Our two way Salesforce app keeps your data in sync with regular updates in the direction you choose; Intercom to Salesforce, or Salesforce to Intercom.
With the Salesforce app installed you can:
See the latest salesforce data in your inbox, in contacts and use it to target and filter content and automations.
Note: This article is about using the Salesforce app. Read this article to learn how to install and configure the app from the app store.
View users and leads’ Salesforce data in your inbox
With the Salesforce app installed, you can also add the Inbox app so your team can view live Salesforce details as you chat.
Note: The Inbox app shows you a live view of data as it exists in Salesforce, this is not the data mapped to or from your native Intercom attributes. The data synced by those mappings can be seen in the user details panel in the inbox, or on a user’s profile.
Just click "Customize":
Then, click ‘+ Show more’ and select the Salesforce inbox app:
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 inbox app alongside the conversation:
Important: This app doesn’t show all of your mapped attributes, those are visible in the regular user 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’.
Pro tip: For a more comprehensive sync of your Salesforce data, configure two way attribute mapping in the salesforce app settings.
Note: The inbox app displays different data for contacts, accounts, and opportunities:
When it’s a contact, you’ll see the name, email address, and account owner.
If it’s an account, you’ll see the name, domain, account owner and country.
For opportunities, you’ll see the owner, stage, close date and amount.
Intercom records are matched in Salesforce like this:
Intercom lead — Salesforce lead
Intercom user — Salesforce contact
Intercom company — Salesforce account
Send leads from Intercom to Salesforce
When you’re chatting to a new lead in Intercom, who doesn’t exist in Salesforce, you can click ‘Create Lead’ to send them to Salesforce as a new lead:
The inbox app will then display the lead profile (as shown above 👆). If they are converted in Salesforce, you’ll see the contact or account details here too.
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. (Enable this in the Salesforce app settings under "Maintain lead and account ownership").
Leads sent to Salesforce are created with the fields you configured when installing the Salesforce app:
Important:
You can edit a lead’s data in Intercom before sending to Salesforce.
If the lead is missing details, a placeholder is sent to Salesforce.
If you edit a lead’s data in Intercom after sending them to Salesforce, this data will also update in Salesforce.
Auto Case Creation
Automatically create and update Salesforce cases where required with Auto Case Creation. Cases can be created and updated through a range of triggers such as Custom Bot, Resolution Bot, Inbox rules and global triggers.
Requirements to use Auto Case Creation:
Check that the Salesforce integration app owner account has permission to create Cases in Salesforce.
Ensure that the current Intercom User is mapped as a Contact in Salesforce.
Configure cases
To enable Auto Case Creation, you will need to configure cases in the Salesforce app. Go to the Settings tab and open “Set up cases”.
Here you will find a section “Create cases automatically”. You can use Global triggers to choose when to create or update a Salesforce Case automatically by toggling these on.
Note: When a conversation is closed, the transcript in the case is updated but the case status won't be updated/closed.
Set a default Case Record Type
Control what Case Record Type is used when creating a case by setting a default.
Note: If “None” is selected, the default CRT will be used according to your Salesforce configuration. Under “Case record types” setting you can select the default CRT to automatically create cases with.
Set up Attribute Mappings
If you want to send conversation data from Intercom to populate Salesforce case fields, you can map Conversation Attributes. Some attributes have already been mapped to allow a case to be created in Salesforce. To choose which data is automatically sent to Salesforce from a conversation, click “Map new attribute”.
Under the Intercom attributes you will find Conversation Attributes that can be mapped to case fields in Salesforce.
You can map Conversation Attributes from:
Conversation data - Such as the Product Area that the conversation relates to which allows you to have specialist teams handle different features. Learn how to use Conversation Attributes for advanced Inbox workflows here.
Custom Bot responses - Such as a customer’s email address collected during a conversation with your Custom Bot. Learn more about saving customer replies as Conversation Attributes here.
Select the attributes you want to map from the dropdown menus and click “Add” to save the mapping to the list.
Important: Attribute Mappings will always apply when a case is automatically created in Salesforce.
To apply your changes, click “Save settings” in the bottom right corner.
Note: When a case is automatically created, mapped attributes will update every time the conversation is closed. For example, if a conversation is re-opened and conversation data attributes are updated in Intercom, the mapped attributes will also update in Salesforce when the conversation is closed again.
Automate with Custom Bot
Create and update Salesforce cases straight from customer conversations using Custom Bot.
To set this up, go to Custom Bots and open or create the Custom Bot where you want a Salesforce case to be created or updated. Click “Add” in the Edit Custom Bot screen and select “Create case in Salesforce”.
Automate with Resolution Bot
Resolution Bot supports Auto Case Creation in Salesforce by using guided paths.
To define when a Salesforce case should be created or updated, simply navigate to Operator > Resolution Bot and open or create an answer. From the “Create your answer” section, click “Add” and then select “Create case in Salesforce”.
Automate with Inbox Rules
You can also choose exactly when to create or update a Salesforce case using Inbox rules.
Simply navigate to Inbox > Automation > Rules and open or create a new rule. Click on “Add action” and then select “Create case in Salesforce”.
Viewing errors
You will be able to see cases that have failed to create or update automatically by visiting the Salesforce app. Go to Sync Errors and click on “Cases” to find any that have failed. The reason will be given under the Description.
Send conversations from Intercom to Salesforce as tasks
Sending conversations automatically makes it easy to keep track of your customers' activity.
You can log conversations you have with leads, notes you’ve left teammates, and One-off 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.
This can be enabled or disabled from your Salesforce app settings. Learn more in this article.
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:
New leads are only automatically created in Salesforce when a task is manually created. For auto task creation, the lead needs to already exist in Salesforce.
The task in Salesforce is assigned 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, a new task is created for them all.
If you have multiple tasks, the first task that's been changed to 'closed' is marked as completed.
Relate conversations to open opportunities
When a conversation is sent to Salesforce, relevant open opportunities are checked to see if the conversation can be related to them. All conversations associated with an opportunity will be automatically related and listed as an activity within the opportunity.
Note:
Activities for contacts are only related if they have a role set within the opportunity.
If there are multiple open opportunities they’ll be ignored.
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.
When you create a new case with the Salesforce app in your inbox, you'll see how ownership is going to be assigned, based on your app configuration:
Having trouble with the Salesforce app?
If you encounter any problems while using the Salesforce app or want to learn more about how it works, check out this F.A.Q article.
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