FAQs

Align.ly Lead-to-Account

  • If a Lead is eligible to match more than one Account, which Account wins?

    If a Lead is eligible to match more than one Account, the Lead will match to the Account with the earliest Created Date (ie the first Account created).

    Example:

    • Account #1
      • Created Date: 1/1/2020
      • Email Domain: @example.com
      • Geography Match is OFF
    • Account #2
      • Created Date: 2/25/2020
      • Email Domain: @example.com
      • Geography Match is OFF

    When a new Lead is created with @example.com, it will match to Account #1 since Account #1's Created Date is before Account #2's Created Date.

    Last Updated: March 8, 2021 at 10:49 AM ET

  • What is the purpose of the Email Domain Exclusion List?

    It is common to have Leads and Contacts with email addresses that use personal email domains like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com.

    Align.ly Lead-to-Account analyzes the Contacts on each Account and summarizes unique email domains into the Email Domain(s) field on Account. In order to ensure personal email domains (@gmail.com, @yahoo.com, etc) are not summarized into the Email Domain(s) field, Align.ly Lead-to-Account utilizes an Email Domain Exclusion List for personal email domains.

    When you install Align.ly Lead-to-Account, your Email Domain Exclusion List will be pre-populated with a list of common personal email domains.

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Can I remove an email domain from the Email Domain Exclusion List?

    Yes, you can remove an email domain from the Email Domain Exclusion List.

    Go to "Setup" -> "Develop" -> "Custom Settings" then click "Manage" next to Email Domain Exclusion List.

    To remove an email domain, click "Del" next to the email domain you want to remove.

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Can I add an email domain to the Email Domain Exclusion List?

    Yes, you can add an email domain from the Email Domain Exclusion List.

    Go to "Setup" -> "Develop" -> "Custom Settings" then click "Manage" next to Email Domain Exclusion List.

    To add an email domain, click the "New" button then enter the email domain (include the "@" sign) in the Name field. Click "Save" to add the email domain to the Email Domain Exclusion List.

    Add to Email Domain Exclusion List

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Is there a limit on number of domains in Email Domain(s) field?

    Yes, the Email Domain(s) field is a Text field that supports up to 255 characters. We find this is sufficient to typically support between 12-15 email domains. If you find that you have Accounts with more than 12-15 email domains and are receiving an error from Salesforce/Align.ly, most likely this is the result of Contacts with email domains that shouldn't be on the Account and/or the need to have multiple Accounts.

    To resolve this issue, refer to the Related Article below titled "How do I prevent the wrong email domain from being summarized on Account?".

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • How are Leads matched to Accounts?

    In order for Leads to match to Accounts, you need to have one of the following settings turned on:

    • Real-Time Lead-to-Account Matching
    • On-Demand Lead-to-Account Matching
    • Scheduled Lead-to-Account Matching

    When run, Align.ly will attempt the match the domain portion of the Email field on Lead (ie @coca-cola.com) to a domain in the Email Domain(s) field on Account. If there is a match, the Matched Account field on Lead will be updated.

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Can I simply match Leads and not convert Leads to Contacts?

    Yes. We've designed Align.ly Lead-to-Account to be extremely flexible and configurable. In "Custom Settings" you have the option to toggle on/off the following:

    • Real-Time Lead-to-Account Matching
    • On-Demand Lead-to-Account Matching
    • Scheduled Lead-to-Account Matching
    • On-Demand Lead Auto-Conversion
    • Scheduled Lead Auto-Conversion

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • What is the difference between On-Demand and Scheduled?

    Align.ly Lead-to-Account is designed to give you the ultimate control of how and when Align.ly jobs are run.

    On-Demand

    On-Demand refers to the ability to click a button from the Align.ly Lead-to-Account management page and either run the jobs in order, or run the jobs one at a time.

    On-Demand

    Scheduled

    Scheduled refers to the ability to schedule days/times for when you want the Align.ly jobs to run automatically. You have granular control of which jobs you want to run as indicated on the Align.ly Lead-to-Account management page.

    Scheduled

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Can I manually update Matched Account on Lead?

    Yes. The Matched Account field on Lead is simply a Lookup field, so it can be manually updated. It is common to manually update Matched Account for Leads that have personal email addresses like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com.

    If Matched Account is manually updated, it will not be overwritten by any of the Align.ly jobs.

    If Matched Account is manually updated and Lead Auto-Conversion is active, the Lead will convert to a Contact under the matched Account as long as Lock Lead is set to FALSE.

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • If Matched Account on Lead is manually updated, will it get overwritten?

    No. Once a Lead has a value for Matched Account, it will not be overwritten by an Align.ly Lead-to-Account job.

    However, a Salesforce user can manually update and/or delete the value for Matched Account.

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Is there a setting to convert Leads in real-time?

    No. We have found that converting Leads in real-time creates sync problems with third-party integrations (HubSpot, Marketo, SalesLoft, Outreach, etc).

    We do however support matching Leads to Accounts in real-time as well as updating the Lead Owner to match the Account Owner in real-time, so new Leads will always route to the appropriate Salesforce user.

    It is best practice to keep the the record as a Lead and then convert the Lead to a Contact using an on-demand or scheduled job.

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Do Lead Assignment Rules run before or after Lead Owner is updated?

    Align.ly Lead-to-Account will update Lead Owner (if setting is turned on) BEFORE lead assignment rules run. If you do not want lead assignment rules to overwrite the new Lead Owner for Leads with a Matched Account, add a formula rule:

    • if Matched Account is NOT BLANK then do not reassign owner

    Here is how the rule should be configured:

    Matched Account Formula

    Copy and paste the formula:

    Here is how the rule will look in your Lead Assignment Rules list:

    Matched Account Assignment Rule

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET

  • Does Align.ly match Leads to Accounts based on fuzzy matching on company name?

    No. Align.ly only matches Leads to Accounts based on email domains. We have found that fuzzy matching on company name is nearly impossible to get right and many times results in Leads being matched to the wrong Accounts.

    Matching a Lead to the wrong Account can have negative impacts on lead routing, email nurturing, lead enrichment, marketing metrics, auto-conversion, etc. Our philosophy is to match 95% of Leads to the correct Accounts 100% of the time instead of attempting to match 100% of Leads to the correct Accounts, but only getting it right 95% of the time.

    Last Updated: December 9, 2020 at 11:43 AM ET