Hospitality is all about creating memorable and seamless experiences—not just for guests, but also for the teams who serve them. This is perfectly exemplified by Strawberry Hotels, one of the largest hotel groups in the Nordics. It manages over 200 properties across the region and focuses on innovation, sustainability, and exceptional customer service. Operating in a fast-paced, customer-centric industry requires smooth communication, which is where Slack comes in.
Before the recent sales implementation, Slack was already in use within Strawberry’s tech and marketing teams, mainly as a chat-based communication tool for around 800 users. But, as Strawberry grew, so did the need for a more collaborative and data-driven approach to sales.
The decision to expand Slack was driven by two key goals:
- Better visibility into Salesforce data through the Sales Cloud integration
- The ability to scale automation across a 350-person sales team.
Today, Slack and Salesforce are helping Strawberry break down silos, increase transparency, and lay the foundation for more standardized, efficient sales operations.
“The biggest win so far is more transparency in terms of deals.”
A responsive concierge
Automation is a big part of Ljungqvist’s vision. He is already building workflows to prompt team members when data is missing from opportunities, remind managers to recognize achievements, and send real-time deal alerts. “Before, a manager might not see a closed deal until days later,” he says. “Now, they get notified in the moment and can respond right away. That helps keep the employees happy and get them to thrive.” Other workflows help team leaders track deal progress and follow up with team members who might need support or coaching.
As Slack Sales Elevate gains traction, Ljungqvist expects his workflows will help standardize sales processes across the company, leading to significant time savings and financial gains through automated routines and notifications.
Other improvements will support mobility and onboarding. This is particularly important because Strawberry’s sales teams work in a mix of office-based and field roles, which makes mobile-friendly, real-time tools essential. For field sales, Slack can enable on-the-go updates directly into Salesforce via Slack. This will improve data accuracy and ensure information is captured immediately, rather than days later. “With Slack, they can update information right after a customer meeting,” Ljungqvist says. “That improves accuracy and speeds up the entire sales cycle.”
Onboarding is also becoming consistent. Previously, processes varied by location. However, Strawberry has developed an extensive onboarding workflow within Slack’s Workflow Builder. It now guides managers and new hires through a standardized onboarding journey that includes channel creation, automated checklists, as well as nudges for new employees to complete training and for managers to follow up. “We estimate this saves managers half a day per onboarding,” he says. “They just start the process in Slack and it takes care of everything.”
We want consistent, data-driven processes. With Slack Sales Elevate, we will be a lot more standardized.
A long-term stay
Full rollout is expected in the coming months and Strawberry plans to lean on Slack Sales Elevate to accelerate adoption. As more users gain access to Salesforce data and workflows inside Slack, the experience will become something others will crave. And, while the sales use case is the current priority, the company is already planning its next wave of innovation.
For example, account-specific channels are being developed to enable cross-functional teams to collaborate in real-time, with all relevant Salesforce data at their fingertips, replacing outdated manual information sources like Google Sheets.
AI features, such as channel recaps and summarization, are also being explored. One team has already adopted a no-email policy, relying on Slack and its built-in AI to stay informed. Ljungqvist is also excited about the potential for an AI agent that would combine internal customer data with industry insights to prepare salespeople for meetings.
This agent would remove the need for manual research, offering real-time, updated insights for relationship-based sales. “Imagine entering a customer meeting with industry insights, deal history, and recent feedback, all delivered by Slack,” he says.
What else is on offer
Strawberry’s Slack journey is just beginning, but the vision is clear. It’s not just about faster communication but about transforming how sales teams operate. “We want standardized, data-driven processes,” says Ljungqvist. “And with Slack Sales Elevate, we will be a lot more standardized.”
While it’s still early in the journey, its impact is already clear: better visibility, faster collaboration, and a future where AI, automation, and customer data are always at hand. Which is not that surprising since Slack is more than a messaging app. It’s a platform for modern, connected, and scalable companies.
