Summary
The purpose of this system study is to evaluate Zoho CRM as a potential replacement for the process from Lead to sales order in NetSuite and provide a comprehensive understanding of its capabilities and suitability for our organization’s needs. The study focused on various aspects of Zoho CRM, including lead management, opportunity tracking, sales order processing, customization options, integrations, and overall system functionality.
Data structure of Zoho core modules
Leads: Leads are individuals or organizations that have shown interest in your products or services but have not yet become customers. In Zoho CRM, you can track information about each lead, such as their contact details, source of the lead, status, and any activities related to the lead. You can also assign leads to specific sales reps and use lead scoring to prioritize leads based on their likelihood to convert to customers.
Accounts: Accounts are companies or organizations that you do business with. In Zoho CRM, you can store information about each account, such as their name, contact details, industry, size, and any activities related to the account. You can also create multiple contacts associated with each account, track the account’s revenue, and manage any deals related to the account.
Contacts: Contacts are individuals who are associated with an account or a lead. In Zoho CRM, you can store information about each contact, such as their name, contact details, job title, and any activities related to the contact. You can also associate contacts with specific accounts or leads and track any deals related to the contact.
Deals: Deals are opportunities to sell products or services to a lead or an account. In Zoho CRM, you can track information about each deal, such as the deal stage, value, probability of closing, and any activities related to the deal. You can also assign deals to specific sales reps and track any interactions with the customer related to the deal.
Products: Products are the items or services that you sell to your customers. In Zoho CRM, you can create a list of products and specify details such as the product name, description, price, and tax information. You can also organize your products into categories and subcategories for easy searching and filtering.
Sales Orders: Sales Orders are documents that specify the details of a customer’s order, such as the products purchased, the quantity, the price, and any applicable taxes or discounts. In Zoho CRM, you can create sales orders and associate them with specific accounts or deals.
Custom Modules: Zoho CRM also allows you to create custom modules to track additional data specific to your business needs. Custom modules can be used to track information such as inventory, projects, contracts, and more. You can customize the fields and layouts of each custom module to match your specific requirements.
Roles and Permissions in Zoho
Zoho CRM provides a comprehensive role-based access control system that allows you to define roles and permissions to control user access and actions within the CRM system. Here’s an overview of the roles and permissions in Zoho CRM:
Roles
Administrator: The Administrator role has full control over the CRM system. They can manage users, define roles and profiles, configure settings, and access all modules and data.
Standard User: Standard users have access to assigned modules and data based on their role permissions. They can perform actions such as creating, editing, and deleting records within their assigned modules.
Manager: Managers have access to additional features compared to standard users. They can view and manage the data of their subordinates, run reports, and perform actions within their assigned modules.
Profiles
Profiles in Zoho CRM are a collection of permissions that determine what actions users with a specific role can perform. Profiles control access to modules, records, fields, and other CRM features.
Each role can be assigned to one or more profiles, and each profile can have different levels of access and permissions. For example, you can create profiles for sales representatives, marketing teams, or support agents with specific access rights and restrictions.
Permissions
Module-Level Permissions: You can grant or restrict access to specific CRM modules (e.g., leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities) for different roles. Users will only be able to view, create, edit, or delete records within the modules they have access to.
Record-Level Permissions: Zoho CRM allows you to define record-level permissions based on criteria such as ownership, roles, and territories. This enables you to control which users can access and modify specific records based on predefined conditions.
Field-Level Permissions: With field-level permissions, you can control the visibility and editability of individual fields within CRM modules. This allows you to restrict certain fields from specific roles or profiles to maintain data integrity and security.
Sharing Rules: Sharing rules in Zoho CRM enable you to define additional criteria to share records with specific roles or users based on specified conditions. Sharing rules can be used to extend access to records beyond the default role-based permissions.
Migration of historical data from NetSuite to Zoho CRM
To migrate master data such as items, employees, projects, etc., from NetSuite to Zoho CRM, a one-time script can be developed. This script will be either map-reduce or scheduled script will be deployed in NetSuite to extract the relevant data and transform it into a format compatible with Zoho CRM. Another method is via CSV import.
