Zoho Backstage is an online event management software which allows you to organize meetings, trade shows, classroom trainings, and more.
Integrating Zoho Backstage with CRM allows you to create and manage events in Zoho Backstage from within Zoho CRM. You can also invite your CRM Leads or Contacts as attendees to the event. It also displays important statistics such as number of tickets bought, complete finance flow, number of checked-in attendees, revenue generated by the campaign, and details about sponsors, speakers, and organizers. Moreover, events created in Zoho Backstage will be automatically reflected as a campaign in Zoho CRM thus rendering a two-way sync.
Availability
Permission Required
Users with administrative profile can setup this integration.
Note
- Integrating Zoho Backstage, adds a Zoho Backstage layout in the campaigns module.
- Upon integration the following fields are added to the Zoho Backstage layout:
- Event Name
- Event Language
- Event Location
- Event Start Date
- Event End Date
- Event Category
- Backstage Portal
- Brand
- Event Type
Setup Zoho Backstage Integration
You should first enable Zoho Backstage integration from marketplace to start creating events from Campaigns module in Zoho CRM.
In the Zoho Backstage Integration page, you can do the following:
Once the portal is enabled, you can do the following:
User Mapping
Add your CRM users to Zoho Backstage which grants them access to the chosen portal.
Push Settings
This allows you to push the Attendees and Guests of an event in Backstage as a Lead or Contact in your CRM account.
To set up Zoho Backstage
- Go to Setup > Marketplace > Zoho > Zoho Backstage.
- Click Setup Now > Get Started.
In the Zoho Backstage Integration page, do the following:
Under Portal List, select the portal from the Choose Portal drop-down list.
Alternately, click Create New Portal if you do not have a portal in Zoho Backstage.
- Click Enable.
- Under User Mapping, click Add Users and select the CRM users.
Click Assign.
Under Push Settings, choose how you want to push the Attendees and Guests to Zoho CRM.
You can choose either Leads or Contacts.
- Click Update.
Create an Event
Once the integration is complete you can create Zoho Backstage events from Campaigns module in Zoho CRM.
To create an event
- Go to the Campaigns Module.
- Click the Add (+) icon and choose Zoho Backstage.
In the Create Campaign page, enter Backstage Details, Campaign Information and Description Information.
- Click Save.
Note
- Backstage details can be edited only from Zoho Backstage.
- You can also create campaigns or associate an existing campaign for selected leads/contacts from the Leads or Contacts module view.
- To create campaigns
- Select the leads/contacts.
- Click More > Add to Campaigns.
Click Existing and select the campaign that you have already created.
You can also create a new campaign in Zoho Backstage by selecting More > Add to Campaign > Create New > Zoho Backstage.
Enter the details in the Quick Create : Campaign page and click Save.
The event will be created in Backstage without any participants. Because participants can be added only after the tickets are configured and the event is published.
The quick links from the CRM's campaign details page will take you to the relevant page in Zoho Backstage.
You can also click the Zoho Backstage icon to visit your event in Backstage.
Customize Event in Backstage
Apart from the basic information such as Event Name, Event Start Date, Event End Date, Event Category, etc. you can add more information such as Location, Social Pages/Handles, Agenda, Speakers, Tickets, Sponors, and Design your Microsite for the event. Apart from these fields, there are options to update the Brand - to configure the brand of the particular backstage event, and the option to update the Event Type to Location Based, Online, or Hybrid depending on the mode of the event.
To customize event
Entering Event Details
Go to the Record Details page and click Go to Zoho Backstage.
A draft of your event will open.
- Add the required Event Details. See More: Entering Event Details
Adding Agenda
Agenda outlines the topics that will be discussed in the event which gives the participants a clear picture of what is going to happen. You can add the agenda for your event from the appropriate event in Zoho Backstage. See More: Setting up Agenda
Adding Event Members
You can add Organizers, Staffs, Speakers and Guest Speakers to the event in Zoho Backstage. See More: Adding Event Members
Configure Tickets
You can configure tickets for the event that you have created in Zoho Backstage. Make sure you have configured a payment mode to start selling paid tickets. See More: Confugure Tickets
Add Sponsors
You can add sponsors for your event in Zoho Backstage. Choose the appropriate Sponsor category which has its benefits.See More: Handling Sponsorship
Design your Microsite
The page which your prospective attendees see first to get an idea about what the event is about and buy tickets is the microsite. So, designing your microsite with relevant information is the key to attracting valuable attendees. See More: Designing Microsite
Publish your Event
The event that you have created from the Campaigns module in Zoho CRM and customized in Zoho Backstage should be published. See More: Publishing an Event
Push events to CRM from Backstage
You may have created events in Zoho Backstage before integrating it with Zoho CRM. Those events can be pushed to Zoho CRM and will be captured as campaigns. This enables synchronization between your Zoho Backstage portal and Zoho CRM so the attendees information or any updates to the event in Zoho Backstage portal will be reflected in Zoho CRM and vice-versa. You can also enable/disable this synchronization.
To push events to CRM
- Log in to your Zoho Backstage account.
- Go to Settings > Integration > CRM.
Click Configuration Details.
The list of events are displayed.
