Zoho CRM

Overview

What it does

Zoho CRM integration connects AI tools directly to your Zoho CRM account, enabling natural language interactions with leads, contacts, deals, accounts, and tasks.Key Features:

Lead and contact management
Deal pipeline tracking
Account and opportunity management
Task and activity tracking
Sales automation
Custom fields and modules
Advanced filtering and search
Bulk operations

Use Cases

Sales Pipeline Management:

Track leads through conversion funnel
Monitor deal progress and revenue
Update deal stages automatically
Generate sales forecasts

Contact Organization:

Create and update contact records
Segment contacts by criteria
Track communication history
Manage account relationships

Activity Tracking:

Create and assign tasks
Schedule follow-up activities
Track team productivity
Automate reminder workflows

Quick Start

Connect Your Zoho CRM Account

NimbleBrain Studio uses OAuth2 to securely connect to your Zoho CRM account.

Navigate to Connections in the sidebar
Click Browse Catalog
Search for “Zoho CRM”
Click Install
Click Connect and authorize with your Zoho account
Grant the requested permissions for CRM access

OAuth2 provides secure, token-based authentication without exposing your credentials.

Verify Connection

Once connected, test the integration:

"Show me my recent leads in Zoho CRM"

Other test prompts:

“List my open deals in the pipeline”
“Show me contacts created this week”
“What tasks are due today?”

Available Tools

The Zoho CRM connection provides comprehensive tools organized into the following categories:

Lead Management

Lead Operations

Manage and track leads through your sales funnel.

Tool	Description
`ZOHOCRM_CREATE_LEAD`	Create a new lead record with custom fields
`ZOHOCRM_GET_LEAD`	Retrieve a specific lead by ID
`ZOHOCRM_UPDATE_LEAD`	Update lead information and status
`ZOHOCRM_DELETE_LEAD`	Remove a lead from the system
`ZOHOCRM_SEARCH_LEADS`	Search leads with filters and criteria
`ZOHOCRM_CONVERT_LEAD`	Convert a lead to contact, account, and deal

Example Usage:

"Create a new lead named John Smith from Acme Corp with email [email protected]"

Converting leads automatically creates associated contact, account, and optional deal records.

Contact Management

Contact Operations

Manage your customer and prospect contact database.

Tool	Description
`ZOHOCRM_CREATE_CONTACT`	Create a new contact with properties
`ZOHOCRM_GET_CONTACT`	Retrieve contact details by ID
`ZOHOCRM_UPDATE_CONTACT`	Update contact information
`ZOHOCRM_DELETE_CONTACT`	Remove a contact from the system
`ZOHOCRM_SEARCH_CONTACTS`	Search contacts with advanced filters
`ZOHOCRM_LIST_CONTACTS`	List contacts with pagination

Example Usage:

"Find all contacts from California who haven't been contacted in 30 days"

Use custom fields to store industry-specific data and segment contacts effectively.

Deal Management

Deal Operations

Track opportunities and manage your sales pipeline.

Tool	Description
`ZOHOCRM_CREATE_DEAL`	Create a new deal with amount and stage
`ZOHOCRM_GET_DEAL`	Retrieve deal details and history
`ZOHOCRM_UPDATE_DEAL`	Update deal stage, amount, or properties
`ZOHOCRM_DELETE_DEAL`	Remove a deal from the pipeline
`ZOHOCRM_SEARCH_DEALS`	Search deals by criteria and filters
`ZOHOCRM_LIST_DEALS`	List all deals with pagination

Example Usage:

"Show me all deals in the proposal stage worth over $50,000"

Track deal progression through customizable stages to forecast revenue accurately.

Account Management

Account Operations

Manage company and organization records.

Tool	Description
`ZOHOCRM_CREATE_ACCOUNT`	Create a new account record
`ZOHOCRM_GET_ACCOUNT`	Retrieve account details by ID
`ZOHOCRM_UPDATE_ACCOUNT`	Update account information
`ZOHOCRM_DELETE_ACCOUNT`	Remove an account from the system
`ZOHOCRM_SEARCH_ACCOUNTS`	Search accounts with filters
`ZOHOCRM_LIST_ACCOUNTS`	List all accounts with pagination

Example Usage:

"Update the annual revenue for Acme Corporation account"

Link contacts and deals to accounts for comprehensive relationship tracking.

Task Management

Task Operations

Create and track activities and follow-ups.

Tool	Description
`ZOHOCRM_CREATE_TASK`	Create a new task or activity
`ZOHOCRM_GET_TASK`	Retrieve task details by ID
`ZOHOCRM_UPDATE_TASK`	Update task status or properties
`ZOHOCRM_DELETE_TASK`	Remove a task from the system
`ZOHOCRM_SEARCH_TASKS`	Search tasks with filters
`ZOHOCRM_LIST_TASKS`	List tasks with pagination

Example Usage:

"Create a follow-up call task for tomorrow assigned to Sarah for the Acme deal"

Tasks can be associated with leads, contacts, deals, or accounts for context tracking.

