Howdy, tech wizards!
This week’s Kaizen explores how Catalyst Solutions in the Zoho CRM Developer Hub help import large volumes of data into Zoho CRM while improving data quality and simplifying the migration process.
Catalyst Solutions provide a library of independent, ready-to-use backend solutions called
CodeLibs. The
CRM Bulk Data Processor CodeLib helps handle complex data operations on large datasets. Following are the key benefits:
- Highly Scalable: Processes large datasets efficiently, supporting up to 200,000 records per API call.
- Automation Made Simple: Automate complex tasks like segmentation, data cleansing and lead scoring with minimal effort.
- Effortless Integration: Comes with pre-configured Catalyst resources such as serverless functions and data stores that integrate directly with Zoho CRM.
Business Scenario
Zylker, a manufacturing company, migrated over 3 lakh Lead records into Zoho CRM from spreadsheets.
Post-migration, the Lead data showed the following inconsistencies and challenges:
- Phone number field did not include country codes, or contained incorrect country codes. This inconsistency made it difficult for sales teams to contact Leads reliably.
- Identifying potential Leads for follow-up required manual effort and marketing team has to run generic campaigns without lead segmentation.
Using workflows before record creation to fix phone numbers for this volume would result in 3 lakh individual workflow executions, which can slow imports and cause partial failures.
Solution Overview
Zylker can use the CRM Bulk Data Processor available in Catalyst Solutions to address these challenges at scale.
The solution works as follows:
- Lead records are fetched in bulk from Zoho CRM using the Bulk Read API.
- The fetched data is temporarily stored to evaluate the priority and quality of each record. Based on this evaluation, the records are also segmented accordingly.
- The Country field value is used to identify and append the correct country code to the phone number.
- The processed records are updated back into Zoho CRM using Bulk Write API.
All operations are executed using pre-configured Catalyst resources provided by the CodeLib. You can explore the
Bulk Data Flow in Catalyst help page to understand how each resource participates in the processing pipeline.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure the following:
1. Log into your Zoho CRM and navigate to Setup > Customization > Modules and Fields > Leads.
Create the following custom Single Line fields to map existing record data in Zoho CRM.
- Last Activity Days
- Web Engagement Score
2. Create the following custom Single Line fields to store the calculated values during bulk processing:
- Lead Score Value
- Lead Segment
- Sales Priority
- Data Quality Status
3. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Catalyst Solutions > Zoho CRM Bulk Data Processor.
4. Click Go to Catalyst and create a Catalyst account if required.

6. Create a new folder on your local system, which will act as a local project directory. Use the following command:
7. Navigate to the project folder in your terminal and execute the following command:
8. Follow the prompts to select and initialize your desired project from the Catalyst console.
When prompted to choose a feature, press Enter and proceed without choosing any feature.
9. Run the following command to install the CRM Bulk Data Processor CodeLib.
Step 1: Create a Cron Job
1. Open the Catalyst Console and navigate to the same project in which you have installed the CRM Bulk Data Processor CodeLib.
2. Go to Cloud Scale > Triggers > Cron and click Create Cron.
3. Fill in the following details:
- Provide a Name and Description for the cron job.
- Select Function and choose BulkJobScheduler from the dropdown in the Target Function field.
- Enter the following parameters and values:
MODULES -> Leads
FIELDS_TO_BE_PROCESSED -> Last_Name, Company, Mobile, Country, Designation, No_of_Employees, Web_Engagement_Score, Lead_Score_Value, Lead_Segment, Sales_Priority, Data_Quality_Status
Use GET Modules Metadata API and GET Fields Metadata API to get the API names of the required module and fields.
- Choose the Schedule Type as One Time for our use case.
Step 2: Configure Zoho CRM API Credentials
2. Generate a Grant Token with the following scopes:
- ZohoFiles.files.ALL
- ZohoCRM.bulk.ALL
- ZohoCRM.modules.ALL
- ZohoCRM.settings.ALL
- ZohoCRM.org.ALL
3. Follow the
OAuth Help Section for a step-by-step guide to generate Access and Refresh tokens for your Zoho CRM organization.
