Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

Hello Everyone,

We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI.

With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to provide the best services for their customers. Teams work in their own designated spaces on the platform, and more often than not, business context gets lost as tasks transition from one team to another. To address this challenge, we have introduced Connected Records, a powerful feature that will help multiple teams coordinate seamlessly. Connected records enable teams to focus on their processes while the CRM handles coordination, delivering the right customer context to the right team at the right time.

So what are connected records? 

Connected records help users link records between two modules. This feature helps improve coordination across teams and eliminate the need to rely on email and chat for task coordination. 

Whether it's linking a deal to a product demo request and then linking the same deal to an onboarding request when the deal is closed won or linking a deal directly to a contract request or to a customer advocacy request if the onboarding is successful, this feature ensures all teams have the right context at the right time to execute their work. (See image below)


From the above image, we can understand that the connection for each record will differ depending on the specific task or use case, making it unique to that record.

How can you create connected records?

You can create connected records in two ways :
  • Manual creation : Create connected records manually from within an organization module linking it to a record in the team module or from within a team module linking it to another team module.

    For instance, we can create a product demo record in the pre-sale team module directly from a new deal in the deals module or create a customer advocacy record in the advocacy team modules directly from an onboarding record in the onboarding team module.

  • Auto-connect records using workflows : When you have a clear outline of the various steps in your sales process, you can connect records from one step to another automatically using a workflow rule.

    For instance, we can automatically create an onboarding record in the onboarding team module when the deal stage is marked as closed won or create a win/loss analysis record in the marketing team module when the deal stage is marked as closed lost. This will help maintain continuity between the two steps and also provide the teams working on these records at both steps with clear customer context.      

What else do connected records offer? 

With connected records, requesters can raise requests from any module instead of navigating to the My Requests tab every time.
When records are linked between two modules, users can use public fields to display record details to team members who are not part of the module, so essential information is available for those members to complete their process efficiently. 

Use Case: Managing a Deal in CRM with Connected Records  

A prospect has inquired about a product for their business, leading to the creation of a deal record named Zylker Deal in the CRM system. To ensure the deal progresses smoothly and is closed successfully, multiple teams need to collaborate and access relevant data to execute their processes for this deal. Imagine the number of emails or chat messages required to coordinate this process across teams. This is precisely where connected records come into play.

With connected records, the Zylker deal record can be connected across various modules managed by different teams within the CRM platform, enabling the deal to be closed successfully. This eliminates the need to rely on emails and chats, providing a seamless way to link and share critical information across teams.

Let's see how this can be done:

Step 1 : Linking the Deal to the Case Study Module

The first step involves connecting the Zylker Deal record with the Case Study module managed by the Marketing team. This allows the sales team to access the relevant case study to persuade the prospect and strengthen their decision to purchase the product.

The sales executive can manually create a connected record from the Zylker Deal record of the Deal module directly to the Case Study module. Thereby, requesting the marketing team for a relevant case study and creating a connection from an org module to a team module.


Step 2 : Connecting the deal record to the Demo Module

If the prospect is convinced and is moved to the second step, they will require a demo of the product. So, the deal record can be linked to the Demo module managed by the Pre-sales team.

The sales executive can manually create a connected record from the Zylker  deal record from the Deals Module directly to the Demo module. Thereby raising a request to the Pre-sales team to conduct a demo for the prospect and creating a connection between two team modules.



From Step 1 and Step 2, we understand that each record's connection will be different. They will differ on a record level based on the use case or task at hand. Connected records will achieve connections between org modules and team modules or between two team modules.  

Step 3 : Onboarding After the Deal is Closed (Won)

The prospect likes the demo and decides to purchase the product. Once the Zylker Deal is successfully closed as won, the deal record can be linked to the Onboarding module managed by the onboarding team. This facilitates the transition from sales to onboarding, and most often, manually creating an onboarding request for every record that reaches the Deal won stage can be time-consuming and repetitive for the sales team. So they can simply automate this process.

