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Direct Import
Direct Import

Automate the process of creating contacts (or leads) in Salesforce

Aamir Peeran avatar
Written by Aamir Peeran
Updated over a week ago

Direct Import automates the process of creating contacts (or leads) in Salesforce for Groove users so that they are able to act upon them in Groove and log activities to them. The only way for Groove users to have their activities sync is if they have those contacts (or leads) exist in Salesforce.

Please reach out to your dedicated Groove Manager to get this feature enabled.

Getting Set Up:

In order to begin using Direct Import, there are a few settings that must be set.

  1. You must be on Managed Package version 9.68.

  2. Make sure you have a Salesforce Service Account set up for your Groove organization. You can set this Service Account in the My Org section of Manage My Org.

What is a Salesforce Service Account?

The Salesforce Service Account will be the user that 'creates' the records and it is necessary that this Service Account has 'View All' permissions on the Contact and Lead objects in Salesforce. Direct Import reads the existing Contacts and Leads in Salesforce in order to not create duplicates.

Even though the Service Account is creating the records, Direct Import uses your organization's requirements and permissions to identify which users are able to create. Fields required by the org to create Contacts or Leads will populate in the modal, and if certain users do not have access to create Contacts or Leads, they will not be able to create.

Managing Direct Import Monthly Limits

Within Manage My Org, you will have the control over how many records you would like users to be able to create per month.

  • Setting it to -1 will set it to unlimited records

  • The count is reset on the first of every month

Salesforce Changes:

This update adds 1 new field: Is Created By Groove? to the Contact and Lead Objects. This will help distinguish which records are being created through Direct Import and make it easily reportable.

How does it work?

With Direct Import, Groove users will be able to use Flow Import to upload a CSV that contains a list of prospects that do not exist in Salesforce. They can then create them in Salesforce and import them to their Flow all in one process, right within Groove.

Step 1: Export a CSV of Prospects

The CSV must have at least the amount of columns as required fields for Contact or Lead creation in your organization. Email address is a Groove required field when using Direct Import. We use this field to view all leads and contacts in Salesforce and assists in preventing duplicate leads/contacts during the creation process.

Note: This is only to use the Direct Import feature to create Contacts/Leads. If you are just looking to use CSV lookup with existing Contacts/Leads, these rules do not apply.

Step 2: Use CSV Lookup

Upload the CSV to the CSV Lookup tab in Flow Import (Add People). You can upload:

  • A CSV that contains no existing SFDC contacts or leads

  • A CSV that contains existing SFDC contacts or leads, as well as ones that do not exist

You will be able to import the Contacts (or Leads) that exist first into the flow, then will be prompted to create the ones that do not exist, or continue directly to the flow.

Step 3: Map Columns to Salesforce Fields

Once you reach the next page to create people, you will be prompted to select which object you'd like to create (Contacts or Leads). After the object is selected, a modal will auto open which will allow you to map your CSV columns to the corresponding SFDC fields.

  • The modal will first attempt to auto map fields from the CSV, but this will only work if the CSV column names are exact matches to the SFDC field label.

  • The required fields will populate on the right side and be uneditable. Those fields must be mapped at minimum to begin the creation process.

  • If a column is not auto-mapped, the user can select it from the left side drop down which will contain all CSV columns not mapped

  • After selecting the CSV column, use the right side column to search for the appropriate SFDC field that matches the CSV column

  • After matching the CSV column and the SFDC field, click on the gray check to map the column. Once the columns you'd like to use to create are mapped, click done to populate the table.

Step 4: Create Contacts/Leads

Once the columns are mapped, the table will populate with the information from the CSV. The column names will show the SFDC fields they are mapped to.

  • The red bar will appear on rows that are missing a required field

  • You can in-line edit the rows to fill in missing required fields, or make any changes

After selecting the People they would like to create, you can click on the top right 'Create Records' button. Once the records are created in Salesforce and imported to the flow, you will receive a confirmation and can continue to the Flow homepage.

Step 5: Continue to Flow

Import Things to Note and Best Practices

  1. Direct Import reads the fields that are required on the Object Level, this is set in the Object Manager by your Salesforce Admin. Page Layout and Field Set requirements will not be used in Direct Import.

  2. For Contact creation, Account ID must be used to tie to account on import. The Account ID can be found in the URL when viewing the Account on Salesforce. It is possible to search for the Account name using in-line edit while using the feature, but this is not recommended for bulk creation.

  3. The Contact and Lead Owner will always be the user who created the record, but the 'Created By' user will always show the Service Account user.

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