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Contact synchronization best practices

Follow these practices when Salesforce is where you manage customer contact details and you prepare quotes in Maxio CPQ. To learn what is synchronized and when, see How Salesforce Contact synchronization works.

Recommendations​

  1. Select existing Contacts from Salesforce. When you add a signer or other contact to a deal, search for and select their Salesforce Contact instead of typing their details. This makes sure CPQ updates the right Salesforce Contact.
  2. Treat edits in CPQ as edits in Salesforce. With synchronization on, changing a contact's name, email, or title on a deal changes the Salesforce Contact too.
  3. Confirm who you're changing before you edit an email. Editing an email changes the person's Contact record, not just where this quote is sent. If the quote should go to someone else, add that person as a new contact instead.
  4. Manage addresses in Salesforce. Contact synchronization doesn't send addresses, so update Contact addresses directly in Salesforce.
  5. Avoid duplicate Contacts with the same email. For contacts added in CPQ, Salesforce Contacts are matched by email. If several Contacts share an email, CPQ may update any one of them. Use Salesforce duplicate rules to keep one Contact per email address.
  6. Watch for Contacts that work with more than one Account. CPQ moves a Contact to the Opportunity's Account whenever it updates the Contact. If a person needs to stay on a different Account, keep a separate Contact for each Account or turn synchronization off.
  7. Add people as deal contacts when you want them in Salesforce. Approvers and internal counter-signers aren't synchronized.
warning

An email or Account change made through CPQ affects the Salesforce Contact everywhere it's used, including other Opportunities and reports.

Administrator checklist​

  • Make sure the Salesforce user connected to CPQ can create and edit Contacts and can view Opportunities and Accounts.
  • Set Synchronize Lead Contact to Enable in Settings → Integrations → Salesforce → Settings. It is off by default.
  • Test in a Salesforce sandbox before turning synchronization on for your production org.
  • Confirm your Salesforce validation rules, required fields, and duplicate rules accept Contacts with only a name, email, title, and Account. See Field behavior.
  • Decide whether quote creators may update Salesforce contact details from CPQ, and let them know.
  • When testing, use a deal with a status of Draft, Attention, In Review, Approved, or Negotiation.

Changing a deal's signer​

  1. On the deal, search for and select the signer's existing Salesforce Contact.
  2. Confirm it's the right person, not just someone with a similar name or a shared email address.
  3. Change the name, email, or title only if the same change should be made in Salesforce.
  4. Save the deal.
  5. After a few minutes, check the Contact in Salesforce before you send the quote for signature.
  6. Make any address changes directly in Salesforce.

If only this quote's recipient should change, select or add a different contact instead of editing the existing one.

Troubleshooting​

Nothing changed in Salesforce​

Check the following, in order:

  1. Your CPQ organization is connected to Salesforce.
  2. Synchronize Lead Contact is enabled.
  3. The deal has an eligible status.
  4. The person is a contact on the deal. Being an approver or counter-signer isn't enough.
  5. The contact has both a name and an email address.
  6. A few minutes have passed since you saved the deal.
  7. The linked Contact still exists in Salesforce and hasn't been merged or deleted.
  8. The Salesforce user connected to CPQ has permission to view and edit the Contact.
  9. No Salesforce validation rule, required field, or duplicate rule is blocking the change.
  10. The deal's Activity panel shows that the Contact was created or updated.

If none of these explain it, contact Maxio Support and include a link to the deal. To avoid blocking the sales process, CPQ doesn't show an error on the deal when Salesforce rejects a Contact update.

The wrong Contact was updated​

If you selected the Contact from Salesforce, check that you picked the right person on the deal. If the contact was added in CPQ, check Salesforce for other Contacts with the same email. Then select the correct Contact on the deal before making further edits.

The Contact moved to a different Account​

This is expected. CPQ sets the Contact's Account to the Opportunity's Account when it updates the Contact. Move the Contact back in Salesforce, and see recommendation 6 above to avoid it happening again.

The address didn't change​

This is expected. Contact synchronization doesn't send addresses. Update the address directly in Salesforce.