Zoho -Implementation Plan – knowledgebase JJ

Goals and Objectives

Utilize Zoho CRM’s features to efficiently manage and track sales opportunities, from lead qualification to closing sales orders.
Set up a reliable integration between Zoho CRM and NetSuite to facilitate the transfer of relevant data, including customer details and sales orders.

Current Process

For dedicated projects and clients with a large volume of support tickets, Sales Orders are created directly in NetSuite.

For some clients, a proposal-based approach is followed, where an opportunity to indicate upcoming work will be created. After submitting a proposal and receiving client confirmation, an estimate is created. Once the estimate is approved, we start working on it and create Sales Orders.

In some scenarios, we create an Estimate first and then create Sales Orders based on it.

The frequency of creating Sales Orders depends on client preferences:

If the client prefers weekly invoices for support tickets, we create the Sales Order for the current week at the end of the week or the beginning of the next week.
If the client prefers monthly invoices for support tickets, we create the Sales Order for the current month at the end of the month.

For proposal-based projects, we wait until the development is completed before raising the Sales Order.

Customization and Configuration

Custom fields

For Leads, Accounts, Contact, and deals mandatory fields in NetSuite have been already created as a part of their one-way integration.

Custom Field	Type	Module Type
NetSuite Internal ID	Text	Product, Quote, Sales Order
Subsidiary	Pick List	Product, Quote, Sales Order
Location	Pick List	Product, Quote, Sales Order
Sales Rep/Record Owner	Pick List	Quote, Sales Order
Department	Pick List	Quote, Sales Order
Date	Date	Quote, Sales Order
Start Date	Date	Quote, Sales Order
End Date	Date	Quote, Sales Order
Currency	Pick List	Quote, Sales Order
OUTSIDE NS – INVOICED?	Check Box	Quote, Sales Order
Sync?	Check Box	Quote, Sales Order
Terms	Pick List	Quote, Sales Order
Account Manager	Pick List	Quote, Sales Order
Resource	Pick List – Sourcing Employee Record	Quote, Sales Order
Lead Source	Pick List	Quote, Sales Order
Sales Effective Date	Date	Quote, Sales Order
Memo	Text Area	Quote, Sales Order

Custom module

Employee:

Custom Field	Type
Employee ID	Text
Job Title	Text
Supervisor	Pick List
Employee Name	Text
Email	Email
Office phone	phone
Mobile	phone
Department	Pick List
Location	Pick List
Subsidiary	Pick List
NetSuite Internal ID	Text

Project (If needed)

Custom Roles and profiles

Custom Roles and profiles need to be created for the project manager, project lead, technology lead. Based on roles and profiles we can give permission and restrictions.

Key points

It is not possible to assign different roles to a single user in standard features like NetSuite.

Users at a higher hierarchy can always access all the records at a lower hierarchy. For example, all sales Manager can access all the Sales Reps’ records whereas Sales Reps can access only their records.
Users with a CEO role have access to the entire database within your organization.
Managers in the role hierarchy cannot view or edit their subordinates’ records if they do not have the “Read” or “Edit” permissions for the type of record.
Users at a higher role can access other users’ data below their hierarchy. For example: a sales Manager can access his/her subordinates’ data.
By default, users of the same role cannot access each other’s data.

By default, users at the top of the hierarchy cannot view the data shared to their subordinate users through custom sharing rules. However, you can enable access rights to the managers by using the Superiors Allowed option while creating data sharing rule.
Using the Share Data with Peers option you can enable sharing of data among users of the same role.
One must have read or read/write access to the primary record to add Notes, attachments, or send emails to it.

Process Flow

Leads will be created in Zoho, and later they will be converted into Deals. Accounts and Contacts will be automatically created. When the status is Contracting/Documentation, an opportunity, prospect, and contact will be created in NetSuite.

A quote can be converted by attaching it to the deal. In this case, the opportunity in NetSuite will be converted into an estimate. Otherwise, the estimate will be created directly.

A sales order can be converted from a quote. In this case, the estimate in NetSuite will be converted into a sales order. If the sales order is created directly, we will create it in NetSuite as well.

Data Migration

Existing master data needs to be migrated from NetSuite to Zoho CRM. We can use either CSV import or REST APIs in one-time scheduled script.

Testing and Training

Comprehensive testing of the integrated Zoho CRM and NetSuite setup to verify data synchronization, workflow automation, and proper functioning of all relevant modules and features will be conducted.
The accuracy and consistency of data transferred between Zoho CRM and NetSuite during the integration process will be validated. All customer information, sales orders, quotes, and other relevant data will be tested to see whether they are synchronized correctly or not.
End-users and key stakeholders in testing the system to ensure it meets the specific requirements will be involved. The user interface will be tested to ensure they align with the business processes.
If any customizations or configurations have been made to Zoho CRM, we will have thoroughly tested them to ensure they function as intended and align with the desired business workflows.

Test scenarios that may result in errors or exceptions during data transfer or system usage will be identified. Validate that appropriate error handling mechanisms are in place and users are guided on how to handle exceptions effectively.
Comprehensive training sessions for all users who will be interacting with Zoho CRM will be conducted. This includes sales representatives, administrators, and other relevant team members. The training will cover system navigation, lead management, opportunity tracking, sales order creation, and any customized workflows or processes.

Monitor and Optimize

Mechanisms to monitor the quality and integrity of data within Zoho CRM will be established. Periodic data audits to ensure accurate and up-to-date information will be conducted. Alerts or notifications will be set up for data anomalies or inconsistencies.
User activity within Zoho CRM to gain insights into user adoption, engagement, and utilization of the system will be monitored. Any areas where additional training or support may be required will be identified.

Assumptions, Limitations and Risks

There is no parent-child hierarchy in custom modules and custom fields in Zoho CRM.
In Zoho CRM, an account (customer in NetSuite) will be created when a lead is converted to a deal (opportunity in NetSuite).
Deals cannot be directly converted to quotes. However, when creating a quote, a deal can be attached to it. There is a break of creation of sales order from an opportunity. In NetSuite we can convert opportunity into estimate and then sales order. But in Zoho it is not possible to create quote by converting deal.
REST APIs provide text values for dropdown fields instead of internal IDs. The text values must be matched with the corresponding values in NetSuite.

There are no subsidiary-wise or location-wise restrictions on items in the sales order or quote within Zoho CRM.
The number of custom columns for custom fields is limited in Zoho CRM. It is possible to display total 10 columns.
Layout customization options are limited in Zoho CRM.
It is not possible to create multiple sales orders from a single quote in Zoho CRM.
Permissions are based on the role and record owner by default in Zoho CRM. Customization is required to achieve more restrictions.

Multi select in item line is not possible.
Sales order will be created with pending approval status.
Sales order and quote integration will be scheduled not real time.
A check box will be provided to enable syncing to NetSuite in every record that are part of integration.
There is no department or class in zoho. If we create them as custom field, hierarchy option is not available as a standard feature.

Multiple currency feature is available. But currently we are not using in the account, Instead there is a custom field ‘Currency Type’ is created to store the currency type in Account module.
Country and State is text fields in Zoho. The text given in these fields should be match with the values in the NetSuite.
Line level location field is not available in Zoho.
Application of discount item is not possible.
Tax setup is different in Zoho compared to NetSuite Tax set up.

Out of Scope

PSA customization is out of scope
All types of pdfs are out of scope. It should be handled in NetSuite itself
Email notifications should be handled in NetSuite
Historical transactions will not be imported in Zoho.