Chad Seales

Integration really becomes the engine for the automation, and we can replace a lot of manual work with automated flows between systems with integration. So a great example of this is we had a client that was heavily utilizing their ERP for order management, and we were able to effectively integrate their CRM with that ERP to save them multiple hours of work per order, because we were able to reduce the amount of manual typing — the re-entry that they were having to do. So that integration fueled them to be able to automate their processes and ultimately saved them a ton of time and made them more efficient.

Sam Donaghey

This podcast is brought to you by Fast Slow Motion, a team of expert consultants that have helped hundreds of growing businesses build scalable systems on the HubSpot and Salesforce platforms. To learn more, visit fastslowmotion.com. Welcome to the Fast Slow Motion podcast, where we teach you how to build a business you love while enjoying your life.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by none other than Fast Slow Motion’s CTO, Chad Seales, and today Chad is going to be guiding us through the topic of how to integrate key business systems. Chad, welcome once again to the podcast. It’s great to see you.

Chad Seales

Thanks, Sam. I’m excited to be here.

Sam Donaghey

Awesome. Well, let’s start with the basics. Chad, how do you actually define integration?

Chad Seales

Yeah, at its core, integration is just the process of connecting two or more software systems so that they can work seamlessly together. When we say integrations, we’re talking about connecting your CRM, your ERP, your marketing tools — literally everything that can communicate and share data back and forth, essentially creating a more cohesive system.

And there are several types of integrations that we’ll get into — native, API-driven, third-party tools like middleware — but there are even manual integration methods like exporting and importing data between systems.

Sam Donaghey

And there’s nothing wrong with starting simple, right? Sometimes we even recommend clients begin with a manual integration until they’re ready for a more automated setup. Is that right?

Chad Seales

Yeah, absolutely. We recommend a phased approach. We like to start with manual exports, maybe leveraging something like a flat file that we can then import into a system. That can be the ideal first step because it’s all about making sure that your systems are well adopted before you jump into automation and integration. Because we can always scale up to more complex integration methods like APIs or middleware when the time is right.

Sam Donaghey

Okay, so let’s dive straight into how integration ties into the scalable business framework. Our listeners by now should be familiar with our framework — processes, automation, and visibility. But how does integration really play a role here?

Chad Seales

Yeah, integration really touches each of the pillars. So let’s start with processes. To effectively integrate systems, you need well-defined processes in place. Without these, you’re just going to create chaos. I remember working with a client who was using spreadsheets and Google Calendar to track their field service work. They couldn’t see their capacity and they had no way to really plan effectively. So first we moved them to Salesforce Field Service, where they could actually visualize their entire process and plan their capacity. That foundational process then allowed us to integrate with Verizon, which allowed them to accept new work orders. This is just one perfect example of building integration on top of well-established and well-adopted processes.

Sam Donaghey

So it sounds like integration is almost like a reward for getting those processes right.

Chad Seales

Yeah, that’s a great way to put it. Integration really becomes the engine for the automation, and we can replace a lot of manual work with automated flows between systems. A great example of this is we had a client that was heavily utilizing their ERP for order management, and we were able to effectively integrate their CRM with that ERP to save them multiple hours of work per order, because we were able to reduce the amount of manual re-entry they were having to do. So that integration fueled them to be able to automate their processes and ultimately saved them a ton of time and made them more efficient.

Sam Donaghey

So could you walk us through a scenario where automation actually introduced more problems than solutions due to poorly defined processes?

Chad Seales

You want to be certain that you have the right processes in place before you automate them, before you leverage integration to bring the systems together. But it’s inevitable — sometimes you’re going to get it wrong, you’re going to need to re-architect your process, and that does happen. But the way that we mitigate that risk, the way that we prevent spending too much time and money on one approach, is we work iteratively.

What that means is we try to take the smallest chunk of value — how much value can we get out of the minimal amount of integration work — and then you see what the results are. So maybe that first approach of a flat file import is your first path of integration. What we’ve done there is prevented building out the more complex, more elaborate integration, because we weren’t certain our processes were well-defined enough to support it.

And then there are times when you build the integration and you begin running it and you recognize, oh, I need to shift, I need to change my process. Well, if you keep those small iterative chunks of work tight enough, that allows you to change, to iterate, to move, to be what we would call agile. Our process of working in small iterative chunks allows us to make those kinds of changes so that if you did pick the wrong process to automate, you are afforded the opportunity to change that without it being detrimental to the business.

