Why Your Sales Team Needs a Salesforce and LinkedIn Integration

Efficiency is king. With countless tasks, from prospecting to nurturing leads and closing deals, salespeople have a lot on their plates. At the heart of their world are two critical platforms: Salesforce and LinkedIn, the most popular CRM and the most effective CRM.

For many sales organizations, despite using both tools daily, they operate disconnected. There is no direct integration between Salesforce and LinkedIn, which results in manual data entry or limited visibility into LinkedIn activity.

This article will break down why a LinkedIn and Salesforce integration is necessary and show you exactly how to set it up using We-Connect, the most popular LinkedIn automation tool.

Key Takeaways:

• Disconnected Salesforce and LinkedIn lead to significant problems like outdated data, wasted time, and difficulty tracking activity and ROI.


• Integrating LinkedIn and Salesforce offers major benefits, including a complete prospect view, faster sales cycles, and boosted productivity.


• This integration also helps enrich your contact database and provides actionable insights for better reporting.


• We-Connect offers a straightforward, native integration for LinkedIn and Salesforce, eliminating the need for complex third-party tools.


• Setting up the integration involves connecting accounts, customizing data sync and mapping, and defining automation triggers.


• It's crucial to test your integration thoroughly to ensure data flows correctly between both platforms.


• To maximize value, practice data cleanliness, manage duplicate contacts, and properly train your sales team on using the integrated data.

What Happens When Salesforce and LinkedIn Don't Connect?

Operating without a robust connection between your CRM and professional network can snowball into some major hiccups. Some of these may include:

• Outdated data: Manual updates mean stale prospect data in Salesforce. You miss critical LinkedIn information, like updated phone numbers or emails.


• Wasted time: Time is wasted switching tabs, manually searching LinkedIn, and copying/pasting data.


• Activity tracking: For larger teams, without an integration, you won't be able to know who took what action on a lead last.


• Poor ROI tracking: Tracking LinkedIn ROI becomes impossible without the ability to track leads accepting connection requests or responding to messaging.

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What Are The Benefits of Integrating Salesforce and LinkedIn?

Connecting Salesforce and LinkedIn transforms your sales process. Here are some of the most popular benefits people note after integrating:

• Complete prospect view: LinkedIn interactions automatically enrich Salesforce records. Sales reps get comprehensive, up-to-date information for informed conversations.


• Faster sales cycles: Qualified LinkedIn leads flow directly into Salesforce for immediate action. That means you can automate triggers based on LinkedIn engagement to speed up follow-ups.


• Boosted productivity: Manual tasks vanish, freeing reps for high-value selling. Streamlined workflows mean less admin, more closing.


• Enrich your contact database: Combine LinkedIn and Salesforce to automatically update contacts with the phone numbers and emails collected from LinkedIn


• Actionable insights: Accurate LinkedIn activity in Salesforce means better reporting. Identify what drives revenue, then optimize campaigns for growth.

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How To Set Up Your Integration with We-Connect

Achieving this integration is simple with We-Connect. Our native LinkedIn Salesforce integration skips any need for Zapier, Make, or other complex third-party tools.

Step 1: Connect Your Accounts

1. In We-Connect, navigate to the Integrations section.


2. Select the Salesforce option.


3. Follow the secure authentication prompts to link your accounts.

Step 2: Customize Data Sync & Mapping

We-Connect gives you granular control over how you want data to flow between tools:

• Sync direction: Choose one-way or two-way sync to keep both platforms updated.


• Contact mapping: Map properties for "Contacts" and "Leads" separately in Salesforce.


• Custom property mapping: Map any custom fields from We-Connect to Salesforce, and vice versa.


• Activity sync: Configure which LinkedIn activities (e.g., accepted connection requests, replies) appear in Salesforce. Real-time notifications for campaign activity are delivered directly within Salesforce.

Step 3: Define Automation & Triggers

Now is for the fun part, setting up automations to determine how your data flows.

• Set rules for when data syncs (e.g., when a lead replies or reaches a campaign stage).


• Import leads from Salesforce into We-Connect from contact lists


• Import leads from We-Connect to Salesforce from contact lists

Step 4: Test & Optimize

Lastly, we always recommend testing your integration to ensure data is flowing the way you want it to. Here's what that could look like:

• Perform initial tests: Send a few test connections or messages through We-Connect.


• Verify data appears correctly in Salesforce.


• Refine mapping or automation rules as needed.

For more information about setting up our LinkedIn and Salesforce integration, read our quick start guide.

What Are the Best Practices for Maximizing Your LinkedIn Salesforce Integration?

Setup is just the start. Maximize value with these best practices:

• Keep your data clean: Regularly review both Salesforce and LinkedIn for outdated information. This ensures accurate reporting and reliable automation.


• Beware of duplicate contacts: We-Connect can either create a new contact or update old contact profiles – ensure these are set up correctly.


• Give your team the tools they need: Train sales reps on how to use integrated data for personalization.

Conclusion

For any sales team focused on efficiency and measurable results, an integration between LinkedIn and your CRM is critical.

We-Connect's native LinkedIn Salesforce integration provides the connection your team needs. It centralizes outreach within Salesforce, streamlines contact management, and tracks all campaign activities.

Ready to bring your LinkedIn outreach and other campaigns into one place?

Explore We-Connect's LinkedIn Salesforce Integration to explore a simpler sales workflow.