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

    • How do I create an update to the Cost Price from landed costs?

      Hi fellow Zoho Inventory battlers, I am new to Zoho inventory and was completely baffled to find that the cost price of products does not update when a new purchase order is received. The cost price is just made up numbers I start with when the product

    • Export Invoices to XML file

      Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunities

    • E-Invoicing in Belgium with Zoho Books

      Starting January 1, 2026, Belgium is introducing mandatory electronic invoices (e-invoicing) for all B2B transactions between VAT-registered businesses. This means that invoices and credits notes must be exchanged in a prescribed digital format. How E-Invoicing

    • Lead Blueprint transition in custom list view

      Hi, Is It possible to insert the Blueprint transition label in a custom Canvas list view? I am using Lead module. I see the status, but it would be great if our users could execute the Blueprint right from the list view without having to enter the detailed

    • Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.30.0)

      Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce the latest updates to Trident, bringing you a more seamless, intuitive, and secure communication experience. Let’s take a quick look at what’s new. Work with PST/EML files more efficiently. You can now do more

    • Open Form in Same window as Page from embedded Report

      I have a page that has an embedded report, as shown below. When I click the + sign to add a new record, the form shows up inside the page where the report was embedded. I know that I can add a custom action to the report grid or report detail view and

    • Weekly Sales Summary

      Is it possible to generate a weekly report in Zoho Books to show -$$ amount of estimates generated -# of estimates generated by Salesperson -$$ amount of Sales Orders created -$$ amount of Invoices generated

    • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

      Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due

    • Pricing Strategies: #4 Counting on Discounts

      "Is there any chance I can get a little discount on this month's service?" Maya hears this almost every time at her fitness studio. She offers monthly subscription plans for various services, including yoga, strength training, wellness sessions, and personal

    • Do Unpublished Products in Shopify Sync to Zoho POS?

      Will an unpublished product in Shopify sync to Zoho POS? I would like to know how Zoho POS handles products that are in draft/unpublished status in Shopify.

    • Introducing Query Workbench in Zoho CRM

      Hello everyone! We’re excited to announce the Query Workbench, a brand-new interface designed to improve developer experience of building Queries in Zoho CRM faster, simpler, and more intuitive. In the past, constructing queries required navigating across

    • Limitation with Dynamic Email Attachment Capture

      I've discovered a flaw in how Zoho Creator handles email attachments when using the Email-to-Form feature, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. The Issue According to the official documentation, capturing email attachments

    • Add Customer in Books on Creator Form Submit Params

      Hi guys, Were integrating a creator app with books however what were doing is adding a books customer on submit of creator form.  We have some parameters but some fields aren't coping, All were seeing is the contact name in books,.  Any help of the params for this would be great. below is a sample of the script... response = zoho.books.createRecord("contacts", "XXXXXXXXX", { "contact_name" : input.Name, "address" : input.Email }); 

    • Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account

      Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?

    • Suggestion : link KB with Accounts

      Hi Zoho teams.  I think it could be good to link KB articles with  : accounts in order to easily  find articles dedicated to some account specificities. I tried to use tags , but tags are free text with not easy way  to retrieve it directly from ticket or list article for one tag. Tickets : It would be a good way to measure usage of KB directly from ticket when we don't need to copy/paste KB in solution. And : Great Tool , keep going ! 

    • Drag and Drop in Creator Application

      Hi, I am in the planning phase of a new application and I would like to use 'Drag and Drop' in the user interface of my new Creator application that I am sketching out, but I don't seem to be able to find any reference that this is available to developers. In my instance I have table of entries and I would like to be able to allow users to move an entry to another table (much like you do in your own interface when creating a Pivot Table report. In addition, I would like the user to be able to re-order

    • Is there any way to integrate Zoho with Zapier?

      Is there any way to integrate Zoho with Zapier? I'd like to use it to create a workflow, sharing posts from our Wordpress website to all our channels.

    • Popular Articles Report

      From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports Content management teams can use various metrics to assess the effectiveness of knowledge base articles, improve content quality, and ensure articles are regularly updated. Predefined article

    • Invoice Ref. Field

      Hello Team, Currently, the Invoice Ref. field is set to a Number type with a maximum limit of 9 digits. However, we often receive customer invoices that contain up to 12 digits. In some cases, the invoice reference includes not only numbers but also letters

    • 60 Days Into Zoho - Tiktok Branding Startup -7 Questions?!

      Wsp Everybody I co-own a TikTok Branding / Consulting Startup & have been using Zoho for the past 60 days - Am now looking to make our overall operations & processes more Efficient & Effective! Curious to know how others are using the platform & what's

    • Turning off the new UI

      Tried the new 'enhanced' UI and actively dislike it. Anyone know how to revert back?

    • XML format to import knowledgebase into Zoho Desk

      Hi, We just started to use Zoho Desk and want to import our knowledgebase from our old support system (Freshdesk) to Zoho Desk. Can anyone give us information about the format of xml file to import? There is no explanation on the related page.

