Integrating Outreach with Salesforce

This post was last updated on 11/13/23.

In our last blog post, we took a look at the Outreach sales automation platform. In this post, we'll dive into what it takes to successfully integrate Outreach with Salesforce in order to set your business up for success right out of the gate!

During this setup, we recommend assigning an Integration User — this will be the person who connects your two systems together. If you don’t utilize the Integration User option, you will have to make sure that the user who has connected to Salesforce shows up as the user who created activities and edited or modified the leads, contacts, and accounts.

As a best practice, if you go the Integration User route, label the user as “Outreach Integration” so that you will be able to clearly tell when this user has modified something in Outreach or if it was the Outreach integration itself that made changes. Additionally, this Integration User will need the create and edit permissions for all objects.

Integrating with Salesforce

To integrate your Outreach account with Salesforce, open Outreach and navigate to the Gear Icon button in the bottom-left corner. It’s important to note that the user must be an admin in Outreach to take this action. 

In the Integrations dropdown, click “CRM,” followed by “Add.” You should see options listed for Salesforce, Salesforce Sandbox, or Microsoft Dynamics. Select one and follow the prompts to integrate. If you are using the Integration User, you must have login access in order to use the Integration User to connect the two systems.

Now that the Plugin is authenticated and connected, let’s map the data.

First, click into one of the objects. We’re going to align your Outreach settings with the data flow you mapped out earlier. To start, we will begin with leads and selecting the object syncing between Salesforce and Outreach.io. Selecting either the “Update” or “Create” checkboxes will determine if the sync is one-way or bidirectional. Make this selection for each field in the “Set field Mapping” section. To add an existing field in Salesforce to be mapped to Outreach.io, click “Add mapping.”

Since we want your data to be inputted within Salesforce and pushed into Outreach, we want to deselect all checkboxes for “Create” on the Salesforce side. As part of the integration, you’ll also want Outreach to update records in Salesforce, so we’ll keep any checkboxes for “Update.”

Now that we completed all mappings, the next step is to adjust our sync frequency and conditions. Syncing frequency is determined by “Polling,” where Outreach.io pulls changes from Salesforce, and/or “Pushing”, where Outreach.io pushes changes to Salesforce. To ensure certain records are created or updated in either platform, choose how objects should sync by setting sync conditions. 

Once you’ve integrated your Salesforce instance, you can take your integration to the next level with Advanced Task Mapping. In order to access this feature, you must place a support ticket. In our experience, Outreach support has been exceptionally responsive and is usually able to turn around these requests quickly. Advanced Task Mapping allows you to push more granular data about calls, emails, or general tasks into Salesforce, including call duration, direction, disposition, and purpose. Without the three task objects, everything will be listed as an “activity,” and your data won’t be nearly as specific.

Logistics and Personnel

To activate users in Outreach, first log in to your platform and click “Users.” When the list of users appears, you’ll see a padlock icon under the User Status column. For active users, this icon will display the padlock as unlocked. Simply click the checkbox next to a user name to select the user record, and click the “Unlock” button to activate any locked users.  

To reset a password, click the three dots displayed on the right-hand side of the screen for the user and click “Send Claim Link.”

Automation in Outreach

Outreach’s answer to automating sales processes are “triggers,” which are tools similar to Process Builder or Workflow Rules in Salesforce. By adding triggers,  which are actions that automate the movements between activities based on certain criteria being met, you can easily expedite these movements and, ideally, close sales more quickly. These triggers fit into “sequences,” which are workflows of sales activities and outreach efforts that can be repeated across users and contacts without starting from scratch.

Outreach’s triggers are customizable, to an extent. These devices are set up as “If, then” statements, meaning one action or criteria in the system will automatically set off the corresponding action. Outreach users can choose from a pre-set list of objects, as well as a pre-set list of triggering actions, to apply this automation. Search “Sample Triggers” in Outreach’s Knowledge Base to find a list of the most commonly used, highly effective triggers other Outreach users have leveraged, as well as a step-by-step guide to creating those triggers. These automations can be applied to sequences or in standalone actions. Outreach also features automated “rule sets” to automate the prospect’s stage changes based on sales activity metrics such as “number of email bounces” or “meeting booked.”

