If you’ve ever tried to wrangle customer data between Zendesk Chat and Salesforce, you know it can feel like duct-taping two different worlds together. This guide is for folks who want to stop copying data by hand, avoid duplicate tickets, and actually make chat-to-case handoff work for support and sales teams. No fluff—just what you need to know, what to skip, and how to sidestep the gotchas.
Why bother integrating Zendesk Chat and Salesforce?
Here’s the deal: if your agents are chatting with customers in Zendesk Chat and then manually logging those conversations or creating Salesforce cases by hand, it’s a waste of time. Integrating the two means:
- Chat transcripts and key details land in Salesforce automatically.
- No more “Did you log that ticket?” headaches.
- Sales and support get a real view of what’s happening with each customer.
But, fair warning—this isn’t a one-click, five-minute job. Zendesk and Salesforce are big, complex platforms with their own quirks. Let’s cut through the noise and get you set up the right way.
Step 1: Get your prerequisites sorted
Don’t skip this. Missing one thing here will wreck your afternoon later.
What you need:
- Zendesk Chat Enterprise (or Suite with Chat). Lite or basic plans won’t cut it for integration.
- Salesforce: Enterprise, Unlimited, or Developer Edition. Professional Edition is possible, but you’ll need REST API access (which isn’t included by default).
- Admin access to both platforms.
- A clear goal: Are you pushing chats into Salesforce as cases, leads, or just logging transcripts? Decide now.
Pro tip:
If you’re just experimenting, grab a Salesforce Developer Edition (it’s free) to test before you mess up your production data.
Step 2: Install the Zendesk for Salesforce app
Zendesk has an official Salesforce app, but it’s not always obvious which one you need. Here’s what to do:
- Go to the Salesforce AppExchange and search for “Zendesk for Salesforce.”
- Install the app in your Salesforce org (start with your sandbox if you have one).
- Assign permissions to the users who’ll need it. If you skip this, they’ll just see error messages.
- Follow the setup wizard to connect your Zendesk account to Salesforce.
Honest take:
The setup wizard looks simple, but it can get stuck if your Salesforce permissions aren’t right. If you see vague errors, double-check field-level security and API access for the integration user.
Step 3: Connect Zendesk Chat to the Salesforce App
This is where things get real. By default, the Salesforce app connects Zendesk Support (tickets) to Salesforce. If you want real chat handoff, you’ll need to:
- Go to Zendesk Admin Center and find “Integrations” > “Salesforce.”
- Authorize the Salesforce connection (use an integration user, not your personal admin account).
- Configure the data sync:
- Tickets: You can map Zendesk tickets to Salesforce cases or custom objects.
- Chats: Zendesk Chat doesn’t natively push chats to Salesforce. You’ll need to set up triggers or use the Zendesk API (see Step 4).
Pro tip:
If you only see options for Support tickets, not Chat, don’t panic. Zendesk Chat transcripts can be attached to tickets—so your main focus is making sure each chat creates a Zendesk ticket, which then syncs to Salesforce.
Step 4: Make sure every chat creates a ticket (or automate it)
By default, Zendesk Chat only creates a ticket if the chat gets routed to the help desk. If you want every chat (even the quick “just checking” ones) to become a record in Salesforce, do this:
- In Zendesk Chat, go to Settings > Chat Routing.
- Enable “Create ticket for all chats” (the wording changes, but look for similar options).
- Test it: Start a chat, end it, and check if a ticket appears in Zendesk Support.
Why it matters:
No ticket = no data in Salesforce. If your agents are handling chats that never become tickets, those conversations will never show up in Salesforce, no matter how fancy your integration is.
Step 5: Map Zendesk ticket fields to Salesforce case fields
Push garbage in, get garbage out. This is where you make sure the right data gets to Salesforce.
- In Salesforce, open the Zendesk app settings.
- Go to “Object and Field Mappings.”
- Map Zendesk ticket fields (like subject, requester, chat transcript) to the matching Salesforce case fields.
What matters:
- Map the chat transcript (usually stored in a custom field or in ticket comments) to a Salesforce case description or a custom field.
- Don’t map everything—just what your team actually uses. More fields = more ways for things to break.
- If you have custom fields in Zendesk or Salesforce, add them here.
Pro tip:
If you want to see the full chat transcript in Salesforce, make sure you’re mapping the right field or using the Zendesk “comments” sync. Otherwise, you’ll just get a ticket number and nothing useful.
Step 6: Test the full workflow (and break it on purpose)
Don’t trust the integration until you’ve tried to break it. Here’s how:
- Initiate a chat in Zendesk Chat as a test user.
- Go through a typical support flow—escalate if needed, add notes, close the chat.
- Check Zendesk Support: Did a ticket get created? Is the chat transcript there?
- Check Salesforce: Did a case get created? Does it have the chat transcript and requester info?
- Try edge cases:
- What happens if a chat is abandoned?
- What if the customer’s email doesn’t match a Salesforce contact?
- Does it sync if you reopen a ticket?
What to look for:
- Missing data (like empty transcripts or missing requester info).
- Duplicate cases.
- Errors or weird formatting in the case description.
If you hit problems:
Most issues come from field mapping or permissions. Check the integration user profile in Salesforce, and make sure Zendesk API access is enabled.
Step 7: Train your team (and set expectations)
This part gets skipped a lot, but it’ll save you headaches.
- Show agents where to find chat transcripts in Salesforce.
- Make it clear when they should escalate issues or add more info.
- Remind them: “If there’s no ticket, it doesn’t exist in Salesforce.”
Honest truth:
Automations are great, but humans still need to know what’s happening. Don’t assume your team will magically know where to look for chat info.
What’s worth ignoring?
Some features sound cool but just add noise:
- Full 2-way sync: In theory, you can sync updates both ways. In practice, this can create conflicts and confusion—stick to one-way sync from Zendesk to Salesforce unless you really need the other direction.
- Over-customizing mappings: Resist mapping every field “just in case.” Start simple. Add more later as you see what’s actually used.
- “AI-powered” insights: For most teams, just getting the transcript and customer info into Salesforce is 95% of the value. AI summaries are nice, but not necessary for a basic handoff.
Common pitfalls (and how to dodge them)
- Wrong permissions: Most weird errors come down to Salesforce user permissions or Zendesk API limits. Use a dedicated integration user with the right access.
- API limits: If you’re syncing tons of chats, you can hit Salesforce API call limits fast. Monitor usage, especially if you’re doing a lot of automation.
- Out-of-sync data: If someone deletes a ticket or case, the systems won’t always update each other. Don’t expect miracles—train your team on the limitations.
Wrapping up: Keep it simple, improve as you go
Integrating Zendesk Chat with Salesforce isn’t magic—but it does save real time and headaches when set up right. Don’t overthink it: get the basics working, test like crazy, and roll it out. If you hit walls or find features you never use, scale back and focus on what actually helps your team. Iteration beats perfection every time.