If you spend your days wrangling leads in Salesforce but dread the grind of manual calls and note-keeping, you’re not alone. A dialer like Phoneburner promises to speed up your outbound calling, but syncing it with Salesforce isn’t always as smooth as the sales pitch makes it sound. This guide is for sales ops folks, SDRs, and anyone tired of toggling between tabs and copy-pasting call notes. I’ll walk you through how to set up Phoneburner’s Salesforce integration, what actually works, what’ll trip you up, and how to keep your lead data from turning into a dumpster fire.
Why bother with Phoneburner + Salesforce?
On paper, integrating your dialer with your CRM is a no-brainer. You want:
- Less manual data entry
- Calls (and call outcomes) logged automatically
- Lead status updates that reflect real conversations
- A way to actually see what’s working
But the reality? Most integrations are more “meh” than magical. Phoneburner’s Salesforce integration is better than most, but it’s not plug-and-play, and there are limits you should know upfront. If you want to get the most out of both tools, you’ll need to get your hands dirty for a couple of hours.
Step 1: Check your Phoneburner plan (and your Salesforce version)
Not every Phoneburner subscription comes with Salesforce integration. You’ll need:
- A Phoneburner Team or Enterprise account (Individual accounts don’t get Salesforce integration).
- Salesforce Professional, Enterprise, or Unlimited Edition. If you’re on Salesforce Essentials or a custom setup, expect headaches.
Pro Tip: Don’t assume your admin has turned on all the right permissions. Make friends with them now.
Step 2: Connect Phoneburner to Salesforce
Phoneburner connects to Salesforce using OAuth (which is just a fancy way of saying you’ll log in and approve access). Here’s how to get it working:
- Log in to Phoneburner as an admin.
- Go to Settings → Integrations → Salesforce.
- Click Connect to Salesforce. You’ll get bounced to a Salesforce login page.
- Enter your Salesforce admin credentials.
- Approve the permissions Phoneburner asks for (read/write access to leads, contacts, and custom fields).
- After you’re redirected, look for the “Connected” status in Phoneburner.
What’s actually happening: Phoneburner gets API access to your Salesforce org. That means it can read and write lead/contact data, but it won’t flood your Salesforce with junk unless you set it up wrong.
Step 3: Map your fields (don’t skip this)
This part is boring, but it’s the difference between a clean database and a mess nobody can fix. Phoneburner tries to match its fields (like “Call Outcome” or “Disposition”) to your Salesforce fields. Sometimes it guesses wrong.
What to do:
- In Phoneburner’s Salesforce integration settings, review the default field mapping.
- Map Phoneburner’s call results, notes, and time stamps to the right Salesforce fields.
- Example: Map “Disposition” to a custom Salesforce field like “Last Call Outcome.”
- If you use custom fields in Salesforce for lead status, make sure they’re mapped.
- Save your changes.
What to ignore: Don’t try to map every single field. Stick to what your team actually uses. More mappings = more things to break.
Step 4: Set up sync rules and automation
Now decide what you want Phoneburner to actually do in Salesforce. The integration can:
- Pull leads/contacts from Salesforce into Phoneburner for calling sessions.
- Update lead/contact records in Salesforce after calls.
- Log call activities (calls, voicemails, emails, call outcomes) automatically.
You’ll need to:
- Choose your sync direction: Most teams want two-way sync so that updates flow both ways, but you can set it to one-way if you’re nervous about Phoneburner overwriting data.
- Pick which Salesforce records to pull: Use views or reports in Salesforce to define call lists. Don’t just pull “All Leads”—be surgical.
- Configure what gets updated: Decide if Phoneburner should update lead status, add call notes, or just log the activity.
Pro Tip: Start small. Set up a test campaign and watch how the data flows. It’s way easier to fix a broken field mapping with 10 records than with 10,000.
Step 5: Test your setup (and spot the gotchas)
Before you unleash your team, try this:
- Run a test call session. Use a dummy lead or two.
- Check Salesforce. Did the activity log show up? Did the lead status update? Are the notes readable, or a garbled mess?
- Try a few edge cases: What happens if you skip a lead, leave a voicemail, or disposition as “Do Not Call”?
- Check for duplicates. Sometimes, if field mapping is off, you’ll get duplicate records.
Common issues:
- Phoneburner activity logs don’t show up in Salesforce: Usually a permissions issue—double-check API access and field-level security.
- Notes overwrite existing Salesforce notes: This is a mapping problem or a sync direction issue.
- Custom fields aren’t updating: You probably missed them in the mapping step.
Step 6: Roll it out to your team (and set expectations)
Once you’re happy with how things sync, bring in your users:
- Train your team on what’s automated and what isn’t. If they still need to fill out a field manually after a call, make that clear.
- Remind them not to edit synced fields by hand in Salesforce (unless you want to deal with conflicts).
- Monitor the first couple weeks. Look for missing data, duplicate activities, or angry reps.
Pro Tip: If your team already hates Salesforce, don’t promise this will “change everything.” It’ll cut down on busywork, but it won’t magically fix your process.
What’s good, what’s not, and what to skip
What works well:
- Call logs and outcomes land in Salesforce automatically, saving time.
- You can build call lists right from Salesforce reports—no more CSV exports.
- Notes and follow-up tasks can be pushed directly to records.
What’s just okay:
- The sync is fast, but not instant. Expect a short delay (anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes).
- If you have a weird Salesforce setup (custom objects, lots of automation), you’ll have to do extra testing.
What to ignore:
- Don’t try to use Phoneburner to manage leads’ entire lifecycle. Let Salesforce handle assignment and nurturing. Think of Phoneburner as your power dialer—not your master database.
What doesn’t work:
- Complex, custom automations. The integration can handle basic field updates and activity logging. If you want to trigger multi-step Salesforce workflows based on a call outcome, you’ll need to build that manually in Salesforce (or use a third-party tool).
- Syncing non-lead objects (like Opportunities) directly. The integration is built for leads and contacts. Anything else is a hack.
Keep it simple and iterate
If you set up Phoneburner and Salesforce to do the basics—log calls, update statuses, and reduce busywork—you’ll save time and headaches. Don’t chase every possible automation right out of the gate. Start simple, see what actually helps your team, and adjust as you go. Most importantly: keep an eye on your data. Even the best integration can turn into a mess if you don’t check in regularly.
Happy dialing, and keep it honest—your future self will thank you.