If you’re spending half your day copy-pasting data into your CRM, you’re not alone—and you’re not getting paid for your time management skills. This guide is for B2B sales pros, SDRs, founders, or anyone who’s tired of manually researching leads. We’ll walk through how to automate lead enrichment in Salesbolt, get real about what’s worth your effort, and flag a few things that sound good in theory but rarely work in practice.
What is Lead Enrichment, and Why Bother Automating It?
Lead enrichment is just adding more context to your leads—things like job title, company size, LinkedIn profile, direct email, and so on. More data = better targeting and less time wasted on dead-end prospects. The catch? Doing this by hand is a huge time sink, and it’s easy to mess up or forget steps.
Automating lead enrichment means your sales data is always fresh, your team isn’t burned out with admin work, and you reach the right people faster. The less you have to touch the data, the better.
What Salesbolt Does (and Doesn’t) Do
Salesbolt is a Chrome extension designed to pull data from LinkedIn and other sources right into Salesforce. It’s not a “magic AI pipeline”—it works because it sits where you work (your browser) and cuts out the copy-paste grind.
What works: - Pulling LinkedIn data straight into Salesforce in one click - Enriching leads with company info, emails (when available), and social links - Automating mapping to Salesforce fields—no more manual entry
What doesn’t: - Finding emails for everyone, every time. No tool is perfect here; if someone guards their info, you’ll have to live with it. - Fixing bad data in your source (LinkedIn profiles full of typos are still full of typos) - Working outside Salesforce—you’re out of luck if your stack is HubSpot or Pipedrive
Now, let’s get into the how-to.
Step 1: Set Up Salesbolt and Connect to Salesforce
Before you automate anything, make sure you’re set up right. Here’s what you need:
- Google Chrome (Salesbolt is a Chrome extension, not a standalone app)
- A Salesforce account with API access. (If your admin has locked things down, ask nicely.)
- The Salesbolt extension from the Chrome Web Store
Steps: 1. Install Salesbolt from the Chrome Web Store. 2. Click the Salesbolt icon and log in with your Salesforce credentials. 3. Authorize the app to connect to your Salesforce instance.
Pro tip: Don’t try to use Salesbolt in “incognito” mode—Chrome extensions usually won’t play nice.
Step 2: Configure Field Mapping and Enrichment Settings
Salesbolt’s big sell is that you can map LinkedIn or web data directly to Salesforce fields. Spend a few minutes getting this right, and you’ll save hours later.
How to do it: 1. Open Salesbolt settings (click the extension, then the gear icon). 2. Review the default field mappings. These are usually fine for basic stuff (name, job, company), but double-check any custom fields your org uses. 3. Add or adjust mappings for: - Contact/lead email - LinkedIn profile URL - Company website - Phone number - Custom fields (e.g., “Industry Tag” or “Lead Source”) 4. If you have a specific list of fields your team cares about, set those up now. Don’t try to capture everything—more fields = more noise.
What to ignore: Don’t waste time mapping fields you never use. If your sales process doesn’t need “Fax Number” or “Number of Employees,” skip it. Less is more.
Step 3: Set Up Automated Enrichment Workflows
Salesbolt can enrich leads as you add them, but you can go further and set up automations to handle batch enrichment. Here’s how to make it work:
Option A: Enrich as You Prospect
- As you view a LinkedIn profile, click the Salesbolt icon.
- Salesbolt pulls available data and auto-fills your mapped Salesforce fields.
- You review or tweak, then hit “Add to Salesforce.”
- The record is created or updated instantly.
Good for: SDRs who prospect manually and want clean data, fast.
Option B: Bulk Enrichment With Lists
If you’ve got a list of LinkedIn profiles or company URLs:
- Open your list in a new browser tab.
- Use Salesbolt’s “List View” feature (if available—check your plan) to process multiple contacts.
- Select the records you want to enrich, and Salesbolt will pull data for each one.
- Review (don’t skip this), then push to Salesforce in bulk.
Heads up: Bulk enrichment saves time, but you still have to sanity-check the data. Garbage in, garbage out.
Option C: Automated Triggers (Advanced)
Some users set up Salesforce flows or use third-party tools (like Zapier or Make) to trigger enrichment on certain events—say, when a new lead is created, Salesbolt tries to enrich missing info.
- This works, but it’s fiddly to set up.
- You’ll need to check API limits and test carefully, or you’ll just create a mess in Salesforce.
Honest take: Unless you’ve got a high-volume team and a very clean process, manual review with Salesbolt is usually safer than full auto-enrichment. Automate where it makes sense—but don’t automate mistakes.
Step 4: Validate and Clean Your Data
Automation’s great, but it’s not magic. Here’s how to keep things tight:
- Spot-check your leads after enrichment—look for mismatched job titles, “Unknown” companies, or obviously fake emails.
- Set up Salesforce validation rules for required fields if you want to keep junk out.
- Schedule a regular audit—once a month is plenty. No tool catches everything.
What not to bother with: Don’t try to “enrich” every tiny detail. Focus on the fields your sales team actually uses to qualify and contact leads. The rest just clutters up your CRM and slows everyone down.
Step 5: Create a Simple Enrichment Playbook for Your Team
If you’re working with others, write down your enrichment process. Seriously—just a one-pager.
- Which fields must always be filled?
- Which sources are allowed? (LinkedIn only, or do you use Hunter.io, etc. for emails?)
- Who’s responsible for fixing bad data?
- How often do you review and update mappings?
Pro tip: Don’t overcomplicate this. A short checklist beats a 20-page “data hygiene policy” nobody reads.
What About AI Enrichment Tools and Add-Ons?
You’ll see a lot of tools promising “AI-powered enrichment” or “one-click prospecting.” Some work, most overpromise. Here’s what to know:
- AI can help fill in gaps, but it’s often guessing based on public data. Always verify important fields.
- Don’t stack too many tools—every new integration is another place for things to break.
- Watch your costs—enrichment credits and add-ons add up fast.
If you’re getting solid results with Salesbolt and LinkedIn, you probably don’t need to chase the latest shiny object.
Troubleshooting: Common Issues and Fixes
Even with automation, stuff goes wrong. Here’s what usually trips people up:
- Missing Salesforce permissions? You’ll get connection errors. Ask your admin to give Salesbolt API and edit rights.
- Data not syncing? Check your field mappings—typos or mismatches are common culprits.
- Emails not found? Unfortunately, not everyone lists their email. Some data just isn’t public.
- Extension not working? Try restarting Chrome or updating the extension.
If you hit a wall, Salesbolt’s support is generally responsive, but don’t expect miracles for edge-case issues.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Fast
Automating lead enrichment in Salesbolt isn’t rocket science. Set up your fields, automate what’s worth automating, and skip the noise. Review your process every so often—if something’s slowing you down, change it. If you’re spending more time fiddling with tools than talking to prospects, you’re doing it wrong.
Start small, make it work, and only add complexity when you actually need it. Your future self (and your pipeline) will thank you.