Convert your hottest leads right from Slack with our new two-way integration

Today, we’re introducing a new two-way Slack integration that allows you to respond to leads super fast from the app you have open all day.

The relationships we have with our customers are maintained by the conversations we have with them. Real-world conversations are dynamic, fluid interactions that adapt to the spaces we have them in.

Traditionally, our online conversations are more rigid, taking place in specific locations like a mobile app or particular channel. That can be great for customers – they can speak to you wherever they are and you can go to them rather than forcing them to one destination – but it has meant that it can be difficult for you as a business to manage those conversations when they’re coming from multiple different channels. That in turn can make it a struggle to respond in real-time, losing the personal connection that comes from mimicking face-to-face human conversations.

It’s no coincidence, then, that Slack – which brings all your team communication and different tools you use into one place – is already our most popular integration, used by more than half of Intercom customers. It serves a simple purpose: notify you in Slack about relevant activity happening in Intercom, such as a new lead or conversation.

Introducing the new Intercom + Slack integration

Essential tool

It’s an essential tool for many of our users who don’t have dedicated live chat agents and aren’t manning the Intercom inbox full time; with the integration, they can be sure not to miss a conversation from a lead or customer, even when they don’t have Intercom or their email open.

But we wanted to take it a step further, so today we’re releasing a brand new two-way Slack integration. Now, not only can you know about new Intercom conversations in Slack, you can respond, qualify and close from there too, saving you precious time and increasing your chances of conversion.

Rather than wasting time switching between tools, you can reply from the app you already have open all day, so you can speed up your response time – particularly important in sales where a few minutes delay could be the difference between engaging a lead while they’re on your site and ready to buy, and losing them, possibly forever. Talking with your leads from the same place you already use to talk with your teammates will also make those conversations feel more natural and personal too. Here’s what you can do:

Never miss an opportunity with real-time Slack notifications

Real-time notifications in Slack mean you’ll never miss an opportunity, even when you’re on the go. You’ll know instantly about new leads, users and conversations – you choose exactly what to be notified about, in which channels, based on your Intercom inboxes. That way, you ensure the right conversations go to the right people and Slack doesn’t get too noisy.

For example, conversations you already route to a VIP Sales inbox in Intercom based on their quality (according to Operator bot’s automated qualification or Clearbit data, for example), can be sent to your #vip-sales channel in Slack, so your reps can spend time working the best opportunities first.

Then, you can send support conversations that go to your Support or unassigned inbox in Intercom to your #customer-support channel so that they don’t clog up your sales channels – so Sales can focus on selling, and Support can focus on supporting.

Respond instantly from Slack

Once a notification comes in to Slack, you can respond from the conversation right there – no need to waste time switching tools, so you can focus on closing deals and not have to worry about which app you’re using.

All your communications are seamlessly synced between Intercom and Slack.

Just like in Intercom, it’s easy to keep the conversation fun and personal with gifs, emojis and attachments – and it’s easy to loop in your teammates to conversations too. Once a conversation is finished, you can close it from Slack to keep everything tidy in both Intercom and Slack; all your communications are seamlessly synced between Intercom and Slack.

Capture lead data as you qualify from Slack

As you’re chatting and qualifying a lead from Slack, you’ll be collecting details from them in the conversation, such as their company name, website and phone number. You can capture that data in Intercom directly from Slack with a simple /command.

Any other tools you have synced with Intercom, such as Salesforce, will be automatically updated too, so you can capture the data you’re collecting without updating multiple tools, in context and without having to leave the conversation.

These features make your workflows much more efficient and make it easy to respond to leads instantly, increasing your chances and speed of conversion.

Find out more about the integration and how you can build it into your workflow here.