Slack Integration
Communication & Follow-UpWhat It Does
Slack is a team communication platform that enables instant messaging, file sharing, and organized channel-based conversations, used by over 10 million daily active users worldwide. Unlike scattered email threads and text messages, Slack centralizes all team communication in one searchable interface where real estate teams can create dedicated channels for different topics (#new-leads, #active-deals, #closings, #team-urgent), share documents instantly, and receive automated notifications from integrated tools. Through automation, Slack becomes the notification hub for your entire real estate tech stack—CRM updates, calendar reminders, lead alerts, deal stage changes, and task assignments all flow into relevant Slack channels, ensuring no critical information is missed.
Why Real Estate Professionals Use It
Real estate operates in real-time with critical time-sensitive events: hot leads that need immediate response, showing requests that need same-day scheduling, offers that require quick turnaround, inspection deadlines that can't be missed. Email's asynchronous nature (check twice daily, 24-hour response expectations) doesn't match this pace. Slack's instant notification model ensures urgent items surface immediately. When a buyer is pre-approved and ready to write an offer, you can't wait 4 hours for the agent to see an email—Slack notification pings their phone instantly, enabling real-time deal execution.
AI Solutions for Communication
Key Features for Real Estate
Discover how Slack powers real estate automation workflows
Organized Channels for Topics and Transactions
Create unlimited channels for different purposes: permanent channels for ongoing topics (#new-leads, #team-announcements, #closing-coordination) and temporary channels for specific transactions (#123-oak-st-listing, #q4-2024-closings). Each channel has focused conversation history, file sharing, and searchable archives.
Create a dedicated channel for each active listing: #456-elm-st-listing. Invite listing agent, buyer agent (when under contract), transaction coordinator, and lender. All coordination happens in one place—scheduling, document sharing, deadline tracking. When closing completes, archive the channel for future reference but keep searchable history.
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Automation Workflows
Ready-to-deploy workflows powered by Slack + NextAutomation
Hot Lead Instant Alert with Agent Assignment
When a high-quality lead is captured (website form, Facebook ad, Zillow inquiry) and scored 70+ by CRM or AI, this workflow instantly posts to #hot-leads Slack channel with lead details, contact info, lead source, and inferred urgency. The assigned agent (determined by territory or round-robin) is @mentioned directly, and interactive buttons allow claiming or reassigning the lead. This ensures hot leads get immediate visibility and accountability, preventing any from sitting uncontacted.
1High-value lead captured: HubSpot webhook fires when new contact created with score 70+
2n8n retrieves full lead data: name, email, phone, property interest, price range, lead source, lead score
3AI analyzes lead notes and form responses to extract urgency signals: 'need to close in 30 days', 'pre-approved', 'relocating next month'
4Determine assigned agent: if lead has zip code, match to territory mapping; else use round-robin assignment across available agents
Hot leads get immediate team visibility instead of sitting in CRM awaiting manual check. Assigned agents receive instant notification via @mention and DM, ensuring no high-value lead waits more than 15 minutes for contact. Interactive buttons enable one-click actions, reducing friction between notification and response. Team accountability increases—everyone sees lead assignments in public channel, creating positive peer pressure to respond quickly. Brokers report 50% improvement in speed-to-lead for high-value inquiries, directly increasing conversion rates.
Triggers & Actions
Connect Slack to your workflows with powerful triggers and actions
Triggers
New Message in Channel
Fires when a message is posted to a specific Slack channel. Can filter by keywords, user, or message patterns. Useful for building interactive bots that respond to channel activity.
Monitor #client-questions channel. When message contains 'commission', trigger workflow that retrieves commission policy document from Google Drive and posts link: 'Here's our commission structure: [link].'
Slash Command Invoked
Fires when user types a custom slash command in Slack (e.g., /lead, /property, /showing). Slash commands trigger n8n workflows that can perform actions and return responses.
Agent types '/property 123 Oak St' in any Slack channel. Workflow queries MLS for property details, formats response with price/beds/baths/status, and posts: '[Address] | $425k | 3BR/2BA | Active | Listed 12 days ago | [MLS Link].' Instant property lookups without leaving Slack.
Reaction Added to Message
Fires when a user adds an emoji reaction to a specific message. Can trigger workflows based on reaction type (✅, ❌, 🔥, etc.).
New lead notification posted in #new-leads. When agent adds ✅ reaction, workflow assigns that lead to the reacting agent, updates CRM, and posts 'Lead claimed by @Agent.' First to react claims the lead—simple visual claiming system.
