Free your teams from manual business processes with Connected Workflows

Free your teams from manual business processes with Connected Workflows

Hello Everyone,

We’re thrilled to introduce the next big evolution in Zoho CRM for Everyone -- Connected Workflows. This new feature builds on our commitment to deliver a CRM that’s truly inclusive, adaptable, and designed for consistent collaboration across your entire organization and not just your sales team.

With the launch of Connected Records, we enabled teams to share contextual information and stay aligned through record connections across modules. Now, with Connected Workflows, we’re taking it one step further by enabling Zoho CRM to coordinate work across teams and enable them to deliver their best for customers.

What are Connected Workflows? 

While Connected Records make it easy to share customer context across your customer journey, however, many of the processes involved in your customer's journey need to be consistently carried out. That’s where Connected Workflows come in.

Connected workflows help free your teams from manual coordination by enhancing coordination across multiple teams and improving customer relationship management. They allow you to automate your entire customer journey that spans across multiple customer-facing teams.

With Connected Workflows, you can build smooth coordination between departments like Sales, Marketing, Legal, Onboarding, and Training  so that each step in the customer journey is coordinated without manual follow-ups or miscommunication.


How to create Connected workflows? 

"Users should have the Connected Workflows permission enabled in their profile settings."

Every connected workflow begins with a primary module, either an organization module or a team module, depending on your customer journey.

Triggers : Initiate by setting up triggers by configuring either a single trigger or multiple triggers for a module. The triggers are :
  • when a record is created in the module
  • When a record is edited record in the module,
  • When a record is created or edited in the module, or
  • When a field in the record is edited in the module.

Multi-module criteria for Triggers : You can configure multiple criteria for triggers to execute actions in any other related modules; Enable other module criteria option for this. This ensures actions run when related modules are updated with values matching the trigger.
 
Actions : Assign one or more actions for each trigger . The actions are :
  • Creating a new connected record in the associated module
  • Updating an existing connected record in the associate module, or
  • Notifying users via email. 

Use Case: Automating the customer journey from a sales enquiry  to customer success

A typical customer journey goes through four stages, and we know that even though the sales team is the initial point of contact, multiple teams are involved and will support the sales team to win the customer.                                                        

Involved Teams
Initial Evaluation
Sales Team is the point of contact
Marketing team supports with customer-facing content in the Case Study Module
Demo Request
Sales Team schedules a product demo
Pre-sales team provides product demos in the Product demo module
Customer Onboarding
Sales Team updates the sale cycle stage to 'Closed Won'
Onboarding team helps the customer get started post-sale in the Onboarding Assistance module
Product Training
Sales Team arranges for training sessions
Training team helps the customer to be fully equipped to use the product in the Training module
 
Here's how Connected Workflows can automate the sales process and achieve coordination between the multiple teams involved.  

We’ll create a connected workflow with Deals as the primary module and configure three triggers:

Trigger 1: When a new record is created → Create a connected Case Study record for Marketing (Action)

Trigger 2: When Lead Status is "Qualified" → Create a Product Demo record and notify the Pre-sales Team(Action)

Trigger 3: When Deal Stage is "Closed Won" → Create an Onboarding record for handoff prep(Action)

This sets up three connected modules: Case Study, Demo Request, and Onboarding, as shown in the image below.

 Now we will configure the associated modules.
  • Case Study
    Trigger : When status is "Completed" → Notify Sales Team about availability(Action)

  • Demo Request 
    Trigger : When status is "Completed" → Notify Sales Team that demo was given(Action)

  • Feedbacks (manually created from Demo Request)
    Trigger : When new record is created  → Email lead with feedback form(Action)

  • Onboarding 
    Trigger :     When status is "Completed" → Notify Training Team to start sessions and Sales Team of onboarding completion; also create a Training record(Action)

  • Training (automatically created from Onboarding)
    Trigger :     When new record is created → Update Account type to "Customer" and notify Sales Team of training completion(Action) 


Now let's look at how all these modules have been connected to carry out a customer journey in the GIF below.



