Trade show lead capture syncs with a CRM via a real-time API integration. When a badge is scanned or a card is captured in BoothMaven, the app creates a structured record — contact fields, qualifying question answers, lead temperature, voice note transcript, event name, and timestamp — and sends it to HubSpot or Salesforce via the CRM API within minutes. The sync creates or updates the correct contact or lead record, triggers any configured workflows (hot lead task, warm sequence enrolment, cold nurture assignment), and handles deduplication for existing contacts automatically.

The difference between a lead capture app with real-time CRM sync and one that produces a CSV export defines whether same-day hot lead follow-up is technically possible. A post-show export arrives 24–48 hours after the event closes. By the time it is imported, mapped, and distributed to reps, the 24-hour follow-up window — when reply rates are approximately three times higher than follow-up at 72+ hours — has closed. Real-time sync is not a premium feature; it is the technical prerequisite for the follow-up performance that justifies the exhibiting investment.

This guide explains exactly how the BoothMaven-to-CRM sync works: the data payload, field mapping, deduplication logic, workflow triggers, and troubleshooting for the two most common CRM platforms — HubSpot and Salesforce.

What Data Syncs From BoothMaven to Your CRM

Understanding exactly what data syncs — and to which CRM fields — is essential for configuring the integration correctly before the first show. The BoothMaven sync payload contains seven categories of data for each capture, each mapping to specific fields in the CRM.

Category 1 — Contact identity fields

The contact’s name, company, job title, email address, phone number, LinkedIn URL, and website domain — populated from the badge scan, card OCR, or form submission. These fields map to standard contact or lead fields in HubSpot and Salesforce. For badge scans, the source is the event registration database; for card OCR, the source is the OCR extraction from the physical card; for QR forms, the source is the visitor’s self-entered data. The source type is recorded in the Capture Source field.

Category 2 — Event metadata

Event Name (the specific show), Event Date, Stand Number (if configured), and Capture Timestamp. These fields are either mapped to standard CRM fields (in HubSpot, the original source detail or a custom property; in Salesforce, custom Lead fields) or stored as Contact properties in BoothMaven’s namespace. Event metadata enables CRM reporting to filter and segment contacts by show — essential for measuring per-event ROI over time.

Category 3 — Lead temperature

The Hot/Warm/Cold temperature rating set by the rep at the time of capture. This maps to a custom property in HubSpot (typically “Event Lead Temperature” with a dropdown of Hot, Warm, Cold) or a custom field in Salesforce (same structure). The temperature field is the primary trigger for workflow branching: hot triggers one workflow, warm another, cold a third. Configuring these three workflows before the first show is the most important setup task — without them, the temperature data syncs but does not activate the follow-up automation.

Category 4 — Qualifying question answers

The structured answers to each custom qualifying question configured for the show. Each question answer maps to a specific CRM property — either a pre-existing field or a custom field created for the BoothMaven integration. In HubSpot: custom Contact properties, typically with the same labels as the BoothMaven question text (e.g., “Current Lead Capture Solution”, “Decision Timeline”, “Budget Status”). In Salesforce: custom Lead fields with matching API names configured in the BoothMaven-Salesforce field mapping settings.

The qualifying question answers are the most valuable data in the sync payload for the follow-up rep. They tell the rep what the visitor said about their need, authority, and timeline — the three dimensions that determine follow-up approach. Without qualifying question answers in the CRM record, the rep has only the contact identity data and must rely on the voice note for context.

Category 5 — Voice note transcript

The auto-transcribed text of the voice note recorded after the interaction. In HubSpot, this syncs as a Contact Activity of type “Note” with the transcript as the body text and the event name and timestamp as the note title. In Salesforce, it syncs as an Activity (Call or Task) record associated with the Lead. The transcript is stored as searchable text in both platforms — meaning reps can search the CRM for specific terms that appeared in voice notes (competitor names, feature requests, timeline phrases) across all contacts from a given show.

