Zoho Projects supports Zoho CRM integration which helps you manage the deals you win and track them using projects from CRM with ease.

Use case

Zylker is a product manufacturing company whose sales team uses Zoho CRM for its sales processes. They are working on selling routers to a multinational software company. When a sales deal is won, Alicia, the sales manager, wants to create a project for the same in Zoho Projects to continue with project management. Alicia also wants to make this process simple by creating a project directly from Zoho CRM, and she would like to automate parts of this process.

 

To achieve the requirement of our Zoho client, our Zoho Projects team worked on integration of Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects. When they are integrated, the sales team can directly create a project from the Potential or Deal record, and the same would be reflected in Zoho Projects where the project management team can start working on the project.

 

The screenshots below cover where a project can be created and what details need to be entered during project creation. 

Benefits

Supported Modules

1. Accounts
   
2. Deals
   
3. Contacts
   
4. Sales Orders
   
5. Invoices
   
6. Campaigns
   
7. Cases
   
8. Quotes
   
9. Purchase Orders
   
10. Products

1. Please note that these modules may be limited by the CRM plan
   
2. Accounts will be added a business Customer in Zoho Projects
   
3. Contacts will be added an individual Customer in Zoho Projects

Creating a Project from CRM Account

1. Navigate to Deals module in the CRM account.
   
2. Click on a record. 
   
3. If the CRM account in integrated with a Zoho Projects portal, the product will be listed on the left panel. 
   
   
4. Click on the New Project button.
   
   
5. Fill the project details. Scroll down for additional default and custom fields. 
   
   
6. Click Next.
   
7. The Project Users will be listed. 
   
8. Under Client Users tab, click on + Add User(s).
   Select the users and then select the access type in Zoho Projects (Client User or Contact).
   
   
9. Click Done.
   
10. Click Save.
    
11. View the project and its progress from the Zoho Projects tab in the Deal. 
    
    

Associate an Existing Project to a CRM Module

CRM Task Integration

Bi-directional sync (Two-way sync) is enabled for task updates and comments from Zoho CRM to Zoho Projects and vice versa. i.e, When a task field is updated or when a task comment is added in Zoho CRM, the change is synced with the respective task in Zoho Projects and vice versa.

1. Task Title
   
2. Task Description
   
3. End Date
   
4. Priority
   
5. Closed / Reopen Status
   
6. Task Owner
   

Add a Task in Zoho Projects and Save to Zoho CRM

1. Navigate to the project where the client account is mapped to a CRM account.
   
2. Click Add Task.
   
3. Enter the task details and then click Save and Add to Zoho CRM. This button is not shown if the project is not associated to a CRM account.
   
   
   
4. Select a CRM account or deal to associate the task.
   
   • Mapped Accounts / UnMapped Accounts:
     
     • Mapped Accounts: The CRM account to which the Zoho Projects client account is already mapped is displayed in this section. The account should have the same name in both Zoho Projects and CRM.
       
     • UnMapped Accounts: When a CRM account and a Zoho Projects client account share the same name and they are yet to be mapped, its name is displayed in this section.
       
   • Only the deals associated with the selected project are displayed in the drop-down.
     
5. Click Save.
   
6. Click at the top right corner in task detail page and select Add to Zoho CRM to add the existing tasks to Zoho CRM.
   

Known limitations

Use case 1: Updating the Due Date of a Strict Project Task in Zoho CRM

George works for a Data Migration project that runs on a fixed schedule(i.e a strict project). He is also a CRM user and he updates the due date of a task in the Data Migration project from Zoho CRM. He notices that the due date update didn't reflect.

What happens next and why?

• In this case, George will receive a notification Email stating that his recent due date update has failed because it falls beyond the associated project's schedule. So, A user cannot update the due date of a task in Zoho CRM when the new date falls beyond the strict project's schedule in Zoho Projects.
  

Use case 2: Reopening a subtask in Zoho CRM

Linda has a Projects account integrated with Zoho CRM. She reopens a completed task that belongs to the associated Projects account in Zoho CRM, but notices that the update didn't reflect.

What happens next and why?

• In this case, Linda will receive a notification Email stating that her latest task status update has failed because the task has a parent in Zoho Projects that's closed. So, A user cannot reopen a subtask in Zoho CRM when its parent remains closed in Zoho Projects.