In this entire customer journey, there is no loss of customer context, no repeated back-and-forth between teams, and no delays due to miscommunication. Each team receives a connected record with all the relevant data they need to execute their part of the process.
Here is another video with a detailed explanation on how connected workflows works :

How Are Connected Workflows Different from Traditional Workflows?     

  • Connected Workflows go beyond one module; they’re designed to coordinate across team boundaries and hence use multiple modules to build a workflow.
  • Connected workflows trigger follow-up tasks/actions in both org and team modules.
  • Connected Workflows generate connected records as part of the process, so new requests are automatically created in modules, and those teams will have full context from day one. Users can save the time they take to create requests from the Request tab with this feature.

Why use connected workflows for your business? 

  • No more manual follow-ups because of automating cross-team coordination and reducing dependency on reminders or emails.
  • Achieving consistent execution across your customer's journey.
  • Providing end-to-end visibility where teams see the full customer journey, not just their part in the entire journey.
  • Above all, providing contextual coordination among multiple teams by minimizing delays between hand-offs.
 

We believe Connected Workflows will be a game-changer in how you deliver exceptional customer experience. We’re excited for you to start building your first Connected Workflow. Let us know in the comments if you have any queries.

Availability :
  • This enhancement is available only in Zoho CRM's new UI.
  • The number of connected workflows that can be created edition-wise are :
    • Standard Edition.      : 2
    • Professional Edition : 2
    • Enterprise Edition    : 10
    • Ultimate Edition.      : 10
    • Click here to learn about others limitations for this feature.

Early Access for Connected Workflows

We are in the process of opening out connected workflows for our customers, however, if you’d like early access to explore and use this feature, we’ve got you covered!

Fill out this form to get early access.

We’d love for you to try it out and share your feedback.


Regards,
Serena Woolridge
Zoho CRM Marketing Team





        • Recent Topics

        • how to coming soon, holding site, or "under construction"

          Hi! I was wandering if was possible to create a website with the simple sign of "Under construction or coming soon" while i work on the site. if possible, how? Cheers

        • Announcing Agentic AI - Ask Zia!

          We are delighted to roll out the new agentic AI capabilities in Ask Zia, where every stage of the BI workflow is assisted by AI. With a human-in-the-loop approach, Ask Zia ensures that you’re in command of the decision, while AI handles the complexity.

        • Zoho People LMS VS Zoho Connect Manuals VS Zoho Learn

          in the past I came accross Zoho WIKI but did not like the platform because it could use a lot of upgrade. Over the time I have noticed Zoho People come out with a LMS module which allows us to created a shared knowledge for our internal team I also came across Zoho Connect which as a knowledge-based for internal team referred to as Manual Now I am seeing Zoho Learn which is a new and fine-tuned version of Zoho Wiki. All of these platforms are very similar but I am wondering what are the differences

        • Marketing Automation Activities in Zoho CRM

          Hello, I've connected Zoho CRM and Marketing Automation, sent a campaign, but no data are displayed in CRM, neither in "campaigns" section inside contact profile. It is possible to display Marketing Automation activities in CRM? Also in CRM Timelines?

        • How do we get a follow up to Experts 22: Scale up your customer support with integrations & extensibility

          Hi, How do we get a followup and answers to the questions we have asked during 'Experts 22: Scale up your customer support with integrations & extensibility'. I have repsonded to the answers but have no way of following up. Thanks Brett

        • Frustrating Email Duplication and Timeline Issues Between Zoho Mail and CRM

          Hi Zoho team, Can someone please help clarify what’s going on here? Here’s what’s happening: I initiate an email to a lead using Zoho Mail. The lead is created in Zoho CRM via the integration, and the email is correctly associated with that lead. Sometimes,

        • Best Strategy to import contacts and when to create leads

          Hi, I'm new to Bigin and looking for a "best" strategy. I had and have the following idea for an use case: 1. Search for websites which I want to contact 2. Create a contact in Bigin with all the required information based on this website (via API if

        • Better implementation of Item Category on Invoices and Estimates

          1) I have added Item Category as a custom field. Honestly, this should be a native part of the item itself, and either required, optional, or not used.  2) When entering an item on an invoice, you have to enter the first character(s) of the item, otherwise

        • Bulk Update (via the 'Accountant' menu)

          Why can't we bulk update Expenses to Owner's Drawings? It always ends in failure with the error "Involved account types are not applicable". If such conversion isn't possible, why make the option available? Better to allow it though.

