Kaizen #137 - Lead Conversion using Zoho CRM APIs
Leads represent potential sales opportunities sourced from various channels like trade shows, seminars, and marketing campaigns. When a Lead shows promise, you can convert them into Accounts, Contacts, and Deals.
Imagine you have a Lead named Pat Boyle with her email address as pat.boyle@zylker.com. You want to convert her into a Contact, but what if a Contact with the same email already exists? Converting the lead would create a duplicate record, making it harder to track your interactions with the lead.
The Lead Conversion Options API acts as your safety net before Lead Conversion. This API assists in identifying matching records from the Accounts, and Contacts module, ensuring data integrity and preventing duplication during the conversion process.
Step 1 : Identify matching records using Lead Conversion Options API
Consider the following lead generated through a marketing campaign for a software company.
Name : Pat Boyle
Company : Zylker Biotech
Phone : 9844444444
Email : pat.boyle@zylker.com
As the sales team progresses with Pat Boyle and decides to convert her into an Account or a Contact, they must be cautious about potential duplicates in their CRM. For instance, if there is already an Account named Zylker Biotech or a Contact named Pat Boyle, converting the lead to create a new Contact could create duplicate records. The Lead Conversion Options API response provides details of potential matches, including existing Accounts or Contacts, along with matching field details.
Matching Criteria:
The matching process relies on unique fields in the Contacts and Accounts modules. In cases where there are no unique fields in these modules, or when there are no matches found based on the unique fields, the matching is performed based on the Email field in the Contacts module, the Account_Name field in the Accounts module with the Company field of the fields module, or the Lead name with the Contact name.
Here is the order of preference for finding the matching records:
In the presence of unique fields in Contacts and/or Accounts module:
- Contacts module : Unique Field 1 > Unique Field 2 > Email
- Accounts module : Unique Field 1 > Unique Field 2 > Account name
In the absence of unique fields:
- Lead Email checked against the Email fields in the Contacts module.
- Lead Company checked against the account names (Account_Name) in the Accounts module.
- The lead's name checked against the Contacts' names in the Contacts module.
In our scenario, let us assume that the Phone in Contacts module is a unique field.
Request method : GET
Sample Response :
{ "__conversion_options": { "module_preference": { "api_name": "Contacts", "id": "4876876000000002179" }, "Contacts": [ { "Full_Name": "Boyle", "Email": "pat.boyle@zylker.com", "Phone": null, "Locked__s": false, "Account_Name": null, "$editable": true, "id": "4876876000007437017", "$approval_state": "approved", "Data_Processing_Basis": "null" }, { "Full_Name": "Pat Boyle", "Email": null, "Phone": "9844444444", "Locked__s": false, "Account_Name": { "name": "Zylker Biotech", "Locked__s": false, "id": "4876876000007421010" }, "$editable": true, "id": "4876876000007421001", "$approval_state": "approved", "Data_Processing_Basis": "null" } ], "preference_field_matched_value": { "Contacts": [ { "field": { "api_name": "Phone", "id": "4876876000000002503" }, "matched_lead_value": "9844444444" }, { "field": { "api_name": "Email", "id": "4876876000000002497" }, "matched_lead_value": "pat.boyle@zylker.com" } ], "Accounts": [ { "field": { "api_name": "Account_Name", "id": "4876876000000002425" }, "matched_lead_value": "Zylker Biotech" }, { "field": { "api_name": "Phone", "id": "4876876000000002427" }, "matched_lead_value": "9844444444" } ] }, "Accounts": [ { "Layout": { "name": "Standard", "id": "4876876000000091029" }, "Phone": null, "Account_Type": null, "Locked__s": false, "Website": null, "Account_Name": "Zylker Biotech", "$editable": true, "id": "4876876000007421010", "$approval_state": "approved" } ], "modules_with_multiple_layouts": [ // { "api_name": "Accounts", "id": "4876876000000002177" } ] } } |
The preference_field_matched_value object in the response contains the details such as the field and the value of the Contact and Account that matches with the lead. The Contacts and Accounts JSON objects contain the details of the matching records. As per the response, there are two Contacts and one Account with similar details to our Lead.
- A Contact (Pat Boyle) has the same Phone 9844444444 (matching field) as the Lead
- A Contact (Boyle) with the same Email pat.boyle@zylker.com (matching field) as the Lead
- An Account with the same Account_Name Zylker Biotech as the Company of the Lead.
Step 2 : Perform Lead Conversion using Convert Lead API
You can convert a Lead into a Contact, Account, and a Deal using this API. From the Lead conversion options API, we have the matching Contacts and Accounts for the specific deal. Based on the Lead Conversion Options API's response, you can choose to create a new record in the Contacts or Accounts module, or move the Lead record to existing matching records in these modules during Lead Conversion.
During Lead conversion, the Lead's field values are mapped to the corresponding Accounts, Contacts, and Deals records. By default, Zoho CRM automatically maps standard Lead fields to their corresponding fields in Accounts, Contacts, and Deals. The lead mapping tool allows for customization, enabling you to map any additional fields specific to your sales process.
