Nurture and customer reactivation pattern: From Zoho CRM to MH and back the to CRM

Nurture and customer reactivation pattern: From Zoho CRM to MH and back the to CRM

Hi folks,

 Last night Zoho's support team and I worked out a way to perform a very important use case.  Most of use have Zoho CRM, and we'd like to be able to send specific contacts from the CRM into MH for nurturing (if they are a recent customer) or reactivating (if they have not purchased for a while.)   Different customers should be able to receive different 'customer journeys' based on some sort of information held in the CRM. During the customer journey in MH, major events should be posted back to the CRM and the CRM contact record update.  Once the customer's journey has been completed in MH, the is remove from MH (so as to keep number of leads in MH within account limits.)

Here is a summary of the process:

 CRM Contact -> Added to MH list as a new Lead -> Added to MH Journey -> Journey actions -> Update CRM -> Upone journey end, lead is removed from MH.

 Here is how set up the CRM to MH to CRM process

 Phase 1: Set up Zoho CRM Customer Journey field and Views

 1. In Zoho CRM, create a pick list field for Contacts called "Customer Journey."  Populate this field's options with the types of journeys you plan. For example:  No Journey Active, Reactive Cold Customer, Nurture Recent Customer.  Make sure to set this as a logged field, so that you can track whenever this field is changes - it'll have a big impact on the messages that your customer's get, so knowing when and who edited is important, along with being able to see if you've already put a contact on a particular journey in the past.

 2. Add the new Customer Journey field to your Contact screen layouts as you see fit. I added my Customer Journey filed directly next to the Email Opt Out field.

 3. From the Customer list in Zoho CRM, create a view for each of the values of the Customer Journey field. For example, to get a view of only those customers flagged for the cold customer reactivation journey, you would set up a view as follows:

 View "Reactive Cold Customer" 

Customer Journey = "Reactive Cold Customer" +

Opt out = false

 Phase 2: Set up MH synchronized lists and journeys

 1. Create a new list in MH called "To remove from MH"  This list will be used to hold all leads that have completed the journey in MH.  Think of it as a holding cell for leads that are no longer needed in MH (though they are in the CRM now.)

 2. Create a list for each customer journey you plan to run. In other words, for every option in the Zoho CRM Customer Journey field you will have a list in MH (except, of course for No Journey Active).  Each of these lists sould be created as a Zoho synchronisation based list, using the appropriate Zoho Contact View as the parameter for the sync.

 IMPORTANT: BE SURE TO MAP THE CRM CUSTOMER JOURNEY FIELD INTO MH WHEN SETTING UP THE SYNC.

 You may also wish to map any other fields from the CRM that may be useful in the customer journey. 

 And make sure ALL LISTS SHARE THE SAME FIELD MAPPING (otherwise you run the risk of writing back black data in the CRM later on.)

You can set up the frequency of the sync as you see fit, but for me, weekly syncing seems perfect.

Setting up lists this way means that whenever you set a Zoho Contact’s Customer Journey field to a specific journey from the pick list, it is added to the corresponding MH list.

 3. Create MH journeys for each of your sync’ed lists. 

Each journey trigger is a lead being added (newly synced) to the corresponding list.

You can do whatever you want inside these journeys:  send emails, promotions, SMS messages, track clicks, and so on.  All the stuff that MH is build for.

Don’t forget – if you’ve mapped field from the CRM, you can use that information to make highly personalized journeys.  For example, I have mapped a customer CRM field (checkbox) that the customer has an interest in a specific product category (sci-fi), so can tailor specific MH emails to them during customer journeys.

Also remember that you can set can set a value of a field in a MH journey. For example, during a journey I could see that a lead has clicked on a link to sci-fi games, so I could then set the mapped sci-fi interest field to True.  Note that doig this does NOT write it immediately back to the CRM…

To write information capturing during MH journeys, you the ZohoCRM block in the journey, and map all fields you wish to update.

I am also writing significant events in the MH journey back to the CRM as completed tasks.  For example, if a lead clicks on a specific link (say, to buy a product), I use the ZohoCRM Create Task block to create a complete task letting me know what the CRM contact did.

4. When a contact is about to finish a MH journey, use the Add To List journey black to add them to the "To remove from MH"   The remove them from the list they are currently on  

5. Set up a journey for the “To remove from MH” list which does the following:

Use the Update Field Block to change the Customer Journey field to “No Journey Active”   

Uses the Zoho CRM Task block to write a completed task to the CRM, so we have a record of when the customer’s journey was completed.  Also, write back all mapped fields to the CRM, including the Customer Journey field! This is super important, because this is the flag that will stop the contact being re-added to the previous list.