        • Set Reply_to parameter for "Email an Invoice" API Endpoint

          Is there a way to set "Reply To" email address when using the Email an invoice API endpoint? It doesn't seem to be in documentation, but sometimes there are undocumented parameters. If it doesn't exist, please consider adding it as parameter since all

        • Zoho Books adaptado a la legislación española. ¿Sustitutos?

          Buenas a tod@s No tenemos información sobre la adaptación de Zoho Books a la nueva ley de facturación en España. Me preguntan usuarios de zoho que deberían hacer. Propongo una lista de alternativas, si al final se opta por no desarrollar la funcionalidad

        • A Question about Email Handling (Sending and Receiving)

          Hello! I was looking into setting up Email Aliases for my domain that I purchased a while ago through Zoho Mail. I set up a singular alias already and have it linked with Gmail, and it seems to be working out well. However, I set up another alias today,

        • Kaizen #201 - Answering Your Questions | Webhooks, Functions, and Schedules

          Hello everyone! Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series! We are incredibly grateful for all the feedback we received, and as promised, we will answer all the queries in this Kaizen series. Last week, in our 200th post, we addressed one of the

        • Zoho Projects Strict Dates for Tasks

          Hi Zoho Projects team, I would love to see a feature to allow Strict Dates for Tasks. Sometimes in projects you have dates which must not move, even if predecessor Task dates change. For example, perhaps you need to book access to a facility to perform

        • No Mark as filed buton in GSTR -3b

          We are filing our GST in GST portal -and want to mark GST in Zoho books as filed. It is possible to mark GSTR 1 as filed through Mark as filed button. But there is no such button in GSTR-3B.  How to mark corrosponding GSTR-3B as filed?

        • ranking by drag the choices instead of rank by number

          is the option of draging the choice is available instead of selecting the ranking number for each choice?

        • TASKS - Dashboard to show ALL Tasks from ALL apps.

          The Unified Tasks View is useless without the other main zoho apps (Desk, Books & even FSM now) We need to see all our tasks under on pane of glass. The Zoho developers are out of touch with real business workflows. So how it was designed they want us

        • Function #13: Transaction level profitability

          In Zoho Books, the Profit & Loss report provides valuable insights into the overall profitability of your business, indicating whether you have made a profit or incurred a loss. However, there may be occasions when you wish to assess whether a specific

        • Zoho CRM with Sap Business One

          I need information about integration CRM with Sap BO, thank.

        • Allow bill to nest multiple projects

          A bill (purchase) is more often than not used across multiple projects and this functionality is missing and very urgently needed for accurate reporting of purchases across projects

        • Amazon invoice in Zoho Books

          I have just made my first few sales on Amazon India. Amazon Seller account generates invoices for the sales made on Amazon. These invoices are sent to customers also. Now when I was only making offline sales, I used to create Invoices in Zoho Book. Now

        • How can I change iOS display setting at night?

          It seems like at night the two light daytime settings themes (white with blue on top or just white) are not available and I am forced to choose among a few other colours that I really don’t want, I.e., black, blue or orange. Is there a way for me to always

        • Celebrate WWW day with Zoho Desk

          Let's recall the times when we learned 'WWW' stands for World Wide Web. Whether you like to call it wuh-wuh-wuh or double-u double-u double-u, or World Wide Web, we all owe a lot to this groundbreaking invention that reshaped how we connect, communicate,

        • The power of camaraderie

          In the days before the internet boom, conversations happened face-to-face or over the phone. Phone calls were precious; every minute counted, and every word mattered. We looked forward to those moments of real connection. Even today, nothing quite matches

        • Message Content is missing/invalid fault

          We cannot create a complete template over zoho. Some features - like button adding - is missing. The templates are created on Zoho and edited on Meta to solve the problem. But still then, some features cannot be used and the message returns this failure

        • Können bereits gesendete Kampagnen im Nachhinein einer Mailing-Liste zugeordnet werden, ohne dass die Kampagne erneut versendet wird?