This can be done by setting up a workflow rule to automatically connect records from one module to another. So the sales executive can set up a workflow rule saying whenever a new record is created with the deal won stage, create a new connected record in the onboarding team module, thus automatically raising a request to assist the customer in setting up their account.


Thus, when you know your sales pipeline, you can create a connected record from within a workflow to link a record from one step to the next.

Step 4 : Linking to the Training Team for Ongoing Assistance

Finally, after the customer completes the onboarding process, they can choose to receive training to use the product efficiently. So the Zylker deal record can be connected to the Training module managed by the Training team.

Here, the sales executive being assigned as the requester for the Training team can raise a request directly from the Zylker Deal record of the Deals module to the Training module instead of navigating to his My Request tab to do so. This step ensures that the customer receives proper guidance in using the product’s features through training sessions, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction.

Why is connected records more suitable than a lookup relation?

One may argue that linking of modules can be achieved by a lookup relation as well. However, the key difference between a Look-up and Connected Record relationship is flexibility. Connected Records are dynamic and flexible and can link any two modules anytime, whereas Look-up relationships are not dynamic and should be configured by the admin during the CRM configuration.  


We hope this new enhancement brings you as much excitement as it does to us, and that your work is simplified as you navigate through the new version of CRM. Please reach out to us in the comments below if you have questions about this enhancement.


 

    • Recent Topics

    • 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

    • Zoho Tables is now live in Australia & New Zealand!

      Hey everyone! We’ve got some great news to share — Zoho Tables is now officially available in the Australian Data Center serving users across Australia and New Zealand regions! Yes, it took us a bit longer to get here, but this version of Zoho Tables

    • Delivery and handling of documents e-stamped using Zoho Sign

      Hello everyone! Zoho Sign makes it easy to pay non judicial stamp duty online and automatically attach the digitally generated e-stamp challan to electronic documents. We also manage the delivery of physical e-stamped papers. We periodically receive these

    • Introducing Dedicated Modules for Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing

      We’ve enhanced the way you manage Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing. Previously, all three grouped together under Subscription Items. Now, each one has its own dedicated module, giving you a cleaner and more intuitive experience. This update

    • Sortie de Zoho TABLE ??

      Bonjour, Depuis bientôt 2 ans l'application zoho table est sortie en dehors de l'UE ? Depuis un an elle est annoncée en Europe Mais en vrai, c'est pour quand exactement ??

    • Issue with WhatsApp Template Approval and Marketing Message Limit in Zoho Bigin

      We are facing issues while creating and using WhatsApp message templates through Zoho Bigin, and we request your clarification and support regarding the same. 1. Utility Template Approval Issue Until December, we were able to create WhatsApp templates

    • Drop Down Value

      Hi, May I know why Zoho Flow treat this drop down as number and not as string. If so, how can I fetch the right value for filtering. This field is from Creator, in Creator upon checking by default it is a string since it's not a lookup field.

    • Zoho CRM's mobile apps: A 2025 Recap

      2025 marked a year of steady progress for Zoho CRM's mobile apps. We rolled out several updates and features to improve usability and make everyday CRM work a lot easier to manage. Here’s a look back at some of the key releases from 2025. Android releases

    • Facebook follower count doesn't match FB Analytics

      Hi all, I am wondering if anyone else has issues with follower counts for Facebook not matching FB's native analytics tool. On the Zoho dashboard, it's showing 1,007, but FB shows 1,060. All the other channels match up. Any insights are much appreciated!

    • Meta and Facebook data report discrepancy

      I have been currently gathering manually facebook follower data thru meta. In zoho marketing plus the social media reporting only allows for page likes, and so there is a discrepancy with the data. please the difference in files attached. Is there way

    • Develop and publish a Zoho Recruit extension on the marketplace

      Hi, I'd like to develop a new extension for Zoho Recruit. I've started to use Zoho Developers creating a Zoho CRM extension. But when I try to create a new extension here https://sigma.zoho.com/workspace/testtesttestest/apps/new I d'ont see the option of Zoho Recruit (only CRM, Desk, Projects...). I do see extensions for Zoho Recruit in the marketplace. How would I go about to create one if the option is not available in sigma ? Cheers, Rémi.

