If you’re running B2B sales or go-to-market (GTM) teams, you know firsthand how messy things get between sales tools, CRMs, and internal processes. If you’re looking for a way to tie Prelay into Salesforce so your team actually works together (and doesn’t just log stuff for reporting), this guide is for you. I’ll show you how to get the two systems talking, what actually improves your workflow, and what to avoid.
Who should care about this integration?
- Sales/GTM operations folks who want to avoid manual data entry, double work, and dropped handoffs.
- Sales managers who want to see the real story in Salesforce, not just after-the-fact updates.
- Anyone who owns the tech stack and is tired of “it’s in Prelay, but not in Salesforce” excuses.
If you’re looking for a magic button that’ll fix all your process woes, that’s not this. But if you want a practical, real-world setup that actually gets used, read on.
Step 1: Understand How Prelay and Salesforce Actually Work Together
Let’s set expectations. Prelay is designed for collaborative deal management — think team selling, stakeholder tracking, and internal collaboration. Salesforce is your system of record, but it’s notoriously bad at nuanced team workflows.
The goal here isn’t just to “sync data.” It’s to:
- Make sure Prelay’s deal rooms and tasks line up with Salesforce opportunities.
- Cut out duplicate work — updates in Prelay should reflect in Salesforce.
- Keep Salesforce as your single source of truth, without killing Prelay’s usability.
What’s not possible: Full two-way sync of every custom field or bespoke workflow. You’ll need to make some choices about what matters most to your team.
Step 2: Prep Your Salesforce Environment
Before connecting anything, get your Salesforce house in order:
- Decide which objects matter: Usually, you’ll map Prelay to Salesforce Opportunities, but some teams also sync Accounts or Contacts.
- Clean up your Opportunity stages: Prelay works best when your Salesforce stages are clear and not overloaded with custom fields.
- Permissions: Make sure you (or someone helping you) has admin access to both Salesforce and Prelay. You’ll need to authorize APIs and manage field-level security.
- Sandbox vs. Production: Set this up in a Salesforce Sandbox first if you can. You don’t want surprise data changes in Production.
Pro tip: Write down your current Salesforce workflow. Where do deals get stuck? Where does handoff break down? This’ll help you decide what to sync (and what to leave alone).
Step 3: Set Up the Prelay Salesforce Integration
Prelay’s Salesforce integration is straightforward, but don’t just click through the defaults.
3.1. Find the integration settings
- In Prelay, go to your admin area, usually under “Integrations.”
- Find the Salesforce connector. (If you don’t see it, check your Prelay plan — some lower tiers don’t include integrations.)
3.2. Authenticate with Salesforce
- Click “Connect to Salesforce.” You’ll get a Salesforce login prompt.
- Use an admin or integration user account (not your personal login, if possible).
- Approve the requested permissions. Prelay needs access to read/write Opportunities at minimum.
Heads up: If your Salesforce uses SSO or has weird security rules, you might hit snags here. Get your IT team on standby.
3.3. Map Prelay fields to Salesforce fields
Here’s where things get real. Decide which Prelay data should end up in Salesforce — and vice versa.
- Opportunities: This is the must-have mapping. Usually, each Prelay deal room = one Salesforce Opportunity.
- Tasks: You can sync Prelay tasks to Salesforce Tasks. Decide if you want all Prelay tasks in Salesforce, or just key milestones.
- Custom fields: Only sync what you’ll actually use in reporting or workflows. More fields = more confusion.
- Users: Prelay maps users to Salesforce users by email. If your teams use aliases or group emails, fix that now.
What to ignore: Don’t try to sync every comment, file, or Slack message. You’ll just clutter Salesforce and kill performance.
Step 4: Configure Your Sync Rules
Prelay lets you choose how data flows. This is where most teams overcomplicate things. Keep it simple:
- One-way or two-way sync? Most teams start with Prelay → Salesforce. Only go two-way if you really need Salesforce changes to update Prelay.
- Sync frequency: Real-time is nice, but hourly is usually fine and less risky.
- Conflict handling: Decide what happens if a field is changed in both systems. Usually, Salesforce should win (since it’s the system of record).
Pro tip: Start with one team or pipeline. Don’t sync everything company-wide until you’ve worked out the kinks.
Step 5: Test With Real-World Scenarios
Don’t just run a “test connection” and call it a day. Try these:
- Create a deal in Prelay: Does it show up as an Opportunity in Salesforce, with the right fields and owner?
- Update a stage in Salesforce: Does Prelay reflect the change?
- Assign a task in Prelay: Does it trigger a Salesforce Task (if you’ve mapped tasks)?
- Permissions: Can regular users (not just admins) see and update synced data as expected?
What to watch for:
- Missing or duplicated Opportunities
- Tasks not syncing, or syncing to the wrong user
- Data getting overwritten unexpectedly
Don’t skip this step. Fix issues now before the integration goes live.
Step 6: Roll Out to Your Team (Without Chaos)
Once you’re confident the basics work, it’s time to bring in your sales and ops teams.
- Train with real examples: Show how a deal moves from Prelay to Salesforce and back.
- Set expectations: Tell people what not to do (“Don’t edit these fields in Prelay, always update in Salesforce,” etc.).
- Document the process: Even a one-pager with screenshots can save hours of “why didn’t this sync?” questions.
- Slack/Email channel: Set up a place for folks to report integration issues in the first couple of weeks.
Pro tip: Expect some grumbling. That’s normal. But you’ll hear less of it if the integration actually saves people time.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
What works
- Reducing double entry: This is the real win. No more copying notes or deal stages between Prelay and Salesforce.
- Cleaner pipeline reviews: Managers can see up-to-date deal info in Salesforce without logging into another tool.
- Better team accountability: Tasks and milestones don’t fall through the cracks.
What doesn’t (don’t even bother)
- Perfect field parity: You’ll drive yourself (and your admins) crazy trying to sync every custom field or edge case.
- Syncing comments or attachments: Salesforce isn’t built for rich collaboration. Keep that in Prelay.
- Automating messy manual processes: The integration can help, but it won’t fix broken workflows. Clean up your process first.
What to ignore
- “Real-time” everything: Unless you have a specific compliance or timing need, hourly or daily syncs are fine.
- Over-customizing: Start simple. You can always add more fields or rules later, but undoing complexity is a pain.
Troubleshooting and Common Pitfalls
No integration is perfect. Here’s what usually trips people up:
- Field mismatches: If your Salesforce Opportunity fields don’t line up with Prelay’s, data won’t sync. Double-check your mappings.
- User mismatches: If emails don’t match between systems, tasks/opportunities can get assigned to the wrong person (or no one).
- API limits: If your Salesforce org is big or busy, you might hit API call limits. Monitor this during pilot.
- Sandboxes vs. Production: Don’t connect Prelay to a Salesforce Sandbox for testing, then forget to switch to Production after.
If something breaks: Check Prelay’s integration logs (usually in the admin panel). Salesforce’s “Last Modified By” field is also handy for tracking what system made a change.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Integrating Prelay with Salesforce isn’t magic, but when set up right, it saves you a ton of busy work and keeps your pipeline honest. Don’t try to automate every edge case on day one. Start with the core Opportunity sync, let your team test-drive it, and layer on more fields or automation as you actually need it.
At the end of the day, the best integration is the one your team actually uses — and barely notices. Keep it simple, document what matters, and don’t be afraid to cut features that cause more headaches than they solve. Good luck!