Last modified on Sep 4, 2023: All Zoho CRM users can now access these enhancements. Initially, these features were available only on an early access basis and by request. However, as of August 2, 2023, they have been made available to all users in all DCs.
Dear all,
Zoho CRM's Blueprints provide structure to business processes by mandating a version of it in your CRM and guiding your records through. It necessitates steps to be taken and serves as a template sales process for a salesperson. So far, Blueprint has allowed us to draw up different stages of a business process through different states and connect it through certain triggers that allow the transition of a record.
While it’s not just that most business processes aren’t set in stone, it’s that different stages in business processes vary based on salespeople/users involved, type of customer, and even the product or service we sell. It’s not always the case that a record needs to move directly downstream without having to meander through multiple transitions before it needs to get to the next state.
Parallel and multiple transitions provide the flexibility required for a record to move to its next state.
Let’s take a business example:
An SMB in the Real Estate sector with 10-15 Real Estate agents, connecting buyers and sellers, representing rental houses, houses for lease etc. The typical business process involves bringing in leads from various sources, validating them, and trying to close deals. There’s an inspection followed by a negotiation process once the buyer finds a property they like, document verification, contracts that are drawn up, loan processes and so on.
We’ve set up a blueprint in place to ensure that the record moves freely through these different steps. Our blueprint includes relevant stages with transitions that enable the movement of the record to its next state. However, we’ve run into a few challenges between a few states where just one transition is not going to cut it.
Parallel Transitions:
Before our deal goes into the negotiation phase, the property needs to be thoroughly inspected. So, in our Blueprint, the record moves from the "Under inspection" state to the "Inspection completed" state. The inspection itself isn't a single process but includes four different checks: Mold inspection, Water Damage check, Structural damage, and Pest Inspection. Each of these processes will need to happen between these two states.

Parallel transitions allow us to add all four of these as individual transitions that the record needs to go through before it reaches the "Inspection completed" state.
Multiple transitions:
As mentioned earlier, the real estate agency not only handles property sales but also rentals and leases. So when it comes to the contract signing part of the business process, we have three different options. Regardless of what contract is signed, however, the state the record reaches next is the same, "Contract Signed."
Multiple transitions allow the sale contract signed, Rental contract signed, and Lease contract signed to each be added as transitions, allowing any one of them to be chosen for the record to move to its "Contract Signed" state.
Combination and Sub-transitions:
The documentation verification process is pretty overspecified in the Real Estate sector. Once the record lands on the "Legal Verified" state, there's a lot of paperwork involved before it gets to the "Loan processing" state. One major section is collateral assessment, which is pretty straightforward, and the other is document verification.
Further, under document verification, we have Sale deed verification, Building plan approval, and Possession letter verification.
The new enhancements in Blueprint not only let us create two transitions between these two states, i.e.: "Collateral assessment" and "Document verification", but allows for sub-transitions within the "Document verification" transition. So we'd be able to add "Sale deed verification", "Building plan approval", and "Possession letter verification", as individuals under the parent-transition, "Document verification".
Reorder transitions:
For any parallel or multiple transitions, you don't need to go through the checks in a specific order. These checks can happen in whichever order for each record. The current linear blueprint restricts you from offering this flexibility, which is what parallel transition solves. It helps you have simultaneous or "parallel" transitions side-by-side giving you the flexibility you need.
We'd love for you all to try out Parallel and Multiple transitions in your Blueprint processes and let us know how it's working for you.
Thank you!
Recent Topics
Unattended - Silent
How can I hide the tray icon / pop up window during unattended remote access for silent unattended remote access?