Sam Donaghey

Okay. So we’ve covered processes and automation — let’s dive into visibility.

Chad Seales

Yeah, absolutely. Integration is going to transform your ability to have visibility into your business. It’s going to do that by unifying the data across your systems into a single source of truth, or a single pane of glass.

So instead of working with scattered, siloed information, everything becomes centralized and accessible. One of our clients was struggling with inventory management. They had no clear way of knowing what was in stock, what they needed, or when they needed to reorder, because their inventory and their invoicing were handled separately in their financial tools. After transitioning them to a CRM, we were able to integrate those two tools and that unlocked real-time insights into both inventory and sales. This ensured that they had the right products and the right inventory available at the right time.

So integration is all about empowering business leaders to have the visibility they need to make smarter and faster decisions.

Sam Donaghey

Awesome. Okay. Well, let’s talk about the different levels or types of integration that businesses might encounter.

Chad Seales

Sure. You can really think about integration in three different levels. The first would be a basic or native integration. This is a custom-built integration by a software provider to work in a certain way, to solve a certain problem. Think about syncing your CRM with your marketing platform, or leveraging something like DocuSign with your CRM. It’s purpose-built by the provider — it’s straightforward, effective, and easy to use right out of the box.

The next level would be a manual integration. This is when we move beyond the native integration — maybe one isn’t available for the integration you’re looking for. These are a bit more complex, and what we would recommend is to leverage a manual or scheduled export and import style integration. For example, we might manually export data out of one system and then manually import it into another, or use a scheduled flat file import. It’s a manual means by which to connect the two systems, but it’s still achievable.

The final level is the advanced integration. This is what most people think of when they hear the word “integration” — connecting through APIs, through a custom integration, or through middleware like MuleSoft. The reason we would use a middleware like MuleSoft is that they often have connectors that make the integration process easier, because they understand the common reasons why the integration exists. These connectors help facilitate data mapping and streamline the processes.

In that advanced integration, it’s significantly more complex than the manual or native approaches because it is custom — purpose-built to solve the specific business problems of the business building the integration.

And lastly, I just wanted to mention the Fast Slow Motion integration framework. We’ve developed our own framework to help standardize our integration projects. When we have the need to build that advanced integration between two or more systems, the framework includes core components that you need to actually do that work — like authentication, endpoint configurations, and even reusable metadata. What it does is help our integration projects be more efficient, more effective, and ultimately easier for our clients to maintain. This means faster time to value, improved data accuracy, and simplified ongoing support for our clients.

Sam Donaghey

So Chad, it sounds like it’s really important to choose the right level of integration. How do you make the decision to integrate rather than just replacing that system with a platform?

Chad Seales

Oh, that’s a great question. It is very important to choose the right type of integration, but it’s also important to choose the right type of system to perform the process or operation that the business needs. A business may be leveraging an external system like an ERP effectively, because that external system was purpose-built to solve a specific problem in a specific way.

If a business is effectively leveraging that system, what they first need is visibility. They need to put some process around having that visibility, and that’s where integration can help — you can bring that data from the external system, where the data is being captured and where those processes currently live, and bring it into the system where you’re performing your visibility, your processes, your automation, your analysis.

And then with platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot, we know that over time, as you grow and scale your business, you may absorb those processes onto the platform. You may build what currently exists externally — the processes, operations, and automation necessary to support them — right within the CRM. And that’s often a great solution, and that’s what we’re building towards. But in the interim, between where we’re going and where we are today, integration will provide you that single pane of glass, that visibility that you couldn’t have otherwise.

Sam Donaghey

Do you have any real-world examples of this? How have our clients benefited from these integration strategies?

Chad Seales

Yeah, absolutely. One of our clients was struggling with their CRM implementation — not adopting their CRM well. So we had to revisit and fix their operational processes within the CRM, relaunch it internally, and build adoption. Then once we had solid processes in place and good adoption, we were able to integrate their CRM with their payroll and timekeeping solution. This allowed them to automate their employee tracking and payroll processing, and really reduce the manual errors they were seeing because of duplicative work. This was a major efficiency boost for them. But that integration win was only possible because we first resolved their poor CRM implementation and lack of adoption. So you solve your operational processes first, and then you build upon that with integration.

Sam Donaghey

Okay. I love that. Process first, then integration is the cherry on top. Do you have any other examples?

