Fields in SFDC not automatically syncing back to Marketo

[Malik_Zafar2]

I've noticed that there are a good chunk of records in our system that have missing information in Marketo. For example, a field might be TRUE in Salesforce but in Marketo it says FALSE. If I run a batch campaign and sync them to SFDC, the fields get updated. 

My question is - why do I have to manually sync these fields to the records? And why do most of the fields auto-sync but these few fields seem to need a manual push? It seems that after an initial manual sync, any subsequent update is automatically captured by Marketo. Seems like it just needs a jump start.

Any ideas?

[Chris_Wilcox]

Hi Malik,

In my experience, it has to do with how that record got updated in the CRM. Sometimes when my CRM team bulk updates records, the method they use doesn't "touch" the record as far as Marketo-Sync can actually tell. They have to almost add an extra step to "open and close" all the records they modified, and that is visible to Marketo and prompts the sync. 

Unfortunately I'm not intimately familiar with the SFDC side of things, but I am 100% certain I've encountered this before.

Good luck!

Chris 

[Oz_Platero · Accepted solution]

Hello @Malik_Zafar2 ,

There are several likely culprits, and some are rabbit holes.

example of possible issues:

• You could have a backlog so the changes could be delayed if they are occurring.
  • Check with support to see if you have a backlog.
  • Your batch could have a flow step "sync to SFDC" which makes a direct API call that bypasses the bi-directional sync and thus makes updates faster, but at the cost of API call efficiency.
• Although the field looks like it is a boolean, it could be a Formula checkbox in SFDC.
  • Ensure the field is a true checkbox, and if you need a formula use a workflow to set the checkbox field.
  • There a a few implications here to keep the post brief I would recommend looking for behavior around formula fields + SFDC sync.
• Check to rule out duplicates
  • In Marketo make sure the SFDC ID matches what you are seeing in the SFDC side.
• Rule out race conditions
  • Make sure the records are already synched prior to the data value change  on the field.

Thank you,
oz

[Veronica3]

@Oz_Platero is spot on! SFDC formula and lookup fields are not "triggering" the sync as they are not really seen as Data Value Changes. In case you are working with these field types, what you can do is build a process on SFDC side to trigger the modstamp everytime these fields are updated. The modstamp will force the sync and updates should come through from SFDC to Marketo.

[Oz_Platero]

@Veronica3 ,

Wonderful!
Glad I could help.  If you don't mind and you found those suggestions helpful could you mark it as solved?

[Malik_Zafar2]

Veronica - can you expand on the modstamp? Is this a SFDC system field ? 

[Veronica_Lazar1]

Hi @Malik_Zafar2 that's correct, SystemModstamp in SFDC is a DateTime system field. It indicates when a record was last modified by a user or by a workflow process

[Malik_Zafar2]

Veronica, super helpful, I appreciate it.

We are still trying to solve for this, and your suggestions are putting us on the right path!

Do you have any more information on the SystemModStamp field and your suggestion about a SFDC workflow to trigger updates? Does this have to happen every single time a formula field value is updated, or does it need to only sync once?

As for current records that are missing updates from SFDC formula fields - what is the best way to handle those? Currently, we were able to isolate the difference in an XLS file and have been manually syncing records via a batch campaign. Will this solution solve the problem indefinitely or would these records need to be updated every-time the formula fields are? For example, if a record is "TRUE" for a formula field and then change to "FALSE" tomorrow, will MKTO pick that change up or would i need to force sync for the updates to come through?

Thank you!!!

[Veronica_Lazar1]

Hi @Malik_Zafar2 I would normally recommend building a SFDC workflow only on the relevant formula fields with time-sensitive info, and the update should come through every time such field is being updated

For the current records that did not get the update, you can trigger a data value change by updating any field synced SFDC (not formula and lookup). You can fx find a field you are not using that much and change the data value. This will trigger the mod stamp and all the other field updates. 

Hope this helps.