Salesforce & HubSpot Integration: Planning for Success

More and more organisations are using Hubspot and Salesforce in parallel but struggle with the integration not because the technology is difficult, but because they haven't made critical decisions about how these systems should work together before implementation. I've personally experienced these shortfalls—and seen dozens of organisations caught in the same trap. This foundational work is what separates successful integrations from ongoing headaches.

Section 1: Planning

The Integration Question: Where Does Data Live?

Don't assume these CRM's are "Plug-n-Play". Before installing the connector or building an API, you need to answer a fundamental question: What is the primary purpose of this integration?

The answer isn't obvious, and it directly impacts:

• Which system is the source of truth
• How data flows between systems
• What field mappings you need
• Your sync patterns and frequency
• Your data governance rules

Three Common Integration Models

1. HubSpot for Lead Generation (With Closed-Loop Reporting)

In this model, HubSpot is the marketing engine—capturing leads, nurturing them, and scoring for sales readiness. Salesforce is the CRM where the actual sales process happens.

Data Flow: Predominantly HubSpot → Salesforce. When a lead reaches sales readiness, it syncs to Salesforce. Crucially, Salesforce sends "Status" and "Opportunity" data back to HubSpot so marketing can calculate ROI.

Best For: Organisations with distinct marketing and sales teams, where marketing owns lead gen and sales manages the pipeline.

Challenges: Ensuring sales actually updates lead statuses in Salesforce so marketing doesn't keep nurturing converted leads.

2. HubSpot for Lead Verification & Qualification

Here, HubSpot acts as a verification layer. Raw leads come in, get verified, enriched, and qualified before being sent to Salesforce.

Data Flow: HubSpot captures and qualifies leads → syncs only qualified contacts to Salesforce → Salesforce owns the deal progression.

Best For: B2B organisations where lead quality is critical and you want to prevent your Sales CRM from being cluttered with low-quality data.

Challenges: Requires strict validation rules. If a lead is rejected by Sales, the feedback loop to HubSpot must be automated.

3. Salesforce as the Single Source of Truth (Full Bi-Directional)

In this model, Salesforce is the master CRM. HubSpot is primarily used for marketing automation and email workflows, but the databases mirror each other.

Data Flow: Bi-directional. New contacts created in either system sync to the other. Updates to contact info, email preferences, and activity history sync both ways.

Best For: Organisations wanting a unified view of customer interactions across marketing and sales without maintaining two separate silos.

Challenges: High complexity. Requires robust "conflict resolution" rules (e.g., if a phone number changes in both systems simultaneously, which one wins?).

The Critical Pre-Integration Conversation

Before you build any integration, get marketing, sales, and revenue ops in a room and answer these questions:

• Who owns lead generation? HubSpot, Salesforce, or both?
• What defines a qualified lead? What specific criteria must be met before a Sales Rep sees it?
• How do we handle duplicates? Does Salesforce or HubSpot win if data conflicts?
• What happens to rejected leads? Do they go back to a nurture stream? Are they deleted?
• Which lifecycle stages map to each other? Does HubSpot "Subscriber" = Salesforce "Lead"? Does HubSpot "Customer" = Salesforce "Account"?
• Who pays for the API calls? Do we have enough API capacity in our Salesforce edition?

Section 2: Who Gets Synced

Creating Inclusion Lists: Who Gets Synced?

Not every contact in HubSpot needs to sync to Salesforce, and vice versa. Inclusion lists define exactly which records should flow between systems.

Common Inclusion Criteria (HubSpot to Salesforce)

• Lead Score: Only sync leads scoring above 50 points.
• Lead Status: Only sync when status = "Marketing Qualified Lead" (MQL).
• Geography: Only sync leads from target markets (e.g., Australia, US).
• Custom Fields: Only sync if "Sales Approved" = true.

Don't Forget: Salesforce to HubSpot

Best practice should always be restricting the data flowing from Salesforce to be only what's necessary. Without controls, Salesforce might sync partners, vendors, or competitors into HubSpot, inflating the volume of contacts. Use Sharing and visibility rules to limit which records the integration user syncs to HubSpot.

Why Inclusion Lists Matter

Cost Control: Each synced contact consumes API calls and increases platform license requirements.

Data Quality: Syncing every contact—including unverified test records—creates noise.

Sync Conflicts: Fewer records syncing = fewer opportunities for duplicate issues.

Section 3: Integration Patterns

Sync Patterns: Native vs. Custom

How you move data depends on whether you use the Standard Native Connector or Custom Middleware.

The Native Connector (Near Real-Time)

Most organisations use the standard Salesforce integration app provided by HubSpot. It generally triggers a sync within minutes whenever a record is updated.

Pros: Native to the platform, handles standard objects (Leads, Contacts, Opportunities) out of the box.

Cons: Harder to customize complex logic; Not the easiest to debug the integration.

Scheduled Batch Syncs (Middleware)

Using tools like Workato, MuleSoft, or Tray.io to move data on a strict schedule.

Pros: Predictable costs; allows for complex data transformation between systems; reduces API load.

Cons: Data is not real-time. If a prospect fills out a form, Sales might not see it until the next day's batch runs.

Moving Forward

The best Salesforce-HubSpot integrations aren't the most complex—they're the ones built on a clear understanding of how marketing and sales work together. Before you touch an API or install the connector, map out your data strategy, define your sync patterns, and build inclusion lists that reflect your actual business process.

The time you spend on this upfront will save you months of troubleshooting, data cleanup, and frustrated team members down the line.