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Auditing CRM Sync Errors

Joel
Updated

Overview

The purpose of this article is to provide information to Outreach Admins on how to review CRM sync errors and pull up specific record examples to determine the root cause and resolution to prevent the sync error from happening again. Sync errors can occur for many reasons like updating picklist values for a CRM field or creating new Lead/Contact Statuses, for example. We recommend exporting the error logs on a monthly basis to ensure your connection between Outreach and your CRM are up to date and the activity is able to sync back and forth successfully.

Applies To

  • Outreach Admins
  • Salesforce
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • CRM Plugin

Export Error Logs

  1. In Outreach, navigate to CRM, click the ellipses icon in the top-right corner.more options.png
  2. Click Export Logs. A compressed file will download to your device. 
    crm_sync_errors-download-logs.png
  3. Extract the compressed file, then open the folder therein to access the CSV file.
    crm_sync_errors-open-logs.png
  4. The CSV File will contain the fewer of the last 30 days of sync errors or the last 10,000 sync errors, and will include a timestamp of all of the specific sync errors that have occurred with a CRM Record ID (external_type/external_id), an Outreach Record ID (internal_type/internal_id), or both.

Inbound vs. Outbound Sync Errors

Inbound

If the error message references an external type/external ID, it means the error was received from an Inbound sync from the CRM to Outreach.

Outbound

If the error message references an internal type/internal ID, it means the error was received from an Outbound sync from Outreach to the CRM.

Recommendation

  1. Insert a Pivot table on your CSV file to best review the sync errors.
    crm_sync_errors-logs-create-pivot-table.png
  2. Select From Table/Range.
    crm_sync_errors-logs-pivot-table-from-range.png
  3. Drag and drop the error_message into the Rows and Values section to review the overall unique sync errors and the amount of times they occurred in the last 30 days or out of the last 10k sync errors.
    crm_sync_errors-logs-pivot-table-fields.png
  4. From here, you can review the error messages that are occurring the most and use the sync error and a record ID example to look into specific examples further and determine where the route of the sync error message is coming from.
    crm_sync_errors-logs-pivot-table-view-output.png

Expected Errors

Some sync errors you may see in your logs are generally to be expected. Here are examples:

  • A prospect with this email address already exists in Outreach.
    • Explanation: There are duplicate leads/contacts in your CRM with the same email address. Outreach deduplicates using Email Address
  • Your Outreach admins do not allow prospects with this email domain to be created. Please reach out to your Outreach admin to add this prospect.
    • Explanation: Outreach is preventing a lead/contact from being created as a prospect if the record has an email address containing any of the domains listed in the Block creation of prospects with specific email addresses section of the Org-Level Settings.

Review Examples of a Unique Sync Error

Inbound CRM Error

Select the external ID cell of the sync error you are diagnosing and pull up the external record type in your CRM. To identify the specific record example in your CRM, you can simply pull up a corresponding record in your CRM (Lead/Contact/User for example) and replace the ID in the URL of your browser and hit enter.

  • Lead Example:
    crm_sync_errors-inbound-error-lead1.png
    crm_sync_errors-inbound-error-lead2.png

From here, you can utilize the example and details in the sync error to determine the root of cause and update the configuration as needed.

  • User Example:
    crm_sync_errors-inbound-error-user1.png
    crm_sync_errors-inbound-error-user2.png

Outbound Outreach Error

Select the internal ID cell of the sync error you are diagnosing and pull up the internal record type in Outreach. To identify the specific record in the platform, you can simply pull up a corresponding record in Outreach (Prospect/Account for example) and replace the ID in the URL of your browser and hit enter to review the specific record example. For user IDs utilize your CRM or the Salesforce Load button in the Actions menu in Outreach to search the ID and see the Userʼs name.

Note: Mailing & Event IDs are not searchable in Outreach by pulling up a mailing or meeting in the platform

  • Prospect Example:
    1. Copy the unique error message internal ID.
      crm_sync_errors-outbound-error-prospect1.png
    2. Switch to the original sheet of all the sync errors and search the sync error in the list.
      crm_sync_errors-outbound-error-prospect2.png
    3. Use the Prospect ID to pull up the example.
      crm_sync_errors-outbound-error-prospect3.png
    4. Go to Outreach and pull up any prospect record from the Prospect tab and then replace the ID number in the URL to the selected ID you have copied to your clipboard.
      crm_sync_errors-outbound-error-prospect4.png
    5. Once you have the correct ID in the URL, hit enter to display the prospect example you are searching in Outreach.
      crm_sync_errors-outbound-error-prospect5.png
    6. Click the Activity Tab and Clear all Filters to see granular plugin sync errors and other related activity that led up to the sync error.
      crm_sync_errors-outbound-error-prospect6.png
    7. Use the record example and the specific sync error details to determine the root cause and update the configuration as needed.

Contacting Support

If you have questions on a specific sync error you are trying to solve for, provide the following details to our support team to help troubleshoot:

  • Sync Error
  • Internal or external type & ID (multiple if possible)
  • Outline the steps you have taken already to try and resolve the issue

OPTIONAL: Provide permissions to push/pull data to/from your CRM.

Often, our Support team will request your permission to push or pull an update to/from your CRM to generate additional data that is causing the sync error to occur on the examples you provide. Providing this at the time of submitting the ticket can help for a quicker resolution.

Example help request

Hello Support Team,

We received the following sync error on a prospect that we need assistance in resolving in our (Org Name) instance.

Sync Error: Custom3 must be one of these values: "Renewing", "Not Renewing", "in decision."

Example(s): Prospect ID: 222256

I have reviewed the example in our CRM and noticed that the contact has a different status value than what is mentioned in the sync error above and need assistance on the next steps to get this resolved.

You have permission to push or pull data from our CRM for the prospect example provided.

Thank you!

Additional Resources

Troubleshooting Outreach Activities Not Syncing to the CRM

CRM Plugin Error Log FAQs

How To Submit a Technical Support Request

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