Importing into Multiselect Picklist
Hi, We just completed a trade show and one of the bits of information we collect is tool style. The application supplied by the show set this up as individual questions. For example, if the customer used Thick Turret and Trumpf style but not Thin Turret,
Text snippet
There is a nice feature in Zoho Desk called Text Snippet. It allows you to insert a bit of text anywhere in a reply that you are typing. That would be nice to have that option in Zoho CRM as well when we compose an email. Moderation Update: We agree that
Marketing Tip #18: Make your online store mobile-friendly to improve traffic
Most online shoppers browse on their phones first. If your store is hard to read, slow to load, or tricky to navigate on mobile, they’ll bounce fast. A mobile-friendly store doesn’t just look nice; it improves engagement, reduces drop-offs, and helps
[Need help] Form closed. Please contact your form administrator for further assistance.
https://forms.zohopublic.com/cceinfoifly1/form/CCE2025CCEFocusGroupRegistrationForm2025Fall/formperma/s_8XcLETTbFxZ_TAS4r_W6W5UBl8o5oxEnIX35IBKg4 I checked we didn't exceed the usage limit and form availability is enabled, Please help us enable this form
Zoho People. Updating TabularData
I am trying to update tabular data in the record. I always have the same response. I have checked many times. Section ID is correct. May be something wrong with request structure itself. Can someone help me. Body content type: form urlencoded query params
Automatically CC an address using Zoho CRM Email Templates
Hi all - have searched but can't see a definitive answer. We have built multiple email templates in CRM. Every time we send this we want it to CC a particular address (the same address for every email sent) so that it populates the reply back into our
Unable to Send Different Email Templates for Different Documents in Zoho Sign
Hello Zoho Community, I am facing a limitation with Zoho Sign regarding email notifications sent to customers when a document is sent for signing. Currently, whenever I send any template/document for signing, the email notification that goes to the customer
Reminder needs 0 minute choice
I most use 0 minute reminders. Every other calender service has this choice. If I create an event in my Android calendar with 0 minute reminder it will change to 5 minute. Please ad 0 as a reminder choice, this should be a 5 minute fix. Thanks.
Customer ticket creation via Microsoft Teams
Hi all, I'm looking to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I'd love to make it so my customers/ end users can make tickets, see responses and respond within microsoft teams. As Admin and an Agent i've installed the zoho assist app within
Is there a way to update all the start and end dates of tasks of a project after a calendar change?
Hi! Here's my situation. I've built a complete project planning. All its tasks have start dates and due dates. After completing the planning, I've realized that the project calendar was not the right one. So I changed the project calendar. I now have
How to update task start date when project start date changes?
Hi there, When the start date of a project changes, it's important to update the start dates of the tasks associated with that project to reflect the new timeline. Is there a way to shift the start date of all project tasks when the start date of a project
Issue with Picklist Dropdown Not Opening on Mobile
Hello I am experiencing an issue with picklist values on mobile. While the arrow is visible, the dropdown to scroll through the available values often does not open. This issue occurs sporadically, it has worked occasionally, but it is very rare and quite
using the client script based on the look up filed i wnat to fetch the record details like service number , service rate
based on selected service look up field iwant to fetch the service serial number in the serice form how i achive using client script also how i get the current date in the date field in the on load of the form
Zoho Books/Square integration, using 2 Square 'locations' with new Books 'locations'?
Hello! I saw some old threads about this but wasn't sure if there were any updates. Is there a way to integrate the Square locations feature with the Books locations feature? As in, transactions from separate Books locations go to separate Square locations
Zoho Commerce - How To Change Blog Published Date and Author
Hi Commerce Team, I'm discussing a project with a client who wants to move from Woo Commerce / Wordpress to Zoho Commerce. They have around 620 blog posts which will need to be migrated. I am now aware of the blog import feature and I have run some tests.
Does zoho inventory need Enterprise or Premium subsrciption to make Widgets.
We have Zoho One Enterprise and yet we can't create widgets on inventory.
ZMA shows as already connected to Zoho CRM, but integration not working
When I try to connect ZMA with Zoho CRM, it shows as already connected, but the integration doesn’t seem to be working. I’ve attached the screen recording for reference.
