Welcome to the new version of Intercom's Salesforce app 🎉 This article will give you a quick view of what’s new and what to pay attention to when using the new features.
Mapping leads and users between Intercom and Salesforce
Current version | New version |
You can map leads in Intercom with leads in Salesforce only using email address | You can map users with Intercom’s user_id to a value of your choice in Salesforce for a more reliable match. You can still use email address to map leads and users if that works for your business |
Mapping relationships between leads in Intercom and leads in Salesforce are not necessarily unique since one email address can belong to multiple leads | Mapping relationships between leads and users in Intercom and leads and contacts in Salesforce are now unique and persisted (“one-to-one” relationships) |
Attribute mapping and sync
Current version | New version |
You can only sync attributes between leads and users in Intercom and leads in Salesforce | You can now sync attributes between leads and users in Intercom and leads and contacts in Salesforce. |
You can sync qualification attributes from Intercom to Salesforce | You can now sync any user or lead attributes from Intercom to Salesforce (not only qualification data attributes). You can also sync Salesforce fields back to Intercom. |
You can mainly sync attributes in one direction (Intercom to Salesforce) | You can now define the direction of the sync for each attribute individually (Salesforce to Intercom or vice versa). |
Matching people between Intercom and Salesforce
As people (Intercom leads/users, Salesforce leads / contacts) are updated in both systems, Intercom tries to establish a persistent mapping that ensures data is consistently synced between the same people. You can configure whether people are mapped using user_id or email address in settings.
There are different triggers that cause Intercom to create and delete these mappings:
Create: as people are added to either system, Intercom looks for a matching person in the corresponding system to establish a new mapping.
Update: when people are updated, Intercom checks for an existing mapping to re-use. If there isn’t one, Intercom tries to find a matching person to establish a new mapping.
If the user_id or email address used to map people between systems is updated, the mapping will be deleted. If a match exists for the updated user_id or email address a new mapping will be established.
Delete: if someone is deleted in either system, their mapping is removed.
When data is synced from Intercom to Salesforce
There are two triggers that cause data to be synced from Intercom to Salesforce:
A new person (Lead/User) is created in Intercom.
A mapped attribute is updated on a person in Intercom.
If a matching Lead or Contact is found in Salesforce, all mapped attributes are updated from Intercom to Salesforce. This update triggers once the change happens in Intercom.
When data is synced from Salesforce to Intercom
There are two triggers that cause data to be synced from Salesforce to Intercom:
A new person (Lead/Contact) is created in Salesforce.
Any field is updated on a person in Salesforce.
If a matching Lead or User is found in Intercom, all mapped fields are updated from Salesforce to Intercom. Intercom checks Salesforce every 5 minutes for these changes.
What’s changing
Along with more flexibility, this new version adds more triggers that cause Intercom to sync lead and user data to Salesforce.
When data is synced from Intercom to Salesforce
In the old version of the app, only qualification attributes could be synced from Intercom to Salesforce. These could be updated manually in the Inbox or by using the Task Bot - Qualify Leads feature.
Now that all Intercom attributes can be synced to Salesforce, these updates are triggered anytime the data changes in Intercom. For example, attributes that are updated through Messenger or the API will be synced to Salesforce.
When data is synced from Salesforce to Intercom
There is no immediate change in when data is synced from Salesforce to Intercom but the new version offers more flexibility and the ability to select which Lead and Contact fields are synced back to Intercom.
FAQs
How often will data be synced? The attributes you map between Intercom and Salesforce are synced when they change in either system (see trigger detailed explanation in the sections above). When the change occurs in Intercom, the sync to Salesforce is triggered immediately, while Salesforce is checked on 5 minute intervals to determine if there are changes to sync back to Intercom.
Can I do a bulk update? Currently there is no bulk update of existing historical data when using the app. Data is only synced gradually i.e. from the point in time of configuration forward.
What objects can I sync to Intercom? For now, you can sync Salesforce fields from Leads and Contacts to Intercom’s people objects (you do not need to define whether it is an Intercom Lead or User object).
Can I sync any Intercom attribute? You can sync most attributes. Some exceptions are read-only attributes, attributes in Intercom that change very frequently (e.g. last_seen) or formula fields (see next question).
Can I sync Salesforce Formula fields? Formula fields are more complex and the syncing behaviour can depend on the Salesforce setup. In general formula fields can be mapped and synced to Intercom. However because this field is calculated, changes to this field will not initiate a trigger meaning that this field will only be synced when something else triggers the sync.
Can I stop the app from syncing? Not directly. There is no option (other than uninstalling) to turn off the syncing.
Can I use a sandbox account to test this first? Sure thing! You can test this new version using a test workspace with a Salesforce sandbox account.
Ready to try the new version?
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