Customer Management: # 1 Pick a Convenient Way to Onboard Customer
When Meera opened her bookstore, onboarding customers was effortless. A customer walked in, picked a book and left with a handwritten bill. As the store gained popularity, things changed.
"
Can I place an order over the phone?" a customer asked one day. Soon, emails followed. Then came requests like, "Do you have a monthly magazine subscription?" and "Can I rent books instead of buying them?"
Can I place an order over the phone?" a customer asked one day. Soon, emails followed. Then came requests like, "Do you have a monthly magazine subscription?" and "Can I rent books instead of buying them?"That's when the challenge began.
Customer details were spread across notebooks and spreadsheets.
"Did we already bill this customer?"
"Why is this customer listed twice?"
Some customers were added multiple times, invoices were delayed, and the sales and finance teams struggled to stay aligned. Meera realised that customers were entering her business through various sources, but there was no consistent way to onboard them.
To handle this growth without disrupting daily operations, Meera needed a system that could support different customer onboarding sources while keeping everything organised in one place.
Customer Onboarding in Zoho Billing
Zoho Billing allows businesses to onboard customers in multiple ways, based on how customers interact with the company. Whether the sales team adds the customer, signs up online, comes through an application, or already exists in another system, Zoho Billing provides a smooth onboarding experience.
Sales Driven Onboarding
Sales-driven onboarding is commonly used when customers are acquired through direct interaction, such as walk-ins, phone calls, or email requests. In Zoho Billing, a salesperson or finance team member can manually add a customer and issue an invoice.
Imagine when a customer visits the store to purchase books or places an order over the phone, the salesperson adds the customer to Zoho Billing and generates an invoice.
For larger or negotiated deals, the salesperson can create a quote before converting it into an invoice. This helps formalise pricing and close deals efficiently.
Businesses that use Zoho CRM can integrate with Zoho Billing to streamline this process. When a lead is marked as Won in CRM, the customer details are automatically added to Zoho Billing, reducing the manual data entry and ensuring a smooth handoff from sales to the finance team.
Self-Driven Onboarding
Self-driven onboarding is ideal when businesses want customers to sign up directly through online channels.
Using Zoho Billing, businesses can set up a website with a Pricing page and embed the pricing widget to display available plans. When customers click Subscribe, they are redirected to a secure hosted payment page.
Zoho Billing's multi-page hosted checkout supports email validation during signup, helping prevent duplicate customer records. This allows customers to onboard themselves easily while ensuring accurate customer data.
API-Based Onboarding
As businesses expand across mobile applications and custom platforms, manual onboarding may no longer scale.
Zoho Billing provides REST APIs that enable businesses to create customers programmatically. When a customer signs up via a custom form or application, the Customer Creation API can automatically create the customer record in Zoho Billing. This ensures real-time onboarding while keeping all customer data centralised.
Migrating Customers from the Legacy System
For businesses migrating from spreadsheets or other billing systems, Zoho Billing supports customer onboarding via Bulk Import. Customer data can be uploaded in CSV format using a sample import file. This makes it easy to bring existing customers into Zoho Billing without manual re-entry or downtime.
What an Effective Customer Onboarding Does to Your Business
Effective customer onboarding sets the tone for the entire customer relationship. When onboarding is smooth and consistent, businesses reduce operational friction, gain better visibility into customer data and respond faster to customer needs. It enables teams to work with clarity instead of corrections and allows businesses to scale without adding complexity. Ultimately, strong onboarding builds trust early, improves team efficiency, and lays the foundation for long-term customer retention and growth.
Up Next: Organise before Operate
Access your files securely from anywhere
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Hari Hara Sudhan. S
Sticky Posts
Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020
Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here'sCommunity Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly youCommunity Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate mostIntroducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020
Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
ZOHO CRM Button Integration
Hi Team, I’m currently working with Zoho CRM along with a custom application where I fetch deal details from the CRM and use them based on my requirements for each deal. Now, I want to enhance this setup. I plan to create a button on the Deal Detail pageMajor journey crash and not loading. Zoho Marketing Automation
Hi all. Last night (19MAR, 2026) Marketing Automation for a specific journey completely crashed, and since the crash the specific journey has failed to load at all (blank journey canvas, no journey appears, no menu accessible) but other separate journey'sCandidate Assessments, no workflows.