Sales Reps can automate reminders or even create a trigger to automatically send a pre-built follow-up to contacts and leads. Not only does this keep processes moving quickly — you’re also collecting a library of data on your sales processes each step of the way. How long does it take to hear back, on average? How many messages is too many? You can compare your sales activities with sales output and then adjust your approach for improved efficacy.

Let’s look at an example of automation in an Automated Marketing Hand-off use case. You can create a rule set that automatically imports net new leads established in Salesforce (or any CRM) to Outreach, then add a trigger to that action that automatically adds the newly imported prospect into a pre-selected sequence, which will begin generating emails based on pre-built messages you’ve created in Outreach and added to the sequence. In the end, you’ve created a process that automatically responds to new leads as they’re created, meaning you’re getting in touch with a potential client instantly without having to take any manual action.

Creating Content in Outreach

To create a sequence, click on the paper airplane icon on the left side of your navigation bar, then click the purple “+ Sequence” button, which will give you the option to choose to create one from scratch, or click “Blueprint” to choose from a long list of pre-built sequences, all of which have been created based on best practices and are data-proven to be effective.

If you choose to work from a Blueprint sequence, you still have the option to customize those templates to fit your sales motions. Once your chosen sequence is open, hover over one of the steps and click the dropdown option. You’ll see options to edit, delete, or move the step.

The way you add contacts to your sequence will depend on your workflow setup or your Sales Reps’ click path. For Salesforce users, best practice is to begin by organizing a list of contacts you’re targeting within Salesforce. Once the prospects are organized and selected, click the “Import to Outreach” button. If you’re importing one record at a time, open the individual contact or lead record and click the “Sync” button to push to Outreach.  

Once your chosen contacts are synced in Outreach, a smaller screen will pop up within Outreach listing the imported prospects. To add them to a sequence, select the contact and click the “Sequence” button to see a list of existing sequences. Select which one you’d like to add the contact to, and activate the sequence by clicking “Start Tasks.” To remove a contact from a sequence, locate the contact record within the Outreach window and click “Stop Sequence.”

To test a campaign sequence, we recommend creating a contact email address for yourself within your CRM, importing to Outreach, adding yourself to the sequence you’d like to test, and clicking “Start Tasks.”

Setting Up Calling and Emailing

To make calls using Outreach’s Dialer, you have two options: users can either call through a direct phone line (an existing one or one they’ve purchased through Outreach), or call through another device, such as their mobile phone or their computer.

To use your mobile or office phone to make calls, each user must log in to Outreach and import the phone number they plan to use. In order to use this method, the Admin user must click “Enable Voice,” instead of allowing for the option for “Click to Dial” in their Admin settings screen.

You now have the option to either call through that direct line or to call through the computer. For the latter option, it’s important to have a strong Internet connection (we recommend a wired connection over WiFi, as these are often more reliable). With this method, your call quality will be subject to your connectivity and may not be ideal if your Internet is hosting multiple devices.  

Syncing your existing email into Outreach is simple: when users are created in Outreach, a Setup Wizard will guide you through prompts to import from either Outlook or Gmail. To check the sync was successful, navigate in Outreach to “User,” then click the button displaying either your Avatar or initials in the bottom left corner. Click on Settings, then find Mailboxes in the You section, and confirm that the “Sent” and “Sync” boxes are toggled on.

Need some help?

If all this setup has you feeling overwhelmed and strapped for time, that could mean it's time to find an integration partner to help you through this process. There's more to Outreach than what we covered here, and every business has its own specific requirements.

The Kicksaw team is well-versed in Outreach best practices, and we'd love to help you create the ideal Outreach setup for your team. If you want to know more or if you have any questions, just fill out the Contact Us form at the bottom of this page and we'll be in touch!