Request method: POST
Input JSON keys:
Input JSON key | Description |
overwrite Boolean, optional | Represents whether to overwrite the account name in the contact if the account name and company in the lead mismatch. Ignored when the Lead has no value for the Company field. true: Overwrites the Contact's Account name with the Lead's company name. false: Leaves the existing Account name unchanged, potentially causing inconsistencies. Default value : false |
notify_lead_owner Boolean, optional | Specifies whether the lead owner should be notified about the lead conversion via email. Default value : false |
notify_new_entity_owner Boolean, optional | Specifies whether the owner of the newly created Contact or Account receives an email notification Default value : false |
move_attachments_to JSON object, optional | Specify the module (Contacts, Deals, or Accounts) where you want to move the Lead's attachments after conversion. Default value : Contacts |
Accounts JSON object, optional | Specify the account with which the lead being converted should be merged. Pass the valid account ID. |
Contacts JSON object, optional | Specify the contact with which the lead being converted should be merged. Pass the valid contact ID. |
assign_to JSON object, optional | The user to which the converted record should be assigned. Pass the valid user ID. |
Deals JSON object, optional | Create a new Deal associated with the converted Lead. Requires details like Deal_Name, Closing_Date, Pipeline, and Stage. You can also assign a Contact_Role by providing the unique contact role ID. |
carry_over_tags JSON object, optional | Carries over tags of the lead to contact, account, and deal. |
Case I : Convert Lead to merge with existing records:
In this case, you can merge the lead record with existing records in the Accounts and/or Contacts module to avoid duplication. You can also create a Deal record providing the necessary details like Deal_Name, Closing_Date, Pipeline, and Stage.
Sample Input:
{ "data": [ { "overwrite": true, "notify_lead_owner": true, "notify_new_entity_owner": true, "Accounts": { "id": "4876876000007421010" }, "Contacts": { "id": "4876876000007421001" }, "Deals": { "Deal_Name": "Zylker Deal", "Closing_Date": "2024-10-20", "Stage": "Negotiation/Review", "Amount": 20000000, "Pipeline": "Standard (Standard)" } } ] } |
Sample Response:
{ "data": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "Contacts": { "name": "Pat Boyle", "id": "4876876000007421001" }, "Deals": { "name": "Zylker Deal", "id": "4876876000007459060" }, "Accounts": { "name": "Zylker Biotech", "id": "4876876000007421010" } }, "message": "The record has been converted successfully", "status": "success" } ] } |
Points to Note:
- If the record data doesn't match perfectly with the Lead data, an INVALID_DATA error will be thrown. For example,If you try to merge the Lead with a Contact or Account not found in the Lead Conversion Options API response, you will encounter this error if the data doesn't match.
- During lead conversion, you can transfer the lead to a contact, an account, or both. If you transfer to a contact that is already linked to an account, the lead will automatically be converted and associated with that account as well.
- To successfully merge a Lead record with an existing Contact and Account record, the Contact should be associated with the specified Account. If not, you will get an INVALID_DATA error.
- If the Lead record's Company field is empty, and no account is specified in the JSON input, an account will not be automatically created. However, even if you omit the account in the input JSON, a new account will be created if there is Company name associated with the Lead.
- Unless specified, a deal record will not be created.
Case II : Convert Lead and create new records:
If the Accounts and Contacts records are not specified during the Lead conversion, new Contact and Account records will be created from the converted Lead, mapping the field values according to the field mapping.
Points to Note :
- If there already exists a record in the Accounts or Contacts module with the same value for a unique field as the lead being converted, a DUPLICATE_DATA error will be thrown, with details about the existing record found in the Accounts or Contacts module.
- Unless specified, a deal record will not be created.
Sample Input:
{ "data": [ { "overwrite": true, "notify_lead_owner": true, "notify_new_entity_owner": true } ] } |
Sample Response:
{ "data": [ { "code": "SUCCESS", "details": { "Contacts": { "name": "Pat Boyle", "id": "4876876000007482059" }, "Deals": null, "Accounts": { "name": "Zylker Biotech", "id": "4876876000007482056" } }, "message": "The record has been converted successfully", "status": "success" } ] } |
Important Points :
- If the Contacts module is removed from organize modules, lead conversion is not allowed. In such cases, the Lead Conversion Options API will return a 204 response.
- If the Accounts module is removed from organize modules, the Lead Conversion Options API will not consider Accounts for matching. Only Contacts-related matching options will be listed.
- If the Company field is removed from the Leads module, Account-related matching will be skipped, and only contact-related options will be listed.
- You cannot convert Leads that are locked or have not been approved yet.
- Associating Leads with locked Contacts or Accounts is not possible.
- If the Lead you are trying to convert has already been converted, the ID_ALREADY_CONVERTED error will be thrown.
- To convert leads in bulk, use the Mass Convert Lead API, using which you can convert up to 50 leads in a single API call. The Mass Convert Lead API schedules a conversion job for the specified leads. You can then retrieve the details of the conversion job using the Mass Convert Lead Status API.
We hope that you found this post on Lead Conversion useful. If you have any queries or need further assistance, please feel free to comment below or email us at support@zohocrm.com. We are here to help!
Recommended Reads:
- Get Lead conversion options API
- Convert Lead API
- Mass convert Lead API
- Get status of mass Lead Conversion
- Convert Leads
- FAQs on Lead Management
- Lead Conversion - Field Mapping
- Tips on Lead Conversion Mapping
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