Descartes Integration
Descartes OneView Forwarder Enterprise runs the shipment. F5 gets the shipment data to the CRM, so sales sees what is moving and marketing sees what produced it.
Logistics companies we work with
Quick answer
How do you integrate Descartes OneView Forwarder Enterprise with a CRM?
You integrate Descartes OneView Forwarder Enterprise with a CRM through Descartes' API, which the company gates to its customers. Once access is granted, middleware reads shipments, quotes and invoices and writes them to HubSpot or Salesforce as companies, deals and custom objects. Descartes publishes no public CRM connector, so the mapping is a custom build on the credentials issued to your account.
- Vendor
- Descartes Systems Group
- Integration surface
- Descartes API, access gated to customers
- Auth
- Credentials issued by Descartes to your account
- Objects
- Shipments, quotes, customers, invoices, milestones
- CRMs
- HubSpot, Salesforce
How does Descartes grant API access to forwarding data?
Descartes API access is not self-serve. The first step is a request to your Descartes account team.
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Customer-gated API
API access is available to Descartes customers. Credentials and documentation come through your account, not a public developer portal.
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OneView Forwarder Enterprise
The forwarding system holds quotes, bookings, shipments and invoices. Those are the records worth sending to the CRM.
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Scope set with Descartes
Which endpoints are available depends on your agreement. F5 scopes the CRM sync against what your account can reach.
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No public CRM connector
There is no off-the-shelf HubSpot or Salesforce connector to switch on, so the integration is built, hosted and monitored for you.
Data mapping
Which Descartes forwarding records belong in the CRM?
Only the records sales and marketing use. Operational detail stays in the forwarding system.
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Customer
From: Customer or consignee record
To: Company or Account
When: Customer created or updated
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Quote
From: Quote
To: Deal or Opportunity
When: Quote issued or accepted
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Booking
From: Booking
To: Custom object linked to the company
When: Booking confirmed
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Shipment
From: Shipment
To: Custom object with status
When: Status or milestone change
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Invoice
From: Customer invoice
To: Invoice record and company rollup
When: Invoice issued or paid
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Lead source
From: CRM form and campaign data
To: Quote reference
When: Quote created from a CRM deal
Can Descartes data reach HubSpot or Salesforce?
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Descartes and HubSpot
Custom build on the APIF5 builds it on the Descartes API: companies, deals and shipment objects, with campaign attribution on every booking.
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Descartes and Salesforce
Custom build on the APIF5 builds it on the Descartes API: accounts, opportunities and custom objects, with reports reps can use.
What sales and marketing get
What do forwarders on Descartes gain from a CRM sync?
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Quote to booking visibility
See which quotes turned into bookings, by lane and by rep, without exporting from the forwarding system.
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New lane signals
Alert a rep when a customer books a lane for the first time, a cue for a cross-sell conversation.
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Campaign attribution
Link the first inquiry and its source to the invoice, so marketing reports on freight booked, not form fills.
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Account view for reps
Open shipments, recent invoices and quote history on one company record.
Running Descartes with a CRM nobody trusts?
Tell us which records your team needs. We reply with a data map and a build plan.
How Descartes integration projects run
- Step 1
Map the data
We list the Descartes records your sales and marketing teams need, agree the field mapping and decide which system owns each field.
- Step 2
Connect and test
We build the connection on the Descartes interface your account licenses, with retries, logging and a test run on real records before go-live.
- Step 3
Turn data into pipeline
Dashboards, workflows and alerts in the CRM, so reps see shipments next to deals and marketing sees which campaigns produced revenue.
- Step 4
Monitor and extend
Error alerts, schema changes and new objects as you grow, with one team accountable for the integration and the marketing that uses it.
Part of our logistics software integration service. For quote tools, portals and apps on top of Descartes, see custom logistics software development. Built for freight forwarders.
FAQ
Descartes integration FAQ
Does Descartes integrate with HubSpot?
+
Does Descartes integrate with HubSpot?
+There is no public Descartes HubSpot connector. F5 builds the integration on the Descartes API, using credentials issued to your account, and maps shipments, quotes and invoices to HubSpot companies, deals and custom objects.
Does Descartes have an API?
+
Does Descartes have an API?
+Yes, but access is gated. Descartes issues API access to its customers through the account team. Once you have credentials, the integration reads and writes the records your agreement covers.
Can Descartes OneView Forwarder Enterprise sync with Salesforce?
+
Can Descartes OneView Forwarder Enterprise sync with Salesforce?
+Yes, as a custom build. F5 reads quotes, shipments and invoices through the API and writes them to accounts, opportunities and custom objects. See our logistics software integration service.
What should I ask Descartes before starting?
+
What should I ask Descartes before starting?
+Ask which API products your agreement includes, how credentials are issued, and which environments exist for testing. Send that list to F5 and we scope the CRM mapping against it.
Get in touch
Talk to us about your Descartes integration
Tell us what you sell and who buys it. We will tell you, honestly, whether this is the right channel for you and what it would take.
- 1 We reply within one business day, from a person, not a sequence.
- 2 A 30-minute call on what you sell, to whom, and how you close today.
- 3 If we can build demand for it, we say what it would take. If not, we say that too.
Prefer to talk now? Pick a 30-minute slot or write to hi@f5-out.io.