Chad Seales

We have a client who’s a family-owned business that sells plants, and they partnered with QVC to offer a unique flower. Their technology landscape was all over the place — fragmented. They had orders from QVC, direct sales through Magento into their website, then into their ERP, and they used Zendesk for customer service. None of these systems were connected.

So we started by getting them out of Zendesk and migrating them into Salesforce Service Cloud, which allowed their service team to become more efficient and adopt the tool. Then in the next phase, we integrated their ERP with that service instance. And then in the next phase, we were able to integrate their systems with Magento, so their service team was able to process replacement orders.

It was a very phased approach, and the phased approach allowed for the operations to be well-defined and well-adopted, with a good experience for the end users and a great experience for their customers. And it allowed them to eliminate tons of time they were spending on duplicative manual entry into all of these different systems. The entire process has become more scalable and it’s allowed them to focus less on their systems and more on their growth.

Sam Donaghey

Ah yeah, that’s a fantastic story. I also know that we have a great example of a HubSpot integration that’s worth mentioning.

Chad Seales

Yeah, absolutely. We worked with a company offering financial operations services — everything from bookkeeping to CFO advisory services. We were leveraging Make as an integration platform between HubSpot, Xero for accounting, and CarbonHQ for their project management. We had to build a ton of custom objects, calculated properties, and workflows to deliver this custom solution. But by integrating their companies, contacts, invoices, time entries, and more, we provided them with a system that allowed them to effectively plan and predict the profitability of their services. It was a very complex setup, but the result was a unified system that provided incredible visibility and actionable insight in a single system.

So Chad, how does AI fit into all of this? AI and integration seem like they’re becoming increasingly linked.

Chad Seales

Yeah, they really are. To build an effective AI system, you need good data. Good data is the fuel for AI, and good data comes from solid integration. This is especially true with advanced AI techniques like retrieval-augmented generation — or RAG — where the AI is informed by your personalized data. If we can integrate data from multiple sources and systems — customer interactions, sales data, data from external APIs — we give the AI the context it needs to generate accurate, relevant insights. So integration is the key to feeding your AI systems with quality data and keeping that data current and valuable for the AI.

Sam Donaghey

Chad, so many of our customers are interested in AI and gathering the kind of data you’d need to really use it well. Where should they start building that data infrastructure?

Chad Seales

Yeah, that’s a great question, Sam. Let me tell you a story. This year I’ve been training for an Ironman. When I started, I began with a plan that was pretty generic. It provided guidance on how to generally be successful with an Ironman — given that I had about eight months and a certain number of hours per week, it gave me generalized guidance. I went according to that plan for a month or two.

Then I had a conversation with an Ironman coach, and that coach took my general plan but asked me questions about my own training, my availability, where I live, the climate, how much time I could actually spend on the bike. My coach personalized the plan. And so the general plan was helpful, but the personalized plan was exponentially more helpful because it was unique to me.

The reason I tell you that story, Sam, is because this is also true with where we are with generative AI. AI that doesn’t know a ton about you can be helpful — it’s a fantastic place to start — but if you want truly helpful AI, it needs to be context-aware. It needs to know more about you, your business, and your customers.

So how do you get started on that journey of informing AI about who you are and your customers? It’s ensuring that you have that data in a platform that is accessible to AI. You begin with the platform, you have well-defined processes on that platform that capture the data that you need, and if your data is in disparate systems, you know where that data lives and you know what integration means are available to pull it in.

So where to start — begin with what’s helpful today. AI without the personalization is still helpful. Begin using it, begin getting value out of what’s available to you today, and then grow incrementally as you can — with the processes you’ve defined on the platform, with the data you have about yourself, with the data you have about your customers — and then begin pulling in data from external systems to make the AI more and more context-aware, and essentially more effective and more tailored to you.

Sam Donaghey

Chad, this has been incredibly insightful. If you had one key takeaway for our listeners today, what would it be?

Chad Seales

Integration is a powerful driver for growth. But it is critical to get the foundation right first. Start with your processes, then add automation thoughtfully, and use integration to provide visibility. It’s a journey, and it’s one that pays off well when done correctly.

Sam Donaghey

Chad, thank you so much for joining us today. Well, that’s it for today’s episode. We hope that you enjoyed hearing Chad talk about business systems and how, when laid on the right foundation, they can create a powerful driver for growth for your business.

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