Re: Avoiding SFDC overwriting newer values from Marketo

Matt_Stone2
Level 9

Avoiding SFDC overwriting newer values from Marketo

I've run into the following situation a few times and am hoping someone might have a solution:

  1. A new lead is created
  2. The lead is synced into SFDC as a lead
  3. Smart campaigns in Marketo run triggered by lead creation, updating various data values
  4. A managed package automatically converts the lead to a contact in SFDC
  5. Because the conversion happened slightly after the data value updates, and steps 3 and 4 happen between Marketo syncs, the next time a sync occurs, Marketo thinks the null values that exist in SFDC are newer, and overwrites the values in Marketo

The possible solutions I can think of are:

  • Retrofit the smart campaigns to wait until lead conversion is completed
  • Disable field updates via SFDC sync on some fields (though I believe this would prevent the values from syncing up into SFDC as well?)
  • Create Marketo-only "mirror" fields that match the fields being overwritten. If they're nulled out, a smart campaign sets the field = mirror field

None of these are terribly appealing to me -- has anyone encountered this and discovered a better way?

2 REPLIES 2
Josh_Hill13
Level 10 - Champion Alumni

Re: Avoiding SFDC overwriting newer values from Marketo

You should control order of operations with a wait step on the data changes in Marketo in this case. Without seeing the screenshots, I can't offer more than that.

Grégoire_Miche2
Level 10

Re: Avoiding SFDC overwriting newer values from Marketo

Blocking field updates will indeed block all updates, not just the ones that happen after conversion.

I would rather use the first approach, also recommended by Josh above, or the third one. You can trigger the smart campaign only on the "lead is converted" trigger.

-Greg