For partner ops and partner managers who need every submission reviewed, signed off by the right people, and answered.Some submissions cannot be accepted on the spot - they need sign-off, the right people alerted, and the partner told what happened. This guide builds that whole loop: an approval gate with ordered steps, optional AI that clears the routine cases, notifications to your team and the partner, and the day-to-day review where you accept, decline, return, or reopen each submission. The result is consistent, auditable handling instead of submissions waiting on whoever happens to notice them.
What you’ll achieve
A form where every submission routes through the approvers you choose, AI optionally handles confident cases on its own, your team is alerted on submit, and partners receive a clear outcome - all reviewed from one Submissions inbox. Nothing stalls unseen and nothing is rubber-stamped.Before you start
Steps
Set up the approval gate
Enable the approval gate
Go to Forms, open the form, and on the Automation tab select Approval Gate. Turn on Enable Approval Gate so submissions are held as pending until they are approved, rather than accepted automatically. Use a gate whenever a submission needs a human (or AI) decision before it counts.
Add ordered approval steps
Under Approval steps, choose Add approval step for each level of sign-off. Steps run in order: each must approve before the next is asked, which is how you model a two-stage review (for example a reviewer then a manager). For each step:
- Name the step so approvers understand its purpose.
- Pick the approvers - specific team members, a partner team role, or Anyone in your organisation. If you add no steps at all, any team member can approve, so add steps when you need specific sign-off.
Let AI clear the routine cases (optional)
Enable Introw AI validation
In the Introw AI Agent section of the gate, turn on Enable Introw AI validation to have AI review each submission against your rules before it reaches a person. This is what collapses approval time on high-volume, rule-based forms.
Give the AI instructions
Enter the policy the AI should apply - what to accept, decline, or return. Use Generate with AI to draft instructions from the form’s fields, then refine them to your risk tolerance and must-have criteria (for example, decline submissions missing timeline details, return ones without target-account fit).
Set how autonomously it acts
Turn on Allow Introw AI to execute confident decisions autonomously to let AI act on its own, and set the threshold between More cautious and More autonomous. AI only auto-executes when its confidence clears the threshold; everything less certain still routes to a human. Start cautious, watch the results, then loosen it as you build trust.
Notify the right people
Alert your team on submit
Still on the Automation tab, open Inform partner team. Turn on To all partner team members to email the partner’s team on submit, and use the fallback section (Add partnership manager fallback) so an alert still goes out when no team member can be determined. Add anyone else who should know with Add recipient. This is what keeps response time short - a submission no one is told about waits.
Confirm partner outcome emails
Partner emails for outcomes are managed centrally. Go to Notification settings and, under the Submissions group, confirm Form submission accepted, Form submission declined, and Form submission returned are on, so partners are automatically told when their submission is resolved.
Review and resolve submissions
Open the inbox
Go to Submissions to see incoming submissions with their status - Pending, Accepted, Auto accepted, Declined, or Returned - alongside the form, partner, and submitter.
Open a submission and choose an outcome
Open a pending submission to see its full detail and act:
- Accept - approve it; the partner is notified and any CRM automations run.
- Decline - reject it with your decline message.
- Return - send it back asking for more information; the partner can edit and resubmit.
- Reopen - bring a declined submission back into review if something changes.
Verify it worked
Submit a test: it arrives as Pending (or Auto accepted if AI cleared it), your team receives the on-submit alert, and stepping it through approval changes its status. When you accept, decline, or return it, the partner receives the matching email and the inbox reflects the new status. Returned submissions reappear once the partner resubmits.Related
Customize the submissions inbox
Review by the columns you care about.
Build and publish a form
Create the form this workflow reviews.
Implementation reference
Full configuration options.