Mail merge is a function that helps you to simplify repetitive tasks to create personalized documents (forms, letters, address labels, envelopes, etc.). You can create a mail merge template which contains variables (merge fields), which will merge data from Zoho CRM and create  merged documents with the correct information for the variables.

For example, suppose you have to send personalized letters to a large number of leads or create templates for service level agreements or other legal documents. In these cases, you do not need to manually type the details of each lead in the letters to personalize them. Instead, you can simply create a template using merge fields from the Leads module and then when you merge the data, the letters will be personalized for each person.

There are two ways you can create a mail merge template:

1. Create a template from  scratch.
   
2. Choose a template from the pre-designed list.
   

Zoho Writer is an online word processor that allows you to create and share documents online. You can create mail merge templates in Zoho Writer and use CRM data (Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Potentials, Quotes, Sales Order, Purchase Order, Invoice, and Custom modules) to create mail merge documents.

To create a template in Zoho Writer

1. Go to Setup > Customization > Templates > Mail Merge.
   
2. Click + New Template.
   
3. In the  Create New Template popup, specify the following details:
   
   
   
   • Select the Module for which you want to create the template.
     The merge fields in the template will be based on the module that you select. You can create mail merge templates for both system-generated modules as well as custom modules.
   • Enter the Template Name.
     
   • Select the Folder from the drop-down list. The template will be stored in the folder that you select.
     
   • Enter the Description for the template.
     
4. Click Create.
   You will be redirected to the Mail Merge Template Gallery, where you can proceed to create the template in two ways.

I. Create Mail Merge Template From Scratch

Building a mail merge template from the scratch makes template creation easier. The merge fields from the module you have chosen in the above step will be displayed under Insert Fields section. All you need to do is click on the required fields, that will get added to the new template.

To create a template from scratch

1. Choose Blank template from the Mail Merge Template Gallery.
   A document will be opened in Zoho Writer.
2. Select the Merge Fields from the Insert Fields section.
   
3. Click Done.
   

 

II. Create Template from Predesigned Template

An alternate approach to creating a template is to choose a template from the template gallery. The gallery displays predesigned templates from various categories such as Resumes, Posters and Invitations, Letters and Covers and Creative Writing. You can select a template from any of these categories based on your business requirement.

To create a template from the gallery

1. Choose a template from the Mail Merge Template Gallery.
   
2. Click Select.
   A document will be opened in Zoho Writer.
3. Select the Merge Fields from the Insert Fields section on the AUTOMATE tab.
   The fields will be inserted in the specified place in Writer template.
4. Click Done.
   

Add Images in Templates

Add Subforms in Templates

Certain business scenarios raise the need to include a subform which say for example, contains additional information of a main product such as warranty, guarantee details, or accessories purchased, etc. You can add the subform in your template and send it to your customers instead of manually adding that information. Choose the appropriate subform merge fields, which will be added to your template automatically.
To know more about subforms, click here.

To add subforms in a template

1. Go to AUTOMATE tab in Zoho Writer document.
   
2. Select the subform that you would like to add in the template.
   A pop-up displays the list of fields in the subform.
3. Select the fields that you want to add in your template.
   
4. Click Select all to select all the fields at once.
   
5. Click Create Table.
   
   
   

Add Related List Items in Templates

At times, you may want to include information from a module's related list like open activities or open campaigns or say related lists fields like product code, voucher number etc. in the template. So, instead of entering these details manually, you can simply select the desired related list merge fields that will automatically get added into the template. Every related list item that is added into the template is displayed in the form of dynamic tables.

Below are few examples of the related list items that you can add to a template:

• You can create a template for the Accounts module and include the list of contacts that are associated to any particular account by choosing the Contacts module from the related list.
  
• You can create a template for the Contacts module and include the list of open activities of each contact by selecting the Open Activities from the related list.
  
• You can create a template for the Deals module and insert the associated products of each deal by simply selecting the Products module from the related list item.
  

To add related list modules to a template

1. Go to AUTOMATE tab in Zoho Writer document.
   
2. Choose a related list Module and click the Arrow.
   
3. Select the Fields that you want to include in the template.
   
4. Click Create Table.
   
   
   

Organize Mail Merge Templates

When you have created numerous templates for different business requirements, it is the best practice to keep the templates organized and stacked under appropriate folders for easy identification. In the following section we will discuss about organizing the templates.

Preview Templates

You can preview each template that you have created right from the templates list page. The preview option gives you a closer look at how the template will appear in its final form.

Sort and Search Templates

Sorting lets you reorder and arrange the templates by bringing them to the top of the list for easier access. By default the templates are listed by the "modified time". The recently created or modified template is listed on the top.