Category 6 — Rep assignment

The BoothMaven rep who captured the lead — used to set the CRM record owner. In HubSpot, the Contact is assigned to the HubSpot user corresponding to the BoothMaven rep. In Salesforce, the Lead is assigned to the Salesforce user corresponding to the capturing rep. The rep-to-CRM-user mapping is configured in the BoothMaven integration settings before the show. For teams where territory routing overrides the capturing rep (e.g., a global event where a London rep captured a lead that should route to the US team), CRM assignment rules can be configured to re-route based on the contact’s country or industry after sync.

Category 7 — CASL consent date (for Canadian contacts)

For contacts identified as Canadian (via country field in badge data or form submission), BoothMaven automatically populates a CASL consent date field in the CRM at the time of sync. This is the date of the badge scan or form submission — the start of the two-year implied CASL consent window. The field is used by CRM suppression workflows to automatically exclude contacts from commercial email after their consent window expires.

BoothMaven + HubSpot: How the Integration Works

The BoothMaven-HubSpot integration uses the HubSpot Contacts API and Activities API. Authentication is via HubSpot OAuth — the BoothMaven admin connects to HubSpot once through the BoothMaven integration settings, and the OAuth token handles all subsequent API calls. OAuth tokens require periodic re-authentication (HubSpot tokens are valid for six hours with auto-refresh using a refresh token valid for 90 days — BoothMaven handles the auto-refresh transparently). If you receive sync errors at the show related to authentication, re-authenticate the HubSpot connection in BoothMaven settings.

Contact creation and deduplication

BoothMaven checks for an existing HubSpot Contact by email address before creating a new record. If a Contact with the same email exists: BoothMaven updates the existing Contact with the new event data (temperature, questions, voice note activity, event metadata) and does not create a duplicate. If no matching Contact exists: BoothMaven creates a new Contact with all sync fields populated. The deduplication is email-exact — contacts with the same person but different email addresses (personal vs work email) may result in two records. For known issues with email variants, configure HubSpot’s native deduplication merge rules as a secondary deduplication layer.

Workflow triggering

Configure three HubSpot Contact-based workflows before the first show:

• Hot Lead Workflow: Trigger: Contact property “Event Lead Temperature” is equal to “Hot” AND “Last Event Name” is known. Actions: Create a task for the Contact owner (Due: Today, Priority: High, Subject: “Hot lead follow-up — [Event Name]”), enrol in the hot lead email sequence, send internal Slack notification to the Contact owner.
• Warm Lead Workflow: Trigger: Contact property “Event Lead Temperature” is equal to “Warm” AND “Last Event Name” is known. Actions: Enrol in the warm lead nurture sequence (5–7 touches over 30 days), create a task (Due: 2 business days, Priority: Medium).
• Cold Lead Workflow: Trigger: Contact property “Event Lead Temperature” is equal to “Cold” AND “Last Event Name” is known. Actions: Enrol in the cold nurture sequence (10 touches over 90 days), segment by Industry property for industry-specific sequence routing.

Test all three workflows before the show with sample contacts at each temperature level. Confirm that tasks are created, sequences are enrolled, and the workflows are not re-triggering for contacts already in a sequence from a previous show.

BoothMaven + Salesforce: How the Integration Works

The BoothMaven-Salesforce integration uses the Salesforce REST API with OAuth 2.0 authentication. The integration creates or updates Salesforce Lead records (or, if configured, Contact records for contacts already in Salesforce as Contacts rather than Leads). Salesforce Campaign integration is supported: each show can be configured as a Salesforce Campaign, and captured leads are automatically added as Campaign Members with a “Responded” status, enabling accurate Campaign ROI reporting in Salesforce.

Lead creation and deduplication

BoothMaven queries Salesforce for existing Lead or Contact records by email before creating a new Lead. If an existing Lead is found: the Lead is updated with new event data (temperature field, qualifying question fields, event name, timestamp). If an existing Contact is found (the person is already a customer or existing pipeline): BoothMaven creates an Activity on the Contact record rather than a new Lead, preserving the contact’s existing record status. If no match: a new Lead is created with the full sync payload. The Lead-to-Contact conversion within Salesforce follows your existing conversion rules — BoothMaven does not force conversion; this remains a rep-initiated action once the Lead is qualified.