    • Unlocking New Levels: Zoho Payroll's Journey in 2025

      Every year brings its own set of challenges and opportunities to rethink how payroll works across regulations and teams. In 2025, Zoho Payroll continued to evolve with one clear focus: giving businesses more flexibility, clarity, and control as they grow.

    • Can I export all attachments from Zoho CRM?

      Can I export all attachments from Zoho CRM?

    • Please can the open tasks be shown in each customer account at the top.

      Hi there This has happened before, where the open tasks are no longer visible at the top of the page for each customer in the CRM. They have gone missing previously and were reinstated when I asked so I think it's just after an update that this feature

    • What's new in Zoho Sheet: Simplify data entry and collaboration

      Hello, Zoho Sheet community! Last year, our team was focused on research and development so we could deliver updates that enhance your spreadsheet experience. This year, we’re excited to deliver those enhancements—but we'll be rolling them out incrementally

    • Community Digest — Noviembre y Diciembre 2025

      ¡Hola, Comunidad de Zoho en Español! Cerramos el año de la mejor forma con nuestro último Community Digest de 2025, donde podrás encontrar las últimas novedades de nuestros productos. ¿Todo listo para empezar 2026 con el mejor pie? ¡Vamos a ello! Zoho

    • Zoho Projects Plus’ 2025- the year we launched

      We’ve been building project management tools for the past 19 years, and a question we often hear is: Different teams in our organization prefer different project management methods; while the development team prefers agile, the marketing and sales teams

    • Why can't we change the Account type from an Expense to an Asset?

      Like the question. Why in QuickBooks for example if I mistakenly created an account as an expenses and I already captured information in those accounts, I can just change the account type from expense to asset

    • Zoho Books emails suddenly going to Spam since 11 Nov 2025 (Gmail + now Outlook) — anyone else?

      Hi everyone, We migrated to Zoho Books in July 2025 and everything worked fine until 11 Nov 2025. Since then, Zoho Books system emails are landing in customers’ Spam (first Gmail, and now we’re seeing Outlook/Office 365 also starting to spam them). Impacted

    • How do you print a refund check to customer?

      Maybe this is a dumb question, but how does anyone print a refund check to a customer? We cant find anywhere to either just print a check and pick a customer, or where to do so from a credit note.

    • Company Multiple Branch/ Location Accounting

      Hi All, anyone know whether company can maintain their multiple Branch Accounting in Zoho  Books. It will be chart of Accounts & Master Data will be same but different report available as per per Branch. Thanks & regards, Vivek +91 9766906737

    • Zoho Books Invoices Templates

      It would be really helpful to have more advanced features to customise the invoice templates in Zoho Books. Especially I´m thinking of the spacing of the different parts of the invoice (Address line etc.). If you have a sender and receiver address in

    • Support for Developing Zoho Recruit Extensions via Zoho Sigma

      Hi, I’m interested in building an extension for Zoho Recruit using Zoho Sigma. However, when I navigate to Sigma and attempt to create a new extension (via the "New Extension" option), Zoho Recruit does not appear as a listed service—only options like

    • Email Administrators! Join our tips & troubleshooting series

      Greetings to all the admins out there! This announcement is exclusively for you. As we step into the New Year, we’re excited to start a dedicated series of admin-specific tips curated to support you. These posts will help you overcome everyday challenges

    • Notes badge as a quick action in the list view

      Hello all, We are introducing the Notes badge in the list view of all modules as a quick action you can perform for each record, in addition to the existing Activity badge. With this enhancement, users will have quick visibility into the notes associated

    • Deprecation of the Zoho OAuth connector

      Hello everyone, At Zoho, we continuously evaluate our integrations to ensure they meet the highest standards of security, reliability, and compliance. As part of these ongoing efforts, we've made the decision to deprecate the Zoho OAuth default connector

