LMN & Zapier: A Guide

Introduction to Zapier

Zapier is used to create Zaps. A Zap works by listening passively in the background for any occurrence of a triggering event that you specify. This triggering action can take place within LMN or in a different Zapier-compatible app (such as Hubspot, Mailchimp, or Gmail).

When a triggering event takes place, the Zap will perform an action, which typically involves sending data from one environment to another to update or create a record.

On the LMN side, our Zapier Beta includes:

  • Three types of possible trigger events that can be used to trigger an action in a different app;
  • Two types of actions that can be performed 

Overview of Actions and Triggers Available to LMN Zapier Beta users

IMPORTANT NOTE: To use any LMN-side entity as a triggering event (e.g. a Communication History record, an estimate, or a To-Do), you will need to have one within your LMN testing account that has been created/updated within the last 24 hours. Otherwise you will not be able to properly test your Zap, which is a critical Zap creation step (see Getting Started with the Zapier Beta, below, for more on this).

ACTION: Create a To-Do, Request, or Communication History Item within LMN

  • Possible Triggering Events:
    • A new To-Do or similar note-type entity is created in a (Zapier-Ready) environment outside of LMN
    • An existing To-Do or similar note-type entity is updated in a (Zapier-Ready) environment outside of LMN
    • A new communication item (e.g. an email) is created/sent in a (Zapier-Ready) environment outside of LMN
  • Use Case:
    • Are you receiving/sending notes in an environment other than LMN – such as for example, a text note that comes in via the lead intake form on your website? You can use this Zap to bring the data of that message into LMN’s CRM as a Communication History record for that contact.
    • Do you have staff that are creating tasks/to-dos in a separate project management software? Give your back office visibility to those tasks by bringing them into LMN as To-Dos or Requests.
  • Try it With:
    • Mailchimp (record a sent email/message in Communication History)
    • Gmail (bringing a received email into Communication History)
    • Asana (bring a Task into LMN as a To-Do or Request)

ACTION: Update/Create a Note, a To-Do, or a Communication Record in a (Zapier-ready) environment outside of LMN

  • Possible Triggering Events:
    • A new Communication History item is created within LMN
    • An existing Communication History item is updated within LMN
    • A new To-Do/Request is created within LMN
    • An existing To-Do/Request is updated within LMN
  • Use Case:
    • Is your company using a different system to manage some communications or staff tasks? With Zapier, anytime a To-Do, Request, or Communication History item is updated or created, you can arrange to have it sync out to another environment of your choice.
  • Try it With:
    • Salesforce (communication records)
    • A project management tool like Asana or Monday (for To-Dos or Requests)

ACTION: Find an LMN Contact

  • Use Case:
    • This Action is intended to be used in combination with other Create or Update actions within LMN. The action can be used to:
      • Retrieve a specific Contact and pull their details -- including their Lead ID, which will be needed if you want to add an additional step that will, for e.g., create a To-Do within LMN.
      • Create a new LMN Contact, using details pulled from whichever environment the triggering event took place in, if a Contact matching those details could not be found within the LMN CRM (per the previous bullet).
  • Try it With:
    • LMN's 'Update an LMN Contact' action (described below) to retrieve a unique identifier for a Contact before proceeding to update them.
    • LMN's 'Create a To-Do, Request, or Communication History Item within LMN' Action (described above), to fetch the appropriate Lead ID for a Contact that will be associated with the To-Do you create.

ACTION: Create an LMN Contact

  • Possible Triggering Events (outside of LMN):
    • A new Contact/Lead is created in a (Zapier-ready) environment outside of LMN
    • An existing Contact/Lead is updated in a (Zapier-ready) environment outside of LMN
  • Use Case:
    • With this Zap, you can set things up so that each time a contact is created in another environment, that contact is also added to your LMN CRM, bringing over whichever fields you specify. (NOTE: This Action will not check to see if the contact already exists -- if you want to perform that check first, we recommend instead using the 'Find Contact' action described above.)
    • This will be useful for ensuring that any leads captured in other environments, are dynamically mirrored into LMN for full visibility and actioning.
  • Try it With:
    • A CRM tool such as Salesforce or Hubspot
    • A lead generation form like Hubspot or Jotform

ACTION: Update an LMN Contact

  • Possible Triggering Events (outside of LMN):
    • An existing Contact/Lead is updated in a (Zapier-ready) environment outside of LMN
  • Use Case:
    • With this Action, you can set things up so that each time a contact is updated in another environment, that update is also applied to a matching contact within your LMN CRM. This will be very helpful for keeping lead and contact lists synced across the various programs used by your business – and for making sure new leads are captured properly.
  • Try it With:
    • A CRM tool such as Salesforce or Hubspot
    • A lead generation form like Hubspot or Jotform