Salesforce Flow and Process Builder triggers

Configure Salesforce Flows (or Process Builder rules for older Salesforce orgs) to trigger on Lead Temperature field changes. Three flows mirror the HubSpot workflow structure: Hot Lead Flow (creates a high-priority Task, sends Chatter notification to Lead owner, optionally enrols in Outreach or Salesloft sequence), Warm Lead Flow (creates a medium-priority Task, enrols in follow-up cadence), Cold Lead Flow (enrols in nurture cadence, optionally assigns to marketing queue). The Flows trigger on the Lead record update from BoothMaven — which arrives within minutes of the on-show capture — enabling same-day task creation without any rep action required.

Setting Up Field Mapping Before the Show

Field mapping — defining which BoothMaven data fields map to which HubSpot properties or Salesforce fields — must be configured before the first show. Incorrect field mapping is the most common cause of post-show CRM data quality problems: temperature ends up in a notes field, qualifying question answers go to the wrong property, or voice note transcripts do not appear in the expected location.

Standard field mapping (BoothMaven defaults)

Custom HubSpot properties and Salesforce custom fields must be created in the CRM before configuring the BoothMaven mapping. BoothMaven’s integration setup wizard walks through the creation steps for all required custom fields. For teams with existing CRM configurations, the wizard allows mapping to pre-existing custom fields rather than creating new ones — preventing redundant properties in established CRM environments.

CRM Integrations Beyond HubSpot and Salesforce

BoothMaven integrates natively with HubSpot and Salesforce as its primary CRM partners. For other CRM platforms, BoothMaven supports integration via Zapier and webhooks, enabling connection to virtually any CRM with an API.

Pipedrive, Zoho, and mid-market CRMs

For teams using Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, or other mid-market platforms, the BoothMaven Zapier integration (or webhook-based integration) allows the same data payload to sync to these platforms, with field mapping configured in Zapier’s interface. The Zapier integration adds a processing delay of 5–15 minutes compared to the native API sync — which is acceptable for most use cases but means the truly real-time workflow triggering that is available in the HubSpot and Salesforce native integrations requires additional configuration.

200+ platform integrations via Zapier

BoothMaven’s Zapier connection makes the full sync payload available to any of Zapier’s 5,000+ app integrations — including marketing automation platforms (Marketo, Pardot, Klaviyo), customer success tools (Gainsight, ChurnZero), and sales engagement platforms (Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo) that are not available as native BoothMaven integrations. See BoothMaven integrations for the complete integration directory.

Troubleshooting Common CRM Sync Issues

Issue 1: Records not appearing in CRM after sync

Most common cause: Expired OAuth token (HubSpot refresh tokens expire after 90 days of inactivity; Salesforce session tokens expire after configurable inactivity periods). Resolution: Re-authenticate the CRM connection in BoothMaven Settings → Integrations → [CRM name] → Reconnect. All queued records will sync automatically after re-authentication.

Issue 2: Records creating duplicates despite deduplication

Most common cause: The existing CRM record uses a different email address variant (e.g., [email protected] vs [email protected]). BoothMaven’s deduplication is email-exact. Resolution: Configure HubSpot’s or Salesforce’s native deduplication merge rules to catch same-person, different-email scenarios. In Salesforce, the Duplicate Management rules can be set to identify leads and contacts by name + company as well as email.

Issue 3: Lead temperature workflow not triggering

Most common cause: The workflow trigger condition references a property that does not match the BoothMaven field mapping — e.g., the HubSpot workflow looks for “Lead Temperature = Hot” but the BoothMaven mapping writes to “Event Lead Temperature”. Resolution: Open BoothMaven Settings → Integrations → HubSpot/Salesforce → Field Mapping and confirm the temperature field name. Update the workflow trigger to match the exact property name used in the mapping.

Issue 4: Voice note transcript not appearing in CRM

Most common cause: The HubSpot or Salesforce integration permission scope does not include Activities/Tasks write access. Resolution: Re-authenticate the CRM connection in BoothMaven with the Activities write scope included. The scope list is shown during the OAuth authorisation screen — confirm that “create and update activities” (HubSpot) or “Manage tasks and events” (Salesforce) is included.

