So, you’ve got customer data scattered across Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, your old homegrown CRM, and probably a spreadsheet or two. You know you’re missing the full story of your customer, and you’re tired of the mess. You’ve heard Syncari might help, but you want the no-nonsense guide—not the sales pitch. This is for you.
Here’s how to actually use Syncari to wrangle all your customer info into one place, cut down on duplicate data, and finally get a single profile for each customer. You’ll find what works, what gets weird, and what you can safely skip.
1. Get Clear on Your Sources and Goals
Before you even touch Syncari, grab a notepad (digital or paper, your call) and answer a few questions:
- Where’s your customer data? List every system, no matter how ugly or old.
- What’s the goal? Are you aiming for a single view of the customer for support, sales, marketing, or all of the above?
- What counts as a “customer” for you? Decide what records should be merged (people, companies, both?).
Pro tip: Don’t try to boil the ocean. Start with your three biggest systems first—tackling everything at once is a recipe for burnout and confusion.
2. Connect Your Data Sources to Syncari
Syncari’s big selling point is its ability to hook into different platforms, but the reality is: some connectors are better than others, and some setup steps are less “plug-and-play” than you’d hope.
How to do it:
- Log in to Syncari.
- Go to the “Data Sources” section.
- Add each source. Syncari has connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, and a bunch more. Some (like custom APIs or flat files) take more legwork.
- For each source, you’ll need credentials—API keys or OAuth.
- If you’re using spreadsheets or custom systems, expect to fiddle with field mapping and formats.
- Test your connections. Syncari will tell you if it can actually pull data. If it fails, double-check permissions and data access on your source system.
What to watch out for: - OAuth connectors (like Google Sheets or HubSpot) sometimes expire—set calendar reminders to re-auth if needed. - Custom connectors might need IT help. Don’t be afraid to ask for it.
3. Map and Normalize Your Data
Here’s where the mess starts to show: every system calls things something different. “Customer ID” here, “Client Number” there, and “Contact Email” somewhere else. You need to tell Syncari what’s what.
How to do it:
- Open the “Data Model” or “Schema Mapping” section.
- Line up fields across systems. Decide which field in Salesforce matches which in HubSpot, and so on.
- Required fields: Name, email, company, whatever makes sense for your business.
- If two systems have different formats (e.g., “First Name Last Name” vs. “Full Name”), pick one as the “truth” and set up a transformation.
- Set data types. Make sure emails are emails, dates are dates, numbers are numbers—otherwise you’ll get garbage-in, garbage-out.
Honest take: This step is tedious, and there’s no magic button. But if you skip it, you’ll regret it later. Spend the time now.
4. Define Your “Golden Record” Rules
“Golden record” just means: When two or more systems have conflicting info (say, two different emails for the same customer), whose data wins? Syncari calls this “data unification” or “entity resolution,” but really, you’re just making rules.
How to do it:
- Set up unification rules in Syncari. Go to the “Unify” or “Golden Record” section.
- Pick your primary source. For example, maybe Salesforce is your system of record for company names, but Zendesk has the best email addresses.
- Set conflict resolution rules:
- Always trust Salesforce for field X
- Use the most recently updated
- If blank in System A, fill from System B
- Test with sample records. See what actually happens when records merge—sometimes you’ll spot weirdness you didn’t expect.
What to ignore: Unless you’re in a super-regulated industry, don’t stress about making this perfect. You’ll tweak these rules as you go.
5. Handle Duplicates and Matching
This is the trickiest part. Two records might look different (e.g., “Acme Inc.” and “ACME Incorporated”) but are actually the same customer. Syncari uses fuzzy matching, but it’s not psychic. You’ll need to help it along.
How to do it:
- Set up matching rules. Choose how Syncari should decide two records are the same:
- Exact match on email or ID
- Fuzzy match on company name + zip code
- Custom logic if you’ve got weird data
- Review matches. Syncari can auto-merge, but start with manual review for the first few runs.
- Whitelist/blacklist patterns. Exclude test accounts, partners, or other edge cases you don’t want merged.
Real talk: No tool gets this 100% right, especially if your data is messy. Plan on cleaning up stragglers by hand or building some scripts to help.
6. Set Up Syncing and Automation
Now you’ve got your unified profiles, but you want them to stay up-to-date. Syncari can push updates back to your systems, but you control how aggressive it is.
How to do it:
- Choose sync direction:
- One-way (Syncari → other systems, or vice versa)
- Two-way (careful—this can cause looping or overwrite good data if not set up right)
- Set sync frequency: Real-time, hourly, daily? Don’t overdo it—real-time sync sounds cool, but it’s usually overkill.
- Set up automation rules: Trigger notifications, update fields, or kick off workflows when data changes. Don’t go overboard—start with the basics.
What works well: Syncari is solid at keeping things moving once you’ve set the rules. Just watch for sync errors, and don’t blindly trust the logs—spot check your data.
7. Monitor, Audit, and Fix as You Go
You’re live, but don’t assume it’s all perfect. Data drifts, connections break, and edge cases pop up. Plan on babysitting this for a bit.
How to do it:
- Set up alerts. Syncari can email you if syncs fail or if there are too many duplicates.
- Check dashboards. Look at merge rates, error logs, and sync histories.
- Keep a feedback loop. Ask your end users (support, sales, etc.) if the new unified profiles are actually helping or if they see weirdness.
What to ignore: Don’t get sucked into building custom dashboards for everything—track the basics and fix the big stuff first.
8. Iterate and Improve
You won’t nail this in one go. Every business has oddball data, and your priorities will shift.
Next steps:
- Tweak rules as you learn. If you spot bad merges, fix the logic.
- Add more sources over time. Once the core works, you can bring in the long tail of spreadsheets or legacy apps.
- Document what you did. Even if it’s just a Google Doc. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself next quarter.
A Few Caveats and Honest Advice
- Don’t expect Syncari to magically “clean” your data. It’s a strong unification and sync tool, but garbage in is still garbage out.
- Custom fields and edge cases always take manual work. No way around it.
- If your IT or ops team is stretched thin, do less, not more. Better to have a solid core than a sprawling, half-broken setup.
- Ignore the “real-time everything” hype unless you have a legit business case.
Wrapping Up
Unifying customer profiles with Syncari is doable, but it’s not magic. Focus on your biggest data sources, get your matching rules right, and don’t let perfect be the enemy of done. Start simple, check your work, and keep improving as you go. The best results come from iteration—not from chasing every possible data source or edge case at once. Good luck, and don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves.