BUT if a value in Pardot is empty and isn’t in Salesforce, then Salesforce will overwrite the empty field in Pardot… confusing right?
The reason for this is that the mission of both phone number in cambodia platforms is to deliver you with more data to make decisions, so in their eyes: “what is better than an empty field… a data field,” so it is configured to perform this action following this principle.
You may be asking yourself, why would I use Pardot values to overwrite Salesforce. Well, a few reasons are:
Importing prospects through Pardot.
Updating fields (see the scenario below).
You want to configure which lead is assigned to which user.
Scenario example
You are eager to import a new spreadsheet into Pardot following a recent group discussion between a number of your key clients. Your goal is to update which service provider they are currently using so that you can delegate them in appropriate lists. During import you wish to create or update prospect fields, one being a custom field named “SERVICE PROVIDER” with the following values: SAINT, YOU or QUEUE, that is already mapped to Salesforce.
IF a Pardot value is SAINT but in Salesforce it is QUEUE then the SAINT value overwrites the field data within Salesforce.
IF both Pardot and Salesforce’ values are the same it won’t do anything to the naked eye but it will overwrite the field data within Salesforce during the sync and will update the timestamp on the prospect record to show the “last updated” detail related to the sync.
IF a Pardot value is blank as the client did not state their service provider but in Salesforce it has previous data of YOU then Salesforce will overwrite the empty field in Pardot.
Using Salesforce values to set sync behaviour
Salesforce setting sync behaviour
When using Salesforce values the same theory is applied but just role reversed. If the values between Salesforce and Pardot are in conflict once synced, Salesforce will prosper and overwrite the value within Pardot.
However, if a value in Salesforce is empty and isn’t in Pardot, guess what will happen?
Yep, Pardot will overwrite the empty field in Salesforce as “a data field is better than an empty field.”
BUT as Salesforce is considered as the master you can configure this so if a field value is empty (null) in Salesforce then it will overwrite a data field in Pardot to become empty.
Allowing Salesforce empty (null) values to overwrite Pardot value
The theory of Salesforce being the master can easily end up being a debate, some for and some against. What it really boils down to is what is right for you! It is there to configure to suit your requirements.
Your organisation may comfortably choose Pardot to be the master due to its users. An example of the pros and cons of this are:
Pros
Your sales team is cleaning up the data they have in their systems as there is a great deal of dummy and false data. They decide to make fields blank, and for that to remain, despite what data is being collected.
Cons
A prospect is filling out a form, this is newly captured data that can update and benefit the prospect’s record. Even though this is new data provided by the prospect it will be lost and become empty (null) due to the sync behaviour.
If allowing Salesforce empty (null) values to overwrite Pardot is a feature that you wish to use (after deep consideration!) you’ll need to contact Pardot support to enable.
Now back to using Salesforce values to set sync behaviour.
You may wish to use the Salesforce value, rather than Pardot, for the following valid reasons:
As previously mentioned, Salesforce data is to be considered the master.
Sales users, using Salesforce, may wish to take control of data input.