I have an issue where I would like to trigger a workflow based on a candidate assessment being completed. Sometimes a returning candidate will complete a second assessment, on completion the status of the candidate will be updated to "Unqualified" ifMail Merge in Zoho Desk
Hello Team, Do we have an option of mail merge within Zoho Desk like we have in Zoho CRM? We have a requirement to generate some pdf file in the form of mail merge doc from the ticket.Workdrive backup and default storage selection
Hi community, I have been informed by Zoho that workdrive will be the default storage mechanism for crm and projects. These 2 Apps seem to have different design on how they interact with workdrive for storage. 1. Crm: seems to have files saves at theZoho vault filling in a form it's not supposed to fill in
Hey there, I have a problem with ZOHO Vault autofill. In a software package, we have these options: For some reason zoho vault always replaces what's in the top option and fills a 2fa password in there, and then saves that value.. Meaning whatever wasZoho Booking Integration with Desk
Just wanting to share something in case it helps someone else who may run into a similar use case as we did. Issue: Currently, the Zoho Booking integration with desk will drop a comment into the ticket when a customer books a time, however it won't changeLet us view and export the full price books data from CRM
I quote out of CRM, some of my clients have specialised pricing for specific products - therefore we use Price Books to manage these special prices. I can only see the breakdown of the products listed in the price book and the specialised pricing forSyncing calendar with Google Calendar doesn't work when events are sent to auto repeat
Hi... The ZOHO CRM -- GOOGLE CALENDAR sync is broken. If I create a single event on either side, sync works, but if I create an event with auto repeat on either side it doesn't work. Furthermore, events created before the sync don't show up in the calendar.Organization wide Account and Contacts Visibility/Sharing Capabilities?
Has anyone figured out a way to make visibility or sharing of Accounts and Contacts to be available across the entire organization without having to have every individual user edit their Sharing permissions? For our sales folks they need to be able toNotification of Interaction Assignment
If a user is assigned an interaction, they should be notified via email. These are almost useless because if I assign an interaction for someone to respond to, they dont know that I assigned it to them without me telling them or them logging in and discoveringCountries List Global Set- Complete with Phone Country Code and Continent.
Dear Zoho Team I saw your recent addition to the Global Sets regarding the Countries list and states. While working on it, why didn't you also add things like Continent and Phone Country Code? Also, some ISO codes from some Countries/regions are misCustom Display Field for Lookup Dropdowns in Zoho CRM
Could Zoho CRM support changing the display field in lookup dropdowns, like Zoho Creator does? This would make it much easier to select the right record by showing a more useful field instead of only the default one. It would improve speed, clarity, andMessage as bot
I would like to be able to send a Cliq message truly as a bot. the current implementation of this function, while it sends the message as a bot it sends that message inside a chat from the user how authenticated the flow cliq connection instead of directlyBooks <-> CRM synchronisation with custom Fields
Hello, We are synchronising Books Customers with CRM Accounts. In CRM Accounts I set up last year a "segments" multiselect field shown below In Books, I set up a custom multi-select field with the same value as in the CRM And set up the synchronisation inside Books. Want to synchronise the Books Segments with the CRM Segments, but the later doesn't exist, and another non-existing is there ?! First, I don't understand where the field Segmentation is coming from. Second, I set CRM Segmentation to syncTrouble with using Apostrophe in Name of Customers and Vendors
We have had an ongoing issue with how the system recognizes an apostrophe in the name of customers and vendors. The search will not return any results for a name that includes the mark; ie one of our vendors names is "L'Heritage" and when entering theRecording overpayment?
So a customer just overpaid me and how do I record this? I can't enter an amount that is higher than the invoice amount. Eg. Invoice is $195 and he sent $200. He's a reccuring customer so is there a way to record so that he has a $5 advance for future invoice?Introducing the New Zoho Assist Quick Support Plugin
We are thrilled to announce the new Zoho Assist Quick Support Plugin, the upgraded and enhanced version of the Zoho Assist Customer Plugin. This new plugin allows organizations and IT administrators to deploy it directly onto their customers’ devices,Automate your signing workflows with Zoho Sign + n8n
Hello! We're excited to announce that Zoho Sign is now available as a community node on n8n, a popular open-source workflow automation platform used by tens of thousands of teams worldwide. n8n lets you connect apps, APIs, and services through a visualAsk the Experts 27: Onboarding and managing support reps
Hello everyone, We are back with our Ask the Experts (ATE) series for 2026. This year, we bring experts to help you address customer support challenges using Zoho Desk. For our first ATE, we are getting into the human side of customer support. "EveryRetainer invoice in Zoho Finance modlue
Hello, Is there a way of creating retainer invoices in the Zoho Finance module? If not can I request this is considered for future updates please.Spotlight #27: Embed visual collaboration Spaces in your presentations using the Vani add-on
