If you’re juggling leads from chatbots and your CRM, you know the pain: new contacts stuck in Manychat, deals slipping through Salesforce cracks, and too much copy-pasting for anyone’s sanity. This guide is for marketers, sales ops, and anyone who wants leads flowing from Manychat into Salesforce automatically—with as little fuss (and Zapier) as possible.
You’ll get a real-world approach: where things break, what’s worth your time, and how to set it up step by step. No hand-waving, no empty promises about “seamless integration”—just what you need to know to get it working (and what to skip).
Why Connect Manychat and Salesforce?
Let’s keep it simple:
- Manychat is great for capturing leads from Facebook Messenger, Instagram, or your website.
- Salesforce is where your sales team lives, breathes, and (hopefully) follows up.
If these two don’t talk, your leads sit in silos. That means missed follow-ups, double entry, and a lot of “Sorry, who are you again?” emails.
Connecting them means: - Leads captured by your chatbot go straight into Salesforce—no copy-paste. - You can trigger Salesforce workflows, assign tasks, or kick off email sequences right from a chat. - No more leads slipping through the cracks because someone forgot to export a CSV.
But, and it’s a big but: there’s no native, one-click Manychat-to-Salesforce integration. You’ll need a bridge. The most common option? Zapier or similar automation tools. I’ll show you how, and flag the landmines.
Step 1: Map the Workflow You Actually Need
Before you start wiring things together, get clear on what you want. Don’t automate chaos.
Ask: - What info do you want to send? Name, email, phone, chat history? Get specific. - When should it happen? Every new subscriber? Only when someone fills out a form or triggers a “qualified” tag? - Which Salesforce object? Usually Lead or Contact, but sometimes you want Opportunities or custom objects.
Pro tip: Start small. Push basic lead info first. Once that’s stable, you can automate more bells and whistles.
Step 2: Prep Manychat for Salesforce Integration
You’ll need a paid Manychat plan to use external integrations. (If you’re on the free tier, you’re out of luck.)
Set up your chatbot flow to collect the info you want to send—at minimum, name and email. Use Manychat’s user fields to store each piece of data.
Example:
- User enters their email → Save as {{user.email}}
- User provides phone number → Save as {{user.phone}}
Why bother with clean fields? Because whatever comes out of Manychat is what goes into Salesforce. Garbage in, garbage out.
Step 3: Pick Your Integration Tool (and Know the Tradeoffs)
Here’s the truth: there’s no direct Manychat-to-Salesforce integration. Your options:
Option 1: Zapier (or Make/Integromat)
- Pros: Easy to set up, lots of guides, no code required.
- Cons: Monthly cost, can get messy/slow if you have lots of leads, sometimes struggles with complex Salesforce setups.
Option 2: Custom Webhooks + Salesforce API
- Pros: More control, cheaper at scale.
- Cons: Requires developer skills, Salesforce API setup can be a pain, and you’ll need to handle error checking and maintenance.
Option 3: Third-party middleware (Tray.io, Workato, etc.)
- Pros: Enterprise-grade, more complex logic.
- Cons: Expensive, often overkill unless you’re a big team with deep pockets.
Honest advice: Start with Zapier unless you have a dev team and a good reason not to.
Step 4: Set Up Zapier to Connect Manychat and Salesforce
Here’s the basic setup using Zapier. If you’re using Make (Integromat) or something else, the logic is similar.
4.1. Trigger: Manychat Sends Data via Webhook
- In Manychat, use the “External Request” action in your flow.
- Set it to send a webhook to a Zapier “Catch Hook” (Zapier’s Webhooks by Zap).
- Include the user fields you want to pass (email, name, etc.).
Example payload: json { "first_name": "{{user.first_name}}", "last_name": "{{user.last_name}}", "email": "{{user.email}}", "phone": "{{user.phone}}" }
4.2. Action: Create (or Update) Lead in Salesforce
- In Zapier, connect your Salesforce account.
- Choose “Create Lead” or “Update Lead.”
- Map the incoming fields from the webhook to Salesforce fields.
Heads up: Salesforce can be picky. If you’re missing required fields, the zap will fail. Run a test and check error messages.
4.3. Optional: Handle Duplicates
Salesforce is notorious for duplicate leads. Zapier can’t magically de-dupe for you, but you can: - Use “Find Lead” first, then update if found, otherwise create new. - Set up Salesforce duplicate rules (not a Zapier thing, but worth doing).
Step 5: Test—Then Test Some More
Don’t trust your first successful test. Try:
- Submitting blank fields (does it break?).
- Using weird characters (does Salesforce choke?).
- Submitting the same info twice (does it create duplicates?).
Check Salesforce after each run. Is the lead info appearing where you expect? Are owners assigned correctly? Don’t skip this—small errors now become big headaches later.
Step 6: Go Live (But Watch It Like a Hawk)
Once it works, turn it on for real users. For the first week, check:
- Are leads all coming through?
- Any weird errors in Zapier?
- Is Salesforce making duplicates or missing info?
Automations break—usually when you’re not looking. Set up alerts in Zapier for failed zaps, and check your Salesforce lead view daily at first.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
What Works Well
- Basic lead capture: Name, email, and phone move over fine.
- Simple mapping: If you keep your Salesforce config basic, it just works.
- Triggering follow-ups: You can kick off Salesforce tasks or email alerts as soon as a lead appears.
Where It Gets Messy
- Custom fields: The more custom stuff in Salesforce, the more mapping you’ll need.
- Duplicate handling: Zapier isn’t great at fuzzy matching (e.g., “Jon” vs “John”).
- High volume: Zapier gets pricey, and Salesforce API limits can bite you.
What to Ignore (for Now)
- Real-time syncing: Zapier isn’t instant. Leads may take a minute or two to show up.
- Fancy chat history imports: Just send key info (what they asked for, maybe their last message). Don’t try to sync every chat transcript.
Pro Tips
- Document your zap: Write down what each step does. Future you (or your replacement) will thank you.
- Lock down permissions: Only give Zapier access to what it needs in Salesforce.
- Start with a test Salesforce sandbox if you have one, so you’re not filling your real CRM with test leads.
- Keep it simple: The fancier the automation, the more ways it can break.
Wrapping Up
Connecting Manychat and Salesforce isn’t magic, and it’s not truly “seamless”—but you can get leads flowing with a bit of setup and some basic tools. Start small, automate only what you trust, and don’t be afraid to keep things manual until you’re confident. Your future self—and your sales team—will thank you.