FAQs: Contact Management
What are contacts?
Contacts are the people in an organization with whom your company has business communications in pursuit of business opportunities. Some of these contacts may belong to different departments in a company or multiple contacts of the same company. CRM contacts are typically converted from qualified leads, imported from an existing list or added individually based on the business relationship with the associated company.
How can I view the contact information?
You can view all the contact information by clicking on the specific Contact Name under the Contacts tab.
The Contact Details Layout gives you a 360 degree view of the contact information and contains all fields, Tasks (to dos); Events (Calendar); Notes; Business Opportunities; Emails; Documents; Products Purchased and Trouble Tickets related to the corresponding contact.
The Contact Details Layout gives you a 360 degree view of the contact information and contains all fields, Tasks (to dos); Events (Calendar); Notes; Business Opportunities; Emails; Documents; Products Purchased and Trouble Tickets related to the corresponding contact.
How can I convert Leads to contacts without creating an account for them?
When you create a Lead, don't enter any value in the company field. This will ensure that an Account is not created during lead conversion.
How to search for contacts using first name?
To search for contacts with first name, select the search criteria as "First Name". This can be done by including the First Name field in search criteria.
While importing contacts into Zoho CRM, can I also import notes available with the corresponding contacts?
While importing contacts, you need to map the Notes column in the import file with the Description field of Zoho CRM. This will help you import the notes along with the contacts.
How to create a Contacts List View with empty email value?
You can create a List View for contacts with an empty email value by specifying the Filter criteria as Email is Empty.
Note
If you had created a custom field such as Email Address, then you need to specify the same field in the criteria. Example: Email Address is Empty.
How do I send an auto response to the contacts that are captured through web forms?
You can send automated emails to your new contacts using the Email Notification option provided while creating the web forms.
You can also create an Auto Response Rule that allows you to send automated emails when a specific rule criteria is satisfied. When a lead is generated through web forms, you may want to send appropriate emails to the leads with different types of requests. In such cases, you can create an auto response rule with specific rule criteria. When a condition is satisfied, the corresponding email is sent. You can create many auto response rules but only one auto response rule can be active at a time.
How to associate multiple contacts with a deal?
Each deal is associated to an account and each account can have multiple contacts associated to that account. Contacts that are associated to an account can also be associated to the deal. To add more than one contact to a deal, follow these steps:
- Click the Deals tab.
- In the Deals page, select the record you want to associate the contacts to.
- In the Deal Details page, under Contact Roles related list, click Add Contact Roles.
- In the Contact Roles Mapping page, all the contacts associated to the account are listed.
- Select the check box(es) of the contacts that you want to associate.
- Select the Contact Role from the drop-down list for the respective contacts.
- Click Save.
Note
If the Deal's account does not have any contact associated to it, then it will not be listed in the Contact Roles Mapping page.
How to import a CSV file with multiple contacts associated to a single Account/ Company Name?
You can import a CSV file with multiple contacts associated to a single account or company name by adding a column for the Account Name and another column for related contacts in the CSV File.
- If you import contacts using only the account or company name, and you don't have an existing account, then an account gets created with only the account name.
- If you already have the accounts' information in the file, you can first import the accounts by mapping the fields related to that account and then import contacts by mapping the account name.
This will help you create contacts under the same Account or Company Name.
While importing contacts into Zoho CRM, can I also import notes available with the corresponding contacts?
While importing contacts, you need to map the Notes column in the import file with the Description field of Zoho CRM. This will help you import the notes along with the contacts.
What is the difference between " Import My Organization Contacts" and "Import My Contacts"?
- Import My Contacts: The records will be assigned automatically to the person who is importing the file into the Contacts Tab.
- Import My Organization Contacts: You can assign the records to different users in your account while importing the file into the Contacts Tab. However, before importing the organization contacts you must create a column for the users in the XLS or CSV file.
What are the different ways to manage my Contacts?
These are some of the methods to manage your contacts:
- Mass Transfer: You can transfer records in bulk from one user to another. You need to have the Mass Transfer profile permission for individual modules to use this feature. Read More
- Mass Delete Contacts: You can delete a group of contacts using this tool. For example, you can delete all the contacts for a particular company added in your Contacts. Read More
- Mass Update Contacts: You can update details of a group of contacts using this tool. Read More
- Mass Email Contacts: You can send mass email based on your Zoho CRM Edition. 12AM to 11.59PM GMT is considered as one day, to calculate the email count. The mass emails per day, per company includes Autoresponders, active email Schedulers, Macros and Mass emails. You can't send mass emails in the Free Editions. In the Standard Edition, you can send a maximum of 250 bulks emails per day, per company. This increases to 500 emails per day in the Professional Edition, while for the Enterprise and CRM Plus Editions, it is 1000 emails per day, per company. You can also increase the mass email limit to 2250 emails per day, per organization for an additional cost. To enable this feature, please write to support@zohocrm.com
- Assignment Rules: Assignment rules will help you assign records to users in Zoho CRM automatically. The assignment rule is only applicable for the leads, contacts, cases and records in custom modules that are imported or the ones that are captured through web forms. You can automatically assign an owner to records based on specific conditions (lead source, country etc) or distribute leads equally among all members of your organization through the round-robin process. Read More
- Import My Contacts: You can import contacts from external files in the XLS, CSV or VCF formats, with the size not exceeding 5 MB. You can import the XLS, VCF, or CSV format files up to 5000 records. Beyond 5000 records, you can only use the CSV format files. Read More
- Export Contacts: Click the “Export Contacts” link and you will get an excel file with all your contacts in the CSV format. You can save this file in your system for future references. Read More
- Autoresponders: You can send automated replies and followup emails to prospects and customers. Read More
- Schedule Mass Email: You want to send bulk emails to selected leads or contacts at a specific time, but will be busy in a meeting then. Use the Mass Email Scheduler to send that email, even in your absence. Read More
- Approve Contacts: The import feature and Web forms have an option to enable manual approval of records. When this option is enabled, records imported or gathered through web forms are not added directly added to the modules, but need to be approved first, so the other users can access them. Records can be approved for the Contacts module as well. Read More
- Deduplicate Contacts: Find all duplicate records in bulk and merge them as one record. Use the deduplicate feature to search for all duplicate records in a module based on a selected field's value. You can choose one from the 4 fields that are available based on the selected module. Records with duplicates in the selected field's value will be listed for you to select and merge, if required. Read More
What does the "Email Opt Out" field mean while creating a contact?
