If you’re tired of copying, pasting, and generally wrestling with sales tools that don’t talk to each other, you’re in the right place. This guide walks you through hooking up Lavender—the email writing coach and productivity tool—with Salesforce, so your outreach and pipeline actually work together. It’s for sales reps, ops folks, or anyone who wants to stop wasting time and get their workflow sorted.
Let’s skip the sales pitch and dig into what actually works, what to skip, and where you’ll probably trip up (so you can avoid it).
Why bother integrating Lavender and Salesforce?
Here’s the honest answer: integrating these tools can save you a lot of hassle, but only if you’re actually using both. If you’re just dabbling in one or the other, or you don’t deal with sales emails at all, don’t bother.
But if you:
- Use Salesforce as your source of truth for leads and accounts
- Send emails with Lavender or want its AI writing/feedback in your workflow
- Hate duplicating work or losing track of conversations
…then it’s worth the setup. The idea is to get email insights and writing help right where you’re working, while keeping Salesforce up to date—without you having to do all the busywork.
Before you start: What you’ll need
Don’t skip this. Here’s what you should have ready before you even open a settings tab:
- A Salesforce account with admin permissions (or know who your admin is).
- A Lavender account (any paid plan supports integration).
- The right browser: Chrome is your safest bet for browser extensions.
- Salesforce Edition: You’ll need Salesforce’s API enabled (that’s Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, or Developer editions—Essentials/Professional likely won’t cut it unless you pay extra).
- A little patience: Some steps involve waiting a few minutes for permissions to sync.
Pro tip: If you’re not an admin in either platform, get your IT or ops person involved early. Permissions are the #1 place people get stuck.
Step 1: Install the Lavender Chrome Extension
You can’t integrate Lavender with Salesforce natively—it works through the Lavender Chrome extension interacting with both your email (usually Gmail or Outlook) and your Salesforce instance.
- Go to the Chrome Web Store and search for “Lavender.” Install the extension.
- Pin the extension to your browser for easy access.
- Log into Lavender via the extension popup—use your work email.
Heads up: If your company has strict browser policies, you might need IT to approve the extension.
Step 2: Connect Your Email Account
Lavender works best when it’s connected to your main email (Gmail or Outlook). This is how it pulls your sent emails and helps with composing new ones.
- Click the Lavender extension icon.
- Select your email provider and follow the prompts to sign in.
- Grant the requested permissions. (Yes, it feels like a lot. That’s how it plugs into your inbox.)
Don’t ignore: If you skip this, the Salesforce sync won’t have emails to log. Double-check your connection status in the Lavender dashboard.
Step 3: Enable Salesforce Integration in Lavender
Here’s where most people start googling for help. Lavender’s Salesforce integration is found in their dashboard—not the Chrome extension popup.
- Open the Lavender dashboard (usually at dashboard.lavender.ai).
- Go to Integrations in the sidebar.
- Find Salesforce and click Connect.
- You’ll be redirected to Salesforce. Log in with your Salesforce credentials.
- Approve the requested permissions. This lets Lavender push emails to your Salesforce records.
Reality check: If you hit a permissions error, you probably don’t have API access in Salesforce or your admin needs to approve the connection. Don’t bang your head against the wall—just escalate it.
Step 4: Set Up How Emails Log to Salesforce
By default, Lavender tries to match outgoing emails to Salesforce leads, contacts, or accounts based on email address. But you can tweak how this works.
- Decide whether all emails should log, or just selected ones.
- Pick which Salesforce objects (Leads, Contacts, Opportunities, etc.) should get the logged emails.
- Set up any custom fields or tags if your org has weird requirements.
To do this: 1. In the Lavender dashboard, look for Salesforce Settings under Integrations. 2. Adjust the logging behavior to your style. If you’re not sure, start with the defaults and revisit after a week. 3. Test by sending a real email to a Salesforce contact and see if it shows up in Salesforce.
What to ignore: Don’t overthink custom fields or try to log every single email. Focus on what the sales team actually needs to see in Salesforce.
Step 5: Test the Integration (Really—Test It)
Before you roll this out to the whole team, make sure it works end-to-end.
- Send a test email (using Lavender) to a lead or contact that’s already in Salesforce.
- Wait a couple minutes, then check that contact’s record in Salesforce. Look for the email activity.
- If it didn’t show up, check:
- Did you send from the connected email account?
- Is the recipient definitely a Salesforce record?
- Did you give Lavender enough permissions?
- Are there any filters in your Salesforce view hiding the email?
- Try sending to a new contact—see if Lavender creates a new record or throws an error.
Pro tip: Make a checklist of what “done” looks like for your setup. Saves a lot of second-guessing.
Step 6: Roll Out to Your Team (The Smart Way)
Once you’ve got it working for yourself, it’s tempting to blast out an email saying “everyone, do this now.” Resist the urge.
- Create a simple setup doc (you can copy these steps).
- Do a quick screenshare or record a 5-minute walkthrough.
- Expect a few people to run into permissions snags—track them, and escalate to IT if needed.
- Remind folks: Lavender only logs emails they send from the connected account, and only to existing Salesforce records (unless you enable auto-create).
What doesn’t work: Forcing everyone to turn on every bell and whistle. Start with basics, let power users experiment.
What to Watch Out For
This isn’t magic. Here’s where real users get tripped up:
- Permissions hell: Both Salesforce and Google/Outlook have tight security. The integration breaks if you lose access or change passwords.
- Duplicate records: If your Salesforce data is messy, logged emails can end up attached to the wrong place. Clean up your contacts first.
- Lavender’s AI feedback: It works in your inbox, not inside Salesforce. Don’t expect AI suggestions to show up in Salesforce UI.
- API limits: If you’re on a limited Salesforce edition, you might hit daily API call caps. Track usage if you’re a big team.
Ignore: Hype about “seamless” sync. It’s good, but you’ll need to tweak things as your workflow evolves.
Keeping It Simple (and Sane)
You don’t need to be a workflow guru or hire a consultant to get value here. Just:
- Focus on getting the basics working—emails logged to the right place.
- Don’t stress about automating every tiny thing from day one.
- Check in with your team after a week. What’s working? What’s driving them nuts?
- Iterate. It’s easier to add complexity once the basics are solid.
Bottom line: The Lavender-Salesforce link is worth it if you’re serious about sales follow-up, but don’t overcomplicate it. Set it up, test it, and get back to selling—and let the tools do their job.