User Joins Channel
Fires when a user joins a Slack channel. Useful for onboarding workflows or access management.
When new agent joins #team-announcements channel, send them automated welcome DM: 'Welcome to the team! Here's your onboarding checklist: [link]. Questions? Ask in #team-questions. Let's close some deals!'
Direct Message Received
Fires when a user sends a direct message to your Slack bot. Enables conversational AI workflows where users can ask questions or request information via DM.
Agent DMs Slack bot: 'What's my pipeline value?' Workflow queries CRM for agent's deals, calculates total value, responds: 'Your active pipeline: 8 deals, $1.2M total value. 2 closing this week ($240k). Keep crushing it!'
Actions
Send Message to Channel
Posts a message to a specified Slack channel. Supports rich formatting (bold, italics, links, bullet lists, emoji), @mentions, and attachments.
When new listing added to MLS, post to #new-listings channel: '🏠 New Listing Alert | [Address] | $[Price] | [Beds]BR/[Baths]BA | [Photo] | Listed by @AgentName | MLS: [Link]'
Send Direct Message to User
Sends a private DM to a specific Slack user. Useful for personal notifications, alerts, or sensitive information that shouldn't be in public channels.
When high-value lead assigned to agent, send DM: 'You've been assigned hot lead [Name], budget $500k+. Details: [CRM link]. Call within 15 min: [Phone]. Good luck!'
Send Message with Interactive Buttons
Posts a Slack message with clickable buttons that trigger workflow actions when pressed. Buttons can perform API calls, update databases, or trigger subsequent workflows.
New lead notification includes buttons: [Claim Lead] [Reassign] [Mark as Spam]. When 'Claim Lead' clicked, update CRM to assign lead to clicking agent, send confirmation DM, and remove buttons from message.
Update Message
Edits an existing Slack message based on message ID. Useful for updating status messages or refreshing data in pinned messages.
Daily pipeline briefing posted at 8 AM gets updated throughout day. When deal closes at 2 PM, workflow edits morning briefing message, updating 'Deals Closed Today' count and adding win to list.
Add Reaction to Message
Adds an emoji reaction to a specific message. Useful for automated acknowledgment or status indication.
When agent posts showing feedback in property channel, AI analyzes sentiment. If positive, bot adds 👍 reaction. If negative, adds 👎. If buyer wants to make offer, adds 🔥. Visual status indicators.
Upload File to Channel
Uploads a file (PDF, image, spreadsheet, document) to a Slack channel with optional comment. Supports files up to 1GB on paid plans.
Weekly commission report generated as Excel file. Workflow uploads to #team-reports channel: 'Week of [Date] commission report attached. Total team earnings: $[Amount]. Top performer: @Agent with $[Amount].' File immediately available for download.
Create Channel
Programmatically creates a new Slack channel with specified name, topic, and initial members. Useful for dynamic channel creation per listing or transaction.
When new listing taken, workflow creates channel: #123-oak-st-listing, sets topic: '3BR/2BA, $425k, Listed [Date]', invites listing agent and transaction coordinator. Dedicated space for all listing coordination.
Archive Channel
Archives a Slack channel, removing it from active channel list while preserving message history and search. Useful for cleaning up completed transaction channels.
When deal closes successfully, workflow archives the listing-specific channel (#456-elm-st-listing), posts final message: 'Deal closed [Date]. Congrats team! Channel archived for records.' Keeps channel list clean.
Set Channel Topic
Updates the topic/description displayed at the top of a Slack channel. Useful for displaying current status or key information.
Listing channel topic updated automatically as deal progresses. Initially: 'Listed [Date] - Active'. When offer received: 'Offer Received [Amount] - Under Review'. When under contract: 'Under Contract - Closes [Date]'. Always current status visible.
Get User Info
Retrieves information about a Slack user: real name, email, profile data, timezone. Useful for personalization or routing decisions.
When agent clicks 'Claim Lead' button, workflow gets their Slack user info including email, then matches to CRM agent record by email to assign lead correctly in database.
Setup Guide
Get started in approximately 10 minutes for basic message posting; 30 minutes for full setup including channels and first workflow
Prerequisites
- Slack workspace (free or paid tier) with admin or app installation permissions
- n8n instance (cloud or self-hosted) with Slack node available
- Basic understanding of Slack channels and workspace structure
Create Slack App for Automation
Visit api.slack.com/apps and click 'Create New App' → 'From scratch'. Name it 'Real Estate Automation' (or your brokerage name + Automation). Select your Slack workspace. This creates an app that n8n will use to send messages and receive events. The app acts as the bot that posts notifications to channels on behalf of your automation workflows.
