If your sales team doesn’t know when deals move forward (or backward), you’re flying blind. You’ll miss coaching moments, important approvals, or chances to celebrate. This guide is for anyone who wants their team to actually see changes as they happen in the pipeline—without chasing people down or living in their CRM.
Out of all the tools out there, Troops is one of the most straightforward ways to push Salesforce or HubSpot deal updates right into Slack or Microsoft Teams. It’s not magic, but when set up right, it cuts through the noise and keeps everyone on the same page.
Let’s break down, step-by-step, how to use Troops to automatically notify your team when deals change stage. We’ll cover what works, what to skip, and how to avoid spamming your channels.
Why bother with automated deal stage notifications?
Before you tune out, here’s why this actually matters:
- No more “I didn’t know”: Reps, managers, and even execs can see big moves as they happen.
- Faster feedback and help: Catch issues or celebrate wins in real time.
- Less nagging: No more chasing people for updates or combing through Salesforce reports.
But—and this is important—set these up wrong, and you’ll drown your team in useless alerts. We’ll get to how to avoid that.
What you’ll need
- Access to Troops (admin permissions help, but you can follow along as a user too)
- A connected CRM (Salesforce or HubSpot)
- Slack or Microsoft Teams, depending on where your team actually talks
- A clear sense of which deal stage changes actually matter
- 10-20 minutes to get it set up
Step 1: Decide what matters (don’t skip this)
Don’t just blast every deal change to everyone. Before you touch Troops, ask:
- Which deal stage changes are actually important?
- Example: “Prospecting → Qualified” might not be as urgent as “Negotiation → Closed Won.”
- Who actually needs to see these?
- Is this for the whole sales team, just managers, or execs only?
- How do you want to see them?
- A public channel, private group, or direct messages?
Pro tip: Get feedback from the team first. Over-notify, and folks will tune out. Under-notify, and it’s useless.
Step 2: Connect your CRM and chat tool to Troops
If Troops isn’t set up yet, you’ll need to connect your CRM and your chat platform. This usually takes a couple minutes:
- Log into Troops.
- Connect Salesforce or HubSpot.
- You’ll need admin credentials for the CRM.
- Troops will walk you through OAuth permissions—don’t just blindly click “Allow” unless you know what you’re giving access to.
- Connect Slack or Microsoft Teams.
- Again, you’ll need permission to add apps to your workspace.
- Grant Troops permission to post messages (look for “Post to channels” or similar).
If you’re stuck here, your IT or Salesforce admin can help. Don’t waste an hour fighting permissions—just ask.
Step 3: Build your first Troops workflow for deal stage changes
This is where the magic (well, automation) happens.
- Navigate to “Workflows” in Troops.
- Create a new workflow.
- Usually labeled “Create Workflow” or “+ New.”
- Choose your trigger.
- Pick your CRM (Salesforce or HubSpot).
- Select the object: “Opportunity” (Salesforce) or “Deal” (HubSpot).
- Set the trigger: “When Stage Changes.”
- Set conditions.
- Only trigger for the deal stages you care about.
- Example:
- “Stage changes to ‘Closed Won’”
- OR “Stage changes to ‘Negotiation’”
- Use filters to exclude test deals or tiny deals nobody cares about (e.g., “Amount > $10,000”).
- Pick your action.
- “Send message to Slack channel” (or Teams).
- Choose the specific channel (e.g., #sales-deals, #exec-briefing).
- Or, set up a direct message to a manager.
- Customize the message.
- Add deal info: Owner, Amount, Account Name, Link to CRM record.
-
Keep it short and clear. Example:
:tada: Deal Closed Won! Rep: {{Owner}} Account: {{Account Name}} Amount: ${{Amount}} View in Salesforce
-
Troops has a template editor—use it, but skip the emoji overload.
- Test the workflow.
- Run a test on a dummy deal.
- Make sure it triggers only on the right stage changes, and the message isn’t a mess of broken variables.
What to ignore:
Don’t bother with “every field change” triggers. You’ll get flooded with noise and people will mute the channel.
Step 4: Roll it out (and get buy-in)
Don’t just flip the switch and walk away.
- Let the team know what to expect.
Tell folks what will show up, in which channel, and why. - Ask for feedback.
After a few days, check if the notifications are actually useful—or if they feel like spam. - Tweak as needed.
Reduce frequency, change channels, or update the message. This isn’t set-and-forget.
If nobody reacts to the messages, or folks start muting the channel, that’s your sign to simplify.
Step 5: Advanced moves (only if you need them)
You can get clever, but don’t overdo it. Some options that might be worth your time:
- Notify different teams for different stages.
Example: Send “Qualified” deals to SDRs, “Negotiation” to execs. - Thread follow-ups.
Troops can sometimes thread updates under the original deal message, so you don’t clutter the channel. - Add mentions.
Tag the rep or manager directly, but only for big deals—otherwise, it gets annoying fast. - Daily digests.
Instead of real-time, send a summary of all stage changes at the end of the day.
What’s not worth it:
- Overly complex logic with 10+ filters—hard to maintain, easy to break.
- Spamming every little deal change—nobody cares if a $500 deal moves to “Proposal.”
- Using Troops to replace real conversations. It’s for alerts, not coaching.
What works, what doesn’t, and what to skip
Works well: - Real-time alerts for big stage changes (especially “Closed Won/Lost”). - Simple, clear messages that link back to the CRM. - Using private channels for sensitive deals.
Doesn’t work: - Notifying on every single stage change—people start ignoring everything. - Vague messages (“Deal changed!”)—nobody knows what happened. - Setting and forgetting—these need a review every quarter or so.
You can skip: - Fancy analytics dashboards in Troops. If you want deep reporting, stick to your CRM. - Over-customizing messages with inside jokes or too much flair. Clarity is better.
The bottom line: Keep it simple, review often
Automated deal stage notifications can be a lifesaver—if they’re set up thoughtfully. Start small, focus on the moments that matter, and get feedback from your team. Don’t fall into the trap of “more is better.” You can always add more triggers or channels later.
Most teams get the best results by starting with just a couple of high-value notifications, then iterating. If you keep it simple and listen to the team, you’ll have a system that actually helps—without driving everyone nuts.