Run a deal desk for pricing and legal exceptions

Stand up a **deal-desk intake agent** — intake messy exception asks (discount depth, payment timing, and non-standard paper) — output a **single approver packet**: facts, policy cites, risk flags, and draft decision memo — routed through **human steps** ([Run a workflow](/tutorials/run-a-workflow), [Require human approval before risky actions](/tutorials/require-human-approval-before-risky-actions)) — not autonomous discounts or legal sign-off.

Plus: three Admin-Agent passes — exception taxonomy from your approval matrix alone, approver one-pager template with **UNKNOWN** holes explicit, and quarterly review comparing packet quality to closed-won CRM notes ([Turn account research into CRM field updates](/tutorials/turn-account-research-into-crm-field-updates)).

Audience	Admins · Executives · Everyone
Time	~12 min
Prerequisites	Human-in-the-loop habits ([Set up a content review pipeline](/tutorials/set-up-a-content-review-pipeline) — same human-in-the-loop pattern). Workflow columns ([Run a workflow](/tutorials/run-a-workflow)). Approval discipline ([Require human approval before risky actions](/tutorials/require-human-approval-before-risky-actions)). Policy prose in context ([Add your first context file](/tutorials/add-your-first-context-file) — bands, banned concessions). Contract comparisons stay with [Review documents against your standard terms](/tutorials/review-documents-against-your-standard-terms).
You'll end up with	One Deal Desk Intake agent — instructions limit scope to internal packets — plus a live exception workflow with named finance/legal reviewers — tested on a disguised real ask.

When a tutorial shows italic text in quotation marks, it usually mirrors a label or helper string inside Auxot. Product copy changes between releases — if something reads differently in your workspace, trust what you see on screen.

Callouts with a Worth knowing gold accent are meant as must-read context before you move on. Blockquotes that open with Tip are lighter, optional depth.

Why this matters

Deals slip when “we need an exception” arrives as a long Slack thread five minutes before quarter-end. Approvers guess context; reps promise verbally; nobody updates CRM consistently; audit pain follows.

A deal desk pattern fixes the shape of the ask:

Intake: structured answers (customer, ARR, ask, deadline, and competitive pressure).
Policy scan: compare to published bands; cite context files (Add your first context file).
Packet: two-page max memo finance/legal can skim on mobile.
Decision log: workflow human steps (Require human approval before risky actions); optional maker/checker when money crosses thresholds (Use two-person rules for high-impact actions).

Incoming vendor paper still flows through document review (Review documents against your standard terms): today’s lesson is your concessions desk, not CLM replacement.

Nothing approves spend on its own — named humans click workflow columns — agents assemble packets because you prompted.

Quick start

Publish guardrails — markdown tables: discount tiers, payment term ceilings, and who owns escalations: Settings → Context Files (Add your first context file).
Create Deal Desk Intake — agent collects missing fields: refuses vague make it cheaper until numbers appear; outputs STATUS: READY_FOR_REVIEW or BLOCKED: reasons.
Wire workflow — stages: Intake → Policy draft → Finance → Legal → Decision noted; prune columns your org lacks (Run a workflow).
Route Slack or Chat — reps paste /deal-desk style prompts linking CRM excerpt (Connect Slack to your agents optional).
Archive packets — attach workflow task IDs to CRM opportunity notes (Turn account research into CRM field updates): searchable later.

Done? One pilot exception processed cleanly; approvers report faster clarity; reps know missing-field checklist.

The agent can do that?

1. Taxonomy mint

Chat → Admin Agent:

Paste approval matrix bullets: […]. Produce exception categories — Pricing | Legal term | Billing | Channel arrangement | Other — each with required intake fields — markdown table — max eight rows.

Why it’s non-obvious: Slack chaos hides category mistakes; taxonomy reduces misfiling after you paste authority doc excerpts.

2. Approver packet scaffold

Deal Desk agent finished intake JSON pasted: […]. Draft approver memo — sections: Summary, Commercial snapshot, Policy comparison, Risks, and Recommendation draft — label gaps **UNKNOWN — ask rep** — <= 250 words body.

Why it’s non-obvious: Approvers drowning in threads; scaffold respects phone-screen reality because you pasted structured intake.

3. Post-decision CRM stub

Approved exception outcome pasted — draft CRM activity note — three bullets — neutral tense — ready for paste — cite workflow task link placeholder.

Why it’s non-obvious: Approved exceptions stop being remembered after the deal closes; the CRM stub keeps the decision attached to the opportunity after you paste the outcome text. If the team eventually wants the stub written into CRM instead of pasted, the safe path is the field-level pattern in Lock CRM writes to a single custom field: the agent writes only to a custom field like auxot_deal_desk_summary, never deal stage or amount.

Go deeper

Security questionnaires

Procurement security threads parallel exceptions: cross-link narrative discipline (Answer vendor security questionnaires from your own evidence); keep scopes separate mentally.

Audit trail

Large ticket CRM updates surface in Jobs when agents run tools: skim View your audit logs monthly; weird automation deserves tightening (Define a tool policy).

Stress testing

When reps pressure-test approval wording adversarially: borrow the same rehearsal discipline as Stress-test your pitch with simulated buyer personas internally; still not legal advice.

Retention

Decision artifacts may be regulated: align wording with retention playbook (Plan for retention and deletion requests); counsel picks durations.

Walkthrough

Step 1: Redact pilot ask

Use fictional names: preserve numeric shape; trains reviewers safely.

Step 2: Run intake-only

Confirm BLOCKED path fires on incomplete asks: UX kindness beats silent failure.

Step 3: Add finance column

Single human if tiny org: split when revenue crosses internal rule (Use two-person rules for high-impact actions).

Step 4: Dry-run legal pass

Lawyer skims packet: revise template headings; not substantive law via chat.

Step 5: Retro fit

After quarter-end: which fields were always missing? Adjust intake prompts (Update your agents without breaking the team).

What’s next

→ Roll up initiative threads into weekly goal check-ins. Exec-facing cadence after packets close; initiative → confidence → blockers without waiting for a quarterly deck.
→ Set up a content review pipeline. Same human-in-the-loop skeleton; swap creative drafting for commercial packets.
→ Run a workflow. Columns encode approvers; Deal Desk without workflows devolves to hallway promises.
→ Require human approval before risky actions. Vocabulary for tiers/timeouts maps cleanly onto exceptions.
→ Review documents against your standard terms. When the exception ships with their redlined agreement: document diff lane, beside internal packets.
→ Use two-person rules for high-impact actions. Big-dollar concessions; maker/checker columns earn their keep.
→ Lock CRM writes to a single custom field. If post-decision CRM stubs graduate from paste to a wired write, the field-level safety pattern keeps deal stage and amount out of the agent’s reach.

Reference

Pages in Auxot: Chat, Workflows, Settings → Agents, and Settings → Context Files
See also: Roll up initiative threads into weekly goal check-ins, Stress-test your pitch with simulated buyer personas, Turn account research into CRM field updates, Add your first context file, Connect Slack to your agents