If you’re tired of feedback data getting lost in someone’s inbox or never making it back into Salesforce, you’re in the right place. This guide is for admins, operations folks, or anyone who actually wants real-time customer feedback where your team works. We’ll walk through how to hook up AskNicely to Salesforce so you can track and act on feedback—without needing to be a developer.
There’s no magic “one-click” integration here, but you don’t need to be a wizard either. Let’s get your feedback loop actually working.
Why Connect AskNicely and Salesforce?
Here’s the honest pitch: AskNicely is great for capturing Net Promoter Score (NPS) and other customer feedback. Salesforce is where your team actually sees and uses customer data. If feedback lives in AskNicely but your team lives in Salesforce, it’s not real time and it’s not useful. Connecting them means:
- Feedback shows up instantly on customer records.
- Sales/support folks can see problems before the renewal call.
- You can trigger workflows or alerts in Salesforce when scores drop.
If you’re just exporting CSVs and uploading them, this guide is for you.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Don’t waste time getting halfway and realizing you’re missing something. Here’s what you need:
- AskNicely account (with admin access)
- Salesforce account (with admin rights—standard or above)
- API access on both platforms (Salesforce “API Enabled” permission)
- A clear idea of which fields you want to sync (Don’t just sync everything)
- A test customer or sandbox environment (You will mess something up the first time)
If you’re missing API access, stop now and get that sorted. Otherwise, you’ll just hit a wall later.
Step 1: Map Out Your Feedback Flow
Before you click anything, sketch out:
- Which feedback (NPS, CSAT, comments, etc.) you want in Salesforce
- Where it should land (Contact, Account, Case, or custom object)
- How often it should sync (Real time? Daily batch?)
- Who needs to see or act on it
This isn’t busywork. If you just dump all AskNicely data into Salesforce, your team will ignore it. Focus on what actually helps the business.
Pro tip: Most teams just sync the latest NPS/CSAT score and comment to the Contact or Account. Start there and expand later.
Step 2: Set Up the Salesforce Connection in AskNicely
- Log into AskNicely as an admin.
- Go to Integrations > Salesforce.
- Hit Connect to Salesforce. You’ll be prompted to log in and give AskNicely API access.
- Choose which Salesforce object(s) to sync with—usually Contact or Account.
- Map fields:
- AskNicely fields (e.g., NPS Score, Comment, Date)
- Salesforce fields (custom or standard fields you created for feedback)
- Save and test the connection.
Gotchas:
- If you don’t see the objects or fields you want, check Salesforce permissions.
- If your Salesforce admin is nervous about access, set up a permission set just for this integration.
Step 3: Create Custom Fields in Salesforce (If Needed)
You probably don’t have a place for “Latest NPS Score” or “Last Feedback Comment” on standard objects. Here’s how to add them:
- In Salesforce Setup, go to Object Manager.
- Pick Contact or Account (or wherever you want feedback).
- Add new fields:
- Number for NPS/CSAT score
- Text for comments
- Date/time for last feedback received
- Make sure these fields are visible on layouts your team actually uses.
Pro tip: Name fields clearly (AskNicely_NPS_Score__c) so people know where the data comes from.
Step 4: Sync a Test Record
Don’t just turn on syncing for the whole database. Test with one record:
- In AskNicely, find a recent survey response for a contact that exists in Salesforce.
- Trigger a sync (manual or via the integration page).
- Check the Salesforce record—do the fields populate as expected?
- If not, double-check field mappings, permissions, and API errors.
If you see sync errors, don’t panic. Common causes: - Field type mismatch (e.g., trying to write text into a number field) - API user lacks permission to update records - Duplicate or missing IDs
Fix these before rolling out to everyone.
Step 5: Set Up Real-Time or Scheduled Sync
AskNicely can push updates in near-real time (usually within a few minutes) or on a schedule:
- Real-time: Each new feedback response updates Salesforce right away. Great for support or high-touch teams.
- Scheduled: Updates happen daily/hourly. Less API load, good for big orgs or low-urgency feedback.
You can configure this in the AskNicely Salesforce integration settings.
Watch out: - Real-time sync means more API calls. If you have API call limits in Salesforce (and most orgs do), monitor this. - Don’t sync all historical data unless you really need it. Start with new responses.
Step 6: Make the Feedback Visible in Salesforce
If feedback lands in Salesforce but nobody sees it, you’ve wasted your time. Make it easy to spot:
- Add feedback fields to page layouts.
- Create a custom Lightning component or widget to show recent feedback.
- Set up list views or reports for “Accounts with low NPS” or “Recent detractors.”
Pro tip: Don’t email every bad score to the whole team. Use Salesforce alerts or Chatter posts targeted to account owners or managers.
Step 7: Automate Follow-Up Actions (Optional, but Powerful)
Once feedback is in Salesforce, you can set up automations—just don’t overdo it:
- Case creation: Automatically open a support case for negative scores.
- Task assignment: Nudge account owners to follow up with detractors.
- Campaigns: Trigger customer success or marketing journeys for promoters.
Start small. If you automate everything, you’ll just create noise. Make sure people own the follow-up.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Skip
What works: - Syncing latest feedback to the Contact or Account is simple and useful. - Real-time updates help support/success teams actually act before it’s too late. - Field-level mapping keeps your Salesforce clean.
What’s overrated: - Pushing all survey data (including every comment) into Salesforce. It gets messy fast. - Overly complex automations. If you’re constantly tweaking rules, you’ve gone too far.
What to skip: - “360-degree view” dashboards nobody uses. - Syncing feedback to Leads unless you’re actually surveying prospects.
Troubleshooting Tips
- Sync errors? Check API permissions and field types. 90% of issues come down to this.
- Data not showing up? Make sure fields are on the page layout.
- API limits? Monitor your Salesforce usage. Real-time sync can chew up limits in big orgs.
If you’re stuck, AskNicely’s support is actually decent, but be specific—“The NPS Score isn’t syncing to the Contact’s AskNicely_NPS_Score__c field” gets a faster answer than “It’s broken.”
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Don’t get caught up in building a Rube Goldberg feedback machine. Start with syncing the basics—latest score and comment—then get feedback from your team. Tweak and add more only as needed. If something’s not helping users or customers, don’t bother.
Integrating AskNicely with Salesforce isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of upfront planning. Keep it simple, test as you go, and you’ll actually close the feedback loop—without wanting to throw your laptop out the window.