Zendesk and Salesforce have fundamental differences in the way they store users. In Zendesk, each user must have a unique email address. This is not required for Salesforce contacts or leads.
In order for multiple Salesforce contacts that share an email address to sync to Zendesk, the integration uses a Support feature that allows users to belong to multiple organizations.
This article explains the syncing behavior for the Salesforce integration when multiple organizations is turned on. You can request permission to turn on multiple organization sync by contacting Zendesk Customer Support. Permission is granted on a per-account basis.
Related information:
Understanding the multiple organization syncing process
When the multiple organizations feature is turned on, multiple Salesforce contacts or leads with the same email address in different Salesforce accounts can be connected in Zendesk Support to a single user. Zendesk users can be members of multiple organizations.
In Salesforce, when multiple contacts or leads share an email address, the first contact or lead linked to an account is considered the syncing record. The syncing record is the primary Salesforce record and is identified by a user account during syncing.
The syncing record updates its corresponding user entry in Zendesk during a sync when changes have been made to the user fields in Salesforce.
- If an organization doesn’t exist in Zendesk, organization memberships aren't created.
- Organization memberships are only added, not deleted.
- Mapped fields are synced if the Salesforce primary account-contact relationship matches the user’s default organization in Zendesk.
- An organization membership in Zendesk is created only if a Salesforce contact is linked to a Salesforce account.
- The integration respects existing default memberships, which are manually assigned.
- The following features must all be turned on to sync secondary
relationships:
- Accounts to Organizations sync
- Contacts/Leads to Users sync
- Primary relationship syncing
- Allow users to belong to multiple organizations in Support
- Secondary relationships in Salesforce.
Account relationship syncing
There are two types of account relationship syncs: primary and secondary. The primary account relationship refers to the main (primary) account that a Salesforce contact belongs to. A secondary account relationship refers to all other accounts that a Salesforce contact may belong to. Performing a primary account relationship sync can change the Zendesk user's primary organization.
- In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Integrations > Integrations.
- Under Salesforce, click Configure.
- Click the Data sync tab and under Accounts to Organizations sync click Configure.
- Check Enable syncing and click Save.
- Back on the Salesforce integrations page, click the Data sync tab and under Contacts/Leads to Users sync click Configure.
- Check Enable syncing and under Sync type select Contacts.
- Check Sync primary relationship and, optionally, Sync secondary
relationships.
If you don't see these options, contact Zendesk Customer Support to give you access.
Note: When performing the initial sync of Salesforce contacts to Zendesk users, secondary account relationship sync must be disabled. Because a Salesforce contact may have a large number of secondary relationships, this could exceed Zendesk rate limits. After the initial primary relationship sync is performed, the secondary account relationship sync can be turned on. - Click Save.
Syncing behavior when multiple organizations is turned on or off
Scenario 1
- Salesforce contact without a linked account is synced to Zendesk.
- Salesforce contact is matched with an existing user in Zendesk.
Settings enabled | Sets the user's organization in Zendesk (normal contact sync) | Creates organization memberships (primary/secondary) | Syncs contact's mapped fields |
---|---|---|---|
|
N/A | N/A | Yes |
|
N/A | N/A | Yes |
|
No | N/A | Yes |
|
No | No | Yes |
|
No | No | Yes |
Scenario 2
- Salesforce contact without a linked account is synced to Zendesk.
- Salesforce contact is not matched with an existing user in Zendesk.
Settings enabled | Sets the user's organization in Zendesk (normal contact sync) | Creates organization memberships (primary/secondary) | Syncs contact's mapped fields |
---|---|---|---|
|
N/A | N/A | Yes (new user created) |
|
N/A | N/A | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | N/A | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | No | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | No | Yes (new user created) |
Scenario 3
- Salesforce contact with a linked account is synced to Zendesk.
- The contact is matched to an existing user in Zendesk.
- The account is linked to an existing organization in Zendesk.
- The organization is the matched user’s default organization.
Settings enabled | Sets the user's organization in Zendesk (normal contact sync) | Creates organization memberships (primary/secondary) | Syncs contact's mapped fields |
---|---|---|---|
|
N/A | N/A | Yes |
|
N/A | N/A | Yes |
|
Yes | N/A | Yes |
|
No | Yes | Yes |
|
No | Yes | Yes |
Scenario 4
- Salesforce contact with a linked account is synced to Zendesk.
- The contact is matched to an existing user in Zendesk.
- The account is linked to an existing organization.
- The organization is not the matched user’s default organization.
Settings enabled | Sets the user's organization in Zendesk (normal contact sync) | Creates organization memberships (primary/secondary) | Syncs contact's mapped fields |
---|---|---|---|
|
No | N/A | Yes |
|
No | N/A | Yes |
|
Yes | N/A | Yes |
|
No | Yes | No (default org doesn't match) |
|
No | Yes | No (default org doesn't match) |
Scenario 5
- Salesforce contact with a linked account is synced to Zendesk.
- The contact is matched with an existing user in Zendesk.
- The account is not linked to any organization.
Settings enabled | Sets the user's organization in Zendesk (normal contact sync) | Creates organization memberships (primary/secondary) | Syncs contact's mapped fields |
---|---|---|---|
|
No | N/A | Yes |
|
No | No | Yes |
|
No | N/A | Yes |
|
No | No | Yes |
|
No | No | Yes |
Scenario 6
- Salesforce contact with a linked account is synced to Zendesk.
- The contact is not matched with any user.
- The account is linked to an existing organization in Zendesk.
Settings enabled | Sets the user's organization in Zendesk (normal contact sync) | Creates organization memberships (primary/secondary) | Syncs contact's mapped fields |
---|---|---|---|
|
No | N/A | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | No | Yes (new user created) |
|
Yes | N/A | Yes (new user created) |
|
Yes | No | Yes (new user created) |
|
Yes | No | Yes (new user created) |
Scenario 7
- Salesforce contact with a linked account is synced to Zendesk.
- The contact is not matched with any user in Zendesk.
- The account is not linked to any organization.
Settings enabled | Sets the user's organization in Zendesk (normal contact sync) | Creates organization memberships (primary/secondary) | Syncs contact's mapped fields |
---|---|---|---|
|
No | N/A | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | No | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | N/A | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | No | Yes (new user created) |
|
No | No | Yes (new user created) |