If you're drowning in spreadsheets, duplicate contacts, and sales reps griping about “bad data,” connecting your lead sources is a no-brainer. For most sales teams, that means getting Zoominfo talking to Salesforce. But don’t expect magic out of the box—the integration can be a lifesaver, but only if you set it up right and know what to skip. This guide is for sales ops leads, admins, and anyone stuck making the data flow actually work.
Let’s dig in.
Why bother integrating Zoominfo with Salesforce?
If you want your sales team to stop wasting time on outdated leads and manual data entry, this integration is worth the hassle. Here’s what you actually get:
- Faster lead routing: New contacts from Zoominfo can drop directly into Salesforce, ready for follow-up.
- Cleaner data: You can set up rules to avoid duplicate records (well, most of the time).
- Less manual work: No more copying and pasting contact info or updating fields by hand.
But be clear-eyed: it won’t automatically fix bad sales processes or magically fill in all your missing data. If your Salesforce is already a mess, the integration just makes the mess bigger—so clean up first.
Step 1: Get Your Accounts and Permissions in Order
Before you even touch the integration, make sure you have:
- Admin access to Salesforce. Not just “edit” rights—you’ll need the real thing.
- A Zoominfo account with access to their Salesforce integration features.
- A plan for user permissions. Not everyone should be importing leads or overwriting data.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure who actually owns the Salesforce admin login, find out now. You don’t want to get halfway into setup and realize you’re locked out.
Step 2: Prep Salesforce for Incoming Data
Don’t skip this. If you haven’t looked at your Salesforce fields and lead assignment rules in a while, now’s the time.
Key things to check:
- Field mapping: Make a list of the fields you care about (name, email, company, phone, etc.). Decide where Zoominfo data should land in Salesforce.
- Duplicates policy: Are you okay with Zoominfo creating new records if there’s a partial match? Decide before you connect anything.
- Lead assignment rules: If you want new leads to go to specific reps or queues, set that up ahead of time.
What to ignore: All those extra fields Zoominfo can push in? Most people never use 80% of them. Stick to what your team actually needs.
Step 3: Connect Zoominfo to Salesforce
The actual connection isn’t rocket science, but you’ll want to pay attention to the details.
A. In Zoominfo
- Log in and find the “Integrations” section (usually under Settings or Admin).
- Choose Salesforce from the list of available integrations.
- Authorize Zoominfo to connect to your Salesforce instance—this will kick you over to Salesforce to confirm.
B. In Salesforce
- You may need to install a managed package from Zoominfo (depends on your plan).
- Approve any permission requests; Zoominfo will need to create, read, and update records.
- Check your API limits—if you’re running a lot of automated processes, you can hit Salesforce’s API ceiling faster than you think.
Heads up: If you use Salesforce’s sandbox for testing, connect there first. Don’t experiment on your live data.
Step 4: Set Up Field Mapping and Sync Rules
This is where most people’s integrations go sideways.
What you need to do:
- Map only the fields you trust. Don’t sync “Industry” if your team never uses it.
- Set rules for overwriting data. Decide if Zoominfo should fill in blanks only, or overwrite existing values.
- Pick your sync direction. Usually, you'll want Zoominfo → Salesforce for new leads, and maybe Salesforce → Zoominfo for updates. Be careful with two-way sync—it’s easy to create data loops.
What works:
- Start small. Sync a handful of records at first, not your whole database.
- Test with real records. Use a few test leads and see where the data actually lands.
What doesn’t:
- Blind trust. Zoominfo’s data is good, but not perfect. Don’t set it to overwrite everything—emails and names get messy fast.
- Ignoring field formats. If Salesforce expects a picklist value and Zoominfo sends something else, you’ll get errors.
Step 5: Test the Integration (Seriously, Don’t Skip This)
You want to see what happens before real leads start flowing.
- Create a few test leads in Zoominfo and push them to Salesforce.
- Check every mapped field—did the info land where you expected?
- Look for duplicates or weird merges—some “smart matching” isn’t that smart.
- Watch your lead assignment rules. Make sure leads go to the right people or queues.
Pro tip: Have a salesperson or two try to work with the new leads—if your process slows them down, you’ll hear about it fast.
Step 6: Go Live (and Keep an Eye on It)
Once things look solid, open the gates—but watch closely for the first few weeks.
- Monitor for errors. Both Salesforce and Zoominfo can log sync errors—check them regularly.
- Solicit feedback. If reps start seeing garbage data or missing leads, spot the problem early.
- Tweak as needed. Don’t be afraid to turn off fields or change rules if something isn’t working.
What to watch for:
- API throttling: If you’re importing lots of data, Salesforce can slow or block integrations if you blow past your API limits.
- Field mismatches: If someone adds a new required field in Salesforce, your integration can break.
- License limits: Zoominfo charges per user, so make sure you’re not syncing for people who don’t need it.
Honest Takes: The Good, the Bad, and What to Skip
What works well: - Cutting out manual lead entry. - Keeping contact info fresher, especially job changes and emails. - Letting reps prospect directly from Salesforce (if you turn that feature on).
What’s overrated: - “Enriching” every record with 30+ new fields. It’s overwhelming and rarely used. - Relying on automatic deduplication—false matches and missed merges are common. - Expecting perfect data. Zoominfo is good, but not infallible.
What to ignore: - Integrating every single Zoominfo feature on day one. Stick to the basics—lead creation, enrichment, and updates.
Wrap-up: Keep It Simple (and Don’t Set and Forget)
Connecting Zoominfo and Salesforce can save a ton of grunt work, but only if you keep the setup simple and pay attention to what’s actually happening. Don’t try to automate everything at once. Start with a few fields, get feedback from real users, and tweak as you go. The best integrations are the ones you barely notice—because they just work. Keep iterating, and don’t be afraid to turn things off if they start making more work than they save.