Checkbox with Default Value = TRUE not working Marketo/SFDC Sync

[Valerie_Armstro]

Hello Community,

We have a checkbox field in SFDC that has an assigned default value of TRUE (this field is synced to Marketo). So when a lead is created in SFDC, this field is defaulted to TRUE.  However, when a lead is created in Marketo and synced to SFDC, the field is unchecked, despite the default value that is specified for that field in SFDC.   I've been looking to explain why this is happening, but Ihaven't been able to pinpoint the issue. 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

-Val

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hey Val,
When Marketo creates a lead in SFDC, it makes an API call that includes the values of all of the fields on the lead in Marketo. 

It would be very confusing if this was not the case. For example, say that there is a checkbox field called "Opt In". The default value of this field is false as only want to send emails to leads who have explicitly opted in. A new lead then fills out a Marketo form and opts-in. Now, we have a lead in Marketo that does not exist in SFDC yet with Opt In set to true.

Now, we want to sync this lead up to SFDC. However, when we do so, Opt In turns back to false even though the lead already said in Marketo that they wanted emails.

As you can see, this behavior would cause unwanted scenarios. Thus, when Marketo creates a lead in SFDC, it pushes up all the values on the Marketo record instead of using the SFDC default.

As a workaround, I would create a trigger campaign in Marketo (using the Lead is Created) trigger, that automatically changes this checkbox to True when the lead is created. Thus, you will essentially have a default value of True in both Marketo and SFDC.

Best,
Will

[Valerie_Armstro]

Thank you so much for your quickly reply, Will! That makes sense. However, it unfortunately doesn't work the way we would like it for our particular use-case.   We currently have SFDC workflows that update these fields once they are created in SFDC.  I'd love to be able to specifiy the default value of this field in Marketo so that when it syncs to SFDC, we wouldn't encounter this issue.   For now, the SFDC workflows will take care of this.