Lepape is a renowned French retailer of fitness and endurance sports equipment. The company is still family owned, but it’s grown since being founded in 1996 to 18 shops under two brands: Lepape and En Selle Marcel. It offers customers a wide range of products, including running gear, cycling equipment, outdoor and swimming accessories, and triathlon and fitness supplies. As cycling is the largest leisure sport and a popular mode of transport in France, with 70% of the population owning a bike, Lepape relies on its exceptional customer service and after-sales support to gain an advantage.
A huge proportion of company sales comes from ecommerce and B2B and, with the company’s continuous and significant growth, the technical side of managing that data was lagging. As a result, when Clément Dubois, now Director of Development at Lepape, joined the company as Director of Marketing and Communications, he found data silos connected to the company’s six commercial channels.
“We had unused data in Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud,” explains Dubois. “We didn’t use it well and we were losing our customer-centric point of view. The changing ecosystem and consumer expectations mean that we need impactful communications, which can be achieved with personalization. But first, it’s important to understand the customer. And data is key to that.”
Lepape worked with Salesforce to unify customer data in Data Cloud. Sales teams now have a 360-degree view of the entire customer base, and duplicate records are eliminated. What’s more, by cross-referencing information in Sales Cloud, recommendations and new opportunities now appear automatically.
But the company took another big step. By implementing Slack, it created a hub through which all data could be accessed, updated, and shared thanks to an integration with Salesforce.
“After revamping our data management with Salesforce, we needed a front door. And what better front door than Slack?”
Building a track for data management
Lepape’s implementation of Slack provided the team with an all-encompassing tool to help use Salesforce more efficiently. “We sat down with Salesforce and decided to revamp our whole data management process, implementing Data Cloud with a funnel and Tableau as our data visualization tool.”
The collaboration successfully created an environment that allows all teams to be more connected, avoid unnecessary meetings, and collaborate more efficiently. As Dubois puts it, “Slack helps us have more spontaneous communication and address any hot topic that pops up.” This is also true for Slack Connect, which speeds up communication with outside agencies, contributing to more efficient, faster delivery of projects.
Most importantly, Slack’s ability to link everything together means the entire company can stay more connected and aligned on goals, with easy access to Salesforce. “We can work with all our Salesforce solutions right in Slack,” he comments.
“We can see all the data with Tableau Pulse and chat with our consumers through the Sales Cloud integration. And we can work internally with Slack channels. All our use cases have been developed in close relationship with the Salesforce solution engineering team. I will be forever grateful because without their support we wouldn’t be where we are now.” In fact, the implementation was so fast Lepape is six months ahead of schedule on its tech stack roadmap.
Empowering sales with Salesforce integrations
The early benefits of Slack are currently being seen by the sales team thanks to Slack Sales Elevate, the first of Lepape’s Salesforce integrations to go live. This Slack integration with Sales Cloud allows sales representatives to access Salesforce data remotely on their phones and other devices, whether they’re in the field, at an event, or meeting clients. “It’s a way of having Salesforce in your pocket every day,” says Dubois. “Now, they can have reliable access to files and contacts through Elevate.”
The sales team can manage their pipeline more efficiently and keep track of customer interactions in real time while using specific Slack channels to track leads, share customer insights, and discuss strategies. These channels are enhanced with Salesforce notifications, ensuring that the team stays updated on any changes or new opportunities.
This accessibility ensures that they have all necessary information at their fingertips, which improves their effectiveness. “They have more data, so they have a better understanding of the customer. And they feel more confident about their sales pitch,” Dubois adds. What’s more, it allows sales to make updates on the go, which means the data they input is more accurate as it’s still fresh in their minds. Before, sales representatives would only update their files after getting back to their desk or laptop, which could take several days.
Now, instead of being bogged down by admin, the sales team can focus more on building relationships with customers and even collaborating with marketing by sharing relevant information and aligning their efforts. Both teams can work towards common goals more effectively, and the expectation is that it will result in more targeted marketing campaigns and improved sales outcomes once Marketing Cloud is fully integrated.
“With Slack Sales Elevate, our sales teams have Salesforce in their pocket.”
Enhancing management oversight and company cohesion
Having access to clean, organized data is essential for understanding consumer behavior and personalizing interactions, which helps sales representatives make informed decisions. Real-time data also helps with lead management and enhances the ability to report efficiently which, in turn, provides critical support to management.
Integrating Salesforce with Slack provides Lepape managers with a clear overview of all pipelines and team performance while Tableau Pulse will soon support them with AI analysis of the data. Dubois comments, “We have a kind of dashboard in our pockets with all our data available in real time. And the goal of Tableau is to have an overview of our data, an assistant who can tell you where to focus first.”
Thanks to Slack, everyone has instant access to actionable insights and Slack channels dedicated to sales analytics and performance metrics keep management informed. As a busy executive, Dubois also uses a Slack bot to recap conversations and catch up on group chats.
Overall, automated reports and notifications ensure that managers are aware of any significant changes or trends, allowing them to act promptly. This proactive approach will improve Lepape’s ability to address challenges and capitalize on opportunities. “We previously had 6-7% in turnover results. Now, we’ve successfully reached 10%. It’s a good milestone, but we want to keep moving forward.”
Driving company efficiency with Slack
Beyond sales and management, Slack has positively impacted other areas of Lepape’s business. The platform’s flexibility and robust integration capabilities have made it an essential platform for the entire organization.
In the near future, the use of custom-built Slack apps, Slack bots, AI, and automated workflows will further enhance this efficiency. The customer support team will be able to use Slack to triage and assign support tickets, ensuring timely responses to customer inquiries, while the marketing team will be able to leverage Salesforce integrations to manage campaigns and track performance metrics. “My dream goal is to have everything available in Slack,” says Dubois.
Slack has enhanced communication, streamlined workflows, and driven overall efficiency across the organization. But, most importantly, it has been instrumental in transforming Lepape’s Salesforce operations, from empowering its sales team with Slack Sales Elevate to providing management with real-time insights through integrations. As Dubois puts it, “We like the way Slack connects to Salesforce. It’s great to have one front door for it all.”
