SFDC sync cadence flow step.

SFDC sync cadence flow step.

The background sync with SFDC is every 5 minutes. Sometimes the sync happens at an inconvenient time. SFDC has a field validation where ‘opt-in date-time’ must be populated if ‘email opt-in’ is checked. What happens if an existing lead fills out a form and checks the box for ‘email opt-in’? We have a Marketo workflow to quickly populate ‘opt-in date-time’ when this happens. It also unchecks ‘unsubscribed’, as this also has a SFDC field validation. But what if the SFDC sync happens before the workflow is triggered/finished? The result is a sync failure! And a new notification in Marketo about this failure. A secondary result is that the ‘email opt-in’ value in Marketo is true, but still false in SFDC, until there is a new change and it syncs again. There are countless more examples where field validation in SFDC and the sync interval cause issues.

Solution? A new flow step, which is similar to Change Engagement Program Cadence. Put the background sync on “Pause” or “Normal” in a flow. So the first step in a trigger (e.g. after form fill) would be to pause the sync, do some data changes, and set the sync back to normal.
An alternative solution would be to have this process as default in the background. Any form fill or trigger will first pause the sync and set it back to normal after 1 minute. This would ensure any data change flow steps to be processed.

Are you a SFDC user? Please VOTE, as it concerns you too!!!
3 Comments
Anonymous
Not applicable
I totally agree. We're in a position now where we use numerous 3rd party tools through webhooks, and I find myself frequently grappling with sync times to make sure I get my upfront data work before the sync happens. My hacky solution has been to build a small wait in front of anything that would force a SFDC sync, including program membership changes. 
Anonymous
Not applicable
@Jeff,
I also have a lot of wait steps in my life cycle campaigns. Especially those that push a lead to SFDC. However I'm more concerned on the background sync that happens every 5 minutes (that syncs field value updates). You can't use wait steps there. Thanks for the vote.
kh-lschutte
Community Manager
Status changed to: Open Ideas