Sync data between Salesforce and Slack Channel

Sales has always been a collaborative business, especially in large enterprises with long sales cycles. Collaboration in the workflow is therefore critical. Salesforce supports many parts of the sales process, but in reality, communication tools like Slack are still primarily used for quick chats and providing additional context between team members. What if you could give your team the best of both worlds in one place?

In this article, we will explore Salesforce Channels , how to get started, set them up, and the ultimate benefits they bring to your business.

A New Era for Slack and Salesforce

With artificial intelligence (AI) and automated workflows being the hottest topics in the business world, it's no surprise that Slack has started integrating various AI features while also adjusting the prices of its service plans.

Features like AI Summaries , AI Search, and the option to search across other apps in your tech stack are a few things to look out for when choosing a plan. These features can be seen as a sign of things to come.

Although Slack’s acquisition happened in 2021, talk of a more seamless integration has been going on ever since. Between the familiar Sales or Service apps and the Salesforce Flow Slack actions already available, there was still a gap in terms of true messaging and collaboration because switching apps was still a regular occurrence. Most of these gaps can be addressed with the new Salesforce Channels , which are now available to all Slack plans, including the free version.

Is this the first step towards completely eliminating Chatter, as Parker Harris mentioned last year? Absolutely!

Source - Salesforce

Begin

If you’re worried about a complex deployment process, Salesforce Channels isn’t it. While in a real-world scenario it might take longer to set up the audiences where the feature should be applied, train users, write documentation, etc., in a sandbox or developer edition environment it can be done from start to finish in just a few minutes.

The first step is to connect your Slack workspace to any Salesforce organization. As a Salesforce administrator , you'll receive a notification, then you can manage the connection in Salesforce and define the User Mapping field.

Once ready, you'll be notified in Slack to complete activation. Detailed configuration steps can also be found here.

As an administrator, you'll have to go through the process of enabling the desired objects in the "Slack Channels for Records" section of Setup a few times. Your stakeholders may not know all the objects at first, or they may want to explore what this connection offers on a single object first. But you can always come back to this page and continue enabling standard or custom objects with just a few clicks.

Before or after doing this, make sure that the default Slack component has been added to the Record Pages of the objects it needs to be displayed on. Like any other component, this component can also be filtered based on criteria. If you add the component before the object is activated, the component will display a message prompting you to configure the object.

Start associating new or existing channels to records

On channels enabled with Slack integration on the record page, users will have the option to create a new channel or link to an existing channel. For the new channel, with just one click they can start chatting about the current record!

Not only will they be able to compose messages, they’ll also be able to tag colleagues and add them to channels directly from Salesforce. They’ll also be able to format text, use emojis, and even upload files when needed. Currently, additional features like huddles and workflows aren’t supported in the Salesforce component, but hopefully some of those will be rolled out soon.

When you move to Slack, the experience may not be exactly what you expected, but that's the best part! Messages will be available like any other chat, but you may notice that Salesforce records channels are grouped under a new section called Salesforce Channels .

Additionally, you’ll see a dedicated Record Details tab corresponding to the linked Salesforce record, where you can not only review the record’s fields, but also perform actions like quick actions, edit fields, and even create related records! In this example, I’ve chosen to display the Contact Roles related list as a separate tab, but you can also choose not to and just click on the related list, which will open in a new window for you to create a new record. How cool is that?

Back in Salesforce, you’ll notice the changes made in Slack as well: the new Opportunity Amount and Opportunity Contact Role appear in real time. Of course, if any new messages are sent to the channel, they’ll be reflected in the Salesforce record in real time. Currently, external participants can’t be added to Salesforce Channels, ensuring that anything discussed in the channel is only between internal employees.

Keep in mind that Salesforce permissions are preserved, meaning users won’t be able to edit records in Slack that they can’t edit in Salesforce. But if they also have access to Salesforce records, they’ll be able to join a Slack channel even if they’re not directly invited. Be sure to review the security details to understand what to expect and how to prepare.

Additional Features

If you’re a Slack Business+ or Enterprise+ customer, be sure to check out AI Summary , found in the Summary tab of a channel. It’s a quick way for you and your users to get an overview of what’s been discussed on a Salesforce record, with the option to drill down to the source from within the conversation.

Additionally, Slack customers on these paid plans will have the option to automate Salesforce Channel invitations using Slack Workflows .

Final words

There’s no denying that Salesforce Channels will definitely change the way teams work across both tools, increasing collaboration and reducing the need to switch apps and tabs. Whether it’s a sales team that primarily works on Salesforce Accounts and Opportunities or a support team that spends most of their time on Slack, Salesforce Channels will benefit every team member, right where they like to work.

Have you tried Salesforce Channels in your organization? Let us know in the comments below!