          Wir haben unsere älteren Kampagnen in Campaigns über Kontaktkategorien versendet. Dann haben wir umgestellt auf Mailing-Listen, damit alte Kampagnen auch in einem Archiv aufgerufen werden können. Jetzt ist die Frage, ob die Kampagnen, die über die Kategorieauswahl

        • Newsletter Templates Are Not Mobile Responsive

          Hi, I've already submitted this request to ZOHO once this morning, but for some reason your system logged me out, wouldn't accept my username/password login, and isn't showing any evidence that I've submitted this issue. So here we go again... I am under the impression that your newsletter templates are supposed to be mobile optimised: https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/blog/responsive-email-marketing.html This is clearly not the case, as the last 2 newsletters I've created in Campaigns look perfect

        • Digest Juillet - Un résumé de ce qui s'est passé le mois dernier sur Community

          Bonjour à toutes et à tous, Zoom sur les nouveautés de juillet dernier au sein de Zoho Community France. Zoho Commerce vous propose une expérience améliorée grâce à sa nouvelle interface ergonomique et à ses fonctionnalités avancées, conçues pour faciliter

        • 100 Rows in a Subform is too limited

          We have a custom Module in CRM called Price Sheets, when we get a PO from a client we add the items from the PO to it and then check with our vendors for pricing and add our margin etc And after it is complete we have setup custom scripts to create a

        • Uninstall unattended agent

          Hello, I'm testing many use case before we purchase assist for our remote support. While we are testing what is the proper way to uninstall agent?  I did uninstall from systray, from windows control panel but still ZohoURservice is running. How can I uninstall client side?

        • Zoho Commerce Down?

          Is anyone else's storefront down at the moment? Ours has been down for at lease an hour.

        • Zoho Projects iOS app update: Dashboard widget on the home screen

          Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce the 'Dashboard' widget in the latest version(v3.10.8) of the Zoho Projects iOS app. Dashboard widgets allow you to view the project progress visually without having to open the app. The widget enables you to

        • Idea: Workflow Rule Trigger Only When Subform Row Is Updated (Thanks to New Inline Row Feature)

          Hi Zoho team and community, With the recent update to Zoho CRM, we can now add or delete rows inside subforms without entering edit mode, using the inline Add row button. This is a fantastic improvement for user experience — seamless, fast, and efficient.

        • Auto add new section based on document choices

          Hi team, I'm wondering if the below is a possilibity within Zoho sign. We have an application process to become a customer of ours, we currently use Zoho Sign to manage this application and this works quite well. However, if the customer indicates 'YES'

        • Change rate after xxxx kilometers

          Is there a way to change the miileage rate after a certain mileage. After 5000 kilometers, we want the rate to automaticly change. Thank !

        • Subform Entry Limit from a Subform Field (A different Subform on the same Form)

          Hi, I would like to be able to use a Subform 1 Field as the Dynamic Entry Limit for Subform 2. Even better would be able to use some code with the values, so for example using the Subform 1 Qty Field as the Max Entry limit for Subform 2, BUT only the

        • Slow Zobot response time

          Hi, We launched the Zobot on our site to sit along with the regular Live Chat but had to take the Zobot down as the response time was very slow. The bot was slow to begin then once the chat had been initiated the response was very slow. The bot typing

        • how to show data of 3 table in pivot

          Based on engineer name i want to get the data from 3 different tables like Service , amc, installation , but Every table contain Engineer name As Common , based that from the service table i want to take service amount , and count of service based on

        • Custom Status for Purchase Orders

          Currently Zoho books has functionality to create custom statuses for Sales Orders. Can this be extended to include custom status for purchase orders as well? It was a great decision to add this functionality to sales orders. Our use case is for tracking

        • Ask the Experts 22: Scale up your customer support with integrations & extensibility

          Hello everyone! The foundation is set. Build the beams. Raise the pillars. Set the walls. The Zoho Desk architecture stands tall. Let's discuss integration within Zoho Desk, extensions from the Marketplace, creating connections between Zoho Desk and other

        • Next Page