Send WhatsApp Leads to Zoho CRM
This recipe makes sure every lead who talks to you in chat ends up in Zoho CRM, with their details and a note of what they asked about. Part of connecting Zoho CRM to WhatsApp and AI chat.
What happens today
Leads arrive on WhatsApp and Instagram, and whoever is replying means to add them to Zoho CRM at the end of the day. Busy days mean some never get added, and others get added twice under different spellings. When you look at lead sources, chat is missing from the numbers.
The flow that works
- AeroChat answers the lead’s question first.
- It asks for their name and email, if it does not have them.
- It searches Zoho CRM for a lead or contact with that email or phone number.
- It creates or updates the lead, with Chat as the lead source.
- It adds a note with a short summary of the conversation.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When someone asks about our products or services, answer their question first from our knowledge base. Then follow these steps.
- If we do not have their name and email, ask: “Can I take your name and email so our team can follow up?”
- Search Zoho CRM leads and contacts for that email, then for their phone number.
- If a contact exists, add the note to the contact. If a lead exists, update its phone number if it is missing. If neither exists, create a lead with their first name, last name, email, phone number, company if they gave one, and the channel they used.
- Set the lead source to Chat and the lead status to Not Contacted (example values).
- Add a note to the record with a two-line summary of what they asked about and anything they said about budget or timing.
- If they ask to speak to someone, hand the conversation to the record owner in Zoho CRM, or to our sales team if there is no owner.
Do not ask for their email more than once. If they do not want to share it, carry on helping and create the lead with their phone number. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the lead source and status values to the ones your Zoho CRM uses before you paste it.
What to connect
- Zoho CRM. An admin registers a Self Client in the Zoho API Console and generates a code with read and write access to leads, contacts and notes. Paste the client ID, secret and code in when AeroChat asks.
- Your knowledge base. Upload your product or service details to AeroChat so it can answer before it asks for details.
After you paste the recipe, AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and shows a checklist: connect Zoho CRM, add your knowledge base if the recipe uses one, then switch it on. If it built the connection from Zoho CRM’s public documentation, the checklist asks you to check it once against the current docs.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What you still decide
- Which lead fields AeroChat fills, and the values it uses.
- When it asks for details: right away, or after answering.
- Who gets the handover.
The result to expect
Every chat lead is in Zoho CRM with a source and a note, without anyone typing it. Your assignment rules, workflows and reports include chat leads.
Measure it with your own numbers: leads created from chat, and deals won from chat leads, for a month before and after.
Next: send WhatsApp leads to Zoho CRM.
Works on every chat channel
This workflow runs the same way on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, the chat on your website and email, with the same Zoho CRM connection behind it. See what each channel does on the Zoho CRM integration page.
Send your first chat lead to Zoho CRM
Paste the recipe, connect Zoho CRM, and leave your own details in the chat.
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On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.