Tips and Tricks #20: How to prevent contact duplication with existing leads from Zoho CRM

In this week's tip, we'll be taking a look at how you can prevent contact duplication when existing leads from Zoho CRM subscribe to one of your plans in Zoho Subscriptions.

This post is part of a series of tips and tricks that we post every week. If you missed last week's post about the 3 C's of data in Zoho Subscriptions, go ahead and check it out.

Business Scenario

Managing and qualifying leads is an important part of any business' sales routine. The Zoho Subscriptions-Zoho CRM integration offers a tight sync between both applications and helps your sales teams take control of their targets. With the integration enabled, customers that subscribe to your plans in Zoho Subscriptions will be created as accounts or contacts in Zoho CRM, based on your sync preferences.

However, there may be cases where leads that you're trying to qualify in Zoho CRM subscribe to one of your plans in Zoho Subscriptions without your sales teams knowing about it. This can lead to your sales teams wasting time on already converted leads, which could also get you on the wrong side of customers because of sales calls even after they've subscribed to your service. This week's tip will help you avoid this.

Setting It Up

Like most of our previous tips and tricks, this one can be implemented by using a custom function. After a new customer signs up to your service from the hosted payment pages, the custom function will check whether they're already stored as a lead in Zoho CRM and if they are, the lead in Zoho CRM will be converted to a contact instead of creating a new contact in Zoho CRM. This custom function is not limited to hosted payment pages alone and will be triggered as soon a new subscription is created in Zoho Subscriptions (for example, it also works if one of your staff creates a new subscription using Zoho Subscription's web or mobile apps). Here's how to set it up:

Go to Zoho Subscriptions > Settings > Automation > Custom Function.
Click + New Custom Function in the top right.
Enter a name for the custom function and select the module as Subscriptions.

Select the predefined event as New Subscription.
Copy the script for this custom function, which can be found on GitHub, and paste it in the Deluge script editor.
Click Save.

A few points to note:

This custom function will not be triggered if a customer alone is created from Zoho Subscriptions and will only be triggered when a new subscription is created.
The leads in Zoho CRM will be converted into an Account or Contact based on your sync settings.
The Deluge script for the custom function requires an Auth Token, which can be generated here.

Now, you're good to go and will no longer be faced with contact duplication because of leads from Zoho CRM.

Try it out and let us know how it goes, we'd love to hear your feedback in the comments below. We'll be back next week with a new post, so stay tuned!

Cheers,

Varun Steven

The Zoho Subscriptions Team

Access your files securely from anywhere

Zoho Developer Community

New to Zoho LandingPage?

Access Zoho LandingPage

Zoho LandingPage Resources

New to Zoho Survey?

Access Zoho Survey

Latest Feature Updates

Explore our Pricing & Plans

Zoho Survey Resources

Android Mobile Surveys

Insurvey Blogs

Insight Blogs

Tips & Tricks

New to Zoho CRM Plus?

Deliver unforgettable customer experiences

ACCESS ZOHO CRM PLUS

New to Zoho CRM Plus?

Deliver unforgettable customer experiences

ACCESS ZOHO CRM PLUS

New to Zoho Marketing Plus?

Everything you need to run your marketing

ACCESS ZOHO MARKETING PLUS

New to Zoho Marketing Plus?

Everything you need to run your marketing

ACCESS ZOHO MARKETING PLUS

New to Bigin?

Signup Now

Access Bigin

Latest Feature Updates

Zoho Desk Resources

Desk Community Learning Series
Digest
Functions
Meetups
Kbase
Resources
Glossary
Desk Marketplace
MVP Corner
Word of the Day

Tout forum

France ZUGs

Zoho SalesIQ Resources

Topic Participants
Varun Steven

Sticky Posts
Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business
Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. Customers
Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date
Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's
Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business
Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can
Tips And Tricks - Announcement
Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,
Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions
Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information