Store all the API credentials securely for later use.
4. To allow Catalyst to access Zoho CRM data, configure the stored API credentials as environment variables in the catalyst-config.json file within the BulkDataProcessor function.
These environment variables are used by
Catalyst Connectors to create access tokens for establishing secure connection between Zoho CRM and Catalyst.
Step 3: Add Business Logic
1. Go to com.processor.record.ZCRMRecordsProcessorImpl.java file of the BulkDataProcessor in the functions directory.
2. Override the ZCRMRecordsProcessor method with the business logic.
The complete code sample for this use case is available on
GitHub for reference.
Following is the major custom logic used here:
Phone Number Normalization:
This can be implemented in two stages, Country standardization and Phone Number formatting.
For country standardization, CountryStandardizerUtil maps different variations of the Country field in records to a single standardized country identifier. These variations may include,
- Country Names (India, Unites States, United Kingdom)
- Abbreviations (Ind, IN, USA, US, UK)
- Calling Codes (+91, +1, +44)
With this, we can ensure different interpretations of the same country are interpreted consistently during the process.
Once the country is standardized, Phone Numbers are formatted to E.164 format in the PhoneNormalizerUtil.
It removes all non-numeric characters and converts the Phone input to E.164 format with the respective country codes.
public class PhoneNormalizerUtil { private static final Pattern NON_DIGIT = Pattern.compile("[^0-9]"); public static Optional<String> normalizeToE164(String rawPhone, String countryCode) { if (rawPhone == null || rawPhone.trim().isEmpty()) { return Optional.empty(); } String digits = NON_DIGIT.matcher(rawPhone).replaceAll(""); if (rawPhone.startsWith("+") && digits.length() >= 10) { return Optional.of("+" + digits); } switch (countryCode) { case "IN": return normalizeIndia(digits); case "US": return normalizeUS(digits); case "UK": return normalizeUK(digits); default: return Optional.empty(); } } private static Optional<String> normalizeIndia(String digits) { if (digits.length() == 10) { return Optional.of("+91" + digits); } if (digits.startsWith("91") && digits.length() == 12) { return Optional.of("+" + digits); } return Optional.empty(); } private static Optional<String> normalizeUS(String digits) { if (digits.length() == 10) { return Optional.of("+1" + digits); } if (digits.startsWith("1") && digits.length() == 11) { return Optional.of("+" + digits); } return Optional.empty(); } private static Optional<String> normalizeUK(String digits) { if (digits.startsWith("44") && digits.length() == 12) { return Optional.of("+" + digits); } if (digits.length() == 10) { return Optional.of("+44" + digits); } return Optional.empty(); }
} |
Lead Priority and Segmentation
The lead priority is calculated using the Title, No of employees, Last Activity Days and Web Engagement Score fields in the record.
Each field value contributes a predefined number of points:
- If the job title indicates a senior role such as CEO, CTO, Director, or VP, 25 points are added.
- If the company size is 200 employees or more, 20 points are added.
- If the Lead has been active within the last 7 days, 15 points are added.
- If the web engagement score is 70 or higher, 10 points are added.
The sum of all applicable factors is returned as an integer and based on this score the lead's priority and segmentation is assigned as follows:
- High (Hot): score ≥ 70
- Medium (Warm): score ≥ 40
- Low (Cold): score < 40
public static int calculateLeadScore( String jobTitle, Integer companySize, Integer lastActivityDays, Integer webEngagementScore) { int score = 0; // Decision Maker if (jobTitle != null) { String title = jobTitle.toLowerCase(); if (title.contains("ceo") || title.contains("cto") || title.contains("director") || title.contains("vp")) { score += 25; } } // Company Size if (companySize != null && companySize >= 200) { score += 20; } // Recency if (lastActivityDays != null && lastActivityDays <= 7) { score += 15; } // Engagement if (webEngagementScore != null && webEngagementScore >= 70) { score += 10; } return score; } public static String deriveSegment(int score) { if (score >= 70) return "Hot"; if (score >= 40) return "Warm"; return "Cold"; } public static String derivePriority(String segment) { switch (segment) { case "Hot": return "High"; case "Warm": return "Medium"; default: return "Low"; } }
|
Lead Quality:
Lead quality is evaluated based on the validity of the Mobile and Country fields in the records.