Automated Customer Journeys Activated by the CRM - Yep Done!

That’s it!  You now have set up a process where all you need to do in the CRM is select the type of customer journey you want a contact to experience, and MH will take care over everything else…

 

Adding the contact as a lead to an appropriate list.

Performing various actions for the customer (lead) added to the list

Removing the customer from the list once completed


Tracking important events as tasks in the CRM

Updating the CRM records once the journey is completed


Tidy-up: Keeping Your Lead Count Down


To stop MH from filling up with too many leads, be sure to limit the number of CRM contacts you are pushing into it.   I am only planning to push about 100-150 CRM contacts a week into MH leads.

As these leads complete their journeys are moved into the “To remove from MH.”  Once every week, I will delete all leads in this list, since they are no longer needed. Since all the important information is stored back in Zoho CRM, that is not a big problem.

I hope this process helps of Zoho fans.

MH still feels like a relatively immature product, but its potential to create highly personal customer experiences is compelling.  I can't wait to see how Zoho grows this product.


    • Sticky Posts

    • Marketer’s Space - Automating CRM Actions with Journeys – Part 2

      Hello marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space. In our previous post, we explored how CRM actions in Journeys help marketing and sales teams work together by nurturing CRM leads and pushing only engaged prospects back to sales. If you
    • Introducing automation and utility conversations in WhatsApp marketing

      We’re excited to announce the addition of two new features to our WhatsApp integration: Automation and Utility conversations. These enhancements will allow you to streamline your marketing efforts and engage with your customers more effectively by automating
    • Tip of the week 02 - The art of 'seeing' your leads

      What's the last page that your lead visited before signing up for your brand? What was the page that first convinced your lead to explore more about you? Where are your leads coming in from? Well, these are some perennial questions today's marketers live upon. And, knowing the answers to these questions is crucial, considering the vitality of leads in every business. In the journey of finding lead opportunities, it's important to understand that every detail about a lead is useful. While the channels
    • Zoho Marketing Automation Update: Topics, Contacts, and List Management

      At Zoho Marketing Automation, our highest priority is making it easier for you to use our product to accomplish your business goals. With that in mind, we are updating three of our pivotal features: Topic, Contacts, and List Management.   These existing
    • Important: Zoho MarketingHub is now Zoho Marketing Automation

      Hello Everyone,   We hope you all are doing well. We'd like to notify you that we have rebranded Zoho MarketingHub to Zoho Marketing Automation. We'll discontinue using the term "MarketingHub" from May 26, 2021. However, there will be no changes in the
    • Recent Topics

    • Has anyone built a ticket export that allows Help Center users to export the tickets shown in the My Area list they are looking at?

      Hi, We are moving to Zoho Desk soon. Our current support system displays an option in our help center allowing customers to export their Open, Closed, or all tickets based on which list they are looking at. We need to offer the same in Zoho Desk help
    • Two factor authentication for helpdesk users

      The company i work for wants use the helpdesk site in Zoho desk, as a place for their distribution partners to ask question and look for information about our product. The things there is suppose to go up there is somewhat confidential between my company
    • Zoho Desk: Q2 2025 | What's New

      Hello everyone, We are excited to announce Zoho Desk's 2025 Autumn updates. This release brings new features and enhancements that improve work management and enable businesses to provide a better overall support experience. Spanning from Zia Agents to
    • Committed Stock and To Be Received Stock via API?

      Is it possible to retrieve Committed Stock and/or To Be Received Stock for an Item via the API? I want to use this information for calculating the amount of inventory needed to be purchased.
    • Improved RingCentral Integration

      We’d like to request an enhancement to the current RingCentral integration with Zoho. RingCentral now automatically generates call transcripts and AI-based call summaries (AI Notes) for each call, which are extremely helpful for support and sales teams.
    • Cannot reject empty expense report

      Hello, We are currently having issues with two empty expense reports where if we try to reject them, either manually or through the REST API, we get error 114016, which says some of the expenses have already been billed and must be removed. I'd appreciate
    • Checkboxes not adhering to any policy in mail merge - data from CRM

      I want checkboxes to appear depending on whether the checkbox in the CRM module is ticked or not. However, the tickboxes that appear are either ticked or not, but don't correlate to the actual selections in the CRM module. This is is despite updating
    • Items Landed Cost and Profit?

