DDS Commercial Services

Zoho One Tip: Internal Zoho Forms to CRM Lookup

02.13.21 08:46 PM Comment(s)

Zoho One Tip: Internal Zoho Forms to CRM Lookup

Sometimes you have a form with labels that need to be very long or you want more sophisticated formatting for the form than you can achieve in CRM, then you should consider a Zoho Forms to CRM lookup. Please note, to be able to look up a record CRM from Forms, then the form needs to be used for internal purposes only. This means you will access the form with the internal link. Once you try to use the public link for the form, then the CRM lookup in Forms will become inactive.

Here are some examples of where the internal forms lookup can be useful:

A member management system where members will login using a company computer
An onboarding checklist where the items in the checklist are long, wordy descriptions that cannot fit into the size of a CRM custom field
A delivery confirmation form where the delivery agent us using a company mobile device to collect signatures of the receipt of the delivery

The key to this or any Forms to CRM (or other) integration is that the fields in Form and CRM must both exist for the data to flow from one application to the other. So the first step in this process is to create the fields you need in Forms and in CRM.

The next important key, is that, both matched fields in CRM and Forms must be in the same field type. So a drop down field in Forms matches with a pick list in CRM. Likewise, a number field in CRM matches with a number field in Forms. Likewise, Forms decision box goes with CRM checkbox. If the field type does not match, you will not be able to transfer data between the fields and therefore the systems. If you find that you are mapping your fields and the field you need doesn’t come up to be matched in Forms, check the format of the field; this may be the culprit.

Here is a list of the fields that map between Forms and CRM.

In Zoho Forms, create a CRM Lookup field. When you set up the field, you have the option to connect the fields where you want to pull the answer from CRM at this point. Later on, we will send data back to CRM. However, at this point we are drawing data from CRM. This is helpful in the member management system for example, because it shows the staff if the member who is pulled up with the lookup field is an active member or not. This is just one use case for pulling data from CRM during the lookup.

Go to add a field from the Advanced Fields section of the Zoho Forms Builder.

Drag the Zoho CRM lookup field into the Builder.

Set up the Zoho CRM lookup field.

The next step is to integrate the data received in the form back to the CRM. After the form is filled in, the CRM record will be updated. To do this you will need to go to the ‘Integrations’ tab in Zoho Forms.

Please take note of the Upsert functionality shown at the bottom right of the figure. We’ll talk more about this functionality later.

In order to publish your form so it can be used, you want to use a private link for the Zoho CRM lookup field to work. Embed this link in a button on your website or send via email so it can be accessed on the computer or mobile device where you need it. To get this private link follow the instructions below.

All forms also have a public link, however, the Zoho CRM will not work on the public link. The Zoho CRM lookup is for internal purposes only. Only users with a Zoho Forms account such as through their Zoho One account will be able to access this private form. See the public link that won’t work for this use case below.

The best way to update records in CRM using the public link is to use the Upsert record functionality. So long as the public person filling in the forms enters the same email address that you have in the CRM, then the person’s record will get updated with form data using the Upsert record functionality shown two figures above.