- Clean: Both field values are valid.
- Critical: Both field values are invalid.
- Needs Review: Only one of the field values is invalid.

Write Back to Records:
The processed data is written back to Zoho CRM as follows:
- Mobile: Formatted phone numbers.
- Lead Score: Total score calculated from all applicable fields.
- Lead Segment: Segment derived from the lead score.
- Sales Priority: Priority assigned based on the lead segment.
- Data Quality Status: Overall quality of the Lead record.
if (normalizedMobile.isPresent()) { data.put("Mobile", normalizedMobile.get()); } data.put("Lead_Score", leadScore); data.put("Lead_Segment", leadSegment); data.put("Sales_Priority", salesPriority); data.put("Data_Quality_Status", dataQualityStatus); }
|
Step 4: Deploy to Development
You can find the complete code sample on
GitHub for reference.
Try it Out!
With the changes deployed to the Development environment, let us now test the solution.
We hope this Kaizen helps you import large volumes of data into Zoho CRM while improving data quality and lead intelligence using the CRM Bulk Data Processor.
Have questions or suggestions? Drop them in the comments or write to us at
support@zohocrm.com.
We will circle back to you next Friday with another interesting topic.
On to Better Building!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recent Topics
How do I change (error) display messages
Hi! I would like to edit display messages like "invalid entries" and "enter a value for Nome" and so on into Italian language messages. How can I do that? Already tried on Validate on form submit. Where I am failing? Thanks in advance.
Record Overseas Transactions Along with CC charges
Hi All, We receive payments via stripe in multiple currencies and stripe takes around 2.5% fees. The amount is settled in INR into our local bank. What should be the currency of the income account used for Stripe payments? Here is a sample flow that we
Easier onboarding for new users with stage descriptions
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a recent enhancement we've made to Bigin. You can now add descriptions to the stages in your pipeline. Previously, when creating a pipeline, you could only add stages. With this update,
Pieds de page personnalisé - Document Zoho Writer
Bonjour à tous, Je rencontre un souci avec l’ajout d’un pied de page personnalisé dans un document Zoho Writer. Je souhaite insérer les informations de mon entreprise (notamment un logo + adresse) dans le pied de page. Le problème, c’est que lorsque j’ajoute
Credit card transactions are backwards after importing statements
I am new to Zoho Books so I'm importing my firm's bank and credit card statements in. My credit card statements have a single column with negative numbers so that is the option I chose. But when I went to categorize the credit card transactions, I can
Permissions on Views
Having the option of any agent creating custom views is firing back and got a situation where there are a hundred different views across the team and tickets are not being dealt in the most efficient of ways. Tickets seems to be missed by some agents,
Function #8: Add additional charges to invoices
Here goes one of the highly sought-after custom functions in Zoho Books. If you find yourself needing to apply additional charges to customers on their invoices (say credit card surcharges, or fuel charges applicable to customers from a certain region,
VIsual maindmaps in Zoho notebook Ai
Can I create and export VIsual maindmaps in Zoho notebook Ai
1stDibs Integration to Zoho Inventory
Hello is it possible to integrate my Zoho inventory and 1stDibs?
