Hello everyone!
This is the second part of the CRM onboarding video series.
During this video, we will tell you about the top methods to bring in data into your
CRM account once it is ready.
Now that your CRM account is ready to store data, we can take a look at the top three
methods through which data can enter CRM.
In this video we will go through capturing records via web forms, importing data and
pushing data via API.
There are several reasons to put up a web form on your website but web forms are the
most commonly used method to get a bunch of quality leads to work on.
When a person visiting your website submits details on your Contact Us or Request a Quote
form, you can be sure that they are genuinely interested in your business.
And when these web forms are integrated with a CRM, you can get the leads right within
your CRM system.
In Zoho CRM you can set up web forms from Setup > Developer Space > Webforms.
All you have to do is create a web form with all the required fields
from the selected module provide some basic details such as the page's
URL where the form will be published, the page's URL where the visitor needs to be redirected
to after the form's submission, the assignment rule through which record owners can be assigned,
notifications and approvals.
Copy the source code in the desired format and publish it on your website.
If you are not familiar with working with code, simply send this source code to your
webmaster and they can help you get this done in minutes.
Now, if you are moving to Zoho from another CRM, then you need to use the data migration
wizard from Setup > Data Administration > Import.
There are custom-made setups to migrate from Salesforce, other Zoho CRM accounts, Zoho
ContactManager, Pipedrive, Highrise, and Insightly.
The data migration wizard helps reduce much of the manual work and automatically maps
import files to CRM modules and file columns to CRM fields.
In the case of modules that are not already available, Zoho CRM also creates them and
maps the relevant files to them.
You get a clear indication of the number files that are mapped, unmapped and ones that are
not supported.
The steps involved in migrating data are: exporting your data from the other CRM
uploading the exported files to Zoho CRM mapping modules and fields, and
finally reviewing the imported data.
Say you are just back from a trade show and you have obtained a new set of leads which
you wish to add to CRM.
In this case, you just need to import data to one particular module unlike migration
where in one shot you can import data to many modules and also maintain the record association.
Here are a few points to remember while importing data into CRM.
Makes sure to create an assignment rule before you import records as it will be used to assign
record owners.The assignment rule must be selected not just during import, but also
while creating web form, and pushing data via APIs.
While importing data, remember to select a "unique" field.
A unique field is one which sets apart one record from another (for example, the email
address or Passport number).
If you select passport number as the unique field during import, CRM looks for any other
existing field with the same value as the one in your import sheet.
If there is a match, it uses this field to identify duplicates.
You can choose to skip duplicates, or clone/update existing records based on this unique field.
And finally, refer to the documentation on importing and migrating data to make a note
of the checklist and best practices.
Apart from web forms, data import, and migration, Zoho provides REST API support, which lets
you integrate your CRM with any third-party application.
Say you use an application developed by your organization for your field agents to collect
data about the clients they visit.
You might want to integrate that app with CRM to sync the data from the app as well
as CRM.
Essentially, whenever data is added to the app, it is simultaneously added to the CRM.
Zoho CRM APIs follow REST standards with OAuth2.0 method of authentication, and uses simple
HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT and DELETE, which makes it easier to develop new applications
or integrate existing ones with CRM.
APIs like "Insert Records" and "Upload Attachments" can be used to add record information or files
like text, image, video, etc.
To summarize, when your CRM account is ready to bring in data, make a note of the top methods
to add data to your account.
Capturing leads and contacts via web forms Importing records into individual modules
Migrating data from a different CRM Synchronizing records via API
And of course, manually adding data.