Connect more than one object in Salesforce to Pendo

This article describes how to connect more than one object in Salesforce, or pull and push data between Pendo and different Salesforce objects. Before you continue, we recommend reading the overview article: Salesforce integration with Pendo.

How it works

By default, the Salesforce integration with Pendo connects one Salesforce object to Pendo visitors and one Salesforce object to Pendo accounts. This is the same connection used for both a data push and pull. 

If you want to connect more than one object, or pull and push data between different objects, you can either:

• Create a custom object that combines other objects in Salesforce to connect with Pendo and continue using the default Salesforce integration with Pendo. You can do this to both pull and push data between Pendo and Salesforce.
• Build your own custom integration between Pendo and Salesforce, and use the Pendo API to update metadata and export report data.

Both these options require custom work from your Salesforce admin or engineering team. We can't advise on how you do this.

For simplicity, the examples in this article focus on syncing account data, but the same configurations can be set up for visitor data. The first three examples involve creating a custom object that acts as the connection point between Pendo and the multiple Salesforce objects.

Pull more than one Salesforce object into Pendo

To pull information into Pendo as metadata from more than one object in Salesforce, you can create a new custom object in Salesforce and sync the data using the default Salesforce integration. This custom object must contain:

• The unique identifier that matches with Pendo visitor or account records.
• The information from the Salesforce objects that you want to pull into Pendo as metadata for either the Pendo visitor or account object.

Your Salesforce admin might need to set up additional workflows or processes within Salesforce to move data from the relevant objects into the new custom object. 

Once you've created the custom object, you can set up the connection between Salesforce and Pendo with the custom object. For instructions, see Set up the connection in the Set up the Salesforce integration for Pendo article.

For example, you might want to pull information from both the Account and Opportunity objects in Salesforce into Pendo as account metadata. To do this, you can create a new custom object in Salesforce to connect with the Pendo account object, which must contain:

• The unique identifier that matches with Pendo account records.
• The information from the Account and Opportunity objects that you want to pull into Pendo as account metadata.

Push Pendo data into more than one Salesforce object

You can also use a custom object in Salesforce to push Pendo usage data into more than one object in Salesforce. This custom object must contain:

• The unique identifier that matches with Pendo visitor or account records.
• Custom fields that start with "Pendo_" for Pendo to push (write) the usage data to.

Your Salesforce admin must set up additional workflows or processes within Salesforce to move the Pendo usage data from the new custom object to the relevant existing Salesforce objects.

Once you've created the custom object, you can set up the connection between Salesforce and Pendo with the custom object. For instructions, see Set up the connection in the Set up the Salesforce integration for Pendo article.

For example, you might want to push Pendo account usage data into both the Account and Opportunity objects in Salesforce. To do this, you can create a new custom object in Salesforce to connect with the Pendo account object, which must contain:

• The unique identifier that matches with Pendo account records.
• Custom fields that start with "Pendo_" for Pendo to push (write) the usage data to.

Push to and pull from different Salesforce objects

You can also use a custom Salesforce object to pull metadata from one Salesforce object into Pendo and push Pendo usage data to different Salesforce object. For example, you might want to pull account metadata into Pendo from the Salesforce Opportunity object, and also push Pendo account usage data into the Salesforce Account object.

As above, your Salesforce admin must set up additional workflows or processes within Salesforce push and pull data in this way.

Once you've created the custom object, you can set up the connection between Salesforce and Pendo with the custom object. For instructions, see Set up the connection in the Set up the Salesforce integration for Pendo article.

Build your own integration

Instead of using the default Pendo and Salesforce integration with custom Salesforce objects, your developers can build a custom integration between Pendo and Salesforce. Use the Engage API to communicate with Pendo for both sync directions (pull and push). For the full developer documentation on the Engage API, visit engageapi.pendo.io, where you can find information on how to:

• Send metadata into Pendo, mimicking the pull sync. For guidance, follow the documentation for the Metadata object.
• Export usage data from Pendo, mimicking the push sync. For guidance, follow the documentation for the Report object. You can request the visitor/account report contents as either a CSV export or JSON array.