Salesforce app (Legacy)

Automatically create new Salesforce leads in Intercom, assign leads to the correct owner and more.

Beth-Ann Sher avatar
Written by Beth-Ann Sher
Updated over a week ago

Important: This article covers the legacy version of our Salesforce app, which will be deprecated on June 3rd 2021.

If you haven’t upgraded yet, you can learn all about what’s changing in this article.

If you’re already using the new version, you’ll find our updated documentation here.

Our two-way Salesforce app makes it easy to capture, nurture and convert leads in Intercom. You can create Salesforce leads, see and use Salesforce data in Intercom and create Salesforce tasks from Intercom conversations. Here’s how it works: 

Why integrate with Salesforce? 

Your sales team can easily integrate Intercom into their existing workflows to: 

  • Create Salesforce leads in Intercom with a single click. This saves time copying and pasting between tools. 

  • Automatically assign conversations to the correct lead owner in Intercom.

  • Send targeted lead nurture campaigns using Salesforce data like job title, status and account owner. 

  • Map your qualification data fields between Intercom leads and Salesforce leads, and have those fields update from Intercom to Salesforce continuously.

  • Automatically log conversations, notes and in-app one-to-one manual messages as Salesforce tasks, so you have a complete interaction history with each lead/contact.

Your sales and support teams can also collaborate together to: 

  • Quickly see the lead or account owner of a lead or user they’re talking to.

  • Quickly see important account information, like the lead’s status. 

  • Get full context of every lead’s journey by logging Intercom conversations in Salesforce. 

Tip: The new version of the Salesforce app offers a more robust and versatile sync between Intercom and Salesforce.

Requirements

To integrate with Salesforce, you must have: 

  • An Intercom subscription with full admin permissions.

  • A Salesforce account with admin permissions.

  • A Salesforce edition with API access, such as the Enterprise and Unlimited editions.

Note: There are 3 Salesforce editions that don’t have API access: Contact Edition, Group Edition and Professional Edition. You can purchase API access as an add-on to the Professional Edition.

1. Integrate with Salesforce

First, go your app store. Then, search for the Salesforce app and click ‘Install now. This will install the app for all teammates with Salesforce accounts.

Once you connect the integration, we’ll automatically link any Intercom lead or user that matches with a lead or contact profile in Salesforce. Then, we’ll start enriching these leads and users with Salesforce data in Intercom. 

Important: It may take some time to import your Salesforce data to Intercom. You’ll get an email when the integration is complete. 

Install and test the app in a Sandbox environment 

If you’d like, you can test the integration safely first. Just select ‘Install using sandbox’ from the dropdown when installing the app:

Once installed you can map the qualification data that you want to sync between Intercom and Salesforce. Custom qualification data can also be mapped by selecting the corresponding Salesforce field here:

You can send Country Code and Continent Code based on a users IP information. These values are compatible with the country pick-list validation that Salesforce uses, and therefore expands to the full Country Name. 

See our plans and pricing here for how you can get access to this.

2. View a user or lead's Salesforce data from your inbox

Once you’ve finished installing the Salesforce app, you can add it to your inbox, so you can check your lead’s Salesforce details as you chat. Just click ‘Customize’:

Then, click ‘+ Add more’ and select Salesforce from the list:

Now, if you’re chatting with a user or lead who exists in Salesforce, you’ll see the Salesforce contact, account, or opportunity information displayed in the conversation details. 

If there are multiple linked opportunities you can toggle between them with this dropdown:

You can also see their status, account owner and more. This will help you understand the stage your lead is at, so you can nurture and  convert them to paying customers faster. To see their full Salesforce record, just click ‘Open in Salesforce’. 

Note: We display different data for contacts, accounts, and opportunities: 

  • When it’s a contact, we'll display the name, email address, and the account owner. 

  • If it’s an account, we’ll show the name, domain, account owner and country. 

  • For opportunities, we’ll show the owner, stage, close date and amount.

Intercom will map your records to Salesforce like so:

  • Intercom lead — Salesforce lead 

  • Intercom user — Salesforce contact

  • Intercom company — Salesforce account

Next, there are three powerful steps you can take to get and use live Salesforce data in Intercom, and log Intercom conversations in Salesforce.

3. Send leads from Intercom to Salesforce

When you’re chatting to a lead in Intercom, with Salesforce in your conversation details, you can click ‘Create Lead’ to send them to Salesforce as a new lead. 

The Salesforce app will then display the lead profile, and a direct link to the lead in Salesforce.

If they are converted in Salesforce, you’ll see the contact or account details here too.

Contacts in Salesforce will also display any associated cases.

Important:

  • A lead must have an email address before they can be sent to Salesforce.

  • You can also create a Salesforce lead from a lead/user’s profile in Intercom. 

