Pipedrive Integration Guide

Connect your Pipedrive CRM to Bearconnect to automatically sync leads as Persons (or Leads), log LinkedIn activities, and create Deals when leads reply to your messages. This guide walks you through every step - from connecting your Pipedrive account to exporting leads and configuring sync settings.

What You Need
Connecting Pipedrive
After Connecting
Connecting Pipedrive to a Campaign
Exporting Leads to Pipedrive
Pipedrive Settings
Person vs Lead Record Type
Deal Creation
Activity Logging
Testing Your Connection
Disconnecting Pipedrive
Troubleshooting

Quick Start

Already have your Pipedrive API Token? Here is the fastest path:

In Bearconnect: Go to Integrations > Pipedrive > Connect.
Enter a name and paste your Personal API Token.
Click Connect.
Open a campaign > Integrations tab > Connect Integration > select Pipedrive, choose events, record type, and owner > click Connect.

For full setup details, continue below.

What You Need

Before you start, make sure you have:

A Bearconnect account with an active subscription.
A Pipedrive account (Essential, Advanced, Professional, Power, or Enterprise).
Admin permissions in your Pipedrive account (required for API token access).

Connecting Pipedrive

Go to Integrations in the left sidebar of your Bearconnect dashboard. Find Pipedrive in the Available Integrations section and click Connect.

You will need a Personal API Token from Pipedrive. If you do not have one yet, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Find Your API Token in Pipedrive

Log in to your Pipedrive account.
Click your profile icon in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Personal preferences.
Click the API tab.
Copy your Personal API Token.

Step 2: Connect in Bearconnect

Back in Bearconnect, enter a Name for this integration (e.g., "My Pipedrive").
Paste the token into the API Token field.
Click Connect.

After Connecting

Once connected, your Pipedrive integration appears in the Connected Integrations section. Clicking on it opens a detail panel showing:

Connection Status - Active, Error, or Disconnected.
Connection Type - API Token (shown as a badge).
Sync Statistics - Number of persons synced, sync errors, and last sync time.
Sync Settings - Current sync mode, direction, and auto-sync status (read-only in the detail panel; editable in Pipedrive Settings).
Features - Person Sync, Activity Logging, Deal Creation.
Connection Details - When it was connected, provider type, integration ID, and last update time.

What Happens Automatically

When you connect Pipedrive, Bearconnect:

Validates the connection by querying your Pipedrive account.
Configures the integration with all currently available events pre-selected as allowed events.

Multiple Instances

You can connect multiple Pipedrive accounts to Bearconnect. Each connection is managed independently with its own credentials, campaign mappings, and sync settings.

Connecting Pipedrive to a Campaign

To start receiving events from a campaign, you need to map Pipedrive to that campaign.

Open the campaign from your dashboard.
Go to the Integrations tab.
Click Connect Integration.
Select your Pipedrive integration from the dropdown.
Choose which events to enable:
- Connection Request Sent - When a connection request is sent to a lead.
- Connection Accepted - When a lead accepts your connection request.
- Message Sent - When a message is sent to a lead.
- Message Replied - When a lead replies to your message.

Coming Soon: Additional events (Lead Added to Campaign, InMail Replied, Profile Viewed, Lead Status Changed) are planned for future releases. 6. Optionally configure:

Record Type - Person (default) or Lead. See Person vs Lead Record Type.
Owner - Assign a Pipedrive user as the owner of created records.
Labels - Apply labels to created records.

Click Connect.

You can select individual events or use the category checkboxes to select/deselect all events in a category at once.

What Happens on Each Event

Event	Pipedrive Action
Connection Request Sent	Log Activity (a Person is created if one does not already exist, so the activity can be linked)
Connection Accepted	Upsert Person (or Lead, based on your record type setting) + Log Activity
Message Sent	Log Activity (a Person is created if one does not already exist, so the activity can be linked)
Message Replied	Upsert Person + Create Deal + Log Activity

Note on activity-only events: For Connection Request Sent and Message Sent, Bearconnect needs a Person record in Pipedrive to attach the activity to. If a matching Person does not exist yet, one is automatically created using the lead's name and email. This ensures you have a complete activity timeline in Pipedrive from the very first touchpoint.

Future Events: Additional events such as Lead Added to Campaign, InMail Sent, InMail Replied, Profile Viewed, and Lead Status Changed are planned and will be added in upcoming releases.

Managing the Mapping

After connecting, the mapping card shows on the campaign's Integrations tab:

Toggle switch - Turn event forwarding on or off without deleting the mapping.
Settings icon - Edit which events are enabled, change record type, owner, or labels.
Trash icon - Disconnect the integration from this campaign.