Also, instead of browsing through the entire list of templates you can search for the required template in two ways:

• You can search by entering the template name in the search bar provided.
  
• You can use the module filter and choose to view the templates that are related to a particular module.
  

Clone Templates

There can be chances when you want to make slight modifications to a particular template before sending it to a customer. In such a case, rather than creating a whole new template, you can clone the old template, make the necessary changes and send it. In the preview section, you can select the template and click the clone button to duplicate the existing template.

Mark Templates as Favorites

You may have a bunch of templates that you frequently use and might want to highlight them for easy identification. For this purpose you have the option of setting templates as favorite by clicking on the star before the template name.

Move or Delete Templates

There may be instances when you no longer wish to use a particular template, you can simply select the template and click on the Delete button.

Similarly, you can move a template from one folder to another based on requirement. This will be helpful in instances where you have to share a few templates with someone. You can move the needed templates to a folder and share. You can select the template(s) and click on the Move to Folder button and choose the appropriate folder form the drop-down list. You can also create a new folder and move the template to it if you want.

Create Template Folder

You can group similar templates under a template folder. Template folders are useful when you have many templates, you can easily categorize to manage the different mail merge templates that you have created.

To create a template folder

1. Create a New Template.
   
2. Click Save.
   
3. You will be asked to save it to a folder. To create a folder, click Create New Folder.
   
4. Enter the name of the folder and with whom you want to share it.
   You can either share it with all the users or specific users or just yourself.
   
5. A new folder will be created and the template will get added to it automatically.
   

Import MS Word Templates

Mail Merge templates can also be created in Microsoft Word and you can import those templates in Zoho CRM. To use this functionality, you need to purchase the Zoho CRM plug-in for Microsoft Office. Note that, for merging the data, this feature is only supported in Internet Explorer 6 and above. See AlsoZoho CRM Plug-in for MS Office
Here is a Sample Template.

To import MS Word template

1. Go to Setup > Customization > Templates > Mail Merge Templates.
   
2. In the Mail Merge Templates page, click Import Template.
   
3. In the  Import Template window, specify the following details:
   
   
   
   • Click Browse to choose the Microsoft word file that you want to import.
     
   • Enter the Description for the template.
     
   • Select the Folder from the drop-down list. The template will be stored in the folder that you select.
     
   • Select the Module for which you want to create the template.
     The merge fields in the template will be based on the module that you select.
4. Click Import Template.
   

Import pdf templates to Merge

Send Mail Merge Documents via Email

Once you have created and saved your mail merge templates in Zoho CRM, you can merge the documents with CRM records and email them to the desired customers' at any time. The following has to be specified to email merged document.

• From Address/Reply To: Zoho CRM offers you the flexibility of choosing different email addresses for the From/Reply To email fields. Which means, you can have emails sent from your personal email ID, but have the responses sent to your organization email ID, if you so wish. Simply select the appropriate email IDs in the From/Reply To email fields. You can choose from the following options:
  
  • your account email address
    
  • organization email address
    
  • email address of the record owner
    
• Email field: Choose which email ID you want to send the mail merge document to - the person's primary or secondary address or an associated CRM user's email as well as any other custom email field.
  
• Subject: Enter a desired Subject line for the email.
  
• Send Email As: You have the option of sending this mail merge document inline or as an attachment.
  
  • Inline: The template content will be part of the email body.
    
  • Attachment: The mail merge document will be sent as an attachment with the email. You can choose to send the attachment as a PDF or MS Word file.
    
• Attachment Name: If you choose to send the email as an attachment, enter a name for the attachment.
  
  • Enable Set Password checkbox and enter the password in the text box to protect your attachment.
    
• Message: Enter a message to the recipient. This will be displayed in the body section of the email.
  
• Additional Attachment: If you have additional attachments to send, you can browse for the required files and attach them here. There are two ways of adding attachments.
  
  • Common Attachment - The attachment you add here from your device or Zoho Docs will be the same for all recipients.
    
  • Unique Attachment - The attachments you add here will be unique for each recipient. You have two ways of adding unique attachments.
    
    
    
    • Field containing Attachment URLs - If the URL of a file is present in a field in Zoho CRM, you can choose the appropriate field and the file will be added as an attachment.
      
    • Folder containing attachments - This allows you to attach the file from a folder present in Zoho Docs. Let's say you have a folder named Zylker - Invoice in Zoho Docs, which has all the invoice copies with the file name same as the Contact's First Name. You can choose to map the appropriate file to the contact from the drop-down list. In that case, choose File name starts with and under the Mapped to field drop-down list choose First Name.