In Email marketing, an "opt-out button" may be included to notify the sender that the recipient wishes to receive no further emails. When you enable the Email Opt Out field, the corresponding contact will be removed from your mailing lists and will not receive any emails from your Zoho CRM account.
How can I group contacts in my Zoho CRM account?
In Zoho CRM, you can group contacts by creating a Multi picklist field. Once you create the multi picklist field, you can create a custom view, which will allow you to filter out the contacts belonging to a specific Contact Group with the picklist field values - Hardware, Software, Support.
When you create a multi picklist field, a contact can be listed under various contact groups and not just a single group.
When you create a multi picklist field, a contact can be listed under various contact groups and not just a single group.
See Also>> Multi Picklist Custom Fields.
Can I add my personal contacts to the Zoho CRM Contacts?
Yes, you can add your personal contacts. However, we strongly recommend you to include only the business contacts because users with “System Administrator” privilege can access your Contacts.
How to associate a contact with an account if the contact has been created before the account?
From an Account's Details page, you can add only new contacts and associate them to the account.
If you want to associate an already existing contact to an account, you need to update the Account Name field for the contact. Once you update the account name, the contact will be automatically listed under the respective account.
Please note that you cannot update this field by using the Mass Update feature. You can update only one record at a time.
When should you map the 'Contact ID' while overwriting records using the import function?
Since the 'Contact ID' is a system field, you cannot overwrite any of those values. When you overwrite records using the import function, the system will identify all matching records using email for Leads/Contacts, Name for Accounts and more.
If you have two or more accounts with the same name, the system will only overwrite the first matching account.
The 'Contact ID' will help you identify the records that match exactly. Each record is assigned a unique ID (for example, Contact ID for Contacts or Lead ID for Leads), and this unique ID will be visible in the list of exported data from Zoho CRM. So if you are trying to import the exported data, you can map the Contact ID field to make sure that they are overwritten properly.
If you have two or more accounts with the same name, the system will only overwrite the first matching account.
The 'Contact ID' will help you identify the records that match exactly. Each record is assigned a unique ID (for example, Contact ID for Contacts or Lead ID for Leads), and this unique ID will be visible in the list of exported data from Zoho CRM. So if you are trying to import the exported data, you can map the Contact ID field to make sure that they are overwritten properly.
In General
In Zoho CRM, each record is assigned with a unique ID. When you import contacts, the system identifies all the existing contacts either using the Contact ID or email address (if the Contact ID has not been mapped). The Contact ID is generated by Zoho CRM, and is available when you export all contacts.
However, if your file contains a different Contact ID to the one generated by Zoho CRM, the system will not update any contacts.
How to view a map for the contact address?
You can view a map for your contact address by clicking the Locate Map button in the Address Information section.
Is it possible to duplicate a contact and save it as a vendor?
No, you cannot duplicate a contact and save it as a vendor.
I sell my products/services to individuals. Can I use the Zoho CRM contacts module to track my sales
Yes, you can track your sales using CRM contacts module. However, for sales to individuals, you have to personalize Zoho CRM for B2C (Business to Customers) process.
How can I send an alert to my users to follow up the new contacts with the Lead Source as "Advertise"?
You can send an alert to your users when a new contact is created with the Lead Source as "Advertisement" using Workflow Rule and associating a Workflow Alert to it. Workflow management helps you to automate your sales, marketing and support processes. You can automatically assign tasks to users, based on the criteria defined in the rules.
See Also>> Configuring Workflow rules
Can I associate a Deal with Contacts in Zoho CRM without creating an account?
Yes, you can associate deals with contacts without creating an account in Zoho CRM.
If your organization deals directly with customers in a B2C scenario, the best way to associate deals without an account is to disable the Accounts module in your CRM account, since accounts represent companies that you do business with, and this does not apply for B2C.
To disable the Accounts module:
- Go to Setup in your CRM account.
- Select Modules and Fields under Customization.
- Click Organize Modules.
- Uncheck the Accounts module on the Organize Modules page.
- Click Save.
Once the Accounts module has been disabled, the Account Name field will not appear on the Deals page when you associate a deal with a contact.
The Account Name field also won't be auto populated when converting leads to contacts.
If your organization deals with other businesses and with individual customers (both B2B and B2C), disabling the Accounts module won't work. In this case, you need to make the Company and Account Name fields non-mandatory in both the Leads and Deals modules. This will allow you to save records without filling in those fields.
To make the fields non-mandatory:
- Go to the Setup in your CRM account.
- Select Modules and Fields under Customization.
- Go to the Edit Layout page for the Deals module.
- Click on the three dots icon next to the Account Name section.
- Uncheck the Mark as required field.
- Save the layout.
Note:
If you want to be able to associate a deal with a lead as you are converting it into a contact, follow the steps above but instead of the Account Name field, mark the Company field as non-mandatory.
Don't fill in the Company name while adding a lead. When converting a lead to a contact, just check the Create a new Deal for this Contact box, fill in the details, and click Convert. You have now successfully associated a deal with a contact without creating an account.
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