  • When a new lead is created in Salesforce via the Intercom Inbox, the owner in Salesforce will default to the Intercom owner if one is set. (You can enable this in the Salesforce app settings under "Maintain lead and account ownership").

Leads sent to Salesforce are created with the following fields:

  • Name

  • Email address

  • Lead source — That which you defined in Operator’s follow up actions, or ‘Intercom’ if they were created from the Inbox.

  • Phone number (if available)

Tip: The new version of the Salesforce app lets you sync more than just qualification data.

Note: If a lead’s email in Intercom matches with multiple leads in Salesforce, the lead's Salesforce profile in Intercom will appear as ‘Multiple matches found.’ You can click on this for more information. Here's what we'll show when this happens:

  1. If there is no Salesforce contact but there are multiple Intercom leads, we'll show you the number of matches with a link to all matching leads.

  2. Is there is a Salesforce contact and one or more leads, we'll match the contact with the leads.

  3. If there are multiple Salesforce contacts and none or multiple Intercom leads, we'll show the number of matches with a link to all matching contacts. We'll also update any relevant custom data attributes you have in Intercom.

Here's what will happen in Salesforce when there are multiple matches:

  • No contact & multiple leads: We show the number of matching leads & link to all matching profiles in SFDC — Qualification data is not synced.

  • One contact & one or multiple leads: The contact will be synced.

  • Multiple contacts + none/multiple leads: we show the number of matches with a link to all matching contacts, data in Intercom is not updated by SFDC.

Important: 

  • You can edit a lead’s name, email, phone number and company name in Intercom before sending to Salesforce. 

  • If the lead is missing details, we'll send a placeholder to Salesforce. 

  • If you edit a lead’s qualification details in Intercom after sending them to Salesforce, this data will also update in Salesforce. 

Automatically sync your Salesforce lead owners 

We'll automatically map your Salesforce users to their Intercom teammate profile to keep lead and account ownership up to date.

If you hover over the lead owner in Intercom, you can see if a lead owner was automatically assigned by Salesforce. 

Note: 

  • If the lead doesn’t have an ‘account owner’ in Salesforce, Intercom will find the ‘contact owner’. If they don’t have a ‘contact owner’, Intercom will find the ‘lead owner’. If there’s no match, it’ll fall back to the teammate who set up the Salesforce app, and set them as the owner.

  • If you change a lead’s owner in Salesforce, it will automatically update in Intercom.

  • If you use our Salesforce app to assign owners, you won’t be able to manually change the owners in Intercom. 

  • Account owners override contact owners. If there's no teammate in Intercom matching the account owner Intercom will clear the value, even if there is a matching contact owner.

Map and sync your qualification attributes 

You can also map qualifying lead, user and company attributes to Salesforce lead fields. This allows you to update Salesforce fields without leaving the Intercom inbox.

Just visit your Salesforce app settings page and select a Salesforce lead field for every piece of Intercom qualification data you’ve added. 

Note: You can also map other Salesforce fields that are strictly required in order to create a lead, so that you can always create leads from the inbox or through Operator. 

Important: 

  • Any edits you make to this data in Intercom will automatically update in Salesforce. However, any edits you make to this data in Salesforce won't automatically update in Intercom. 

  • You can remove a mapped field by selecting ‘clear’. Unmapped or deleted attributes will be ignored.

  • Mapping qualification attributes is only available for Salesforce Leads. 

Map UTM parameters to Salesforce leads

You can also map your lead's most recent source, campaign and other UTM parameters you use in your advertising campaigns to Salesforce too. 

Referral and UTM data captured from your website by Intercom will update the fields when a lead is created in Salesforce.

Tip: The new version of the Salesforce app lets you set up a two way sync of many more attribute types.

4. Send conversations from Intercom to Salesforce as tasks

It's easy to send conversations automatically, making it easier to keep track of your customers' activity.

You can log conversations you have with leads, notes you’ve left teammates, and manual messages as Salesforce tasks. This means you’ll have a complete interaction history with each lead or contact. 

Automatically send conversations to Salesforce as tasks

Every time a conversation is started, a task will be created in the Salesforce activities list for the lead or contact. The task is also updated when the conversation is closed. 

Note: 

  • This will be enabled by default, and you can disable it from your Salesforce App Settings page.

  • We update the transcript every time the conversation is closed. 

  • We assign the task in Salesforce to the teammate assigned in the conversation in Intercom. 

  • Images are rendered as URLs and we render emojis. 

Manually send conversations and notes to Salesforce as tasks

In the inbox, just hover over a note or message and click on the three dots that appear and select ‘New Salesforce task.’

The conversation will display on a lead/contact’s page as a completed task. You’ll see a snippet of the conversation/note and a link to the conversation in Intercom. 

Note:

  • We'll assign the task in Salesforce to the teammate assigned to the conversation in Intercom.

  • If a lead's or user’s email in Intercom matches with multiple leads in Salesforce, we'll create a new task for them all. 

