Making a list of useful points for Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns.
Sorry ahead of time for the weird caps use - it is work in progress.
How much does this cost?
Remove as many users as possible to only pay for features not users
If there is no situation where more than 2 users need to be on Zoho at a time then outreach@ and primaryuser@ (David Trapp) should/may be plenty.
Cleanup view for primary user and walkthrough
Walk through with primary users and make views that are important to them
Remove clutter and hide modules/fields/etc. that will not be used often
Rearrange fields for best UI
Investigate tasks, integrations
Useful task reminder
Gmail integration
Set up for making this the primary work tool for Strategic Partnerships
Review “Deal” Pipelines
Add missing “organizational entities” to Accounts:
Reports/Dashboard for BOD and Kevin
Create Email Templates
Automating workflows
Example:
LEAD nurturing - how long uncontacted? - make tasks
Once added to system - automated email
Future looking use of Zoho
Zoho is a mid tier CRM product - if in a few years we have budget the following may be difficult to “export” or transfer over
Custom functions
Custom forms
Api integrations
Non-standard use cases
Lead scoring
Export or ending relationship plan
export modules: leads, contacts, accounts, deals, leads vs accounts, contacts vs accounts
other?
Making custom fields
HACK: Make custom fields in the LEADS section of CRM --- you will have the option there to carry forward that field to other modules like contacts, deals accounts etc. BUT ideally data is not duplicated so only do this for fields you know you want on multiple modules.
HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS: When updating you will have to update each custom field in each module individually from here on out!
DONT FORGET: Mapping lead conversion custom fields allows the data to carry forward.
FINISHING TOUCH: Match the placement of the records in the same place so that its reflexive to add details in various views
Importing data to Zoho Campaigns
FOR MULT SELECT LOOKUP FILTERS (Affiliates) - We need to push from CRM filter to Zoho campaigns
FOR ALL OTHERS - Contact sync should be good enough to filter from campaigns
Data diligence
PLEASE Take care to enter thoughtful correct data in the correct place
DONT create custom fields that belong on Accounts to a Contact.
Bulk importing Leads and Contacts IS NOT RECOMMENDED (but possible, mostly used for switching CRMs)
Multi-select lookup fields (ie. Affiliations) do not import gracefully
It is best to incorporate using Zoho into your daily workflow
If you are adding leads/contacts one at a time to a spreadsheet you may miss details - simply add leads one at a time to Zoho instead
AVOID “lookup” attributes in Zoho CRM they are not easily transferable to Zoho campaigns
Lead Type is one of the only “cross module” custom fields currently KEEP IT UP TO DATE for best results
New fields are accepted but not visible as an option if not up to date
EMAIL MARKETING is mostly done in ZOHO Campaigns
If you are doing email marketing in CRM you are probably doing it wrong
Do admin work in Zoho campaigns with A SHARED EMAIL. Ours is outreach@litefarm.org for adding custom fields etc. Right now ADMINS CANNOT EDIT OTHER USER ATTRIBUTES: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/how-do-i-edit-another-users-contact-custom-field .
Do not CONFUSE Zoho Campaigns with Zoho CRM Campaigns 
… they are slightly different, can be integrated with each other, but Zoho CRM campaigns may be an enterprise add-on.
Bulk import of multi-select lookup fields DOES NOT WORK.
BUT THERE IS A WORKAROUND - When creating a multiselect lookup you have to option to create a “linking module”. You can then do the following steps.
In the “tags” column of bulk upload set tags with the name for each multi-select lookup field
Import the list to Leads or Contacts
Create the linked record in Accounts or wherever and collect the “zcrm_Accountididididididididi” from the URL (it will not have “zcrm_” just the id number.
Run a report with a filter for the Contacts with tags in previous step
Export that list to .csv
Map the Leads/Contacts “zcrm_Leadididididididididi” to the linked module record id : “zcrm_Accountididididididididi” .
Import the map to the linking module - Only the two Id’s should truly be necessary
Leads - New Donors, New Grants Org, Networked Persons, New Certification Leads, Possible Demo Interested, Volunteers, Integration Partners
Contacts - Converted leads, API inserted Users,
Certifiers, Donors, Partnerships etc >> Leads >> Contacts/Account/Deal
USERS, SUBSCRIBERS etc. >> Contacts
…THEN
LEADS + CONTACTS >> Zoho CRM >> Sync in Zoho Campaigns
Trade shows/Events/(Other affiliation but not employer) => Add an Account with those details and optional year (ie Cattle Farmers of Paraguay - 2021)
THEN: Individually add leads and mark leads under that affiliation
For Farmers - If no business name is available - Use “FF - FirstName LastName”
This will allow you to add certifications, products, POS , etc at a later date.
You do not need to enter much information on a lead
If you have more information than there is fields for, chances are they are no longer just a lead but instead a contact with a “Deal” with a low chance of of conversion. CONVERT THEM
REQUIRED FIELDS:
Last Name: Use “?” where not known
Lead type: Use “Other” where not know or EVEN BETTER update all modules to include new option (this is really one of the only cross module custom fields currently)
Suggested fields:
Company name: After 3 characters should auto-fill if it exists
Convert one at a time and edit their Account(Company), and Contact, and Deal information thoughtfully
Not recommended to bulk convert leads as it will result in less (and less accurate) data
YOU MAY: Make a an Account before making leads
This is best for things like Trade Show accounts where you can add networking leads as Affiliated with that account
Any campaigns based upon normal attributes should be made in Zoho Campaigns
BUT any campaigns based upon multiselect lookup: should be filtered in Zoho CRM then selected and pushed to campaigns.
Make segments in campaigns is preferred as it will stretch and shrink as fields are updated
Lists may be best for one time use or small unchanging groups
This seems to vary widely based on platform, blog etc. For now I think what will be helpful is separating according to the following:
Tags: Details that are useful to us, but if the user saw it they may disagree. (eg, high priority, low priority)
Custom Attributes: Contact based details that describe the contact that the contact would probably not disagree with.
We should determine the limits of when to use email marketing service vs regular (casual) email. The following is my placeholder definition:
Marketing email: The recipients do not know each other. You are eliciting an individual response from a large group. Topic is not necessarily urgent to the recipient. (Estimated 25+ contacts, unless you want to personalize the email). CONSIDER USING ZOHO CAMPAIGNS
Casual email: The recipients may or may not know each other. You do not need to personalize the email or the group is shadowing a conversation. Topic may be urgent to the recipient. (Estimated less than 25 contacts) . CONSIDER USING REGULAR EMAIL
Deleting pipeline stages: Under layout customization in deals under Stage-probability mapping.
Interlinking Modules - https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/customizing-modules/articles/linking-modules#Example_Scenario