Exporting Leads to Pipedrive

You can manually export individual leads as Persons (or Leads) to Pipedrive.

Step 1: Start the Export

Go to the Leads page.
Find the lead you want to export and click the three-dot action menu (⋮) on that row.
Click Export.
Select your Pipedrive integration from the dropdown.

Step 2: Configure Export Settings

Since you selected Pipedrive, a second step appears asking you to configure export settings:

Record Type - Choose whether to create a Person or a Lead in Pipedrive.
Owner - Assign a Pipedrive user as the owner of the record.
Labels - Apply labels to the exported record.

You have three options:

Export - Save your selections and export the lead.
Skip & Use Defaults - Export using default values (Person record type, no specific owner or labels).
Back - Return to the integration selection step.

What Gets Sent to Pipedrive

The following lead data is synced to Pipedrive Person fields:

Bearconnect Field	Pipedrive Person Field	Notes
First Name + Last Name	`name` (built-in)	Combined into a single name field (defaults to "Unknown")
Email	`emails` (built-in)	Primary email, labeled as "work"
Phone	`phones` (built-in)	Primary phone, labeled as "work"
Position / Job Title	`Bearconnect Job Title` (custom)	Auto-provisioned custom field
LinkedIn Profile URL	`Bearconnect LinkedIn URL` (custom)	Full LinkedIn profile URL
Company	`Bearconnect Company` (custom)	Company or organization name
Location	`Bearconnect Location` (custom)	City / region from LinkedIn profile
Website	`Bearconnect Website` (custom)	Personal or company website
Profile Headline	`Bearconnect Headline` (custom)	LinkedIn profile headline
LinkedIn Handle	`Bearconnect LinkedIn Handle` (custom)	LinkedIn public identifier (vanity URL)
Lead Stage	`Bearconnect Stage` (custom)	Current stage in the Bearconnect pipeline
Bearconnect Lead ID	`Bearconnect Lead ID` (custom)	Unique Bearconnect identifier for the lead
Bearconnect Lead URL	`Bearconnect Lead URL` (custom)	Direct link to view this lead in Bearconnect
Campaign Name	`Bearconnect Campaign` (custom)	Name of the campaign that triggered the sync
Last Synced	`Bearconnect Last Synced` (custom)	ISO timestamp of the most recent sync

Custom fields: Bearconnect automatically creates all custom person fields listed above in your Pipedrive account the first time a lead is synced (or when you click Test Connection). No manual configuration in Pipedrive is required. You can view these fields under Pipedrive → Settings → Data fields → Person fields.

Deduplication Logic

Bearconnect checks for existing Persons in Pipedrive before creating a new one to prevent duplicates:

Email match (primary) - Searches Pipedrive for an exact email match. If found, the existing Person is updated.
Name match (fallback) - If no email is available on the lead, Bearconnect falls back to searching by full name. If found, the existing Person is updated.
Create new - If neither match is found, a new Person is created.

Tip: For the most reliable deduplication, ensure your leads in Bearconnect have email addresses populated. Name-only matching is less reliable because multiple people can share the same name.

Important notes on field mapping:

Company / Organization - companyName is synced to the Bearconnect Company custom person field. Bearconnect does not auto-create or link a Pipedrive Organization because Pipedrive's API only accepts org_id (an existing Organization ID), not an organization name.

Custom fields - Bearconnect automatically provisions all 12 custom person fields listed above in your Pipedrive account. They appear under Data fields → Person fields in Pipedrive. No manual configuration is required.

Pipedrive Settings

To access Pipedrive-specific settings:

Go to Integrations in the left sidebar.
Click on your connected Pipedrive integration.
In the detail panel, click Settings (or navigate directly to Integrations > Pipedrive > Settings).

Available Settings

Setting	Options	Description
Automatic Sync	On / Off	When enabled, events are automatically forwarded to Pipedrive as they occur.
Sync Mode	Real-time, Batch (15 min), Manual Only	Controls how often events are sent. Real-time sends immediately; Batch groups events into 15-minute intervals; Manual means you must trigger syncs yourself.
Sync Direction	Outbound Only, Inbound Only, Bidirectional	Controls the direction of data flow. Outbound sends data from Bearconnect to Pipedrive. Inbound pulls data from Pipedrive. Bidirectional does both.

Connection Status Panel

The settings page also shows:

Persons Synced - Total number of persons successfully synced.
Sync Errors - Number of errors encountered.
Last Sync - When the last successful sync occurred.
Test Connection button - Verifies that the connection to Pipedrive is still working.

