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Before setting up your Salesforce sync, it’s helpful to understand how Conversion organizes your data and how it relates to your Salesforce records. This foundation will help you make the most of your integration and troubleshoot any issues that arise.

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Contacts in Conversion

Contacts are the core of Conversion. A contact represents a single individual in your database: someone who has filled out a form, been imported, or synced from Salesforce.

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One Contact Per Email Address

Conversion uses email address as the unique identifier for contacts. This means:
  • Each email address can only exist once in your Conversion database
  • If you try to create a contact with an email that already exists, Conversion will update the existing contact instead
  • This automatic deduplication keeps your database clean and prevents duplicate outreach
Example: If [email protected] fills out a form on your website and later a Salesforce Lead with the same email syncs to Conversion, they’ll be merged into a single contact record – not created as two separate entries.

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What’s Stored on a Contact

Each contact in Conversion includes:
  • Email address (required, unique identifier)
  • Standard fields like first name, last name, phone, job title, city, and more
  • Custom fields that sync from your Salesforce Lead and Contact fields
  • System fields like traffic source, UTM parameters, and system source (automatically tracked)
  • A link to their company (every contact belongs to one company)

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Salesforce Leads and Contacts Both Sync to Conversion Contacts

Whether someone is a Lead or a Contact in Salesforce, they become a contact in Conversion. Conversion tracks which Salesforce record they’re linked to, so:
  • Updates in Salesforce flow to the right Conversion contact
  • Changes you make in Conversion can sync back to the correct Salesforce record
  • If a Lead converts to a Contact in Salesforce, Conversion maintains the connection seamlessly

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Companies in Conversion

Every contact in Conversion belongs to a company. This relationship helps you organize your data, run account-based campaigns, and maintain alignment with your Salesforce Account structure.

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How Companies Work

  • Every contact has exactly one company – there are no “unassigned” contacts floating without a company
  • Companies can have many contacts – just like in Salesforce, multiple people can work at the same organization
  • Company fields include standard information like company name, industry, annual revenue, number of employees, and website
  • Salesforce Accounts are synced as companies in Conversion

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The Contact-Company Relationship

Companies in Conversion fall into two categories:
When a Salesforce Contact is associated with a Salesforce Account, that relationship carries over to Conversion. The Conversion company is linked to the Salesforce Account, and multiple contacts can belong to that company.This happens when:
  • Salesforce Accounts sync to Conversion
  • Salesforce Contacts with an Account ID sync to Conversion
In these cases:
  • The company is linked to the Salesforce Account
  • Salesforce Contacts with Account associations sync to Conversion
  • Multiple contacts from the same Account share one company in Conversion
  • Company field updates sync between Conversion and Salesforce
Example: A Salesforce Contact for [email protected] has a Salesforce Account “Startup Inc”. When synced to Conversion, Sarah is linked to the Startup Inc company in Conversion. If another Contact from the Startup Inc Account syncs later with a different email, they’ll be associated with the same company in Conversion.

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What Happens When Relationships Change

Conversion keeps your data consistent as relationships evolve in Salesforce. For example, when a Lead converts to a Contact, the contact in Conversion automatically links to the new Salesforce Contact record. If the Contact is associated with an Account, the contact moves to the corresponding company in Conversion.

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How Salesforce Records Connect to Conversion

Conversion maintains a link between your Salesforce records and Conversion records. This connection is what enables the two-way sync to work reliably.

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Matching Records

When records sync between Salesforce and Conversion, the systems match records using:
  • Email address – The primary way Conversion identifies contacts
  • Existing connections – If a contact is already linked to a Salesforce record, that connection is maintained
This matching ensures that:
  • Updates go to the right records in both systems
  • You don’t end up with duplicates
  • Data stays consistent across platforms

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Salesforce Contacts Take Priority Over Leads

When the same email address exists as both a Lead and a Contact in Salesforce, Conversion follows Salesforce’s own hierarchy:
Salesforce Contact data takes priority over Lead data. This prevents outdated Lead information from overwriting more current Contact information, and mirrors the natural progression of your sales process.

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Data Flow Overview

Understanding how data moves between Salesforce and Conversion helps you predict sync behavior and troubleshoot issues when they arise.

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Sync Direction and Timing

Conversion syncs with Salesforce in both directions, but the two directions work differently:
How it works: Conversion periodically checks Salesforce for new and updated records, then pulls those changes into your Conversion database.What triggers a sync:
  • Scheduled sync intervals
  • Records are synced based on their last modified date in Salesforce
What gets synced:
  • New Leads, Contacts, and Accounts created since the last sync
  • Existing records that have been modified since the last sync
Records that don’t sync:
  • Leads and Contacts without an email address
  • Leads that have already been converted to Contacts (the Contact record syncs instead)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. When contacts are added to Conversion (through form submissions, CSV uploads, etc.), you can choose to sync them to Salesforce immediately or skip the initial sync. If you skip it, you can always sync them later through workflows or the dashboard.
No. Email address is the unique identifier in Conversion. If you attempt to create or sync a contact with an email that already exists, the existing contact will be updated instead.
Conversion will link to the Salesforce Contact (not the Lead) since Contacts take priority. The contact in Conversion will receive updates from the Salesforce Contact record.
No. Each contact belongs to exactly one company at any time. If their company association changes (for example, if a Salesforce Contact moves to a different Account), their company in Conversion updates accordingly.
Conversion handles this automatically. The contact remains in Conversion and becomes linked to the new Salesforce Contact record. If the Contact is associated with an Account, the contact will also move to the appropriate company in Conversion.
Contacts linked to Salesforce Accounts share companies (just like in Salesforce). Contacts not linked to an Account (including all Leads) each have their own company record to store company-level information.