  • If you have multiple tasks, we'll mark the first task that's been changed to 'closed' as completed.

Relate conversations to open opportunities

When a conversation is sent to Salesforce, we’ll check if there are any relevant open opportunities that we can relate it to. All conversations associated with an opportunity will be automatically related and listed as an activity within the opportunity. 

Note:

  • We only relate activities for contacts that have a role set within the opportunity. 

  • If there are multiple open opportunities we will ignore them. 

5. Create cases in Salesforce from Intercom conversations

If an Intercom user or lead exists as a contact in Salesforce, you can see their number of open cases (if there are any) in the "Contact" tab:

Click the count to see the cases in more detail (with case ID, status and priority):

Create a new case in Salesforce

To create a new case for a contact in Salesforce, click "New Case", then enter the case details, and click "Create Case":

Important: Any fields that are mandatory in Salesforce must be filled out in Intercom before creating a case.

After creating a case, a note is added to the conversation, with a link to view the case in Salesforce:

Note: A contact must exist in Salesforce before a case can be created, so the option to create a case will not be visible in Intercom for users or leads who aren't a contact in Salesforce.

Define how cases are assigned to an owner in Salesforce

To choose how cases are assigned to an owner, go to the Intercom App Store, select the Salesforce app, and click "Settings":

Under "Conversations", choose how cases are assigned to owners in Salesforce:

  • Use my Salesforce configuration With this setting, Intercom will make no attempt to assign the owner of your cases. Instead, upon creation in Salesforce, your configured rules and workflows will determine the owner.

    Note: If you do not have rules defined in Salesforce, the owner will be set to the teammate who installed the Salesforce app in Intercom.

  • Automatically assign Intercom teammate as the case owner — This setting will attempt to assign new cases to the teammate who created them with the Inbox app.

    Important: For this setting to work, a user must exist in Salesforce with the same email address as the teammate in Intercom and 'Edit case' permissions.
    If intercom cannot find a teammate in Salesforce with the correct permissions, it will fall back to the default behaviour, allowing Salesforce to determine the case owner.

The Created By fields will be populated in Salesforce with the teammate who installed the Salesforce app in Intercom.

When you create a new case with the Salesforce app in your inbox, you'll see how ownership is going to be assigned:

Define the data you send to Salesforce

From the App Store, go to the "Settings" tab of the Salesforce app: 

Under "Conversations" you can choose which fields are shown when creating a case in Salesforce: 

Note: Any mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk and cannot be removed.

6. See and use Salesforce data in Intercom

When you first connect to Salesforce, we’ll look for leads/users with the same email address. Then we’ll send Salesforce data to those users/leads’ profiles, like the lead’s job title and name of their account owner. 

The data will appear as custom attributes in Intercom and can be used to assign conversations and send targeted messages.   

Here’s the full list of Salesforce data that will send to Intercom as attributes:

  • SALESFORCE_STATUS - the status of the lead (e.g. ‘open’, ‘contacted’)

  • SALESFORCE_TITLE (job title) - the job title of the lead/contact

  • SALESFORCE_OWNER_ID - the ID of the Salesforce user assigned as the owner of a lead/contact in Salesforce

  • SALESFORCE_OWNER_NAME - the name of the Salesforce user assigned as the owner of a lead/contact in Salesforce (note this may not necessarily be a user in Intercom) 

  • SALESFORCE_OWNER_EMAIL - the email of the Salesforce user assigned as the owner of a lead/contact in Salesforce

  • SALESFORCE_OWNER_ROLE - the role/job title of the lead/contact's owner in Salesforce

  • SALESFORCE_ID - the ID of the lead/contact in Salesforce

  • SALESFORCE_OBJECT_TYPE - whether it is a lead or contact

This data is continuously updated from Salesforce every 5-10 minutes. You’ll also see events in Intercom that show you the time these attributes were last updated. You’ll see events for: 

  • SALESFORCE_CHANGE_OBJECT_TYPE

  • SALESFORCE_CHANGE_STATUS

Important: The initial sync can take a few hours if you have lots of data. You can check its progress in your Salesforce app settings and we’ll email you once it’s complete.

Tip: The new version of the Salesforce app gives you control over which Salesforce attributes are mapped to your Intercom account.

How to uninstall the integration 

If you wish to uninstall this integration at any time, just head to the app store and remove the integration from there. This will remove the app for all teammates.

Having trouble setting up the integration?

As the Salesforce integration depends on the standard out-of-the-box setup that Salesforce offers, there may be times when the integration doesn’t install correctly. For example, specific Salesforce fields are required for the integration to work. 

If something fails while creating a lead or a task, you can diagnose the issue yourself. Just visit the app store and select the Salesforce app settings. You'll see a list of errors there, along with the issues that are causing them. 

Note: Here are some more troubleshooting tips to help you successfully set up the integration. 

What’s next? 


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