Kaizen #96 Automatic Mail-Merge Document Creation Using Zoho CRM APIs
Efficient communication and personalized document generation are crucial for maintaining strong customer relationships in your business. Manual document generation can be time-consuming, repetitive and error-prone, decreasing productivity and customer satisfaction. You can solve this with automatic document generation by creating merged documents from predefined mail merge templates.
With Zoho CRM's mail merge templates you can create personalized documents, including forms, envelopes, and letters, by utilizing variables also known as merge fields. These templates enable you to merge data from variables, ensuring accurate information is incorporated into the documents without the need for manual data entry for each record. For additional information, please consult the guidelines on Managing Mail Merge Templates.
In Zoho CRM, you can automate document generation using its mail merge template APIs. You can send, sign, and download customized documents automatically.
Send Mail Merge API : To send emails to users using mail merge template. You can also attach files either as inline images or separate attachments with the email through the API.
Sign Mail Merge API : To sign and approve a merged document.
Download Mail Merge API: To download a mail merged document.
Let us discuss two use cases where these APIs are used. Assume you manage your business for a technological company, Zylker Technologies, using Zoho CRM.
Prerequisites
- Create a connector with required scopes. For the below use cases a connector with the below scopes was created -ZohoSign.documents.ALL, ZohoCRM.modules.ALL, ZohoWriter.documentEditor.ALL, ZohoWriter.Merge.ALL, ZohoCRM.settings.mailmerge.CREATE
- For using sign mail merge API, you must initially access the Merge and Sign dialogue from the Writer UI.
Use Case 1: Using Mail Merge APIs for sending Letter of Intent for customers
Let us consider a scenario where you want to send a LOI (Letter of Intent) to be signed by your customer. A Letter of Intent is a formal document that contains a preliminary agreement and commitment to move forward with the deal, outlining key terms and conditions. You can create a mail merge template for your LOI with merge fields from your Customer module. You can find mail merge templates in Zoho CRM UI under Setup > Customization > Templates > Mail Merge. Refer the below image for a sample LOI mail merge template.
Sample Mail Merge Template for Letter of IntentNote that the merge fields given in the mail merge template are fields from Accounts module (renamed as Customers) with additional custom fields.
You can automate sending the LOI to your customer using a custom button with an associated function for the Customers module. In this case, a custom button "send LOI" is added as shown in the screenshot below.
Screenshot of Customer module showing sendLOI buttonThe below function calls sign mail merge API which sends the merged letter of intent document to your customer for signing. The customer will receive an email notification containing the document which can be signed using Zoho Sign. Sign mail merge API's response includes a Zoho Writer document link that can be used to track the signing status. In the below function, the system will send mail to the customer along with the mail-merged document for them to sign, and it will store the link to track the sign status in a custom URL field named Document Sign Details. This field allows you to access and review the document from your record conveniently.
customerMap = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Accounts",customerId.toLong()); name = customerMap.get("Account_Name"); to_email = customerMap.get("customer_Email"); merge_template_name = "LOI"; //Replace with your mail merge template name info name; info to_email; input_json = "{'sign_mail_merge':[{'mail_merge_template':{'name':'" + merge_template_name + "'},'file_name':'letterofintent','sign_in_order':false,'signers':[{'recipient_name':'" + name + "','action_type':'sign','recipient':{'type':'email','value':'" + to_email + "'}}]}]}"; header_data = Map(); header_data.put("Content-Type","application/json"); response = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v5/Accounts/" + customerId.toLong() + "/actions/sign_mail_merge" type :POST parameters:input_json connection:"zylkercrm" ]; //Replace above connection name with your connection name info response; details = response.getJSON("sign_mail_merge").toJSONList(); link = ""; for each detail in details { link = detail.get("details").get("report_link"); info link; } mp = Map(); mp.put("Document_Sign_Details",link); update = zoho.crm.updateRecord("Accounts",customerId.toLong(),mp); return ""; |
The system sends a merged document, as shown in the screenshot below, to the customer.