Automatic Email Alerts for Errors in Zoho Creator Logs
Hello, We would like to request a feature enhancement in Zoho Creator regarding error notifications. Currently, Zoho Creator allows users to view logs and errors for each application by navigating to Zoho Creator > Operations > Logs. However, there is
Workflow Rule - Field Updates: Ability to use Placeholders
It will be great if you can use placeholder tags to update fields. For example if we want to update a custom field with the client name we can use ${CONTACT.CONTACT_FIRSTNAME}${CONTACT.CONTACT_LASTNAME}, etc
Password Assessment Reports for all users
I'm the super admin and looking at the reporting available for Zoho Vault. I can see that there is a Password Assessment report available showing the passwords/weak and security score by user. However I'm confused at the 'report generated on' value. Monitor
Can't change form's original name in URL
Hi all, I have been duplicating + editing forms for jobs regarding the same department to maintain formatting + styling. The issue I've not run into is because I've duplicated it from an existing form, the URL doesn't seem to want to update with the new
Setting certian items to be pickup only
How do we have some items that are pickup only? I have several items in my item's list that I do not ship. But they need to be on the website to be sold, and picked up in store. Need to be able to do this as one of these products is a major seller for
Using gift vouchers
We would like to be able to offer a limited number of gift vouchers, of varying values, to our customers, and are looking for the best way to do this. We have looked at Coupons and Gift Certificates, but neither seem to fit the bill perfectly. Coupons:
Automatically updating field(s) of lookup module
I have a lookup field, which also pulls through the Status field from the linked record. When the lookup is first done, the Status is pulled through - this works perfectly. If that Status is later updated, the lookup field does not update as well. As
Zoho Commerce and Third-party shipping (MachShip) API integration
We are implementing a third-party shipping (MachShip) API integration for our Zoho Commerce store and have made significant progress. However, we need guidance on a specific technical challenge. Current Challenge: We need to get the customer input to
Adding custom "lookup" fields in Zoho Customization
How can I add a second “lookup” field in Zoho? I’m trying to create another lookup that pulls from my Contacts, but the option doesn’t appear in the module customization sidebar. In many cases, a single work order involves multiple contacts. Ideally,
Can you import projects into Zoho Projects yet?
I see some very old posts asking about importing project records into Zoho Projects. But I can't find anything up to date about the topic. Has this functionality been added? Importing tasks is helpful. But we do have a project where importing projects
Zoho Inventory. Preventing Negative Stock in Sales Orders – Best Practices?
Dear Zoho Inventory Community, We’re a small business using Zoho Inventory with a team of sales managers. Unfortunately, some employees occasionally overlook stock levels during order processing, leading to negative inventory issues. Is there a way to
Automation #10 - Auto Assign Ticket based on Keywords
This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips on optimizing
Automate attendance tracking with Zoho Cliq Developer Platform
I wish remote work were permanently mandated so we could join work calls from a movie theatre or even while skydiving! But wait, it's time to wake up! The alarm has snoozed twice, and your team has already logged on for the day. Keeping tabs on attendance
Reusable Custom Functions Across Department Workflows
Dear Zoho Desk Team, We appreciate the powerful workflow automation capabilities in Zoho Desk, particularly the ability to create and use custom functions within workflows. However, we have encountered a limitation that impacts efficiency and maintainability.
Don't Allow Customer to Edit Values After Submitting Ticket
After a customer submits a ticket through the customer portal, they can go into the ticket and see some of the values from the questions they answered in the sidebar. Currently, a customer can edit these values even after they submitted them. This makes no sense. We ask very specific questions that we don't want customers to later change! Please disable the ability for customers to edit the values to their submission questions in the portal. Screenshot attached.
Analytics <-> Invoice Connection DELETED by Zoho
Hi All, I am reaching out today because of a big issue we have at the moment with Zoho Analytics and Zoho Invoice. Our organization relies on Zoho Analytics for most of our reporting (operationnal teams). A few days ago we observed a sync issue with the
text length in list report mobile/tablet
Is there a way to make the full text of a text field appear in the list report on mobile and tablet? With custom layouts, the text is always truncated after a certain number of characters.
Automation #4 - Auto Delete Tickets based on Rules
This is a monthly series in which we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Unwanted tickets spamming
Zoho Community Digest — Enero 2026
¡Hola, comunidad! 🌟 Aquí os traemos las novedades más interesantes de Zoho durante este mes de enero, incluyendo actualizaciones de productos, integraciones y un recordatorio sobre los workshops certificados que vuelven a España. 🎓 Eventos y Comunidad
Automation #3 - Auto-sync email attachments to tickets
This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Most of our customers use email
Automation #11 - Auto Update Custom Fields with Values from Emails
This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize
Automation #13 - Auto assign tickets based on agent shift time
This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize
Next Page