SurveyMonkey

Getting Started with SurveyMonkey for Salesforce

Get the integration! SurveyMonkey for Salesforce is an Enterprise add-on. Contact Sales or your Customer Success Manager (CSM). The integration setup is only available in English.

With SurveyMonkey for Salesforce, you can build automations to trigger surveys and push data back to Salesforce records for in-context analysis. Create reports, dashboards, and automate flows to take action on feedback.

This guide helps you get ready to send survey data to Salesforce. Follow the steps below to get started. Then, read our guide, Using SurveyMonkey for Salesforce, to create your mappings and send your survey.

Make sure you have the Salesforce and SurveyMonkey permissions you need to set up the integration.

All your mappings are saved to the Salesforce account you connect to. You can connect to multiple Salesforce accounts, including your sandbox environment. If possible, use an integration-specific Salesforce account. If the logged-in Salesforce account is deactivated, their mappings will stop working.

If your SurveyMonkey plan has Power and Casual seats, you need an Enterprise Power seat to access the integration. Learn more about seats and permissions.

To avoid permission issues, it’s best to use a Salesforce account with a “system admin” profile. You may also need to enable other permissions for your account.

The table below lists the recommended permissions for your Salesforce profile.

Salesforce PermissionDescription
Create, Read, Update, Delete for certain fields and objectsEnable these permissions for any fields and objects you’re mapping responses to.
API accessAllow API access to connect SurveyMonkey to Salesforce.
Modify Metadata through Metadata APIAllow team members to modify metadata through API functions to use our Salesforce integration.
Send Outbound MessagesEnable this permission for any Salesforce user that will trigger outbound messages (ex: an agent who closes a case)
Password never expiresEnable this permission for the account you’re connecting to SurveyMonkey so the connection doesn’t break.
View all usersEnable this permission to send survey invitations using a trigger.
Customize applicationEnable this permission to send survey invitations using a trigger.

There are a few steps to take in SurveyMonkey before you start mapping responses to Salesforce.

  1. Build the survey you want to connect to Salesforce. Add questions, apply logic, and customize the design. Learn more about creating your survey.
  2. (Optional) Add custom variables to track information about survey takers. You can include a Salesforce merge field to pull in known data from Salesforce. You can also add custom variables later when you create your mappings.
  3. (Optional) If you want to send your survey via email invitation, create your email message now. Select "resume later" when you finish creating your email message to save it as a template.

If you’re sending data to a standard or custom Salesforce object, make sure to set it up before pushing survey data to Salesforce. This applies to new and existing objects.

TIP! You may need help from your Salesforce administrator to set up your object.

To set up your object:

  1. If necessary, build a custom object to map your surveys to. You don’t need to do this if you’re mapping to an existing object.
  2. Add custom fields to hold survey data. If necessary, add custom fields for each piece of information in your survey you want to store in this object.
    • Make sure you can write to these fields – SurveyMonkey can’t push data to read-only fields.
    • Some survey questions can only be mapped to certain field types in Salesforce. Use our field mapping guide to make sure you add the right fields for your survey data.
  3. Add lookup fields. Lookup relationships allow you to associate data from this object to another one, such as the Contact object. You’ll need to include the record ID (such as the Contact ID) in your survey responses when you send your survey.

Connect your Salesforce account to the integration so you can create your mappings. You can connect multiple accounts, including sandbox environments. This process leverages OAuth 2.0 for a secure integration.

To access the integration:

  1. In SurveyMonkey, select the Products icon and select Integrations & Plug-ins.
  2. Select Salesforce.
  3. Select Connect or Connect Sandbox to connect your Salesforce account. If you’ve signed in to Salesforce, we’ll automatically connect to your signed-in account.
    You can repeat these steps to connect more Salesforce accounts.

Go to our SurveyMonkey for Salesforce guide when you're ready to create your mappings.

Mappings send your survey data back to Salesforce. You can map specific responses or metadata to fields on Salesforce objects. You can choose from two mapping types:

  • Managed package: If you don't need customization, you can send all responses to the SurveyMonkey Response object. You'll need to install a small package in Salesforce. This option creates the mapping for you. Learn more about our managed package for Salesforce.
  • Custom object mapping: Build your own mappings to send data to custom or standard Salesforce objects. This requires more effort but lets you control where your survey data is sent in Salesforce. Use our field mapping guide to learn which Salesforce fields you can send survey data to.

Learn more about mapping types, or learn how to create mappings.

Once you create your mappings, you can send your survey. The Salesforce integration gives you 2 deployment options:

  • A Weblink, which you can copy and paste into another email. You can include custom variables in your web link.
  • An Email Invitation, which sends from SurveyMonkey. You'll need to create a flow and Outbound Message in Salesforce to use an Email Invitation.

SurveyMonkey offers a few features for customers using Lightning Experience:

  • Lightning flow: Lets Salesforce users take or send in-the-moment surveys directly from Account, Contact, or Lead objects. Salesforce users can take a survey within Salesforce, for example, to provide feedback that a customer gave a rep over the phone.
  • SurveyMonkey Lightning component: Lets Salesforce users send a survey to one or more Contacts off any object.
  • Survey Response Visualization Lightning component: Lets you see the responses from the survey that were completed via the Lightning component or flow.

You can chat with your CSM about your specific use case so you can best utilize the integration. Organizations use the SurveyMonkey for Salesforce integration in many different ways, depending on how they use Salesforce. Below are some common use cases.

Use Case / Survey TypeExample
Post-Support SatisfactionAfter a customer interaction, like closing a case, send customers a satisfaction survey to gather prompt feedback. Once your survey data is in Salesforce, you can filter and segment your data by other fields on the same object to gather insights. Learn more about creating a "case closed" or "post-support satisfaction" survey.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)Customer Satisfaction score, or CSAT, helps you understand a customer’s experience with a specific interaction or transaction, such as contacting support or making a purchase. You can use CSAT with other metrics to understand the full customer experience with your brand. Learn more about tracking CSAT with the Salesforce integration.
Net Promoter® Score (NPSNet Promoter Score (NPS) helps you measure customer loyalty on a scale from 1-10. You can use our pre-built NPS question type and map results directly to Salesforce to track and report on your metrics. Learn more about tracking NPS with the Salesforce integration.
Post EventAfter hosting an event, gather feedback from attendees based on an automation from a campaign, contacts, or accounts. The survey data syncs to the campaign where you can gain insights to prove your efforts are well spent or identify ways to improve future events.
Won-Lost SalesSend a survey after an opportunity is won and send a different survey to follow up on a lost opportunity. The data can help you better understand what works best for your sales team to enhance your sales process.
Customer Touchpoint SurveyGather feedback at various milestones of a customer's lifecycle with your organization. For example, send surveys after onboarding, a recent renewal, or a project launch. Then sync the results to a contact record to better understand the customer's sentiments over time.
Relational Satisfaction SurveyConnect with your customer base at key intervals throughout the year to assess the overall health of your relationship. Unlike the transactional use cases above, this feedback isn't specific to a recent experience.