Final Merged Document sent to CustomerUse case 2: Using mail merge API for sending different types of SLA
Assume that in Zylker Technologies, when you sell a product, your customer can opt for different types of after sales support . A check list field - Support Type - indicates type of support - Standard or Premium. SLA document(Service Level Agreement) is a contract between you and your customer that defines level of service and the metrics used to measure the service.The service level provided to different customers will be different based on the kind of support they opted for and you need to send different SLA document based on this. This can be achieved by maintaining two SLA mail merge templates.
Similar to use case 1, a custom button can invoke the below function and in the function, a mail merge template is selected based on the type of service provided. The support_Type fields gets the value of the "Support Type" check list. Merge mail template is decided based on this field and send mail merge API is called to send the merged document. After sending the mail with appropriate mail merge template document, the function downloads the merged document and uploads it to the Attachments related list.
Using download mail merge API, the merged document is obtained and then attached to the Contacts module with the attachFile function.
customerMap = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Accounts",customerId.toLong()); to_email = customerMap.get("customer_Email"); from_email = customerMap.get("Owner").get("email"); support_Type = customerMap.get("Support_Type"); if (support_Type == "Premium" ) { merge_template_name = "SLA_Premium"; } else { merge_template_name = "SLA_Std"; } //Replace above merge template names with your merge template names input_json = "{'send_mail_merge':[{'mail_merge_template':{'name':'" + merge_template_name + "'},'from_address':{'type':'email','value':'" + from_email + "'},'to_address':[{'type':'email','value':'" + to_email + "'}],'subject':'Hi there','type':'attachment','attachment_name':'testdocument','message':'Big Deal'}]}"; header_data = Map(); header_data.put("Content-Type","application/json"); response = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v5/Accounts/" + customerId + "/actions/send_mail_merge" type :POST parameters:input_json connection:"zylkercrm" ]; //Replace above connection name with your connection name input_json = "{'download_mail_merge':[{'mail_merge_template':{'name':'" + merge_template_name + "'},'output_format':'pdf'}]}"; header_data = Map(); header_data.put("Content-Type","application/json"); //The merged document is stored to file_object file_object = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v5/Accounts/" + customerId.toLong() + "/actions/download_mail_merge" type :POST parameters:input_json connection:"zylkercrm" ]; //Replace above connection name with your connection name response = zoho.crm.attachFile("Accounts",customerId,file_object); return ""; |
The benefits of using the mail merge template APIs from Zoho CRM, which enable automated document generation, are highlighted in this article. These APIs enable the easy customization of the documents like Letters of Intent (LOIs), Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Request for Proposal (RFPs), etc. Businesses can increase efficiency, accuracy, and customer happiness by automating this procedure.
We hope you found this article useful. We will be back next week with another interesting topic. If you have any questions, write to us at support@zohocrm.com or let us know in the comment section.
Access your files securely from anywhere
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
Mable Mary M P
Chad LeJeune
Anamika Prasanth
Blake Guilfoyle
Pheranda Nongpiur
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms
Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achievedKaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI
Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over theKaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs
🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint
Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.