Possibility of Integration
Zoho CRM offers robust APIs that allow you to build custom integrations with other applications. The APIs provide endpoints and methods to access, create, update, and delete data in Zoho CRM programmatically. You can utilize REST APIs based on your preference and requirements.
Prospect, Opportunity, and Contact Sync
The integration between NetSuite and Zoho CRM has been developed and deployed, allowing for seamless syncing of Deals, Accounts, and Contacts in Zoho CRM with Opportunity, Prospect, and Contact in NetSuite. The integration is scheduled to run every 30 minutes, automatically syncing data from Zoho CRM to NetSuite.
In the event of errors or issues during the syncing process, email notifications will be sent to the relevant stakeholders, allowing for quick identification and resolution of any problems. This one-way syncing process is designed to reduce manual data entry errors and improve efficiency, enabling your sales and accounting teams to work together more effectively.
Product Sync
Items in NetSuite should be integrated with the Zoho CRM. Historical data can be moved to Zoho using CSV import or using a one-time script. Any addition of items can be synced using the event script in real time.
In the current system, most of the items are non-inventory, service, discount and other charges items. There is no distinction between them in Zoho. But the product category field is available in the product module.
Quote and Sales order sync
There are modules in Zoho for Quote and sales order creation. Quotes can be created by entering relevant customer and product information. You can specify the products or services, quantities, prices, discounts, and any additional terms and conditions.
Once a quote is created, you can easily send it to your customers directly from Zoho CRM. The system provides options to email the quote as a PDF attachment or share it via a secure link. You can track the status of sent quotes and receive notifications when they are viewed by the recipient.
When a quote is accepted by the customer, you can convert it into a sales order with a single click. This streamlines the process and ensures that the agreed-upon terms and products are captured in the sales order.
You can create sales orders based on customer requests or converted quotes. Specify the products or services, quantities, prices, discounts, and any applicable taxes. You can also add relevant shipping and billing details.
Possibilities of Customization
Custom Fields
Zoho CRM allows you to create custom fields to capture additional information that is specific to your business needs. You can define field types (text, number, picklist, date, etc.) and configure field properties such as mandatory, unique, or read-only.
Custom fields can be added to standard modules like leads, contacts, accounts, and opportunities, as well as custom modules created to match your unique business entities.
Custom Modules
In addition to the standard modules provided by Zoho CRM, you can create custom modules to represent your unique business entities. Custom modules enable you to structure and manage data specific to your organization’s processes.
You can define custom fields, layouts, and automation rules for these modules, providing flexibility to accommodate your specific data requirements.
Layout Customization
Zoho CRM allows you to customize module layouts to match your preferred data organization and user experience. You can rearrange fields, group related fields, and create custom sections to align with your business processes.
With the drag-and-drop layout editor, you can easily modify the arrangement of fields, change field labels, and hide or display fields based on user roles or conditions.
Workflow Automation
Zoho CRM provides a powerful workflow automation engine that enables you to automate routine tasks and streamline your business processes.
You can create workflows with triggers, conditions, and actions to automate actions like sending emails, updating fields, assigning tasks, or triggering webhooks based on specified events or criteria.
Workflows can be designed using a visual editor with a wide range of conditions, actions, and time-based triggers.
Approval Processes
Zoho CRM allows you to set up approval processes to manage the review and approval of critical records or actions. This is particularly useful for activities like deal approvals, discount approvals, or document reviews.
You can define multiple levels of approval, specify approvers, set up email notifications, and track the progress of approval requests within the system.
Custom Functions
Zoho CRM provides a scripting language called Deluge that allows you to write custom functions and scripts to extend the CRM’s functionality.
You can create custom functions to perform complex calculations, manipulate data, integrate with external systems, or automate specific actions within Zoho CRM.
Deluge scripting provides APIs and methods to interact with CRM data, perform database operations, and integrate with other Zoho applications