If you’re tired of copying and pasting data between tools, you’re not alone. This guide is for folks who want Mote voice notes and transcripts to show up in Salesforce without headaches. Whether you’re in sales, support, or just someone who’s tired of double entry, you’ll find practical steps here—no fluff, no vague promises. Just a clear walkthrough, honest gotchas, and a few shortcuts to save your sanity.
What You Need to Know Before You Start
Let’s clear up a few things:
- Mote (what’s that?) lets you record and share voice notes, often used in Google Workspace or Chrome. It’s handy for quick feedback or capturing meeting details.
- Salesforce is, well, Salesforce. You probably use it for CRM, sales tracking, or customer support.
- There’s no official, out-of-the-box Mote → Salesforce integration, so this takes a little creativity.
- You’ll likely need a third-party automation tool (like Zapier, Make, or similar), and at least “API user” level access in Salesforce. Some steps may require admin rights.
If your organization has strict IT policies, check with your admin before you start. And if you’re hoping for a one-click solution… that’s not where we’re at (yet).
Step 1: Map Out What You Actually Need
Don’t start wiring things up before you nail down:
- What data do you want to sync?
- Just the Mote audio link?
- Transcripts?
- Associated context, like who left the note, or which record it belongs to?
- Where should this info show up in Salesforce?
- Leads, contacts, opportunities, or custom objects?
- As a note, activity, or custom field?
Pro Tip: Start simple. Push the Mote link and transcript to a single field or note in Salesforce. Fancy automations can come later.
Step 2: Set Up Your Mote Account
If you haven’t already:
- Sign up for a Mote account and install the Chrome extension.
- Record a test note. Make sure you can grab a shareable link and, if you’re on a business plan, access transcripts.
- Double-check privacy settings—anything you send to Salesforce will be visible to your whole team.
What works: Mote’s sharing is pretty straightforward. You get a link for each note, and, on paid plans, a transcript.
What to ignore: Don’t mess with Mote’s integrations to Google Classroom or Docs unless you actually need those. They won’t help with Salesforce.
Step 3: Prepare Salesforce
Here’s where things get a little technical, but it’s not rocket science:
- Get your Salesforce admin on board. You’ll need API access, and most users don’t have it by default.
- Decide where to store Mote data. Most people stick with the “Notes & Attachments” related list, or create a custom field. If you want to keep it simple, use the standard Notes object.
- (Optional) Create a custom field. If you want to store the Mote link or transcript separately, create a custom text field (e.g., “Latest Mote Note”).
Gotcha: Salesforce can be picky about attachments and formatting. If you’re storing transcripts, watch for text limits (often 32,000 characters per long text field).
Step 4: Choose Your Automation Tool
Unless you’re building a custom integration (which is overkill for most), you’ll need a third-party tool. The most popular options:
- Zapier: Easy to use, but can get expensive as you scale. Limited customization.
- Make (formerly Integromat): More flexible, cheaper at scale, but steeper learning curve.
- Workato, Tray.io, or custom scripts: Only if you have enterprise needs or a developer handy.
For 95% of folks, Zapier or Make will do the job.
Honest take: None of these tools are perfect. Zapier is easiest, but you’ll hit walls if you want to do anything fancy. Make is more powerful, but the setup is fussier.
Step 5: Set Up the Workflow (Example Using Zapier)
Let’s run through a basic workflow: When you create a new Mote note, it gets added as a note or field in Salesforce.
A. Connect Mote to Zapier
- Mote doesn’t have a direct Zapier integration. You’ll need to use email forwarding, Google Sheets, or the Mote API (advanced users only).
- The easiest method: Send Mote links to a dedicated Gmail inbox or a Google Sheet.
- In Mote, set your sharing preferences to email a copy to this address or use Zapier’s Gmail/Sheets triggers.
- For transcripts, you may need to copy them over manually or use the API.
B. Trigger: New Email or Spreadsheet Row
- In Zapier, set up a trigger for:
- New email to your dedicated inbox (filter for Mote links).
- New row in a Google Sheet (if you’re logging Mote notes there).
C. Action: Create Record in Salesforce
- In Zapier, connect your Salesforce account.
- Choose the object (“Note,” “Task,” or your custom object).
- Map the Mote link and transcript (if available) to the fields you set up in Step 3.
- (Optional) Relate the note to the right Lead, Contact, or Opportunity using IDs or email addresses.
D. Test and Troubleshoot
- Record a new Mote. Make sure it shows up in Salesforce.
- If it fails, check:
- Field mapping (did you pick the right object/field?)
- Formatting (does Salesforce choke on the transcript length?)
- Permissions (does your Salesforce user have rights to create records?)
Pro Tip: Add a filter in Zapier so only relevant notes get pushed (e.g., those with a certain subject or label).
Step 6: Handling Transcripts and Audio Files
- Links, not files: Salesforce doesn’t play nice with large audio files. Stick to sharing Mote links, not uploading the MP3s or WAVs.
- Transcripts: If you want searchable content in Salesforce, paste the transcript into a long text field or note. Watch out for text limits (see Step 3).
- Privacy: Remind your team that anything synced is visible in Salesforce. Don’t accidentally share sensitive info.
What doesn’t work: Don’t try to store audio as attachments unless you have a strong reason—Salesforce storage is expensive and playback is clunky.
Step 7: Automate, Maintain, and Iterate
- Keep it simple at first. Get the basics working before you try to automate edge cases.
- Watch for errors. Automation tools sometimes break when fields are renamed or permissions change.
- Review usage regularly. If nobody’s listening to the Mote notes in Salesforce, maybe just stick to email.
- Adjust as you go. It’s fine to start with a rough workflow and clean it up later.
Pro Tip: Document what you set up. Even if it’s just a Google Doc, your future self (or your teammate) will thank you.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Trying to over-automate: Don’t sync every single Mote note. Be selective.
- Ignoring permissions: If the integration stops working, check if your Salesforce user lost API access.
- Forgetting about storage limits: Audio attachments eat up space fast. Stick to links and transcripts.
- Skipping tests: Always test with real data before rolling out to your team.
Wrapping Up
Connecting Mote to Salesforce isn’t the most glamorous project, but it’s doable. The trick is to start with what’s essential—Mote links and transcripts in Salesforce fields—then layer on complexity only if you really need it. Avoid the temptation to automate everything on day one.
Keep your setup simple, test it with real-world use cases, and don’t be afraid to change course if it gets clunky. If you ever wonder, “Is this really saving us time?”—revisit your workflow. Sometimes less is more.