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
Canvas View in Zoho Recruit
Is it possible or would it be possible to have the new 'Canvas View' in Zoho Recruit?Sharing Form Ownership Among Multiple Users
I would really like the ability to share form ownership among multiple users. It's frustrating to me that if a co-worker wants to make an edit to a form, I have to transfer ownership to them. It would be great if forms could act like google forms, where multiple people can edit a form and view responses.How to go to the next open ticket in the queue when agents closes ticket
Zoho Desk When agent closes a ticket - eg when they choose 'Send and Close" - where is the setting that automatically redirects them to the next open ticket in the queue?How to Automate Email Sequence
I'm having trouble trying to set up a workflow to automate an email sequence. Once a group of emails in a Task has been tagged by a certain tag, I want an instant email template to be sent. After 7 days with no response, another email template would beMarketer’s Space - Ace Your Spooky-Season Marketing with Pre-designed Templates in Zoho Campaigns
Hello marketers, Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space! We’re in Q4, which means that you have endless opportunities to connect with your audience, starting with Halloween campaigns! In this post, we’ll show you how to design the perfect HalloweenTurning off the new UI
Tried the new 'enhanced' UI and actively dislike it. Anyone know how to revert back?Zia expands to China with native features and DeepSeek-powered generative AI features
Hello everyone, We are glad to support Zia native features and Zia generative AI features for our customers in China. From hereon, all AI-features in Desk will be accessible in China data center with the integration of DeepSeek generative AI model. DeepSeekEmail in each module
We have a contact ,module which then has a link to customer assets which in turn the asset has a multiple link to service visits. When we link assets to customers we choose by name and it brings over the associate email via the lookup. Great feature.Create custom rollup summary fields in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, In Zoho CRM, rollup summary fields have been essential tools for summarizing data across related records and enabling users to gain quick insights without having to jump across modules. Previously, only predefined summary functions wereGlobal Search placement in the new UI
Having a hard time with the global search placement in the UI redesign. Surely I can't be the only one. Previously global search placement was perfect. A bar at the top/center of the page. Exactly where you would expect it to be. Since the new UI hasIntroducing Skill-Based Ticket Assignment
The goal of every support team is to provide great support, and to do so as fast as they can. To make this possible, it is important that agents spend their time judiciously, especially when they're dealing with a large number of tickets of varying urgencyEmpowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individualsKaizen #213 - Workflow APIs - Part 1
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! If you have ever managed complex business processes, you know that Workflows are the quiet backbone of any well-run business process. They keep things moving; assigning owners, sending alerts, keeping deals on track,Browser and address bar hide
Hi, How i can do hide the address bar with browser headline when i am working on the sheet, because i am using (freeze panes) which i want visible for full work. For your reference here i am attached the screen shot and marked yellow lines which reallyCells Border
Hi I am using Zoho Sheet on S Tab , is there any option to make all border of any cell at once. I think this is very basic which we are missing. This is available in mobile but not in tab or suggest if i am missing this function. And for Tab can you giveCredit Management: #2 Configuring Right Payment Terms for Credit Control
Think about the last time you ordered something online and saw that little note at the checkout, "Pay on Delivery" or "Pay later". It's simple, but it actually sets the tone. As a business owner, you know exactly when payment is expected. Now, imagineZobot and Sales IQ
What will happen to the Zoho Sales IQ being integrated to the website after creating the Zobot on the website tooWorkflow workdrive rollout
Hi! When will workflow be rolled out to all users? Thanks.Task Due Date greater than 10 years.
We use recurring tasks in Projects where every week, month, year etc Some of our projects are greater than 10 years and we are unable to set a new due date because the difference between start date and due date is greater than 10 years. As an exampleZoho Analytics - Make text clickable in underlying data
Hi Community, I have a simple sales report based on a Invoice query table. I have included a link on to each invoice on the table and sent the Invoice number URL to the link. This works find in the query table, but when I click underlying data on theCustom Modules - Where are Comments??
In the standard ticket module and in the tasks module, we have an interactive comment box that we can post important details/notes and can tag others if needed. Where is this functionality for Custom Modules? Ideally, custom modules would have very similar,Mapping a new Ticket in Zoho Desk to an Account or Deal in Zoho CRM manually
Is there any way for me to map an existing ticket in Zoho desk to an account or Deal within Zoho CRM? Sometimes people use different email to put in a ticket than the one that we have in the CRM, but it's still the same person. We would like to be ableZOHO TEAM INBOX Calendar Integration
The Problem: Clients send meeting invitations to our TeamInbox address. TeamInbox receives these invites, but we cannot accept them. We do not use individual inboxes for transparency purposes. Ideal Solution: A way to accept calendar invites sent to ourmail admin not loading
i am trying to login to mailadmin ... gears keeps rotating forever... its not a password issue whats so ever ... not cookies issues whatsoever from android app i can login but there so few things to do from there .. i changed ip address the same... iHelp Center and SEO: Any Benefit to My Domain-Mapped Website Ranking?
