Enable the Slack channel
Step 5 of Revenue Maxing: one busy office nearby is a standing daily group order — and the agent does all the collecting.
What it is
Every office has the same lunch thread: twenty people, forty messages, one poor soul collecting orders. HostBuddy's Slack agent joins the channel and does the collecting: everyone types what they want in one thread, the agent parses each person's order, keeps per-person carts, asks follow-ups in-thread when something's ambiguous, and maintains one live order card that updates as people chime in. Zero chaos — the boss saves time and money.
For offices: set up in 3 steps
Install the app
Go to hostbuddy.io/slack and click Add to Slack — a standard Slack install for your workspace.
Bind your lunch channel
In your #lunch channel, run /order start and pick the
restaurant. That channel is now connected to their live menu.
Everyone just types
“Burrito bowl, no beans” · “same but chicken” · “I'm out today” — the agent
attributes every message, builds each person's cart, and keeps the order card
current. /order status shows it; ✅ confirms; the Close button (or
/order close) wraps it up as one batch order.
For merchants: turn nearby offices into a daily order
One busy office nearby is a standing group order — the same 20-person lunch, every day, with zero phone time. The funnel:
- Spot your office regulars — the person who picks up 8 boxes every Tuesday is your champion.
- Hand them the link — “your whole team can order in your Slack; install it at hostbuddy.io/slack and pick us.” Put it on receipts and catering flyers too.
- Batch orders arrive like any other — pushed to your register as one clean order, per-person items itemized.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Slack app cost the office?
Nothing — installing and ordering are free for the office. The restaurant's normal order economics apply.
How does the agent keep people's orders straight?
Every message in the thread is attributed to its Slack user — each person gets their own cart, and the live order card shows who's having what.
What if someone's order is ambiguous?
The agent replies in-thread with a quick question (“which size?”) and updates the card when they answer.
Can we close the order automatically?
The person who opened it (or anyone with the Close button) closes it; /order status shows the live card anytime.
Does it work with the restaurant's POS?
Yes — with Clover connected, the batch order lands on the register like any other order.