Keeping Strama and your CRM in sync
Keep in sync makes field changes flow both ways between Strama and HubSpot, Salesforce, or Dynamics 365. Here is what moves, how to set the direction per field, who wins a conflict, and how to switch an existing connection over.
Every CRM connection runs in one of two modes. Create only adds new records to your CRM and leaves existing ones alone. Keep in sync also keeps the fields on records that exist in both places up to date, in both directions. This article covers what Keep in sync does, how to control it, and how an existing connection switches over.
It applies to HubSpot, Salesforce, and Dynamics 365. For setup, matching, and activity logging, see Connecting Strama to HubSpot.
The two modes
Keep in sync is the default for every CRM you connect from now on. The first time you connect, the mode is already on and there is nothing to switch.
| Create only | Keep in sync | |
|---|---|---|
| New prospects | Created in your CRM | Created in your CRM |
| Existing CRM records | Never modified | Fields are updated from Strama and from the CRM, following each field's direction |
| Changes made in the CRM | Not seen by Strama | Pulled into Strama |
| Tags and Heating Up score | Still written to your CRM when mapped | Still written to your CRM when mapped |
Teams that connected before this mode existed keep whatever they had, and an Owner can switch at any time (see Switching an existing connection).
Note: Keep in sync does not import new CRM records. It only updates records that are already linked to a Strama contact or company. To bring people in from your CRM, keep using list import or Import from CRM in a campaign.
What flows each way
Sync runs about every five minutes. In each run Strama writes the fields that changed in Strama to your CRM, and reads the fields that changed in your CRM into Strama. A rep's edit in the CRM typically shows up in Strama within five to ten minutes.
Strama only moves a field when it changed on one side since the last time the two agreed. That is why a correction a rep makes in the CRM is no longer overwritten the next time something touches the Strama record, which could happen before.
What syncs:
- Mapped fields, both ways. Names, job title, LinkedIn URL, and the rest of your field mappings. A change on either side lands on the other.
- Email opt-outs, both ways. If a contact is marked do-not-email in your CRM, Strama treats them as opted out and stops their active sequences. If a contact opts out in Strama, the matching do-not-email flag is set in the CRM. Opt-outs are sticky: neither side ever clears one automatically.
- Tags and the Heating Up score go one way only. Strama writes them to your CRM, and changes made to those fields in the CRM never come back.
- Email and the company match field are matched on. A contact's email, and the company field Strama matches on (website domain or name), identify the record. They sync both ways, but they are never cleared on either side, and a change is only made after Strama checks that it would not collide with another record. If an email changed in your CRM belongs to a different Strama contact, Strama makes no change and flags the pair as a possible duplicate instead.
Choose a direction for each field
In Settings → CRM → Field mapping, each mapped field has a direction once the connection is on Keep in sync:
- Both ways (the default): changes on either side sync to the other.
- Strama → CRM: Strama writes the field, and the CRM's value is never pulled in.
- CRM → Strama: the CRM is the source, and Strama's value is never written out.
Tags, the Heating Up score, email, and the company match field show a fixed label instead of a picker, since their behavior is set by the rules above.
A common use is making a field one-way when one system holds a cleaner version of it, for example Strama → CRM for names when the CRM flattens capitalization.
Tip: A field you map later takes the CRM's value once, then follows its direction from there.
When both sides changed the same field
If a field changed in both Strama and the CRM since the last sync and the values differ, one side has to win. The Conflicts setting on the Sync behavior card decides:
- CRM wins (the default): the CRM value is kept and written into Strama.
- Strama wins: Strama's value is kept and written to the CRM.
The winner applies to the whole connection, not to individual fields. If you want a field to always follow one system, give it a one-way direction instead.
Switching an existing connection
An Owner can switch a Create only connection to Keep in sync from Settings → CRM → Sync behavior. Strama doesn't flip it on immediately, because the two systems may already disagree about records they share. Instead it reconciles them first:
- Click Keep in sync and choose who wins conflicts.
- Click Preview changes. Strama reads every linked record from your CRM and works out what would change on each side. It writes nothing.
- Review the summary: how many fields on how many records will update in your CRM and in Strama, with examples you can expand.
- Click Apply and keep in sync. Strama applies the differences, records the starting point, and switches the mode. From the next sync, changes flow both ways.
You can cancel at the preview stage and nothing changes. Large teams can take several minutes, and the page shows progress while it runs. You can leave the page; the reconcile keeps going.
Switching back to Create only stops changes in your CRM from flowing into Strama, and Strama goes back to creating records only. Nothing already synced is undone. If you switch to Keep in sync again later, Strama reconciles every linked record again before writing anything.
Only the team Owner can change the mode, the winner, or field directions.
HubSpot: reconnect to sync opt-outs
Setting a contact's email opt-out in HubSpot requires a permission (communication preferences) that connections made before this feature don't have. Everything else syncs without it. To also send Strama opt-outs to HubSpot, an Owner clicks Re-authenticate in Settings → CRM and approves the updated permissions. Until then, opt-outs made in HubSpot still reach Strama, but Strama's don't reach HubSpot.
Dynamics 365: disqualified leads
If you sync Strama prospects as Dynamics leads, a lead that has been disqualified in Dynamics is never updated. Strama leaves it alone and notes on the record that it was skipped.
Check that it's working
The Sync status card shows, for each object, how many records have been pulled and when Strama last read your CRM. If a read fails, an amber notice shows the reason and Strama retries on the next run.
FAQ
Will a rep's CRM edit be overwritten by Strama?
Not by a routine sync. Strama only writes a field when it changed in Strama since the last sync. If both sides changed it, your Conflicts setting decides.
Does Keep in sync import contacts that exist only in my CRM?
No. It updates records already linked to Strama. Use list import or Import from CRM to bring new people in.
Can I stop Strama from changing a particular field in my CRM?
Yes. Set that field's direction to CRM → Strama, or remove its mapping.
Does an opt-out ever get cleared automatically?
No. If someone is opted out on either side, Strama keeps it that way. Re-opting someone in is a deliberate action you take yourself.
Does syncing cost credits?
No. CRM sync is free in both directions.