Custom Salesforce integration development
Appfront builds custom Salesforce integrations that connect your customer data with the rest of your software stack. Using the official Salesforce APIs, we link Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud to your ERP, e-commerce platform, marketing automation and in-house applications, so that leads, opportunities and cases flow automatically without manual work.
What is a Salesforce integration?
Salesforce is the world's most widely used CRM platform. It offers Sales Cloud for sales processes, Service Cloud for customer service, Marketing Cloud for campaigns and Data Cloud for bringing together customer data from all sources. Millions of organisations, from start-ups to multinationals, manage their customer relationships on Salesforce.
A Salesforce integration connects this CRM to your other business software. Leads arriving via your website appear straight away as records in Sales Cloud. Won opportunities automatically trigger invoicing in your ERP. Service cases are enriched with order data from your e-commerce platform. And marketing segments in Marketing Cloud stay in sync with actual customer activity.
Appfront builds these integrations to measure via the official Salesforce APIs: REST, SOAP, Bulk and Streaming. We tailor the integration to your specific objects, workflows and automation rules, so the integration evolves alongside how your team actually uses Salesforce.
Bidirectional data synchronisation
Changes in Salesforce are passed straight through to connected systems, and vice versa. Your sales, service and marketing teams always work with the same up-to-date customer data, with no manual export or import.
Automated sales and service workflows
Leads are qualified automatically, opportunities move through the pipeline, and cases are routed to the right team. The integration triggers processes in Salesforce and external systems at the same time, with no one having to switch manually.
Built on the official Salesforce APIs
Implementation via the REST API, SOAP API, Bulk API and Streaming API, in line with Salesforce best practice. OAuth 2.0 authentication via Connected Apps, with governor limits taken into account and clear error handling.
Our development process for Salesforce integrations
Salesforce integrations touch the core of your customer processes. That is why we work to a structured approach that removes risks early and ensures the integration fits how your team actually uses Salesforce, from sandbox development through to production deployment and ongoing management.
We map out your Salesforce environment: which Clouds, objects, flows and automation rules are relevant? Which external systems need to be connected, and in which direction does the data flow?
We design the integration architecture, choose the right APIs (REST, Bulk, Streaming), determine authentication via Connected Apps and set out an error-handling strategy that fits Salesforce governor limits.
The complete integration is developed and tested in a Salesforce sandbox environment. Automated tests, logging and monitoring are built in from the first build. You receive working demos along the way.
Controlled rollout to production with data validation and a rollback plan. Followed by ongoing management: monitoring, alerting on anomalies and proactive further development as your processes change.
What a Salesforce integration delivers in practice
Every integration is tailored to your specific Salesforce configuration and business processes. Below are the integrations we most often build for organisations that want to connect Salesforce with the rest of their stack.
ERP & accounting integration
Accounts and contacts in Salesforce stay synchronised with your ERP or accounting software — Exact, SAP, AFAS, NetSuite or Odoo. Won opportunities automatically generate invoices, payment statuses are visible in the customer record, and financial reporting aligns with the sales funnel.
Marketing automation sync
Leads and contacts flow automatically between Salesforce and your marketing automation platform — HubSpot, Pardot, Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign. Campaign attribution, lead scoring and opt-in status remain consistent. Marketing knows which leads are sales-ready, and sales sees which campaigns have influenced a deal.
E-commerce order flows
Orders from your webshop (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento or a B2B portal) are automatically linked to the correct Salesforce account. Sales gets instant insight into purchase history, service sees order context when handling support queries, and Commerce Cloud data flows seamlessly into the pipeline.
Customer portals & communities
A customer or partner portal fed directly by Salesforce data. End users manage their details, track cases, view invoice history or place orders, without your team having to share information manually. Built on Experience Cloud or as a standalone application with Salesforce as the backend.
Service Cloud integration
Cases, knowledge articles and SLA monitoring from Service Cloud are connected to your ticketing system, telephony or field service tools. Customer service works with the full customer picture, escalations run automatically and first-response times improve measurably.
Einstein AI & reporting
Salesforce Einstein delivers predictions on lead conversion, opportunity scoring and next best actions. We connect these AI insights to your dashboards in Power BI, Looker Studio or Tableau, and ensure data from external systems is available as input for Einstein models.
Typical use cases in practice
Salesforce is used by a wide range of organisations — from enterprise sales teams to fast-growing SaaS companies. Depending on your situation, an integration can look very different. We regularly see a number of recurring patterns.
Enterprise sales teams
Large sales organisations with complex account structures, multi-stakeholder deals and long sales cycles need a Salesforce that is woven into ERP, CPQ and contract management. We connect the full opportunity-to-cash flow so the sales team works from a single customer view, from first contact through to upsell. See also our API integrations.
SaaS & tech companies
Fast-growing SaaS companies use Salesforce for their go-to-market motion, but product usage data, billing and customer success live in other systems. An integration connects Salesforce with Stripe, Chargebee, Intercom or your own product database — so account managers can see which customers are active, which are churning and where upsell opportunities lie.
