The new Associate Records action lets a workflow link records across your CRM automatically, by matching the values in their fields.

It works across Contacts, Companies, Opportunities and Custom Objects, depending on the type of workflow and the associations set up in your account.

What the action can do

• Find records using one or more filters based on field values
• Use details from the record already in the workflow as the values it matches on
• Associate the earliest record created, the latest one, or all matching records
• Apply an association label you have already set up
• Create associations between different types of record

How it works

1. Add the Associate Records action to a Contact, Company or Custom Object workflow.
2. Select the type of record you want to link to.
3. Add filters that identify the matching records.
4. Choose what should happen when several records match.
5. Select an association label, where one is needed.
6. Save and publish the workflow.

When you add more than one filter, a record has to meet every condition to qualify.

An example

An estate agency can automatically link a buyer to the Property records that match the town, property type and number of bedrooms they are looking for, instead of connecting them one at a time.

Why it matters

• Far less linking of records by hand
• Associations across your records stay accurate
• Workflows can act on associated records, not just the one that started them
• The same automation works for standard records and Custom Objects

Where to find it

Associate Records is currently available through Labs. Turn it on under Settings, then Labs, then Associate Records - Workflow Action. It then appears as an action inside the workflow builder.