Operations
Part of How to run sponsorship rates operations: roles, records and reconciliation
A workflow for approving influencer rates
A team workflow for approving influencer rates in sponsorships, with named owners, a five-part brief score, escalation rules and records for each offer.
What to take away
- For influencer rates tied to sponsorships, the common mistake is building the rate card first and the approval path last, which turns every quote into a fresh argument.
- A workable workflow names three ownerspricing, evidence and final sign-off. The pricing owner retains approval of pricing exceptions.
- One scoring rubric, applied before the number leaves the building, keeps discounts defensible.
- Records matter as much as ratesaudience data, approvals and version history.
Decide who owns each number
Name the pricing owner
Ownership is the part teams skip. A single named pricing owner holds the rate card, signs off exceptions and answers when a brand asks why a figure moved.
That owner needs a deputy. Holidays expose workflows that live in one head, and a deputy stops the same client receiving two different quotes.
Write the split into freelance contracts too, so a contractor knows who sets the number and who may discount it.
Name the final sign-off owner
A senior commercial owner is the final sign-off owner for each complete offer, after the pricing owner has approved any pricing exception. This separates final approval from day-to-day pricing while keeping exception decisions with the pricing owner.
Write down what the evidence owner keeps
The evidence owner gathers the inputs behind each rate: platform analytics exports, audience demographics, earlier campaign results and the brief itself.
Keep one folder per deal, with the brief, evidence, score, offer and approval record. Store the deal record in your CRM and the rate-card file in Microsoft SharePoint, so the team can find the same information when a brand's procurement team challenges a figure weeks later.
Files holding audience demographics or contact details are personal data. The UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 apply; the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) explains the storage-limitation principle. Set and document a retention period that fits the purpose rather than assuming one fixed period applies to every deal.
Build a rate card the team can use
Give each line item its platform and deliverable, quantity, audience evidence and date, base fee, production costs, usage rights and period, exclusivity, payment terms and validity date. Keep extras distinct from the base fee, and set fees using the pricing owner's evidence and method rather than treating an unverified external benchmark as a default. Specify who is responsible for ad labelling: the CAP Code requires marketing communications to be obviously identifiable, and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) publishes influencer guidance.
Route each deal for approval
- First, the account lead logs the brand brief and proposed deliverables in the deal record.
- Next, the evidence owner adds the platform analytics, audience demographics and relevant campaign results, with their sources and dates.
- Then, the pricing owner checks the brief against the rate card and rubric, sets the proposed fee and approves any pricing exception.
- After that, the senior commercial owner reviews and gives final sign-off on the complete offer.
- Finally, the account lead sends the approved offer and records the version sent.
Score every brief before you send a number
Use the same five criteria every time, and score before you reply.
Escalation trigger below floor
Brief score below six out of ten?
discount goes to pricing owner
account lead may proceed
Five-criteria brief scoring rubric
- Brief claritydeliverables, dates, usage rights
- Budget fitbudget against published range
- Evidence qualityaudience data you can show
- Rights and usagewindow and territory match fee
- Payment termsdays to payment, late-payment position
Score the brief, not the client
A rubric stops the loudest client setting your price. Score the brief on the same five criteria each time. Give each criterion equal weight, score it from zero to two, and record the total out of ten before anyone replies.
For example, a brief scoring two for clarity and one on each of the other four criteria totals six out of ten. If that is the team's escalation trigger, any proposed discount goes to the pricing owner rather than the account lead.
A low score on budget fit is not a rejection. It tells the pricing owner which lever to pull: scope, usage window or payment schedule.
Write the score into the deal record rather than a notebook.
Set the escalation trigger
Decide in advance what happens below your floor. Write the escalation trigger into the workflow; for example, if six out of ten is the trigger, a proposed discount goes to the pricing owner rather than the account lead.
Escalation rules only work if they are written before the negotiation starts. A verbal rule collapses the first time a deal is close.
Advertiser-side guidance helps here. ISBA's knowledge hub publishes material on media planning and agency relationships, useful when a brand's procurement team rewrites your terms.
Keep the records that defend the rate
Log approvals, not just numbers
For every offer, log who gave final sign-off and when. For each exception, record the pricing owner's approval, when it was given and what the team traded away. That is what makes a rate card credible next quarter.
Version the rate card itself. Keep the working file in Microsoft SharePoint and use its version history to identify changes. If April's numbers live only in an email thread, you cannot show a brand that the figure was standard.
When an agency buys on the brand's behalf, its planning process shapes what you are asked to prove. LinkedIn's resources for marketing agencies describe how campaigns are briefed, targeted and measured.
Review the workflow each quarter
Set a review date. Quarterly is enough for most teams, and the review asks one question: which step caused a delay or a discount this quarter?
Keep those notes, because next year's review asks the same question.
Before a new season, run a launch review in England against this workflow: confirm the owners, rate-card version, approval route and record fields are current.
Common questions
How long does it take to set up a sponsorship rates operating workflow?
It is a short project rather than a programme: name the owners, agree the rubric, then load the rate card. The first live deal will expose the gaps.
Who should own the workflow?
A senior commercial owner is the usual choice for final sign-off, because the role has to overrule an account lead mid-negotiation. That person needs a named deputy. The pricing owner, not the final sign-off owner, approves pricing exceptions.
What goes into a rate scoring rubric?
Keep the five criteria consistent: brief clarity, budget fit, evidence quality, rights and usage, and payment terms. Score each from zero to two for an equally weighted total out of ten; a numerical rubric is easier to defend than a written opinion.
Do small deals need the same records?
Yes, but a short version will do. Keep the brief, the audience figures you quoted and the approval note in one place.