E-commerce
Webshops and B2B platforms that combine Salesforce with Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce or Commerce Cloud want customer behaviour and order data available to sales and marketing in real time. We build integrations that automatically synchronise order history, return requests and customer segmentation, so campaigns are based on actual buying behaviour.
Professional services
Consultancies, IT service providers and accountancy firms manage their relationships in Salesforce but their hours, projects and invoicing in separate systems. An integration ensures the flow from opportunity through project to invoice runs seamlessly, including resource planning and time tracking. See also our middleware solutions.
Technology we use
We build Salesforce integrations using a combination of Salesforce-native tools and external technologies. The choice depends on your existing infrastructure, data volume and the required synchronisation frequency. We document every architectural decision so that your team or a future supplier can take over the work.
Why choose Appfront for your Salesforce integration?
Salesforce is a powerful platform, but its value grows exponentially when it is well connected to your other systems. Appfront understands both the technical side of the Salesforce platform — Connected Apps, governor limits, deployment flows — and the functional side: how your sales, service and marketing teams use the CRM day to day.
We build integrations that not only work technically but also work in practice for the people who use them. No black boxes, but transparent code, clear documentation and an architecture that your own team or a future partner can understand and further develop.
Also explore our wider services around API integrations, enterprise AI, custom software and middleware.
- Experience with Salesforce integrations for Dutch organisations
- Proficient in REST API, Bulk API, Streaming API and Apex
- Development and testing in sandbox environments
- Governor limits and API limits taken into account from day one
- Clear documentation your team can read and manage
- A fixed point of contact, no account managers passed around
- Ongoing management, monitoring and proactive further development
- A way of working tailored to your existing Salesforce configuration
Security and privacy in Salesforce integrations
Salesforce holds the most valuable customer data in your organisation: contact details, deal values, communication history and service tickets. Every integration we build handles that data to the required security standard.
Authentication runs exclusively via OAuth 2.0 with Salesforce Connected Apps. We apply field-level security and data sharing rules so the integration only has access to the fields and objects it actually needs. No overly broad permissions, no admin credentials in the integration.
All data flows are documented in line with the GDPR so that your processing register and DPIA remain complete. More about our security approach: information security policy.
- GDPR-compliant data processing and data minimisation
- OAuth 2.0 authentication via Connected Apps
- Field-level security and data sharing rules
- Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest
- Audit logs with traceable data flows
- Least-privilege principles for API access
- Monitoring and alerting for unusual patterns
- Documentation for processing register and DPIA
Frequently asked questions about Salesforce integrations
Answers to the questions we are asked most often about custom Salesforce integrations.
A Salesforce integration is a technical integration that lets Salesforce, the world's largest CRM platform, exchange data with another software system. This is done through Salesforce's official APIs: REST API, SOAP API, Bulk API or Streaming API. This allows leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities, cases and campaigns to be synchronised automatically with your ERP, marketing automation, e-commerce platform or your own application.
The cost of a Salesforce integration is determined by the complexity of the data flows, the number of systems to connect, the synchronisation frequency and the amount of custom business logic. A simple one-way integration is considerably cheaper than a bidirectional, real-time integration across multiple Salesforce Clouds. After a no-obligation analysis of your situation, we always provide a clear quote, either at a fixed price or on a time-and-materials basis.
Yes. In addition to external integrations, Appfront can develop components that run within the Salesforce platform itself, such as Lightning Web Components, Apex triggers, custom objects and Visualforce pages. If your solution would also be valuable to other Salesforce customers, we can package it as an AppExchange app, including the security review and listing.
The timeline depends on the scope and the number of systems involved. A direct integration between Salesforce and a single external system, such as syncing leads to an email platform, can be operational within a few weeks. More complex integrations involving multiple Salesforce Clouds, custom objects and bidirectional sync take longer. After an intake meeting, we provide a realistic schedule.
Absolutely. Every integration is first developed and tested in a Salesforce sandbox environment before we move to production. This prevents disruption to your live data and gives your team the opportunity to validate the integration. We work with both Developer and Full sandboxes, depending on your testing requirements.
Yes. MuleSoft (Salesforce's own integration platform) and Heroku Connect are powerful options for organisations already investing in the Salesforce ecosystem. MuleSoft is particularly suitable when you want to orchestrate multiple systems centrally. Heroku Connect is ideal for bidirectional PostgreSQL synchronisation. Based on your situation, we will advise which route is the most cost-effective.
Yes. CRM data almost always contains personal data and therefore falls under the GDPR. All integrations are built in line with Dutch privacy legislation and security best practices. Authentication runs via OAuth 2.0 with Connected Apps, we apply field-level security and data sharing rules, and we document all data flows so that your record of processing activities remains complete.
Yes. Appfront regularly takes over existing Salesforce integrations, even if they were built by another party or an in-house team. We carry out a code and architecture review, document the integration and draw up a maintenance plan. We then handle adjustments, extensions, monitoring and support.
Ready to build your Salesforce integration?
Tell us which systems you want to connect to Salesforce and which processes you want to automate. In a no-obligation conversation, we will map out the scope and, within half an hour, give you a clear picture of the architecture, lead time and investment.