Slack has announced the general availability of Slack Sales Elevate. This is the next generation of UI for Salesforce customers with native integration between Slack and Sales Cloud. It is the latest iteration of the integration between Slack and Salesforce that have been evolving since Salesforce acquired Slack in 2021.
Slack Sales Elevate has a native integration with Sales Cloud. This allows sales teams, sales reps, sales operations and managers to use Slack as their user interface for their daily work. Slack Huddles also lets users have recorded conferences for regular meetings, such as forecast planning. Slack also supports workflows that integrate seamlessly with Sales Cloud. Enabling users to enter data and initiate processes without leaving Slack.
The workflows and processes embedded within Slack include account updates, automations, and pre-built templates. It enhances the integration between Slack Channels and Sales Cloud, where users can surface information. There is a new Sales Home view with a direct feed from Sales Cloud data. Ensuring that Sales Reps see real-time data through the integration without switching screens.
The solution does not mean Slack is available on the platform. There is still real-time data synchronisation between the two applications.
Why is this important now?
Sales reps are spending too much time on unproductive work. The recent Salesforce State of Sales Report identified that sales reps can spend as much as 70% on non-selling tasks. While some of these tasks are valid, such as forecast planning, meetings and other manual tasks, they could be more efficient. Slack Sales Elevate will enable sales reps to spend less time switching between applications. The ability to initiate workflows, collaborate on Slack channels from a single window should also save considerable time.
Slack Sales Elevate uses the rich CRM data from the Sales Cloud platform. Enabling sales reps and managers to work more efficiently.
Rob Seaman, SVP of Product at Slack, commented, “Bringing Sales Cloud into Slack and providing new sales productivity tools and automations in Slack helps sellers save time and access the right people and information to make better decisions. A Slack-based approach to selling will make it easier than ever for Sales Cloud customers to focus on the work that matters: working with customers and closing deals.”
Slack calls out several benefits of the new solution
It enables sales teams to personalise their experience using automation to initiate workflows. It also provides visibility of progress on KPIs towards goals, views of opportunities, details of prospects and access to sales enablement content.
Slack Sales Elevate brings collaboration to a new level. It allows everyone in the sales team to work on the same platform and view opportunities and risks simultaneously in the same interface. Enabling communication on key matters within channels. This communication can be partly automated. With notifications about customer updates posted automatically to a customer Slack channel and team channels.
Sales leaders have a single pane to view everything to quickly identify and enable coaching opportunities. Also information about deals won and at risk. Oversight in a single location will also enhance forecasting with up-to-date information.
As teams build workflows, best practices can be automated for greater efficiency. Helping to ensure that deals are closed faster, through more timely task completion, including approvals. A new opportunity surfaced in Slack might initiate a workflow that triggers a note in the account channel for the sales rep to follow up.
Importantly, Slack Sales Elevate scales across large organisations out of the Box; early adopter sales teams have already seen the benefits.
Lauren Farber, Director of Business Operations Roku, commented, “I am thrilled for the future of Salesforce, housed in Slack. Sales Slack Elevate brings CRM to a system Sales already knows and loves. It weaves all their work within a user-friendly platform, making pipeline management and actionable business insights infinitely more accessible and efficient! Can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Sofie Peedu, Head of Commercial Sales, Box added, “At Box, tools like Slack and Salesforce are pivotal in helping me run a productive sales organization. By adding Sales Cloud directly into Slack, you get an unbeatable combination resulting in shorter sales cycles with higher customer satisfaction.”
Pricing
While this appears to be a new UI for Salesforce using Slack, this service has an additional cost. This is slightly disappointing, especially with the recent increase in Salesforce price rises (up around 9% on average, though the first time in seven years).
Potential customers must be on Slack Business+ plans and above, and (Salesforce) Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited Sales Cloud editions. Sales Slack Elevate is priced at $60 per user per month. It includes access to AI-generated templates and AI-powered workflows. Further updates are promised with access to more Salesforce records, including Accounts, Cases, Contacts and Leads. With record-mapped channels will be available in the future.
The pricing seems high. Centro offers integration between Slack and Salesforce at a lower price. While the features are different, the pricing may be at a price point that avoids undermining the ecosystem partner. It will be interesting to see the return on investment from customers for the new solution.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Farber is right to anticipate what’s next. With Slack Sales Elevate demonstrated at the World Tour event in New York late last year, there is more to come from Salesforce. Its annual conference, Dreamforce, will be held between September 12-14 in San Francisco. And is sure to offer a view of the future. Salesforce talks about the magic of AI + Data + CRM. While generative AI is missing from this announcement, the recently announced availability of AI GPT powered services, including for Sales Cloud, might indicate what is to come.
Irwin Lazar, President and Principal Analyst, commented, “Metrigy research shows that the vast majority of companies with the highest ROI for their team collaboration spend view their team collaboration apps as a hub for work. Integrating data and collaboration, as Slack Sales Elevate does for sales management, offers tremendous opportunity to improve productivity and increase sales rates by allowing sales people and their managers to integrate their activities in a single location, across desktop and mobile devices, without the need to move between apps to manage opportunities.”
As Lazar indicates, Salesforce has taken another step towards UI that could only be dreamed of in Science Fiction a few years ago. With more Salesforce/Slack Elevate solutions to emerge and deeper functionality in Slack Sales Elevate, Salesforce is offering customers a bright future while delivering what they need now.