    • Pushing Zoho People leave into Microsoft calendar: how to chose how "event" is shown (busy, free etc)

      Hi, how can I select how a "leave" event is pushed into Microsoft calendar? I want for leave "working elsewhere" to show as working elsewhere and NOT as busy.

    • Duplicate Accounts

      Hi There, I am looking for a solution, script, workflow or anything to solve an issue we have - in our customers section we have a rule that doesn't allow duplicates, however Zoho will allow customers with xxxxx and xxxxx PLC or LTD so effectivley we

    • Error with If formula

      I've got this super simple If formula, what is the reason for the error? If ( LEN(${Leads.Trial Slot Option}) == 3,'y','n') Syntax Error. Check the examples for any functions you're using to see if you formatted them correctly. Make sure your fields are

    • Announcing Multi-language Support in Zoho FSM

      Zoho FSM now speaks your language. The much-awaited multi-language support is now available in Zoho FSM. The following languages are supported in Zoho FSM: Dutch (Nederlands) English - United Kingdom English - United States French (français) French -

    • Creating multiple CRM leads from a Zoho Forms subform

      Hi all, We have a heavily used intake form that is used for new leads as a part of our intake. There is a subform that allows the lead to add additional team members, their titles and other basic info. That form submission creates a new Lead and the subform

    • Free webinar! Build smarter apps with Zoho Sign and Zoho Creator

      Hello, Bring the power of digital signatures to the apps you build in Zoho Creator! Connect Zoho Sign as a microservice and enable seamless e-signature workflows in your applications. This integration allows you to automate signing tasks using Deluge.

    • Restrict Addresses in Zoho Forms?

      In the address field, is there a way to restrict the addresses that auto populate (via Zoho Maps or Google Maps) to a specific state (I know it's possible with the country). Additionally, how often does the address in Zoho Maps get updated? Certain addresses

    • Appraisals on Employee Information Profile

      Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other roles

    • Zoho Tracking Image location

      So we've been having an issue with tracking email opens. Specifically in Gmail. Our emails are not that long either, maybe 4 sections of image/250 characters of text/button per section.  But all my test accounts I used via Gmail we're showing opens. But then come to find out the tracking image is at the very bottom of the email. So If the message is clipped (It always just clips our social icons on the bottom) and the user doesn't click the show more button it never tracks the open.  Looking at other

    • Weekly Tips: Secure your attachment downloads with Zoho Mail

      Safety is one of our main concerns, whether it’s about device security or online protection. We use tools like fingerprint scanners, facial recognition, and two-factor authentication to keep our devices and email accounts secure. We use methods like OTP

    • Resume Harvester: New Enhancements for Faster Sourcing

      We’re excited to share a set of enhancements to Resume Harvester that make sourcing faster and more flexible. These updates help you cut down on repetitive steps, manage auto searches more efficiently, and review candidate profiles with ease. Why we built

    • Looking for best practices to import data from SAP Business One (on-prem) into Zoho Analytics via Zoho DataPrep / Databridge — daily automated schedule

      Hi all, I’m using SAP Business One on-prem (SQL Server / or HANA — depending on DB backend) as our ERP. I want to build a pipeline that, every morning at 9:00 AM IST: pulls transactional data (invoices, customers, products, stock, etc.) from SAP B1, loads

    • Zoho One Unified Portal - Applications

      Hello, It is great to see the work on the New Unified Customer Portal. Thanks for that. The number of applications is limited though. It is now only around the Zoho Books ecosystem (Books, Expense...) and Zoho Social. = Are other applications planned

    • Marketing Tip #10: Start a customer loyalty program

      Winning a new customer is great, but keeping them coming back is even better. A loyalty program rewards repeat buyers with points, giving them more reasons to shop again. Over time, this builds trust and long-term relationships. Try this today: Set up

    • Zia Actions: AI-powered Workflow Automation for Faster and Smarter Execution

      Hello everyone, Workflows got a notch better with AI-based actions. Actions such as field extraction, prediction, auto reply, and content generation facilitate quick execution with improved speed and accuracy. Zia can intercept useful details in newly

    • Unable to access my Zoho forms account

      For some days now, I haven't had access to my Zoho Forms account. I keep getting an error that says, "You are an inactive user in your organization" via the mobile app and "You don't have permission to access this organization" via the web. I was removed

    • Do Individual Forums within Categories, in Desk Community, Produce Their Own RSS Feed?

      Do Individual Forums within Categories, in Desk Community, Produce Their Own RSS Feed? If not, can anyone share a work-around that could help me get an RSS feed for individual category forums?

    • Change Last Name to not required in Leads

      I would like to upload 500 target companies as leads but I don't yet have contact people for them. Can you enable the option for me to turn this requirement off to need a Second Name? Moderation update (10-Jun-23): As we explore potential solutions for

    • Next Page