First of, I love the Help Center which I've just decided to integrate into my website to replace its old-fashioned FAQs. So much more to achieve there now! Lots of new benefits to the site visitors and to me in terms of organizing and delivering all theBlueprint status change
I want to change the Blueprint status of a workflow. The status is completed automatically when I added the record through API call. But I want to make it active, I don't see any options for this. Even if I draw transition from any stage , it is not visibleSupport french language options
Greetings, I want to use Zoho with the french language portal, however the supplied translation is not very good (google translate). There are many basic mistakes on the main most important sections (my requests, submit a request). Is there a way forAutomation #7 - Auto-update Email Content to a Ticket
This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Email is one of the most commonlyfilter broke my data
I uploaded a file recently from Sheets and it has top 2 rows frozen, with table headers in second row and each one is filterable. somehow my first 2 columns became unfiltered and no matter what I do I cannot reapply the filter?? also didn't realize theyIntroducing the Workflow and Actions APIs for Zoho CRM
We are absolutely thrilled to announce the release of Workflow APIs and Actions APIs in Zoho CRM’s v8 API suite! This powerful new set of endpoints gives developers unprecedented programmatic control over business automation. For years, Workflow RulesHow to apply customized Zoho Crm Home Page to all users?
I have tried to study manuals and play with Zoho CRM but haven't found a way how to apply customized Zoho CRM Home Page as a (default) home page for other CRM users.. How that can be done, if possible? - kipi Moderation Update: The option to mark a customizedZoho CRM Analytics - Allow To Reorder Dashboards
I would like to suggest that you add the ability to reorder dashboards in the Analytics Module. I can see that this has been requested some time ago, the latest 9 years ago. I am not sure if this is a big or small endeavor, but such a small fix can goZoho Form URL displays incorrect name
Hi, I have a form I created called "Design Request form". It displays this way everywhere I look. However, in the URL, it shows up as "DesignJobRequestFormFINAL011325PROOFV1B" and I'm not sure why. I can't find where to fix this. Does anyone have anyConsumers are talking about your business. Are you listening?👂
A loyal customer might be praising your product in a forum. A frustrated user could be posting a harsh review on a public site. An excited partner may have left a comment on your campaign. A domain expert might be deconstructing your product. A prospectWhat counts as a Temp for Billing Purposes in Workerly
I'm considering trying this product but am not sure how the temp count is used for billing purposes. For example, if we keep a large data base of 500 potential workers.....are we billed for that or only if they are assigned to a client at a given pointUnable to Receive Emails on Zoho Mail After Office 365 Coexistence Setup – Error: 553 Relaying Disallowed
Hello, My domain name is bigniter.com, and I’ve been using Zoho Mail as my email service provider without any issues. Recently, I followed the steps outlined in the Zoho documentation to enable Coexistence with Office 365: 🔗 https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/adminconsole/coexistence-with-office365.html#multi-serverForm name incorrectly displayed in URL
Hi, I have a form I created called "Design Request form". It displays this way everywhere I look. However, in the URL, it shows up as "DesignJobRequestFormFINAL011325PROOFV1B" and I'm not sure why. I can't find where to fix this. Does anyone have anyI can't receive mail
Hello, I can't receive e-mail. I no longer receive e-mails to the e-mail I received for my site. I also edited the DNS settings, but it doesn't work at all.1‑to‑1 invite missing post-setup (needs re-invite) vs channel invite auto-joins without business prompt
1. Zoho Cliq 1‑to‑1 external invite The inviter sent a 1‑to‑1 invite to an invitee who didn’t have a Cliq account. After the invitee completed account setup and created a business/organization, the website redirected them to Cliq, where they opened Cliq【開催報告】東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.3 2025/10/17 Zoho サービスの活用促進を外部ツールとの連携で実現！
ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 10月17日(金)に新橋で「東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.3」を開催しました。ご参加くださったユーザーの皆さま、ありがとうございました！ この投稿では、当日のセッションの様子や使用した資料を紹介しています。残念ながら当日お越しいただけなかった方も、ぜひチェックしてみてください😊 ユーザー活用事例セッション：Zoho Flowと決済システムの連携 あみろくの岡島さんに、Zoho サービスの活用事例として、Zoho Flow を活用した外部サービスとの連携事例をご共有いただきました。Next Page