Community Question: Renewal vs Invoicing
This is a question for the community. Does anyone else consider there to be a difference between a subscription renewal event and sending out a recurring invoice for a subscription? For example, let's say customer XYZ purchases a 1-year subscription to
cloud console support for music websites
Hi Friends, I am not from a very technical background.. So need support from the Zoho family. I want to build a e-commerce website which is in Musical Niche. It will help people learn music & play instruments of all types. There are a few players in the market like Chordify , Guitaa, Guitar Dashboard, ChordU & few others. But I all these websites allow only a few instruments to play. So I want to build a better website than the one I mentioned. So wnated to know what UI & AI should I use so that
Scheduled Reports - Do not send empty report
Hello, We are intensively using reports in the CRM, especially for sales managers. When data is empty, they still receive an email. Can you add an option to avoid sending the report when data is empty?
Is Zoho One Desktop more secure than Zoho One Web SaaS?
Is Zoho One Desktop more secure than using Zoho One in browser? Inherently, it seems desktop would be unless you don't do things like share your pw or leave pc on. I am concerned about data being on the cloud or someone else's server and database.
Reminder Settings - Time Tracker
On the time tracker in Reminder Settings I created a reminder according to the Zoho manual. But a manager asked me to change the message that goes in the email. Is it possible to change the message? I didn't find that in the Zoho manual. Another question: I configured to receive the reminder everyone who logged in less than 40 hours. Does Zoho consider less than 40 hours of the current week or the whole month? Another situation, I put it so that I and another specific user would receive the notification,
Create Item group from a composite Item
I have applied my mind for hours but cannot figure this out. Can you have a composite item in an item group?. E.g. We bundle different color and size SKU's together as composite items. Also Using composite items as Bill of Materials. We want to create
Main difference of Zoho Recruit Corporte version and Staffing HR vesion
Hi Zoho, I need help to fully understand what is the main key point differences of Recruit Corporate version versus the Staffing HR version? We are currently using Corporate HR version and we are looking on having an insightful automated reporting, does
Out of Stock items showing in Commerce
I have over 6000 items and most are not in stock, but all items are showing up in Commerce whether they are inventory or not. What option or feature can you use to hide items in Commerce at zero or negative quantities? I currently am using Commerce for
Is it possible to transfer data from one related list to another within the same module ?
In the Leads module, there is an existing default Product related list that already contains data. Recently, I added a custom multi-lookup field, which created a new related list in the same Leads module. Now, I need to move the existing data from the
How to implement new online payment gateway?
Hello, Can you tell me how to proceed to implement my local payment gateway? DIBS has an open avaiable API that should be easy to implement into ZOHO BOOKS. http://tech.dibspayment.com/dibs_payment_window
Formula working in MS Excel , is not working in Zoho Sheets, Filter fuction which is working in MS sheets per the attached workbook / Daily update.
Filter function , which is working in MS Excel is not working in Zoho sheets. Please help on function of filter of particular class sheets and extract students name who has more than 3.5 hours of study hours on particular day depending on date in D7 cell.
New in Smart Prompt: Record Assistant for contextual assistance, and support for new AI models
Smart Prompt helps teams stay informed and move faster by providing relevant suggestions where work happens in CRM. With this update, Smart Prompt becomes more adaptable to your organization’s AI preferences. You can now choose which Large Language Model
Improved Integration Failure Information (And Notification Options)
Hi, When an attachment service for example fails, you just get "Field x - Error", I can check the field it is failing on and find nothing wrong, same file size, type, dimensions, etc. so more information as to the actual issue would be helpful. And an
Change User Role in a Form
Hi, When in a form, it would be good (And consistent) to be able to change the user role/permission like you can with Shared Reports, All Entries or the actual User itself, rather than having to delete the users permission and then add it back again with
Reassign Partially Saved Entries
Hi, I would like to be able to go to Partially Saved Entries and like the option to delete them I would like the option to multi-select and be able to reassign them to another user to complete (Such as when a user has left the company). Thanks Dan
Increase the "Maximum Saved Entries per User" Options Limit
Hi, You can create lots of saved entries, yet the Limit when you apply one is 25, we may often expect 32 to be in draft, and therefore want to enforce that, can we increase the limit of this field from 25 to 100 (As you can just turn it off and have more
Dynamic Field Folders in OneDrive
Hi, With the 2 options today we have either a Dynamic Parent Folder and lots of attachments all in that one folder with only the ability to set the file name (Which is also not incremented so if I upload 5 photos to one field they are all named the same
Product Updates in Zoho Workplace applications | December 2025
Hello Workplace Community, Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that went live across all Workplace applications this December. Zoho Mail Block emails without notifying the sender Block emails without sending a rejection notification
Zoho CRM for Gmail Extension Not Working in Brave Browser?