      Hello, we recently went live with Zoho Inventory, and I have a question about the Landed Cost feature. The FAQ reads: "Tracking the landed cost helps determine the overall cost incurred in procuring the product. This, in turn, helps you to decide the
    • CC and/or BCC users in email templates

      I would like the ability to automatically assign a CC and BCC "User (company employee)" into email templates. Specifically, I would like to be able to add the "User who owns the client" as a CC automatically on any interview scheduled or candidate submitted
    • Create Contract API Endpoint Unclear "inputfields" Requirements

      Hello, I'm trying to create a Deluge function that accepts inputs from a form in Zoho Creator and creates a barebones contract of a given type. See below for the current code, cleaned of authentication information. // Fetch form data // Hidden field client_name
    • Kaizen #46 - Handling Notes through Zoho CRM API (Part 1/2)

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! This week, we will discuss Handling Notes through Zoho CRM API. What will you learn from this post? Notes in Zoho CRM Working with Notes through Notes APIs 1. Notes in Zoho CRM 1a. Why add Notes to records? Notes are a great way to summarize your observations on customer and prospect interactions and outcomes. By saving notes as CRM data, a sales rep will always be able to keep track of how a sale is progressing. To know more about notes in
    • Marketer's Space - Why email marketing matters in ecommerce (and how to get started with Zoho Campaigns)

      Hello Marketers, Welcome to this week's Marketer's space post. Today, we'll discus why email marketing matters in ecommerce businesses. Running an online store is exciting but challenging. If you're running an online store, you've probably experienced
    • Zoho Campaigns Event timestamps do not propagate to Zoho CRM

      We have integrated Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns. But when looking at Contact records, the Campaign event data is missing the actual timestamps: especially when a particular email was sent. They're not in the Campaigns related list, and the cannot be found
    • Kaizen #121 : Customize List Views using Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another interesting Kaizen post. In this post, we can discuss how to customize List Views using Client Script. This post will answer the questions Ability to remove public views by the super admin in the Zoho CRM and Is
    • Setting default From address when replying to request

      At the moment, if I want to reply to a request, the From field has three options, company@zohosupport.com, support@company.zohosupport.com, and support@company.com.  The first two are really internal address that should never be seen by the customer and
    • Tip #45 - Explore Your Support Reach with Zoho Assist’s Geo Insights - 'Insider Insights'

      Understanding where your remote support sessions are happening can help you make smarter decisions, allocate resources effectively, and improve overall customer satisfaction. In this week's Zoho Assist's community post we will be exploring Geo Insights
    • Formatting of text pasted into Zoho documents

      Howdy, I'm a newbie and finding Zoho an improvement to MS Word. Consider yourself hugged. High on my wish list would be plain text cut-and-paste. When pasting text from the web to Zoho, presently Zoho imports the formatting along with the text. This means that every cut-and-paste operation brings in text in a different font, size, or style. Can we have at least the option of importing plain text without formatting (or better yet, is this option already out there?) ... Thanks Helen
    • Add additional features to Zoho Tables

      Zoho Tables is a really great tool, why not add features like diagramming capability into the tool from applications like Draw.io which I believe is open source, you should be able to do wireframes, process flow diagrams, network design, etc. Please note
    • The Social Wall: August 2025

      Hello everyone, As summer ends, Zoho Social is gearing up for some exciting, bigger updates lined up for the months ahead. While those are in the works, we rolled out a few handy feature updates in August to keep your social media management running smoothly.
    • The Social Wall: July 2025

      Hello everyone! July has brought some exciting new updates to Zoho Social. From powerful enhancements in the Social Toolkit to new capabilities in the mobile app, we’ve packed this month with features designed to help you level up your social media presence.
    • Use Zoho Creator as a source for merge templates in Zoho Writer

      Hello all! We're excited to share that we've enhanced Zoho Creator's integration with Zoho Writer to make this combination even more powerful. You can now use Zoho Creator as a data source for mail merge templates in Zoho Writer. Making more data from
    • Tagged problem !!!