Choose a professional name and icon for your bot. When it posts messages, the bot name and icon will be visible to your team (e.g., 'Brokerage Bot' with your logo). Make it recognizable so team knows automated messages come from workflows, not a person.
Configure Bot Permissions and Scopes
In your Slack app settings, go to 'OAuth & Permissions' → 'Bot Token Scopes'. Add permissions your automation needs: chat:write (post messages), channels:read (read channel info), users:read (get user data), reactions:write (add emoji reactions), files:write (upload files). The more capabilities you want, the more scopes required. Review Slack's scope documentation for specific features.
Start with essential scopes (chat:write, channels:read, users:read) and add more as you build advanced workflows. You can always add scopes later and reinstall the app. Over-requesting permissions initially may make team members hesitant to approve the app.
Install App to Workspace and Get Bot Token
In app settings, go to 'Install App' → 'Install to Workspace'. Authorize the app for your workspace. After installation, you'll see 'Bot User OAuth Token' starting with 'xoxb-'. Copy this token—it's your authentication credential for n8n. Treat it like a password (don't share publicly, don't commit to code repositories).
Save the token immediately in a secure password manager. If lost, you'll need to regenerate it in Slack app settings (Reinstall App), but this will break existing n8n workflows using the old token until you update them. Better to save it once and keep it secure.
Connect Slack to n8n with Bot Token
In n8n, create a new workflow and add a Slack node. Click 'Create New Credentials' → paste your Bot User OAuth Token from step 3. Name the credential 'Slack - Production' for clarity. Test connection by adding a Slack 'Send Message' action, selecting a test channel (create #automation-test channel for this), sending a message 'n8n test', and executing the workflow. Verify message appears in Slack.
Test in a dedicated #automation-test channel before posting to active team channels. This lets you experiment with message formatting, buttons, and attachments without cluttering real channels or confusing your team with test notifications.
Create Organized Channel Structure for Automation
In Slack, create channels that automation will post to based on your workflow needs. Suggested starting channels: #new-leads (all inbound inquiries), #hot-leads (high-value/urgent leads), #active-deals (deal stage updates), #closings (imminent and completed closings), #team-daily (morning briefings), #automation-test (testing). Use channel descriptions to explain each channel's purpose so team knows what to expect.
Prefix automation-focused channels with # to group them together in alphabetical sort (e.g., #leads-new, #leads-hot, #deals-active). Use clear naming conventions so team can quickly find relevant channels. Pin important messages (daily briefings, key resources) to channel for easy access.
Set Up Channel-Specific Notification Preferences
For each automated channel, configure notification settings to match importance. High-urgency channels like #hot-leads should notify all members (@channel or @here mentions). Lower-urgency channels like #team-daily can be 'mentions only'. Educate team members on customizing their personal notification preferences per channel to avoid alert fatigue while ensuring critical messages aren't missed.
Use @channel sparingly (only for urgent, everyone-must-see messages). Overuse causes alert fatigue and people mute the channel. Use @here (notifies only active users) for important but not urgent updates. For routine notifications, post without @mentions and let interested team members check channels when convenient.
Build First Workflow: New Lead to Slack Notification
Create your first production workflow: CRM Trigger (new contact created) → Slack Send Message to #new-leads channel with formatted notification including lead name, source, property interest, and contact info. Test with a real lead (create test contact in CRM) and verify notification posts correctly. This proves end-to-end integration: CRM → n8n → Slack. Once working, iterate by adding lead assignment logic, @mentions, or interactive buttons.
Format Slack messages with markdown for readability: use *bold* for names, `code blocks` for addresses, and emoji for visual indicators (🔥 hot lead, ℹ️ info, ✅ completed). Well-formatted notifications are easier to scan quickly. Include direct links to CRM records so agents can click through without searching.
Enable Interactive Features and Slash Commands (Optional Advanced)
For interactive buttons in messages, enable 'Interactivity' in Slack app settings and set 'Request URL' to an n8n webhook URL. For slash commands (/lead, /property), create commands in app settings pointing to n8n webhooks. These advanced features require publicly accessible n8n instance with HTTPS. If on localhost or internal network, use ngrok or similar tunneling service to expose webhooks to Slack.
Interactive features are powerful but optional for initial setup. Start with simple message posting to prove value, then add interactivity once team is comfortable. Slash commands are particularly useful for agents: typing '/property [address]' to instantly get listing details without leaving Slack creates significant time savings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Slack integration
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