- Click Push to Zoho CRM.
Once an event is created from Campaigns module, you can start inviting Leads and Contacts present in your Zoho CRM account.
To invite leads and contacts
- Go to the Campaigns module and select a record.
- In the Record Details page, click Leads or Contacts from the related list.
Click + Invite Prospects.
- Select the leads or contacts and click Next.
- Choose the Campaign Member Status from the drop-down list and click Save.
Note
You can also add a new lead or contact while inviting prospects.
To add a new lead or contact
- Click + Invite Prospects button from the Leads or Contacts related list.
Click New Lead/Contact button.
In the Quick Create page, specify the details and click Save.
- The leads/contacts can be invited only after the tickets are configured and the event is published in Zoho Backstage.
View Campaign Statistics
From the record details page, you can view the following statistics:
Checked in Status
A pie chart displays the number of attendees who have checked in and are yet to check-in to the event.
Finance Flow
The waterfall chart displays the following:
Total amount acquired from Sponsors and Tickets
Revenue generated from deals
Gross revenue, which is the combination of the total amount from sponsors and tickets along with the revenue generated from deals.
Expenditure
Net amount, which is difference between gross amount and expenditure
Here you have two options:
Include Open Deals associated with the Campaign (Event in Backstage) - If you enable this option, revenue generated from all open and closed won deals will be included in the above chart.
Exclude Deals associated with contacts - The revenue from the open deals will be added to the Revenue from deals graph, by default. You may exclude these values, if required.
Ticket Details
The complete statistics on the number of tickets Available, Sold and Cancelled is displayed here.
Sponsors, Speakers, Organizers list
The Sponsors, Speakers, and Organizers added to the event in Zoho Backstage can be viewed from the record details page in Zoho CRM.
Note
- If you have not entered the expenditure details or configured tickets, the statistics will not be available.
When the currency chosen for sponsors and tickets is not configured in CRM, the graph will not display the appropriate value.
You have to configure the currency in Zoho CRM in order to view the graphical representation of the appropriate value.
- Sponsors, Speakers, and Organizers can be added only from Zoho Backstage.
View event status
The status of the event in Zoho Backstage is classified into three:
- Live - When the event in Zoho Backstage is published
- Running - When the event is currently in progress
- Completed - When the event has been completed
You can also click Access Zoho Backstage button to go to your event.
Filter Campaigns
A lead or contact in your CRM account may be part of multiple campaigns. You can use filters to sort a particular campaign from the Campaign related list in the record's details page. Specify the criteria for the fields based on which the records are to be filtered. You can add/remove the fields from the related list.
To filter records
- Go to the Leads/Contacts module.
- Select a record and go to the Campaigns related list.
Click the filter icon and choose/mention the criteria in the required field.
Click the drop-down arrow to display other fields and select the required fields.
You can also re-order the fields.
- Click Apply.
Get notified through SalesSignals
SalesSignals provides notifications whenever someone purchases a ticket, checks in to an event, or cancels the ticket that has been purchased in Zoho Backstage.
These notifications will be helpful to perform any follow-up actions immediately, such as checking the details of the person who has purchased the ticket, if they have checked-in for the event, or if the tickets are cancelled you can initiate the refund process.
Note
- SalesSignals notification for Zoho Backstage can be enabled only if Zoho Backstage is integrated with Zoho CRM.
To disable SalesSignals notification for Zoho Backstage
- Go to Setup > Channels > SalesSignals.
- Select the checkbox next to Ticket Purchased/Checked in/Ticket Cancelled in the SalesSignals Settings page, under Backstage Channel to disable the appropriate notification.
- Click Save.
Include Zoho Backstage in Scoring Rules
In
Scoring Rules, you can add or subtract points for the following criteria in Zoho Backstage.
- Ticket Purchased
- Checked in to the event
- Ticket Cancelled.
Disable Zoho Backstage Integration
You can disable Zoho Backstage Integration if you want to dissociate Zoho Backstage from CRM temporarily.
Upon Disabling:
- All campaigns will be unlinked from Zoho Backstage and you will no longer be able to access data from Backstage in Zoho CRM.
- This sync will resume upon enabling Zoho Backstage.
- Campaigns created in Zoho CRM will not be pushed to Zoho Backstage.
To disable integration
- Go to Setup > Marketplace > Zoho > Zoho Backstage.
In the Zoho Backstage Integration page, click Disable.
- In Disable the integration? popup, click Disable.
Deactivate Zoho Backstage Integration
You can deactivate Zoho Backsatge integration if you want to dissociate Zoho Backstage from Zoho CRM permanently.
Upon Deactivating:
- You will not be able to connect the Zoho Backstage portal from Zoho CRM.
- All the Zoho Backstage campaigns will be converted into offline campaigns and will remain as offline campaigns upon re-activating the integration.
- Synchronization of data between Zoho Backstage and Zoho CRM will no longer be available.
To deactivate integration
- Go to Setup > Marketplace > Zoho > Zoho Backstage.
- In the Zoho Backstage Integration page, click Disable.
In Disable the integration? popup, enable the Deactivate radio button.
- Click Deactivate.
Troubleshooting Tips