Person vs Lead Record Type

Pipedrive has two distinct record types that Bearconnect can create:

Person (default) - A standard Pipedrive contact. Best for most use cases. Persons appear in your Pipedrive contacts list and can be associated with Deals, Activities, and Organizations.
Lead - A Pipedrive Lead object representing an unqualified opportunity. Useful if you want to keep your Persons list clean and qualify leads before promoting them to full contacts.

The record type is configured per campaign mapping in the metadata settings. You can also choose the record type when manually exporting leads.

How Lead Record Type Works

When you choose the Lead record type, Bearconnect:

Creates or finds the Person first (a Person is always needed as the anchor record).
Creates a Lead linked to that Person, or updates the existing Lead if one already exists for that Person.
Applies your configured Owner and Labels to the Lead record.

Important: Reply events (Message Replied) always create Person records and Deals regardless of the record type setting. The Lead record type only affects how connection acceptance and initial sync events are handled.

Deal Creation

Bearconnect automatically creates Deals in Pipedrive when certain events occur:

Message Replied - A lead replies to your LinkedIn message.

Coming Soon: Deal creation on InMail Replied events will be available in a future release.

Deal Details

Field	Value	Example
Title	`{First Name} {Last Name} - LinkedIn Reply`	"Jane Doe - LinkedIn Reply"
Status	Open	Always created with Open status
Linked Person	The Person record associated with the lead	Linked automatically via `person_id`

Deals are created to help you track warm leads in your Pipedrive sales pipeline. You can customize the deal stage and pipeline from within Pipedrive after creation.

Note: If deal creation fails for any reason (e.g., API rate limit), the activity is still logged successfully. Deal creation is non-blocking - it does not prevent the rest of the event from being processed.

Activity Logging

Bearconnect logs LinkedIn activities as completed tasks in Pipedrive. Activities are linked to the corresponding Person record.

Activity Details

Subject - Includes the campaign name (e.g., "LinkedIn connection request sent via Q1 Outreach").
Note - Contains the campaign name, timestamp, and event type.
Status - Marked as completed (done).

Activities are logged for all enabled events in your campaign mapping, giving you a full timeline of LinkedIn interactions directly in Pipedrive.

Testing Your Connection

You can verify that your Pipedrive connection is working at any time:

Go to Integrations in the left sidebar.
Click on your Pipedrive integration to open the detail panel.
Click Test Connection.
If successful, you will see a "Connection test successful" message.
If it fails, check the error message for details (common issues: expired token, revoked access, network problems).

Disconnecting Pipedrive

To disconnect your Pipedrive integration:

Go to Integrations in the left sidebar.
Click on your connected Pipedrive integration.
Click Delete or Disconnect.
Confirm the action.

What Happens When You Disconnect

All campaign mappings using this integration are removed.
Event forwarding stops immediately.
Previously synced Persons, Leads, Deals, and Activities in Pipedrive are not deleted or modified.
You can reconnect at any time by going through the setup process again.

Troubleshooting

"Connection failed"

Your API token may be incorrect or your Pipedrive account may be inactive. Verify the token by going to Pipedrive > Settings > Personal preferences > API and copying the token again. Ensure your Pipedrive account is active and in good standing.

Duplicate persons appearing in Pipedrive

Bearconnect searches by email first (exact match), then by full name (exact match) as a fallback. For best deduplication results, ensure your leads in Bearconnect have email addresses populated. Leads without email addresses are matched by name only, which is less reliable because multiple people can share the same name.

Activities not appearing in Pipedrive

Check that the integration is in Active status (Integrations > click on Pipedrive).
Verify the campaign mapping is active (Campaign > Integrations tab > toggle should be on).
Check that the relevant event types are enabled in the campaign mapping.
Verify that Automatic Sync is turned on in Pipedrive Settings.
If using Batch sync mode, activities may take up to 15 minutes to appear.

"Token expired" error

Verify the token is still valid in Pipedrive > Settings > Personal preferences > API. If the token has been regenerated, copy the new token, disconnect the integration in Bearconnect, and reconnect with the updated token.

Wrong owner assigned to records

Check the owner setting in your campaign mapping metadata or export settings. The owner must be a valid, active user in your Pipedrive account. If no owner is specified, records are assigned to the API token owner by default.

"Sync error" showing on the integration

Click on the integration to see the error details. Common causes:

Pipedrive API rate limits - Usually resolves automatically. Wait a few minutes and try again.
Invalid or deactivated Pipedrive account - Verify your account is active.
Insufficient permissions - Ensure the API token owner has admin access in Pipedrive.

Lead export shows "skipped"

This means the person already exists in Pipedrive and no new data was needed. This is not an error - it means Pipedrive already has this contact with the same or newer data.