Q: Is there any chance of data being overwritten? 

A: It could potentially happen, but it is rare. For example, if a contact with email [email protected] exists in the mothers portal and a child has a contact with the email [email protected] and child->mother contact syncing is enabled, then the original contact in the mother portal will get overwritten.

Q: How does a company/SyncSmart determine the “parent” or “mother” portal and set up the integration?

A:  After install, they get redirected to the SyncSmart web application, where they configure their Multi-Portal system. After configuring, the web application presents a unique install link to be provided to future children. The Mothership user can then share this link with users of desired child portals, which is the same link but with a "system_secret" attached to it (ex. hook/c6f745cb-99fd-4ad5-a538-62fef48d1fd9?system_secret=1234abcd). The child user then visits that link and they get installed in the mother portal. 

Q: What hubs can sync? For example, can information from a portal with Marketing Hub sync to a portal with Service Hub? 

A: Currently, there is nothing in the Multi-Portal Sync code that looks at what hubs are in the mother portal and what hubs are in a child and then adjusts accordingly. There are no issues with everything the app (contacts/companies/deals/properties/pipelines) can do as of now, and new iterations of the app are always in the works. If a customer sees any limitations, it is recommended to look at HubSpot’s documentation of the individual hub they have purchased. 

Q: If there are three systems (one parent and two child portals feeding into it) and both the child portals have the same contact record, which portal wins? Another way to ask this: If franchisees send information up through the portal to the mothership account, how will it handle duplicate contacts, clients (company?), and deals within the mothership?

A: There are multiple things that will occur: 

• Any company or deal that exists in the mother portal before franchisee data ever starts syncing will remain unaffected by franchisee data. 
• Companies and deals synced to the mother portal that originate from individual franchisee portals will be created as unique objects that may be traced back to their particular origin portal. In other words, there will be no duplication to address. Updates made to these companies and deals in franchisee portals will be synced to the mother, so that the mother portal will always reflect the state of the company/deal in the originating franchisee portal. Should a company/deal originating from a franchisee be edited directly in the mother, expect those edits to be overwritten by the app eventually. .
• Logic related to selecting a particular franchisee to take sole ownership of a deal that exists independently in multiple franchisee portals starts with determining whether a particular deal originating from one franchisee is the same deal as that originating from another franchisee. The decision that two or more deals in the mother portal (or mothership) should be treated as a “collision” will be made programmatically based on the existence of certain identifying shared properties between deals. The criteria for two deals in the mother portal (mothership) to be considered the same will involve a programmatic similarity inspection of the deals’ names, associated contacts, and associated companies.

Q: Does the subscription or tier of HubSpot matter for syncing? For example, can a Marketing Hub Starter sync to a Marketing Hub Enterprise and vice versa? 

A: Tiers only matter from the standpoint of count limitations; an enterprise mother portal  may have 10 custom pipelines to send to the starter child, but only 1 will actually be created in the starter because starters can only have 2, and all portals come with a default pipeline. 

Q: What can a user do to have a successful sync?

A: There are several things the SyncSmart recommends for a successful sync. They are: 

• When creating properties, edit the internal ID to something that won't already exist in any of the child portals, as to avoid property "collision.”
• When installing in a child portal, don't let the portal just have a few contacts, and then after install import a million. Import a million first, then install. Otherwise historical sync will take much longer. 
• A portal can be either a mother or a child, not both. Do not try to use the same portal that is used as the mother in one system as a child for a different mother in another system.
• - Be confident in which objects to sync when choosing the billing plan. Better to select the "contacts, companies, and deals" plan at first than to purchase only "contacts", see how that goes, and then upgrade to "contacts, companies, and deals" the next day. SyncSmart may be able to set up a demo environment for exploration, but frequently changing plans should be avoided if possible.

Q: How much does it cost? 

A: The price is the same regardless of which tier of HubSpot or amount of portals a customer has. The structure is $2,000 per object set up fee and $275 per number of objects per month.  Simply add all the systems to the pricing and building tool. SyncSmart makes integrating tools with HubSpot easy and touchless. Once an integration is up and running it operates seamlessly in the background.

Q: Does a company need a developer on their team? 

A: While it may be helpful, it is not necessary with SyncSmart integrations. They require no IT experience and are backed by integration experts. All the heavy data importing is done on SyncSmart’s end, with no integration software to learn.

Q: What happens if the integration stops? 

A: The SyncSmart team actively monitors for errors to prevent this. If the sync does stop, it will pick up where it left off. 

Q: What is a system of record or “single source of truth?”

A: A system of record should be one of the two systems that are integrated that will be the authoritative data source, or a “single source of truth.” When selecting a system of record, choose the lowest denominator of data entry – i.e., where the most critical company data goes first and where losing it may cause risk. Generally, companies choose their CRM. 

Q: How long will the integration process take?

A: Property and pipeline creation can happen within minutes of install, while historical sync can take days or weeks depending on the amount of data, billing plan, and configuration. The ongoing sync schedule can be configured by users in the UI.