Why We're Creating the Inbound Sales Slack Community

I'll cut to the chase - I decided to create the Inbound Sales Slack Community to solve one of my own problems, which is the fact that I receive and send way too much email.  Specifically, when I started to get some insight into how much email flows through my inbox each month, my jaw dropped.  In August 2016 alone, I'm on pace to send or receive about 4,000 emails.  That's going to net out to about 50,000 in 2016.  Looking that 50K email "gun barrel" in the face, it's time to call a spade a spade and recognize that something needs to give.  However, I also have intentions that go beyond serving my own interest. 

For example, I think that email creates anxiety.  There's something about one-to-one communication and the era in which we live that creates "the NEED" to respond to emails as quickly as possible.  I'm sure this is rooted in the psychological concept of reciprocity, but it's gotten out of control. 

In addition, despite the fact that there are tools such as Google Alerts, RSS Feeds, Blog Subscriptions, Twitter Lists, Social Listening Tools, networking events, and educational events... the knowledge uptake problem still lies in the fact that there is NO SINGLE place to go for all you need to know to "be in the know".  In other words, the proliferation of knowledge-sharing technology has actually made it harder to obtain knowledge consistently -- I know, when I realized this paradox my mind was blown too. 

Finally, aside from Q&A Forums like Quora or attending networking events in person (or via Webinar), there's very little opportunity for REAL TIME knowledge sharing.   And real-time knowledge sharing matters in so far as that new ideas are born out of conversation, not necessarily monologues. 

Finally, finally... I wanted to create a community for Sales Reps, Sales Managers, and Sales Execs, because I think it's really important to share our knowledge on what works/ what doesn't with each other AND because there aren't any great communities out there that I've discovered. 

What's the Inbound Sales Slack Community's Purpose?

Don't get too excited, this is a work in progress.  There's no mission statement or vision quite yet, but I expect that to evolve in time.   For now, here are my initial thoughts on the Inbound Sales Slack Community's Purpose: 

• To provide a pressure-free community in which sales reps, sales manager, and sales executives can gather,
  
  
• To provide a mechanism through which sales professionals can support one another, 
  
  
• To encourage the transfer of knowledge, best practices, and sales tactics that advance all sales professionals forward, 
• To create a living database of sales knowledge that current practitioners can leverage, and future sales professionals can draw from, and 
  
  
• To nurture, own, and guide the evolution of the sales function as we know it. 

Who Can Join the Community?  

At this point, I'm focusing on only inviting practitioners and thought leaders -- hesitantly -- into the Inbound Sales Slack Community.   My intention is to provide a community for sales professionals that's built BY sales professionals.  Specifically, I'm thinking that sales reps, sales managers, and sales leaders across all geographies and all industries is the right audience initially. 

Over time, because I've built this as a Community and NOT just a Slack channel, I suspect that sub-channels will naturally spring up in time.  I could envision them being focused on vendors, consultants, specific geographies, target markets, industries, etc.  But to start, I don't want to make this more complex than it needs to be. 

What Can I Expect from the Community? 

For anyone looking to join, you can start by requesting access to the private community here.  Right now, here are some important pieces of information that you should know: 

The community is BRAND new, so there aren't going to be many active users initially.  But, you can help the community become more valuable by helping it grow faster by inviting friends, colleagues, or anyone else you think can benefit by sharing this link: http://www.inboundseller.com/connect-with-inbound-sales-pros-on-slack or by reaching out to us via @inboundseller on Twitter.  My ask is to be patient -- all great things take time. 

Second, the community is designed to be a safe, productive place.  I refuse to allow this to turn into a "sales humor only" or a "venting and whining about sales" community.  If someone else wants to build those communities, I welcome them to; this is not that space. 

Third, the community is free.  In time, depending on the extent to which this community grows, or fails to grow -- and depending on member feedback -- we may need to set up a small monthly subscription fee which will be used to extend functionality within the Slack platform.  My intention is to keep this community FREE for as long as possible, and ideally forever.  And if we ever get to a point that we need to bill a small fee for access, it will be designed only to sustain the community and provide its members with what they want. 

How Do I Access the Inbound Sales Slack Community? 

To gain access to the community, all you need to provide us with is your email address.  This is SOLELY to be able to invite you into the community.  I'm also using this measure to make sure that real people are joining the group.  It also enables me to remove community members over time should the need arise.  When you provide your email address, I assure you that you will be able to fully manage your email preferences and frequency at which you receive email from Inbound Seller.  After all, if you read the beginning of this post, you know how much I hate email so the last thing I want to do is create more email in your life!  

If you're interested in joining, want to share this with others who you think would find this valuable, or even just want to provide feedback on the development of the community, follow this call-to-action below.  See you on Slack!