Note: This guide is for projects that use the new Schedules and the project dashboard. For older projects that use the Client Dashboard, see How to manage Product Approvals & Client Feedback (legacy projects).
When products are ready for a decision, set them to Client Review. Your client approves or rejects them in their Client Dashboard, and Programa records each decision on the product.
1. Make sure your client can respond
Before you request an approval, check that:
You've shared the schedule with your client as a guest.
Your client has the Approve or reject products permission.
The products show in the shared schedule.
NOTE: New guests don't have the Approve or reject products permission until you turn it on.
To turn on the permission for one schedule:
Open the schedule.
Select Share.
Select ⋯ next to your client's name under Shared with.
Select Manage schedule visibility.
Select the Approve or reject products checkbox.
Select Save.
To turn it on for all schedules, change your client's Default schedule visibility. Refer to How to control what a guest sees in a schedule.
NOTE: A public link can't collect approvals.
2. Request an approval
Open the shared schedule.
Select the checkbox next to each product that your client needs to review.
Select Actions.
Select Update status.
Select Client Review.
Let your client know that the products are ready.
The products show at the top of your client's schedule, ready for review.
Programa doesn't notify your client when you submit products for approval. To let them know, call or email them yourself. Programa only sends an email when you first share the schedule with the Email guests checkbox selected.
3. Review client responses
Your client can approve or reject one product at a time, or a group of products together. They can respond on a computer or a phone, and add comments. Their decisions save straight away.
You can see responses in three places.
Across the project: Project overview
The Project overview shows approvals for all schedules in the project:
Products that are waiting for a client decision.
Client responses that came in recently.
Use it to see where the whole project is up to, without opening each schedule.
In one schedule: Approvals
Open the schedule.
Select Approvals at the top right.
Select the Outstanding tab.
Select Show.
Select a filter: All, Awaiting client decision or New responses.
An orange dot on Approvals means you have new responses to read.
What each filter shows:
All: every open request and every new response.
Awaiting client decision: products your client hasn't decided on yet. A product stays here until your client decides or you send a new request.
New responses: decisions you haven't read yet. To move a response to History, select Mark read. This doesn't change your client's decision.
On one product: Activity
Open the product and select the Activity tab. You can see each decision, who made it and when.
Good to know
If you change the product status, the review request moves to History. Changing the procurement or payment status doesn't move it.
If more than one client can respond, the first decision sets the product status. Each response shows the client's name.
If your client needs help, you can send them this guide: How your client reviews and approves a shared schedule.
4. Change a product and request a new review
Open the rejected product.
Update the product details, or add an alternative product.
Check the specification and pricing are right.
Set the product status to Client Review.
Make sure the product shows in the shared schedule.
Let your client know the product is ready to review again.
An approval records your client's decision, but you can still change the specification afterwards. If you change an approved product, request a new review.
If you need to keep a PDF of that round of changes, make an issue.
Find an alternative after a rejection
Programa suggests alternatives only when:
Your client rejected the product, and
Programa found products that match.
To look at an alternative:
On the rejected product's action card, select Review.
Select Alternatives.
Move your pointer over an image.
Select the image. The side menu opens.
Open the URL.
Check the listing on the supplier's website.
Select one of these actions:
Replace current product: swaps out the original product.
Add to Schedule: keeps the original product and adds a new product line.
Not Interested: removes the suggestion.
Repeat steps 1 to 7 for each rejected product.
Select Done.
Before you set an alternative to Client Review, check its details and price are right.