Is anyone able to get the Zoho CRM Chrome Extension working in the Brave browser? They're both built on the Chromium platform and every other Chrome Extension works with the exception of Zoho CRM for Gmail so any ideas here?
Set Frozen Cells in the Report Settings
Hi, It would be nice to be able to set the frozen cells in the report Settings, and have an option if this is fixed or can be changed after loading (On the next load it still goes back to the Settings). Thanks Dan
Microsoft Teams now available as an online meeting provider
Hello everyone, We're pleased to announce that Zoho CRM now supports Microsoft Teams as an online meeting provider—alongside the other providers already available. Admins can enable Microsoft Teams directly from the Preferences tab under the Meetings
Tip of the week #26: Import/ Export calendars in Zoho Calendar.
Any calendar on the web or calendars that you create in any other calendar application can be imported in to Zoho Calendar. This will help you to add the events from the calendars that you import to your Zoho Calendar. You also have the option to export
Add Zoho Forms to Zoho CRM Plus bundle
Great Zoho apps like CRM and Desk have very limited form builders when it comes to form and field rules, design, integration and deployment options. Many of my clients who use Zoho CRM Plus often hit limitations with the built in forms in CRM or Desk and are then disappointed to hear that they have to additionally pay for Zoho Forms to get all these great forms functionalities. Please consider adding Zoho Forms in the Zoho CRM Plus bundle. Best regards, Mladen Svraka Zoho Certified Consultant and
Social icons, open in new tab?
Hello, I have two social icons on my footer, Facebook and Psychology Today. Clicking on the Facebook icon opens a new tab, the Psychology Today icon does not. I would like them both to open a new tab. Am I missing a setting somewhere?
Real-Time Screen Annotation During Zoho Cliq Screen Sharing
Hi Zoho Support Team, Hope you're doing well. We’d like to request the addition of real-time screen annotation tools during screen sharing sessions in Zoho Cliq video calls. 🔍 What We're Looking For: The ability for the presenter—and optionally, other
Autofill address using smart fields mapped over the pdf document
Hi, I'm using mail merge to map smart fields onto PDF documents I plan to distribute for signing. I already have a Zoho Sign subscription. When mapping smart fields from the Employee form, I only see the permanent and current addresses which include the
How do I cap employee leave accrual
HI there, How do I cap an employee's leave accrual? The policy is that you accrue 15 days leave annually (1.25 days a month) and once you reach 15 days, you wont accrue more until you take leave. Thank you!
Open sub form from a button as a popup form
Is there a way within a form to use similar code as below to show a button in the form when clicked opens the subform for data to be added to the record being viewed in the form OpenUrl("#Form:<Customer_Delivery_Address>?<Delivery_Address>=" + input.ID,"popup
Dont have backup option in setting
Hi guys. I started using zoho book a week ago. I bought premium package yet I don't have backup option in setting. I hope anyone can help me find a solution. Thanks in advance
Making Tags Mandatory
When creating an expense, is it possible to make the Tags field mandatory? I see the option in settings to make other fields mandatory, like Merchant, Description, Customer, etc, but nothing about Tags. Thanks! Kevin
Is there a plan to integrate zoho voice with zoho books?
Hello, Is there a plan to integrate zoho voice with zoho books? Right now we are using the Twilio SMS integration into zoho books, but have recently decided to switch to zoho voice for calls and sms. Is there a plan to integrate zoho voice natively into
Next Page