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CRM Backfills

How to safely sync Evergrowth with your CRM

Updated over a week ago

A "CRM backfill" is the task you run to sync records and their fields between Evergrowth and your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.)

It’s powerful, but if you pick the wrong settings, you can overwrite data you meant to keep.

Quick start (if you’re unsure)

If you want to start safe, then work your way up, set up your synchronisations iteratively like this:

  1. Link Only (safest): Links matching records without changing any data

  2. Create Only: Creates missing records without touching existing ones

  3. Update: Only use this when you explicitly want data overwritten

Before you run a backfill (2-minute checklist) ✅

Before you click anything, confirm:

  • What’s your source of truth? (CRM or Evergrowth)

  • Do you understand that using the "Update" setting can overwrite data in the system being pushed to?

  • Are your field mappings configured correctly in the integration settings?

  • Are you doing an Initial backfill (first-time setup & connection) or Manual backfill (one entity on-demand, Accounts, Contacts or Users only)?

  • If there’s any concern about loss: have you backed up important data?

    • Or do you have an easy method for retrieving/restoring to previous values?

The two settings that decide what happens during your backfill

Backfills are defined by:

  1. Direction (which way data can flow)

  2. Write mode (whether you create and/or update records)

1) Direction: where does data flow? 🔁

Inbound (CRM → Evergrowth): Pulls data from your CRM into Evergrowth

This is applicable for:

  • Initial setup: Getting Evergrowth populated with all your existing Accounts & Contacts

  • Inbound Channels: Passing new records from your CRM to Evergrowth

  • Activity-based updates: ensuring Evergrowth is updates with any changes that take place in your CRM to reflect customer activity (such as contacts moving to new deal stages, companies being marked as "closed won" customers)

Outbound (Evergrowth → CRM): Pushes data from Evergrowth to your CRM

This is applicable when:

  • Outbound: You want new records that Evergrowth finds (Accounts from Accounts Navigator, or Contacts from Contact Finder) to be created in your CRM

  • Enrichment: When existing connected records are refreshed or further enriched with new signals, contact details, plays, etc.

2) Write mode: what will Evergrowth do to records? ✍️

Your “Create” and “Update” selections have 4 possible options:

1) Link Only (Create OFF, Update OFF)

→ Links matching records only. No data changes

→ Safest ✅

2) Create Only (Create ON, Update OFF)

→ Creates new records if no match. Never updates existing data.

→ Safe ✅

3) Update Only (Create OFF, Update ON)

→ Updates existing records. Never creates new records.

→ Medium risk ⚠️

4) Create AND Update (Create ON, Update ON)

→ Creates and updates records.

→ Highest risk ⚠️

⚠️ Important: “Update” means there is the potential to replace existing data, such as overwriting phone numbers or email addresses

This is useful if you’re using Evergrowth to refresh an outdated CRM.

However, if much of your CRM is currently being used, you should be aware of contact details being overwritten with Evergrowth values!

For Inbound Update, CRM values will overwrite Evergrowth values

For Outbound Update Evergrowth values will overwrite CRM values

How to run a backfill in Evergrowth

Note: Exact button labels can vary by CRM integration. The steps below describe the workflow, not a specific UI path.

Step 1) Go to Integrations in the left-hand menu

Step 2) Open the integration page for your specific CRM

Step 3) Click 🔄 Sync, then choose your desired sync type (details below)

Step 4) Configure your Sync Settings, then click Launch

Picking your Sync Type

Option A: Run an Initial Backfill (first-time setup)

When to use: You’ve just configured the CRM integration and want Evergrowth populated safely.


​Direction: Inbound only
Evergrowth syncs in this order:

Syncs Users → then syncs Accounts → then syncs Contacts (all automatically)

Recommended settings: Create Only (safe first-time setup)

Option B: Run a Manual Backfill (on-demand)

When to use: You need to sync one entity (or one direction) at a specific time.
​What you choose: Direction → Entity → Write mode.

Step 1) In your Integrations page,

Step 2) Click 🔄 Sync > Custom

Step 3) Enter your sync settings:

  • Choose an Entity: Users, Accounts, Contacts (& Leads if your CRM supports it)

  • Choose your write mode:

    • Link Only (Create OFF, Update OFF)

    • Create Only (Create ON, Update OFF)

    • Update Only (Create OFF, Update ON)

    • Update & Insert (Create ON, Update ON)

Step 4) Launch the backfill and review the outcome before changing modes

Step 5) Review the outcome, then head back to step 3 to repeat for any other entities you wish to sync

"Which backfill should you run?" Decision guide 🎯

Scenario 1: First-time CRM Connection

Goal: Pull all your CRM data into Evergrowth (without affecting CRM)
​Recommended Settings: Initial Backfill + Create Only (Inbound)

Scenario 2: Your CRM is your source of truth

Goal: Update Evergrowth so it fully matches your CRM
​Recommended Settings: Custom + Inbound (Evergrowth ⬅️ CRM) + Update

Warning: This can overwrite anything data you've entered in Evergrowth

Scenario 3: Push enriched data back to CRM

Goal: Write Evergrowth enrichment to CRM fields.
​Recommended Settings: Custom + Outbound (Evergrowth ➡️ CRM) + [pick mode]:

  • Create Only: Add new records only to ensure your CRM contains all the records & data that Evergrowth does

  • Update Only: Update existing records only

  • Update: Both

Scenario 4: Just connect records (no data changes)

Goal: Connect duplicates across systems without changing anything.
​Recommended Settings: Link Only (Create OFF, Update OFF)

How matching works - why some records link and others don’t

When backfilling, Evergrowth tries to find and connect the same records across systems

Matching happens in a priority order:

Accounts (Companies)

Matching is attempted using:

→ CRM ID

→ then Evergrowth ID

→ then (website) Domain

→ then Company Name

Contacts (People)

Matching is attempted using:

→ CRM ID

→ then Evergrowth ID

→ then LinkedIn URL

→ then First + Last Name

For more information see this article: 📖 Duplicate records in Evergrowth

⚠️ Data safety: what “Update” really means

Selecting Update can overwrite data:

  • Inbound Update (CRM → Evergrowth): CRM values overwrite Evergrowth values (any manual changes in Evergrowth may be lost)

  • Outbound Update (Evergrowth → CRM): Evergrowth values overwrite CRM values (historical, manually populated CRM data may be lost)

If you’re ever unsure, run Link Only first, confirm matches look right, then increase write permissions.

Troubleshooting & tips

Seeing duplicates?

Start with Link Only to verify matching before any write mode that creates or updates

Contacts not appearing?

Confirm Accounts were synced first (Contacts need parent Accounts to belong to)

Worried about overwriting?

Avoid the Update+Create setting until your team agrees on source of truth (and ideally takes a backup or export of critical data)

Additional reading 📚

🗂️ Integrations - Find our articles covering how to connect Evergrowth with external systems, like your CRM

📖 Duplicate Records in Evergrowth - Learn about how Evergrowth handles duplicate records & how it uses unique identifier fields to match & update records between Evergrowth & your CRM or for new imports

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