October 11, 2021

October 11, 2021
4 min read

Welcome back to The Weekly Pitch! Our newsletter covers the insights, people, and stories that matter most to the sales community.

Today, our Feature Story is all about Slack as the future of selling. We also check in with our reporter on the ground, Griffin Lee, and get the scoop on one session at Dreamforce 2021 – Getting the Most Out of Slack.

Perhaps the most daring acquisition to date at a more than 30x multiple, Salesforce paid $28 billion for Slack, with the deal officially closing in July.

Salesforce is betting big that Slack is the future of sales. This play is part of its "connective tissue" strategy to link CRM to marketing, sales, and service with analytics and integrations wrapped around it all.

Selling with Slack boils down to a singular yet powerful feature – channels.

First, let's look at results when sales teams use Slack.

How Far Can Slack Take Us?

In April, the company commissioned Forrester Consulting to write a report about the cost savings and business benefits when Slack is enabled. And the results were eye-catching. The research found that over three years surveyed companies using Slack:

• Increased closed-won deals by 13%
• Increased ACV by over $3,000 with existing customers
• Freed up 31 minutes a day per rep
• Accelerated time-to-ramp for new hires by 13%  

The Power of Channels

A lot of selling happens with Slack channels. More sales teams are inviting customers to external channels where real-time collaboration to resolve issues, bottlenecks, and other challenges related to customer success directly impacts revenue.

On the prospect front, if sales teams aren't confidently inviting potential customers to a Slack channel, they certainly are standing one up temporarily to get all internal teammates on the same page to drive a deal to close.  

Common channels outside of specific accounts also boost selling efforts. Examples include one dedicated to prospecting tips, or channels to notify sales reps when a new lead comes in or sales leaders when a deal moves to the final stage. A channel devoted to competitor intelligence is valuable, and of course, one to celebrate all those wins!

By: Griffin Lee, Guest Contributor

Breaking Down a Slack Session at Dreamforce 2021

As a first-time Dreamforce goer in one of the most intriguing times in Salesforce's history, I am thrilled to share some of what I observed. One session, in particular, grabbed my attention. Slack customer success leaders Laura Domnescu and Mary Frances Hicks led "How to Get the Most Out of Slack."

In 2020, their team surveyed 17,000 knowledge workers. Nearly 40% of today's knowledge workers feel disconnected and misaligned from company objectives. Misalignment leads to a lack of direction and frustrated employees trying to figure out where to focus. Remote work has created challenges for everyone, from the top business leaders to your most entry-level employees.

The need for alignment has never been a more important call to action for leaders. And company-wide email won't cut it. Virtual meetings and townhalls get us closer but don't quite bridge the gap ultimately. Slack – with its cataloging and search capabilities – is a perfect compliment to drive goals and objectives.

It's time to replace emails with Slack channels. Channels scale and bring one-to-one, one-to-few, and one-to-many interactions to accelerate sales cycles, keep your employees aligned and more connected.

Laura and Mary Frances summed it up nicely. Think of Slack as your family kitchen. Both places are areas where you have a group of people working toward a common goal. You know where everything is. As a result, you're more aligned and productive. You work faster, and your culture improves due to open communication.

Closer Spotlight

Shout out to Griffin Lee for his contributions to this week's issue. Follow him on LinkedIn – his posts are always authentic and engaging.

The Weekly Pitch: Tell us about Troops and what's your role?

Griffin: Troops is the engagement layer between your GTM systems (Salesforce, Gainsight, Outreach, Hubspot, Jira, and more) and Slack/MS Teams. Our value sits in three core areas – visibility, trust in data, and productivity. We alert the right rep, manager, or team at the right time on what's most important to them, without leaving where you communicate and collaborate. I'm a BDR, but I've contributed to upselling, closing, support, and marketing!

The Weekly Pitch: How did you get into sales?

Griffin: My dream job growing up was to be Manager of the Oakland Athletics. However, I knew after college, a career in sales was going to be it. I interned at different real estate brokerages, and my dad has been in Wealth Management for 35 years.

The Weekly Pitch: What makes a great sales leader?

Griffin: Great sales leaders are curious. They ask questions to understand where they can help their reps. They work for their reps as much as their reps work for them.

The Weekly Pitch: Any final fun facts to share?

Griffin: I LinkedIn voice messaged Scott Britton, co-founder of Troops, to get the job. Be bold and try it!  

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