The Pre-Show CRM Integration Checklist

Every show on the calendar requires the same 30-minute integration check before the show opens. CRM platforms change — properties get renamed, workflows accumulate conditions, OAuth tokens expire — and a silent integration failure on the show floor produces a post-show CRM reconciliation that takes hours rather than the post-show review that takes minutes. The following checklist applies to both HubSpot and Salesforce integrations.

7 days before the show

• Update the Event Name field default in BoothMaven to the specific show name. All captures from this show will be tagged with this value. If the field still shows the previous show name, every record from the new show will be incorrectly attributed.
• Verify qualifying questions are configured correctly for this show. Questions appropriate for a manufacturing trade show differ from those for a SaaS conference. Open BoothMaven → Event Setup → Qualifying Questions and confirm all questions, options, and CRM field mappings are current.
• Check that CRM workflows are active and correctly scoped. Open each temperature workflow in HubSpot or Salesforce Flow and confirm: trigger is active (not paused), trigger condition references the correct property name, and the workflow scope does not exclude the new event’s contacts.

3 days before the show: full integration test

• Test 1 — Hot lead: Capture a test lead in BoothMaven with temperature set to Hot. Confirm the record appears in the CRM within 5 minutes, all fields are populated correctly, and the Hot Lead workflow has fired (task created, sequence enrolment confirmed). Delete the test record from the CRM after confirmation.
• Test 2 — Offline sync: Enable airplane mode on the scanning device. Capture a second test lead (Warm temperature). Confirm the record shows “Queued” in BoothMaven sync status. Re-enable WiFi. Confirm the record syncs within 5 minutes and the Warm workflow fires correctly.
• Test 3 — Deduplication: Create a contact in the CRM with an email address that matches a test badge or card. Capture that badge/card in BoothMaven. Confirm that BoothMaven updates the existing record rather than creating a duplicate.

Morning of the show: quick sync status check

Before the show floor opens, open BoothMaven on each scanning device and check: integration status shows “Connected” (green indicator), sync queue shows zero pending records, and the Event Name field shows the correct show name. If any device shows a yellow or red sync status, re-authenticate the CRM connection immediately before the first visitor arrives. This five-second check on each device prevents the scenario where one team member’s device spends the entire show day accumulating records in an offline queue that never syncs because the authentication expired.

Post-Show CRM Sync Audit

On the morning after show close, run a three-item sync audit before the follow-up workflows have been running for more than a few hours. Catching sync errors on the morning after the show is dramatically easier than discovering them a week later when the pipeline data is already inconsistent.

The three audit checks: (1) total lead count — total contacts tagged with this show’s Event Name in the CRM should match the total captures in BoothMaven’s event summary. Any discrepancy indicates records that failed to sync; investigate the BoothMaven sync error log for the affected records. (2) Temperature distribution — if the hot/warm/cold split looks unusual (e.g., 90% hot or 0% warm), check whether a default temperature was inadvertently applied to all records or whether a field mapping error wrote all temperatures as the same value. (3) Voice note presence — for all hot lead records, confirm that a voice note Activity is present in the CRM record. Hot leads without voice notes indicate either a capture protocol failure (the rep did not record a note) or a sync error (the Activities scope was missing from the OAuth permissions).

The post-show sync audit takes 15 minutes and prevents the costly scenario of discovering three weeks after the show that 40 records were never in the CRM, their hot lead workflows never fired, and those contacts never received a follow-up email.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

CRM sync transforms a lead capture app from a data collection tool into a pipeline generation system. The data collection — badge scan, qualifying questions, temperature, voice note — is valuable. The real-time CRM sync that delivers that data to the rep within minutes of the interaction, triggers the hot lead workflow before the show day ends, and starts the follow-up sequence while the visitor’s memory of the conversation is still fresh — that is where the pipeline value is actually realised.

Configure the integration before the first show. Test it with a sample capture at every temperature level. And run the integration test again 3 days before every subsequent show — CRM OAuth tokens expire, field mappings drift when CRM properties change, and workflows accumulate conditions that may prevent triggering. The 30 minutes of pre-show integration testing prevents the post-show discovery that the sync was silently failing.