Hello everyone! This month’s spotlight feature is the Vani add-on for Zoho Show. Every time you pause your presentation to open another tab or pull up supporting material, you lose a bit of momentum. At Zoho Show, we design features that keep everythingCRM
Is anyone else experiencing this issue? Our company is not moving out of using Gmail's web app. It just has more features and is a better email program than Zoho Mail. Gmail has an extension (Zoho CRM for Gmail) that we're using but we've found some seriousGood news! Calendar in Zoho CRM gets a face lift
Dear Customers, We are delighted to unveil the revamped calendar UI in Zoho CRM. With a complete visual overhaul aligned with CRM for Everyone, the calendar now offers a more intuitive and flexible scheduling experience. What’s new? Distinguish activitiesGlobal Search / Command Palette in Live App
Zoho Creator applications can contain many forms, reports, pages, and dashboards. While navigation inside the app is smooth, users still need to move through multiple menus or screens to find specific records or open particular modules. Currently, inNew 2026 Application Themes
Love the new themes - shame you can't get a little more granular with the colours, ie 3 different colours so one for the dropdown menu background. Also, I did have our logo above the application name but it appears you can't change logo placement positionSmarter appointment allocation with round-robin distribution
Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re excited to introduce the Appointment Distribution feature, a new way to decide how appointments are assigned among users. By default, appointments are distributed evenly across all event types, but this enhancementA2P 10DLC Opt-in Rejection Issue with Zoho Creator Public Form
Hi everyone, I’m working on an A2P 10DLC SMS campaign and running into repeated rejections due to opt-in issues. I’m using Zoho Creator for the registration flow. The form is public (no login required). Users enter their phone number and there is an uncheckedMake Quick Edits to Images Before Attaching
Hello everyone, We have enhanced how attachments are handled in tickets to help agents preview and share files more efficiently in Zoho Desk. Agents can preview image attachments before adding them to tickets and edit them using attachment annotator.3/18 オンライン勉強会のお知らせ Zoho ワークアウト （無料）
ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 3月開催のZoho ワークアウトの開催が決定しましたのでご案内します。 今回はZoomにて、オンライン開催します。 ▶︎参加登録はこちら（無料） https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/BoNTN7zYR8OvOPGShqBY0A ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは？ Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目指すイベントです。Extend color coding to custom picklist fields
Objectively, Projects has the best UI of any Zoho app — clean, intuitive, and never feels bloated. Big props to whoever owns the design. Feature request: color coding for custom picklist field values in field customization. You've already done it in twoNew in Office Integrator: In-sheet text translation
Hi users, We're pleased to introduce translation capability in the spreadsheet editor in Zoho Office Integrator. This allows you to translate the text in your spreadsheet's cells into 70+ languages from within your web app. Office Integrator's spreadsheetStreamline email communication with Out of Office configuration
Managing user communication effectively is the key to ensuring timely responses and consistent messaging. However, when users are unavailable, the absence of an Out of Office response can lead to delays and missed expectations. Managing these settingsChanging settings for auto logoff
I've noticed that when I haven't used Cliq for a while, I have to re-enter my password. That is really clumsy, especially if you have a complicated password. Because it won't be filled in automatically. Is there a way to change that behaviour? We areA few Issues when using "Pay Bill via Check"
We have quite a bit of issues with how paying for Bills via Check works. Would love some feedback from the Zoho team in case we are doing something incorrectly. 1. When we go from a vendor and select "Pay Bill via Check" option, we see ALL the outstandingPrevent tracking users from specific countries
Currently, I’m receiving many bot visits from the United States and Malaysia. I would like these visits not to be recorded in SalesIQ. I already enabled the option to exclude traffic from cloud service providers, but I’m still receiving bot visits. Ideally,My client requires me to have custom pdf file names to except payment for invoices, how can I customize this before emailing.
Hello! I love the program so far but there are a few things that are standing in the way. I hope you guys can code them in so I can keep the program for years to come. My client requires I customize the pdf file names I send in for billing. Can you pleaseEdit Project Number?
Hi all: We just signed up for a trial of zoho one, which includes ZoHo Projects. We've noticed there was a 'dummy project' preloaded in projects to help familiarize yourself with the software. We've created a couple of our own projects now but noticed since the dummy project was preloaded, our projects start with number 2 then 3, sequentially. Since it seems we will be keeping zoho past the trial, If we delete the dummy project, how do we get our own projects renumbered, beginning with 1? We'd likeDownload pricebook products & details - not just pricebook creation date & name
We're looking to download a copy of a pricebook and its associated products & book prices (as we have several offices in different countries selling the same products), however, when using the export feature under Data administration it only gives me554 5.1.1 – Mail sending blocked for the domain(s): [gmail.com]
Here's your corrected text: Hello, I hope you are doing well. I was unable to send a message and received the following error: "554 5.1.1 – Mail sending blocked for the domain(s): [gmail.com]" I tried to send and deliver an email but got this error. INext Page