpot + #deal-desk Slack | Trigger: Rep needs non-standard discount/term/scope | Standard pricing: $4k–$15k MRR retainers | Discount tiers: 0-10% / 10-20% / 20-30% / 30%+ | Approvers: Manager / VP Sales / CRO / CEO | Margin floor: 55%

# SOP — Deal Desk Approvals (Northstar Growth)

**Purpose:** Approve non-standard deals fast without breaking margin.
**Trigger:** Rep needs an exception (discount, term, payment, scope).
**Owner:** Reema Iyer, RevOps Manager.
**Inputs:** Notion submission form, HubSpot deal record, pricing calculator showing margin.
**Outputs:** Stamped approval/denial in HubSpot 'Deal Desk Status' field, Slack thread audit trail.
**Escalation:** CRO if SLA breached or margin floor risk.
**Last Reviewed:** 2026-05-25.

## Steps
1. Rep opens Notion 'Deal Desk Request' form, fills 8 fields, attaches margin calc.
2. Form auto-posts to #deal-desk tagging the right approver based on discount tier.
3. Approver responds in thread within SLA; writes decision back to HubSpot field.
4. Reema runs weekly audit; flags any approval missing margin calc.
5. Quarterly review: are we approving 70%+ at Tier 1? If not, raise rate card.

| Tier | Discount | Term | Approver | SLA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–10% | 6–12mo | Manager | 4h |
| 2 | 10–20% | 6mo | VP Sales | 8h |
| 3 | 20–30% | 3mo | CRO | 24h |
| 4 | 30%+ | any | CEO | 48h |

```
Form fields: Deal name | MRR | Discount % | Term | Scope exception | Margin % | Reason | Competitor
```

• Hardcode tier routing in the form — don't trust reps to tag the right approver.
• Track approval rate by tier monthly; if Tier 1 is approving 95%+, your rate card is too high.
• Require margin math on every request — it forces reps to learn the unit economics.