Update CRM Records using Zoho Forms

Update CRM Records using Zoho Forms


  1. Create a form using Zoho Forms. - read more here.
  2. Make sure all fields in Zoho Form have corresponding field in Zoho CRM, if some fields are missing, add necessary fields in Zoho CRM. Not you should have admin privileges to be able to add new custom fields. Fields should be added to the module in which you want to update records using the form. So if you want to update Contact records, you need to add fields to Contact module. For details about how to add custom fields go here.
  3. Make sure to add ID field to the form, this field will be used to match form response to a record in CRM. Depending on the module you want to update records in this field will be different. For contact module it should be email, for Accounts module, the field should contain Account Name. You also want to disable this field in order to prevent people who fill in the form to change it. If they change the value, and it will no longer match your CRM record, and as a result the form will create new record rather than updating existing. In order to disable the field select the field in the build and click disable.



  4. Setup Zoho Form - CRM integration:


  5. Then select a module which records you want to be able to update, and map the fields. In the mandatory section you will see all required fields in Zoho CRM, and they all must have a value, you can also add additional fields in Other Fields section. Make sure to check Upsert record option, and make sure that the field indicated in the Upsert records is in the Form and mapped to a Zoho CRM field.:

  6. Once you are done mapping all the fields, click Integrate.
  7. In order for the form to update CRM record, we will need to pre-populate ID field, and to do that we need to create field alias, you can find out how to do it here.
  8. You will need to get the form URL, to do so go to Share section and copy Form Permalink.
  9. Next you will need to create a template in Zoho CRM. The template will contain a link to the form with appended ID parameter:
    1. Got to Zoho CRM, click settings, and then Templates:
    2. Click +New Template button
    3. Selct CRM Module - note you need to select the module that has information about respondents - people who will be filling in the form, not necessarily the module which records will be updated by the form. For example, you might want to send a form that updates Account (company) information. But you will be sending that form to someone who works at that company, so you need to choose Contact module to send the form.
    4. Choose Layout
    5. In the Template Editor, paste Form Permalin, at the end of the link add ?, followed by field alias and =, then type # and select ID field. Since we want to update Account record, we will select Account name. Note that when you type # and select field name a placeholder value will be created that will look like this ${Accounts.Account Name}.

      Example: https://forms.zohopublic.com/...0eF4D?account=${Accounts.Account Name}

    6. You can also add more design elements and content to your template, you can find out more here. You can also copy the URL you have created with all the parameters and add it to a button.
    7. Once your template is ready, you can go to a contact record of a person who is linked with particular account, click Send Email button, then click Choose Template at the top, and select the template you just created. Once you email the form, the user will be able to fill it in and the data will update Account record in Zoho CRM. 
    8. Make sure to test that everything works properly. To do so, create test contact record with your email address, and link it to Test Account record. Then send the template to yourself, fill it in and see if all the info was update properly.


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