      Damn it, we're one of dozens of construction companies in Africa, but we can't link purchasing invoices to projects. Why isn't this feature available?
    • Limited review (/questions) for Bookings 2.0

      Hi all, I'm writing this review of Bookings 2.0 for two reasons: 1) it may be of interest to others, and 2) I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong on any points. It's a very limited review, i.e. the things that have stood out as relevant, and particularly
    • Syntax for URLs in HTML Snippets

      What are some best practices for inserting a URL in an HTML snippet? I've looked at Zoho Help articles on navigation-based and functional-based URLs, but I'm still unclear on how to incorporate them in an HTML snippet. For example, 1. How do I link to
    • The Social Wall: June 2025

      Hello everyone, We’re back with June Zoho Social highlights. This month brought some exciting feature updates—especially within the Social Toolkit—to enhance your social media presence. We engaged with several MSME companies through community meet-ups
    • Make panel configuration interface wider

      Hi there, The same way you changed the custom function editor's interface wider, it would be nice to be able to edit panels in pages using the full width of the screen rather than the currently max-width: 1368px. Is there a reason for having the configuration panel not taking the full width? Its impossible at this width to edit panels that have a lot of elements. Please change it to 100% so we can better edit the layouts. Thanks! B.
    • Tip 7: How to fetch data from another application?

      Hi everyone, Following our Zoho Creator - Tips and Tricks series every fortnight, we are back today with a tip based on one of the most popular questions asked in our forum. This tip would help you fetch data from another application(App B) and use it
    • The Social Wall: May 2025

      Hey everyone, We're excited to share some powerful updates for the month of May! Let's take a look! Reply to your Instagram and Facebook comments privately through direct messages Are you tired of cluttered comment threads or exposing customer queries
    • Sub-Form Fields as Filters for Reports

      Hi, I would like to use the Sub-Form Fields as Filters in Reports just like we do for Main Page Fields. Thanks Dan
    • Zoho CRM Formula - Current Time minus Date/Time field

      Hello, I am trying to prevent duplicate emails going to clients when more than 1 deal is being updated. To do this, I would like to create a formula to identify if a date/time field is >= 2 hours ago. Can someone please help me write this formula? Example:
    • Per Level Approval for admins

      We need Process admins like Zoho CRM in Zoho Books for per stage approval Currently in books, admins only have the option for Final Approval But for example, in cases like when an employee is on leave, we can't just approval one level we only have option
    • Billing Management: #7 Usage Billing in Telecom & Internet Service Provider

      Telecom and Internet Service Providers operate in markets where usage varies drastically from one customer to another. While flexible, usage-based models align revenue directly with consumption, they also introduce operational challenges like real-time
    • Zoho Sprints - Q3 updates for 2025

      The updates for the third quarter of 2025 are out. A few significant features and enhancements have been rolled out to improve user experience and product capabilities. The following are the updates: Manage tags and cluster tags Record and maintain project
    • Kaizen #208 - Answering your Questions | Functions, AI and Extensions

      Hello Developers! Welcome back to a fresh week of Kaizen! We are grateful for your active participation in sharing feedback and queries for our 200th milestone. This week, we will answer the queries related to Functions and Extensions in Zoho CRM. 1.
    • Zoho CRM still doesn't let you manage timezones (yearly reminder)

      This is something I have asked repeatedly. I'll ask once again. Suppose that you work in France. Next month you have a trip to Guatemala. You call a contact there, close a meeting, record that meeting in CRM. On the phone, your contact said: "meet me
    • Creating Restaurant Inventory Management on Zoho

      Hi,  We run a small cloud kitchen and are interested to use Zoho for Inventory and Composite Item tracking for our food served and supplied procured to make food items.  Our model is basically like subway where the customer can choose breads, veggies,
    • To Zoho customers and partners: how do you use Linked Workspaces?

      Hello, I'm exploring how we can set up and use Linked Workspaces and would like to hear from customers and partners about your use cases and experience with them. I have a Zoho ticket open, because my workspace creation fails. In the meantime, how is
    • Zoho Forms to Zoho CRM : First/Last Name to just Name ?

      When integrating a Zoho Form into the Accounts menu of the CRM I'm having trouble with how names are formatted ; In Forms the data is available as First Name or Last Name In the CRM there is only one field called Name How can I ensure that "John" "Smith"
    • Enhancements to the formula field in Zoho CRM: Auto-refresh formulas with the "Now" function, stop formula executions based on criteria, and include formulas within formulas

      Dear Customers, We hope you're well! By their nature, modern businesses rely every day on computations, whether it's to calculate the price of a product, assess ROI, evaluate the lifetime value of a customer, or even determine the age of a record. With
    • This festive season, offer discounts with coupon code support in Stripe Checkout

      Hello form builders! It’s the festive season, the perfect time to spread joy and great deals! Now, with Zoho Forms’ latest enhancement for Stripe Checkout, you can do exactly that with coupon codes! Your payment forms integrated with Stripe Checkout can
    • Next Page