Connected Records

Connected Records

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The Early Access Program is now closed for new requests. Thank you for all the valuable feedback and participation. Stay tuned for updates about the next phase. For any questions, feel free to reach out to pilot@zohocrm.com.

What is Connected Records ?

Connected records help establish connections instantly between two modules in your CRM system by seamless linking of records within those modules. With this feature, you can achieve a unified view of interactions and relationships across records created in your CRM account. It can help you gain better insights, streamline processes, and achieve collaboration by bridging the gap between team modules and organization modules.

Whether it's linking a deal to a product demo request and then linking the same deal to an onboarding request when the deal is closed won or linking a deal directly to a contract request or to a customer advocacy request if the onboarding is successful, this feature ensures all teams have the right context at the right time to execute their work. (See image below)


Connected record creation

You can create connected records in two ways :
  1. Manual creation : Create connected records manually from within an organization module linking it to a record in the team module or from within a team module linking it to another team module.

    For instance, we can create a product demo record in the pre-sale team module directlyfrom a new deal in the deals module or create a customer advocacy record in the advocacy team modules directly from an onboarding record in the onboarding team module.

  2. Auto-connect records from Workflow rules : Setup a connection between an organization module and a team module using workflow rules when you have predefined stages in your sales process.

    For instance, we can automatically create an onboarding record in the onboarding team module when the deal stage is marked as closed won or create a win/loss analysis record in the marketing team module when the deal stage is marked as closed lost. This will help maintain continuity between the two steps and also provide the teams working on these records at both steps with clear customer context.
Notes
What else can connected records achieve?

  • With connected records, requesters can raise requests from any module instead of navigating to the My Requests tab every time.
  • When records are linked between two modules, users can use public fields to display record details to team members who are not part of the module, so essential information is available for those members to complete their process efficiently.

Why should you use connected records?

  1. No need to use emails or chats : There's no longer a need for email or chat communications, as all coordination can be completed within the product, eliminating the back-and-forth between teams.a
  2. Easy data access: Instantly view all relevant information for any record without jumping between modules.
  3. Improved coordination: Teams can share a unified view of data, reducing silos and enhancing coordination.
  4. Contextual understanding: Provide context for interactions, helping teams deliver personalized service or informed responses.
  5. Data consistency: Maintain consistency by ensuring updates to one record propagate to its connections where applicable.

When can you use connected records? 

Listed below are a few scenarios where connected records can be used in your CRM system :

A renewal process in a SAAS Industry

Scenario : A renewals specialist will want to review the previous invoices of customers before initiating a new renewal discussion.
The renewal specialist will use connected records to view invoices for these customers of a team module from an organization module. To do this, they will link two modules that have related data :

Renewals : A team module that comprises active customer accounts with their upcoming renewal dates.
Invoices : An org module that displays a list of active customer accounts with subscription details and their respective invoices.

Once a connected record is created from Invoices (org module) for the Renewals team module, the renewal specialist can view the related data from both modules to understand if the customer had previously subscribed for services on a monthly/yearly plan and also view the number of users the customer had purchased the plan for. Equipped with this information, the renewals specialist can plan and initiate a new renewal discussion for their customer.

Drug prescription in the Health Industry

Scenario : A pharmacist will need to review a patient's list of medications prescribed by a department before issuing additional drugs for a new diagnosis. The pharmacist can use connected records to view patient information from both team modules and an organization module. They will link the two modules that have related data :

Department : A team module that consist of a list of patient records who've consulted with the medical department.
Contacts : An org module that displays the list of patients with information such as their medical history and prescribed medications.

The pharmacist will create connected records from the Contacts (org module) for the Department team module, after which they can view related data about the patient from both modules. From the information retrieved, they can view the patient's entire medical history along with drugs previously prescribed from the particular department. Thus, the pharmacist can prescribe new medications based on already available data.

Claim process in an Insurance Industry

Scenario: An insurance agent will need to review a policy's terms and conditions to approve applicant claims.

Claims : A team module that includes a list of applicants who've submitted claims for policies that have matured.
Documents : An org module that has a list of policies that are active along with applicant information.

The insurance agent can create connected records from the Documents org module for the Claims team module. This connection will help the insurance agent view information about the policies taken out for applicants who've submitted claims from the Claims team module. They can then get information about the policy terms and conditions and then approve applicants' claims.

Why is connected records more suitable than a lookup relation?

One may argue that linking of modules can be achieved by a lookup relation as well. However, the key difference between a Look-up and Connected Record relationship is flexibility. Connected Records are dynamic and flexible and can link any two modules anytime, whereas Look-up relationships are not dynamic and should be configured by the admin during the CRM configuration.

How can you add connected records from org modules? 

  1. Navigate to the org module from where you need to create connected records.
  2. Select the record from the module for which you want to create connected records.
  3. Scroll down to the connected records section and click Add New.
  4. Select the team module and create a request.
  5. This record created in the team module will automatically be connected to the record in the org module.

How can you add connected records from other team modules? 

  1. Navigate to the team module from where you need to create connected records.
  2. Select the record from the team module for which you want to create connected records.
  3. Scroll down to the connected records section and click Add New.
  4. Select the team module and create a request.
  5. This record created in the team module will automatically be connected to the record in the team module.

Notes
Note : The requester can raise a request to any team module using the same steps specified above instead of navigating to their My Request tab every time.

How can you auto-connect records using workflow rules ? 

  1. Navigate to the Setup menu and click Workflow Rules from Automation.
  2. Click Create Rule. Select the module in record type, enter the rule name and description, and click Next.
  3. Select when the rule should be executed and click Next.
  4. Enter the condition for the rule to be executed and click Done.
  5. Select the instant action as Create connected records.
  6. Select the module to which this record should be connected to, select the layout, the module name, the module owner, and click Save.
  7. Click Save again to activate this workflow rule.


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