    • Personalize your booking pages with Custom CSS

      Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re introducing Custom CSS for Zoho Bookings, designed to give you complete control over the look and feel of your booking pages. With this new feature, you can upload your own CSS file to customize colors, fonts,

    • Free Webinar : Unlock AI driven business insights with Zoho Inventory + Zoho Analytics

      Are you tired of switching between apps and exporting data to build customized reports? Say hello to smarter & streamlined insights! Join us for this exclusive webinar where we explore the power of the Zoho Inventory–Zoho Analytics integration. Learn

    • No OR Filter for Views with a Related Modules Criteria

      We would like to create a Deal View where the User can see all their deals. For that, we would need an OR to connect the criteria. One of the Fields is a "multiselect User", these (Related Modules Criteria) can only be Filter with an AND. Even between

    • Import Function: ONLY update empty fields

      When setting up an import from a spreadsheet to CRM, there is a checkbox "Don't update empty values for existing contacts" (see screenshot below). While I see some limited benefit from this functionality, I think there should also be an "ONLY update empty

    • Sales IQ Chat Widget is Only Displaying Last Name

      Can anyone suggest why the widget is only displaying "last name"?! We have the latest version of the wordpress plugin installed. Thanks Thanks!

    • Free Webinar: Zoho Sign for Zoho Projects: Automate tasks and approvals with e-signatures

      Hi there! Handling multiple projects at once? Zoho Projects is your solution for automated and streamlined project management, and with the Zoho Sign extension, you can sign, send, and manage digital paperwork directly from your project workspace. Join

    • Begin the year with best practices in the Zoho Desk mobile app : Part 2

      In focus: Optimizing collaboration and supervision Let's begin 2026 with Part 2 of our tips series on driving your ticketing operations at your fingertips. In Part 1, we explored streamlining operations within tickets. This helped individuals at Omniserve

    • How to update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records

      Hello Zoho CRM, How do I update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records at once? To give you a background, these leads were uploaded or Imported at once but the lead status record was incorrectly chosen. So since there was a way to quickly add records in the system no matter how many they are, we are also wondering if there is a quicker way to update these records to the correct "Lead Status". I hope our concern makes sense and that there will be a fix for it. All the best, Jonathan

    • Zoho DataPrep and File Pattern configuration

      I'm using Zoho data prep to ingest data from One Drive into Zoho Analytics... The pipeline is super simple but I can't any way to get all the files that I need. Basically I need to bring all the files with a certain pattern and for that I'm using a regex

    • JWT Token authentication problem that sometimes generates infinite redirect loops

      Description : Nous proposons un bouton sur notre plateforme permettant de rediriger l'utilisateur vers le portail ZohoDesk via un jeton JWT pour une authentification transparente. Cependant, il arrive que certains utilisateurs soient pris dans une boucle

    • ZOHO Work Drive Back Up

      I am looking for a ZOHO Work Drive backup solution. Something that is cloud based. There's lots of these kinds of options for Google Drive and other providers, but I have not seen anything for WorkDrive. Any suggestions?

    • ZOHO Reports - Filter Logic?

      Hi, I need a way to apply filter logics such as ((1 AND 2) OR 3). All I can see as of now is a way to enter different AND filters in the respective filter column. But how can I add an OR filter? Any advice would be highly appreciated. Mark

    • Scanned Doc - selecting Item overwrites Rate

      I have a Vendor Invoice which was uploaded to Documents. I select Add To > New Bill. The OCR is actually quite good, but it is reading an Item Description instead of an Item Number. I remove the description and select the correct Item Number... and it

    • Recruit API search

      Hi all, Attempting to call the search api endpoint from Postman using the word element as mentioned in api docs Search Records - APIs | Online Help - Zoho Recruit When making the call to /v2/Candidates/search?word=Saudi receive response of { "code": "MANDATORY_NOT_FOUND",

    • Next Page