Example Workflows

Lead Qualification
Deal Pipeline Review
Contact Enrichment
Sales Activity Report
Account Management

Scenario: Automatically qualify and route new leadsPrompt:

"Find all new leads from the enterprise segment, score them based on company size and industry, and create follow-up tasks for the sales team"

What happens:

Searches for recent leads matching criteria
Evaluates lead quality based on properties
Creates assigned tasks for sales reps
Updates lead status to “Qualified”

Scenario: Review deals nearing close datePrompt:

"Show me all deals in the negotiation stage with close dates in the next 7 days"

What happens:

Filters deals by stage and date range
Returns deal details with amounts
Includes associated contacts and accounts
Highlights next steps and tasks

Scenario: Update contact records with new informationPrompt:

"Update all contacts from TechCorp with the new headquarters address and phone number"

What happens:

Searches for matching contacts
Batch updates address and phone fields
Logs activity history
Confirms number of records updated

Scenario: Generate activity summary for a time periodPrompt:

"List all tasks completed this week grouped by sales rep and deal stage"

What happens:

Retrieves completed tasks from date range
Groups by assignee and associated deal
Provides summary statistics
Identifies top performers

Scenario: Review account health and opportunitiesPrompt:

"Show me all enterprise accounts with no deals created in the last 90 days"

What happens:

Searches accounts by segment
Filters by deal activity date
Returns account details and contacts
Suggests re-engagement actions

Authentication

OAuth2 Authentication: This connection uses OAuth2 for secure authentication.

How It Works

When you connect Zoho CRM in NimbleBrain Studio:

You’ll be redirected to Zoho’s authorization page
Log in with your Zoho account
Review and grant permissions
You’re automatically redirected back to Studio

Required Scopes

The integration requests the following Zoho CRM scopes: CRM Scopes:

ZohoCRM.modules.ALL - Full access to read and write CRM modules
ZohoCRM.settings.ALL - Access to CRM settings and metadata
ZohoCRM.users.READ - Read user and team information
ZohoCRM.org.READ - Read organization details

Specific Module Permissions:

Read and write access to Leads, Contacts, Deals, Accounts, and Tasks
Search and filter across all modules
Create, update, and delete records
Manage custom fields and properties

You can manage connected applications in your Zoho Account under Security → Active Sessions → Connected Apps.

Rate Limits

Zoho CRM API enforces quota limits based on your plan:

Plan Type	API Calls per Day	Concurrent Requests
Free	5,000	10
Standard	25,000	10
Professional	50,000	25
Enterprise	100,000	25
Ultimate	200,000	50

Rate Limit Headers:

Calls are tracked per 24-hour rolling window
Remaining quota is returned in response headers
API calls reset at midnight UTC

Studio automatically handles rate limiting with exponential backoff and retry logic.

Troubleshooting

Connection Failed

Issue: OAuth authorization didn’t completeSolutions:

Ensure you’re logged into the correct Zoho account
Try a different browser or incognito mode
Check popup blockers aren’t interfering
Verify your Zoho CRM subscription is active
For enterprise accounts, check admin policies

Permission Denied

Issue: Insufficient privileges errorSolutions:

Reconnect to grant additional scopes
Verify your user role has CRM module access
Check organization-level permissions
For enterprise, ensure app is approved by admin
Contact Zoho support to verify account status

Record Not Found

Issue: Cannot find specified recordSolutions:

Verify the record ID is correct
Record may have been deleted or archived
Check if you have permission to view the module
Ensure record type matches the operation
Try searching by alternate criteria

Update Failed

Issue: Cannot update recordSolutions:

Verify you have edit permissions for the module
Check for required fields that are missing
Ensure field values match expected data types
Some system fields cannot be updated
Check for validation rules or workflows blocking the update

Duplicate Record Error

Issue: Record already existsSolutions:

Zoho CRM has duplicate detection rules
Search for existing record before creating
Update existing record instead of creating new
Modify unique field values
Disable duplicate checking if appropriate

Rate Limit Exceeded

Issue: Too many API calls errorSolutions:

Wait for rate limit to reset (24-hour window)
Upgrade to higher plan for more quota
Optimize workflows to reduce API calls
Use batch operations where possible
Studio automatically handles retries

Best Practices

Data Quality

Use required fields consistently
Implement data validation rules
Regularly clean duplicate records
Standardize naming conventions
Leverage custom fields appropriately

Pipeline Management

Define clear deal stages
Set realistic close dates
Track activities on every deal
Use probability scoring
Review pipeline regularly

Performance

Use search filters to limit results
Implement pagination for large datasets
Batch operations when possible
Cache frequently accessed data
Monitor API quota usage

Security

Review connected apps regularly
Use role-based access control
Audit data access logs
Encrypt sensitive data
Revoke access when not needed

Links and Resources

Zoho CRM API Reference

Official Zoho CRM API documentation

Zoho CRM Help Center

Zoho CRM support and troubleshooting

Zoho Developer Console

Manage API credentials and quotas

Need help? Join the NimbleBrain Discord or email [email protected]

Getting Started

Building Automations

Connections

Workspace & Settings

Overview

What it does

Use Cases

Quick Start

Available Tools

Lead Management

Contact Management

Deal Management

Account Management

Task Management

Example Workflows

Authentication

How It Works

Required Scopes

Rate Limits

Troubleshooting

Best Practices

Data Quality

Pipeline Management

Performance

Security

Links and Resources

Zoho CRM API Reference

Zoho CRM Help Center

Zoho Developer Console

Getting Started

Building Automations

Connections

Workspace & Settings

​Overview

What it does

Use Cases

​Quick Start

​Available Tools

​Lead Management

​Contact Management

​Deal Management

​Account Management

​Task Management

​Example Workflows

​Authentication

​How It Works

​Required Scopes

​Rate Limits

​Troubleshooting

​Best Practices

Data Quality

Pipeline Management

Performance

Security

​Links and Resources

Zoho CRM API Reference

Zoho CRM Help Center

Zoho Developer Console

Overview

Quick Start

Available Tools

Lead Management

Contact Management

Deal Management

Account Management

Task Management

Example Workflows

Authentication

How It Works

Required Scopes

Rate Limits

Troubleshooting

Best Practices

Links and Resources