1. Widgets for intuitive UI
   
2. Functions for secure backend processing
   
3. External AI APIs (like Groq or OpenAI)
   

The business challenge

Subject: Follow-up on CRM Licensing Discussion

Hi John,

Thanks for the insightful chat today about your team's CRM needs. You're considering licenses for around 20 users, and I appreciate pricing being a top priority.

I'll review our volume options and discount eligibility right away. Expect specifics by EOD tomorrow.

Best regards,

[Your Name]

High-level architecture

1. UI Layer (Widget): Button launches it; displays, copies the draft, and sends the email.
   
2. Logic Layer (Function): Fetches CRM data server-side, builds prompt, calls AI securely.
   
3. AI Layer: External service generates natural language.
   

Flow

Step 1: Add the custom Button

1. Head to Setup → Modules and Fields → Leads → Buttons → Create New Button.
   
2. Provide the following details:
   
1. Name: Generate AI Email
   
2. Placement: Record Detail Page (top or bottom)
   
3. Action: Open Widget (select your widget once built)
   
3. Save and add to layout.
   
4. Test: Button appears on Leads; clicking loads widget in context.
   

Pro tip: Position near the "Send Email" button for seamless workflow.

Step 2: Build the CRM Function

1. Go to Setup → Developer Hub → Functions → + Create Function.
   
2. Enter the display name, function name, description, choose Standalone as the category.
   
   
3. Click Create. The Functions IDE opens.
   
4. Enter the following function code. Note that this example uses Groq AI API.
   

   string standalone.generate_ai_email(String leadId) { lead = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Leads",leadId); name = ifnull(lead.get("Full_Name"),""); company = ifnull(lead.get("Company"),""); status = ifnull(lead.get("Lead_Status"),""); // Fetch recent CRM Notes notesResp = zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords("Notes","Leads",leadId); recentNotes = ""; count = 0; for each  note in notesResp { noteContent = ifnull(note.get("Note_Content"),""); if(noteContent != "") { recentNotes = recentNotes + "[" + (count + 1) + "] " + noteContent + ". "; } count = count + 1; if(count == 3) { break; } } // Build AI prompt prompt = "You are a sales assistant helping draft follow-up emails. "; prompt = prompt + "Generate a professional follow-up email based on the customer's previous interactions. "; prompt = prompt + "Lead Name: " + name + ". "; prompt = prompt + "Company: " + company + ". "; prompt = prompt + "Lead Status: " + status + ". "; prompt = prompt + "Recent CRM Interaction Notes: " + recentNotes + ". "; prompt = prompt + "Write a professional follow-up email referencing the discussion."; // Sanitize prompt prompt = prompt.replaceAll("\"","\\\""); prompt = prompt.replaceAll("\n"," "); prompt = prompt.replaceAll("\r"," "); // Build AI request message = Map(); message.put("role","user"); message.put("content",prompt); messages = List(); messages.add(message); requestBody = Map(); requestBody.put("model","llama-3.1-8b-instant"); requestBody.put("messages",messages); requestBody.put("temperature",0.4); requestJSON = requestBody.toString(); // Call Groq API response = invokeurl [ url :"https://api.groq.com/openai/v1/chat/completions" type :POST parameters:requestJSON headers:{"Authorization":"Bearer YOUR_API_KEY","Content-Type":"application/json"} ]; // Extract AI email emailContent = ""; if(response.containsKey("choices")) { emailContent = response.get("choices").get(0).get("message").get("content"); } // Return generated email to widget return emailContent; }

Note for production

1. Connections: In the example, the API key is included directly in the function for simplicity. However, production deployments should use Connections instead of hard-coding credentials as they allow developers to store API credentials securely within Zoho CRM and reuse them across multiple integrations.
   
2. Error Handling: Wrap invokeurl in try-catch.
   
3. Limits: Cap notes at 3 to avoid token overflow and tune temperature (0.4 = consistent).
   
4. Logging: Add info prompt before API call for debugging.
   
5. Test: Execute with sample Lead ID. Expect clean email string back.
   
6. Extend: Add phone/email from Lead, or filter notes by date (e.g., last 7 days via criteria).
   

Step 3: Develop the Widget

Sample index.html

The  ZIP containing the complete index.js and index.html files used in this example is attached at the end of this post.

User experience walkthrough

1. The salesperson clicks Generate AI Email on the record detail page and the widget opens.
   
2. The salesperson clicks the Generate AI email button. The widget retrieves CRM context and generates a contextual follow-up email draft.
   
3. The email appears inside the widget, allowing the salesperson to quickly review the generated message, and use the Send Email button to send it to the lead's email ID.
   

Key takeaways

1. Automated meeting summaries
   
2. Deal health insights
   
3. Proposal drafting assistants
   
4. Intelligent follow-up recommendations
   

See Also

1. Functions in Zoho CRM
   
2. Widgets in Zoho CRM
3. Zoho CRM JS SDK
   
4. Zoho CRM API V8
   
5. Deluge
   
6. Previous Kaizen - 232 - Building a Ticket Escalation Mechanism from Zoho CRM
   
7. Kaizen Directory