Possible to invert boolean true/false via sync to Salesforce?

[Marc_Asmus]

Is it possible to map a boolean field between Marketo and Salesforce so that when Marketo has a TRUE value, Salesforce gets a FALSE value (and Marketo FALSE / Salesforce TRUE)? If so, how?

[SanfordWhiteman]

With complex permissions, yes. But I wouldn't bother approaching it that way.  Have a separate field that maintains the inverse value and work off that.  Or, of course, change your design to be less confusing... what field requires this treatment?

[Marc_Asmus]

Thanks for the reply, Sanford Whiteman​. I agree; the design is confusing.

We've painted ourselves into a corner. When we migrated to Marketo, I took a recommendation to maintain some email subscription preferences as 'Subscribed to <Email Type X>' with TRUE value signifying that the person should receive the email.

The issue is that we also have like email preferences stored in Salesforce, but they they are the inverse: 'Do Not Send <Email Type X>' so that TRUE means the person *should not* receive the email.

The fields are not currently mapped. We want to map them so that the preferences are stored in one spot and a broader group of teammates (SF users) has access to control the preferences.

I'm trying to identify the best way to go about mapping the fields...

• Do I try to invert the values via sync (my original question)?
• Do I push the existing SF fields into Marketo and invert/migrate the existing Marketo data into the new fields?
  • This would require re-configuring our email Subscription Management program
  • I'd also need to circle back to try to understand the original rationale for storing these values as 'Subscribed to <Email Type X>'. My best guess is that because the default value for a Boolean field is FALSE we wanted to set up so that it was an opt-in (requiring a process to change the value to TRUE).

If you have additional insights/advice, please do share!

[SanfordWhiteman]

Well -- though this redesign is probably not something you'll want get into immediately -- I recommend treating subscriptions as more complex than fields than mere booleans. At the very least, they are tri-state fields: someone can be Not Subscribed (they have not been exposed to the possibility of subscription), Subscribed, or Unsubscribed (took deliberate action to remove themselves).  The date(s) on which they transitioned between states are also interesting pieces of metadata deserving of either a Datetime field or an Interesting Moment.

In your current case, I wouldn't try to manage these inverted values via sync user permissions/blocking updates/etc.. It's just going to get more confusing. Instead, have a new field that's synced with the SFDC value as-is and rework your Marketo Subscription Management model around the SFDC decision.