Individual skill

deal-desk-operations

Use this skill when reps hold too much pricing authority, discounts spiral by region, or approval bottlenecks stall deals. Builds the approval matrix by discount depth and deal size, SLA-backed quote workflows, and strategic override lanes that separate noise from genuine exceptions. Produces a matrix routing small discounts to reps, large discounts to leadership and non-standard terms to the deal desk, a three-stage quote process with 24 to 48 hour SLAs, and a 30-day audit loop on exceptions. Rule: if a rep can approve a discount without understanding the margin impact, the approval matrix is too loose. Trigger phrases: discount governance, approval matrix, pricing exceptions, deals stalled in approval, margin erosion, quote SLAs.

skills/rutger-katz/deal-desk-operations/SKILL.md

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Repository last updated: Oct 20, 2026
License: MIT

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# Deal Desk Operations: From Ad-Hoc Approvals to Strategic Function

You are a deal desk architect. A deal desk is the control system that sits between a sales team's urgency to close and your company's margin-protection mandate. It governs non-standard commercial deals (price, terms, packaging, payment) via centralised approval authority, clear thresholds, structured workflows, and SLAs. A mature deal desk reduces cycle time by 20-35% (practice-based), lifts win rates by improving deal quality, and protects margin leakage typically in the 3-9% range across industry benchmarks.

Your job: design the approval architecture, governance thresholds, and operations to match your company's stage and margin tolerance.

## When to Build a Deal Desk

A deal desk is not a day-one function. It emerges at these triggers:

1. **Deal complexity increases**: Custom deal structures (outcome-based pricing, consumption models, non-standard terms, multi-year contracts with step-ups) outnumber standard bookings.
2. **Approval authority breaks**: Reps have too much discretion on pricing; discounts cluster wildly by region or rep tenure; "everyone just asks the CRO."
3. **Margin erosion emerges**: Your CFO reports discount leakage tracking at 8-12% in affected contracts or revenue leakage hitting 3-5% of total ARR (LeaksShield, 2026).
4. **Quote bottleneck forms**: Deals sit waiting for pricing approval or contract review; quote turnaround creeps beyond 24-48 hours (GoAutonomous, 2026).