ACTION: Create/Update a Contact Outside of LMN

  • Possible Triggering Events (Within LMN):
    • A new Contact is created within LMN
    • An existing Contact’s information is updated within LMN
  • Use Case:
    • Anytime a Contact is updated/created in LMN, you can have a Zap send that customer’s data to a different environment. This is perfect for keeping any separate CRMs synced, or keeping your lists up to date in an email tool.
  • Try it With:
    • A CRM tool such as Salesforce or Hubspot
    • An email marketing tool such as Mailchimp or Constant Contact

ACTION: Update an Entity outside of LMN to include LMN Estimate Information

  • Possible Triggering Events (Within LMN):
    • A new LMN Estimate is created
    • An existing LMN Estimate is updated
  • Use Case:
    • Is your team keeping track of sales opportunities in a separate environment outside of LMN? You can use this Action to populate that environment with the data from an LMN estimate whenever one is created or updated.
  • Try it With:
    • Sales opportunity tracking software such as Salesforce or Hubspot

Getting Started with the Zapier and LMN

Validate your Zapier and LMN Accounts

1. In order to use Zapier and LMN together, you'll need to make sure that your LMN Account has a Professional or Enterprise subscription. To check your current subscription or upgrade, visit the Subscription page found in LMN Settings.

2. If you don't have a Zapier account already, you'll need to create one in order to set up Zaps that connect with LMN. 

3. After you have created your Zapier account (or logged into your existing account), you'll be redirected to the Zaps screen. This is where you'll start building a Zap that interacts with LMN.

Create a Zap with an LMN-Side Trigger

1. Click on the “Create Zap” button seen at the top left corner of your Zaps screen:

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2. First, we’ll start by selecting a
Trigger. (This is the event your Zap will passively listen for, and fire an Action when it happens.) Under “App Event,” you’ll see a search bar. Within this bar, type “lmn” as your query, and among the results you should see “LMN (2.0.5).” Click on this option and you will be taken to the next step.

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3. From the
Event dropdown menu, select the Event you’d like to use as the Trigger (e.g. “Task/Note Created or Updated”):

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4. Next, you’ll be prompted to connect your LMN account. Click on the blue “Sign In” button:

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5. A pop-up will open prompting you for an
API Key and an API User Name. These can be found LMN under Settings -> Zapier

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Enable Zapier and Save your settings. You'll need your API key and API User name.

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Go ahead and enter them then click the “Yes, Continue” button:

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6. Now you’ll see a green checkmark to the right of the “Choose Account” subheading. This means we can click the blue “Continue” button to proceed:

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7. Next, we need to test the trigger. Zapier does allow you to skip this step, but we strongly recommend to perform this test, and confirm that it is successful, before proceeding further.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For this test to work properly, you need to make sure you have at least one instance of the entity your trigger event is based on (e.g. a To-Do if you are testing the “Task/Note Created/Updated in LMN” event) that has been created/updated within the last 24 hours. If an LMN-side entity was last created/updated more than 24 hours ago, Zapier will not be able to retrieve it and the test will fail.

In a separate tab, confirm within your LMN account that there is an entity which:

  • Was created/updated less than 24 hours ago; and,
  • Is of the appropriate type to trigger the event you have selected (e.g. a To-Do if you are testing the “Task/Note Created or Updated” LMN-side trigger)

Then, head back to your Zapier tab and click on the blue “Test trigger” button:

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8. Zapier will find an entity matching your criteria (for our example it found a To-Do). If this operation is successful, here you’ll be shown a readout of the data fields it was able to retrieve from LMN and bring into Zapier. Give it a quick look and take note of the fields that came through:

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9. Next, scroll down to the Action panel. This is where you’ll pick whichever App you want to feed LMN data into based on the triggering event. After the action is set up, you’ll be all set to begin using your new Zap!

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Create a Zap with an LMN-Side Action

1. Zaps that perform an action in LMN, based on a trigger event occurring elsewhere, are set up with a flow very similar to the above. However, we'll begin with specifying -- and setting up -- a Trigger that utilizes a different app (in the sample below, we're setting the trigger event to be the receipt of any inbound email within a designated Gmail inbox):

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2. When it comes time to choose the Action for your Zap, you can search for and select the latest LMN version (in this example we would select 2.0.1 since it has a tag of "Latest"):

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3. Use the Action panel's "Event" dropdown to select which of the LMN-side Actions you want to be performed by this Zap when the triggering event occurs, then click on the blue "Continue" button:

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4. Next, you'll need to connect your LMN account. If you already connected it by making a previous Zap, you'll be able to just select that connected account here. (If you haven't yet connected your LMN account, see the Create a Zap with an LMN-Side Trigger instructions above for guidance on how to do so.)

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5. Next, the Action panel will show you all of the data fields on the LMN side that may be populated with data via this Zap. You will need to go through the list and, where applicable, map these to the appropriate data field coming in from your other environment. There is a convenient search tool provided to make this easier, in instanced where the incoming data contains many fields:

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6. After field mapping is complete, you'll be able to conduct a test. At this point Zapier will notify you of any LMN-side fields that will remain unpopulated, after the Action has been run.

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