Sync fields only when empty

[Anonymous]

Hi. is there a way to sync fields on the Marketo only in case they are empty, so that I don't overide existing values?
So that if for example i use "syncMultipleLeads", and update a field with a value - nothing happens but if the field is empty, it will store the value.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

This could be very valuable. At my organization, the marketing department really struggles to gain any traction when the topic of cleaning the data comes up...

So now I'm stuck scrubbing and scrubbing in Marketo because each time our API runs, it "re-corrects" all the data. And by that, I mean it reverts to the incorrect data in our CRM.

As a workaround, I have fields that are connected by API and that I know will be bogus - for example, job title. Then I have campaigns that clean this data up and plug it into fields that I created that are not connected to our CRM and, therefore, I know will stay clean.

For example, 'Chief Exec. Off./Pres./Director' might come into the job title field and I'd like it to just be CEO. I have a campaign that contains all of the bogus values and translates it to a Title field. Additionally, I have role and department fields (they would become 'decision maker' and 'executive', respectively).

It's an annoying work around...but it means that I can use tokens more fearlessly and I am actually able to segment...

-Emily

[Anonymous]

I feel your pain. Even worse is when a sales rep finally gets an accurate phone number for a hot lead and it gets overwritten.

I don't know of any solution to this problem thorugh marketo. Maybe others do.

What I can recommend is that you address the problem in salesforce. Use the "Track History" feature to ensure that when key fields are overwritten, the old values and circumstances about the change are logged and visible within the salesforce record.

At leads with track history, sales productivity is generally perserved.  

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

You can block field updates by Web Service API per field.  Here is the Community Article that discusses how to set Block Field Updates.

[Anonymous]

Sadly, we don't have SFDC. We like to call our CRM unique - I've yet to meet a Marketo user that has heard of it... I'm not sure if that function is possible within our CRM. I'd assume it is, but I just don't konw how.

Blocking fields would help in some instances, but I think it would ultimately do more harm than good by preventing data from coming in at all. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

- Emily

[Anonymous]

Yes, if you are using SyncMultipleLeads then it typically means you do not have SFDC and  are using the SOAP API to push data to Marketo.

Using Block Field Updates and specifying Web Service API in the options will allow the SyncMultipleLeads call to set the data on that specific field if the field value is empty and will not overwrite data if the field value is not empty.  It seems that this is exactly what you were looking for.

[Anonymous]

I'd agree with Angelo! The first thing I thought of was simply blocking updates from specific sync sources.... Go to Admin>Field Management>Select the field you want>Click on "Field Actions" button at the top to get the drop down>"Block Field Updates">select which types of data sync you want blocked (you might only want to block some sources from overriding data, or all.)

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Ok, that does sound like it will work... I'll definitely try it out! Data cleanup and management has become the bane of my existance, so anything helps!

[Anonymous]

Hi, thanks for your replies. the blocked field option works for me.
thanks