Blocking field updates depending on record-based criteria

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

Is it possible to block updates to a field on some occassions and not others? And I don't mean depending on which source it's come from (i.e. list vs form fill-out), but depending on record-based criteria (i.e is a user vs is not a user).

Example:
I have a field that for some people - let's say, record type A - I want to update and NOT block.
For record type B, I use the exact same field but for them I DO want to block any updates from Marketo AND I want to block that field from even being populated by Marketo when it's empty. 

Is this possible via Marketo or only via Salesforce? If the latter, does anyone know how to implement? Can you create a new profile for the Marketo user in Salesforce that includes all the same permissions except the ability to edit field X on record type B (but still allow it to edit field X on record type A)?

It sounds like the easiest solution would be to create a different unique field for each record type, but we're so entrenched with using it across campaigns and with syncs with our data warehouse that this would actually be extremely cumbersome for us. We need a quick, solid fix.

Any help appreciated!

Cheers, Tara

[Anonymous]

You may be able to do this with Salesforce field validation rules that allow different actions depending on the record type.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Elliott. Do you know if it's possible using that approach to say: "Allow edits via any source except NOT from Marketo"? We still need to be able to update field X on record type B from our data warehouse source, but not from Marketo. I probably didn't make that clear.

[Anonymous]

In your the Error Condition Formula area of the validation rule, use a formula like AND($Profile.Name = "Marketo Sync", $RecordType.Name = "B"), which would prevent anyone with the Marketo Sync profile from changing the field if it wa Record Type "B".  You will need to replace these names with your names.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Elliott! We'll test that out, but sounds like it will solve our problem! Cheers, Tara

[Anonymous]

We've implemented and tested this. It works from a Salesforce point of view - the field was not populated in Salesforce. But the field still get's populated in Marketo and not blocked from being updated/added there. We have a campaign that triggers off this field being changed from empty to not empty, so we need it to not populate at all for a record type in Salesforce OR Marketo. Turns out that even though it's mapped to the Salesforce field and Salesforce rejects it, it still gets populated and remains in Marketo. I guess this is standard logic and probably desired in some instances. Not for us though in this instance. Any other suggestions? I could make do with only updating a record that is a Lead or not yet in Salesforce, and block any updates to the Contact type (and not go to the record type level) - is there something i can do around field mapping and disassociating the fields for Lead vs Contact?

[Anonymous]

How are you populating the field in Marketo - via a form fill?

[Anonymous]

Via list upload. Marketo support can't think of any workarounds. My next steps are to test whether renaming the Lead field to something different in Salesforce (including API key, if that's possible) so that it gets disassociated with the Contact field of the same name and see how that then flows through to Marketo - not sure if it'll "unmap" them; and if it does, will that change flow down into campaigns or will I have to update every reference to the original... I suspect it won't flow down, so I may have to resort to creating a brand new field altogether. If that's the case, I'll have to do a fair bit of work across a bunch of campaigns to update / sunset live ones using the old field.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

One last thought - you could import the data into a new Marketo only field.  Then create a triggered smart campaign that would update the value in the current synched field of only those leads with a field value of "Record Type A" as follows:

• Smart List - Data Value Changes trigger with "Attribute: [new Marketo only field]" and a "Record Type: is Record Type A" field filter
• Flow - Change Data Value flow action with "Attribute: [synched field name]" and "New Value {{lead.[new Marketo only field]}}"
• Schedule - Each lead can run through the flow every time

[Anonymous]

Creative. On paper that sounds like a perfect solution. I'll test it out and get back to you if successful. Appreciate your perseverance in helping me find a workaround!