What are contacts in Zoho CRM? A guide to mastering contact management and improving customer relations

1. What is a contact?

“Contacts” is simply the plural form of “contact.” However, do not confuse it with general “contact information.”

In Zoho CRM, a contact refers to individuals within a company or partner organization that your business needs to communicate with for transactions or business operations.

These contacts may be different individuals from the same organization or come from various departments within a company.

Typically, a lead is tracked and evaluated by the sales team. Once deemed qualified, the lead is converted into a contact within Zoho CRM.

Zoho CRM helps manage basic contact information similar to leads, including name, age, phone number, email, etc.

2. How to create a contact in Zoho CRM

Creating a new contact

To create a new contact, follow these steps:

1. Click on Contacts in the top menu of Zoho CRM → Select Create Contact to continue.

When creating a contact in Zoho CRM, ensure you fill in the following required fields:

• Contact Owner: The person responsible for managing the contact. This field is automatically assigned to the creator but can be reassigned to another team member.
• Lead Source: The origin of the potential customer, such as Facebook, X (Twitter), ads, seminars, etc. By default, Zoho CRM sets this to "None," but you can change it if needed.
• Last Name: The last name of the contact. This is crucial for identifying the individual.

In addition to these fields, you can add extra details such as email, phone number, address, and website. You can even upload an avatar to enhance contact management.

After entering the information, click Save (top right) to store the contact’s details.

• Click Save and New to create another contact.
• Click Cancel to discard the entry.

Creating a contact from a lead

When a lead meets the necessary conditions, it can be moved to the next stage of the sales process, specifically converting into a contact, account, and deal.

To convert a lead into a contact, follow these steps:

1. Click on Leads → Select the lead you want to convert.
2. Hover over the three-dot icon (to the left of the checkbox) → Click Convert.

Zoho CRM will automatically extract the information and create:

• An account, based on the lead’s company name.
• A new contact, based on the lead’s name.

Finally, click Convert to complete the process.

Note: Once a lead is converted into a contact, the action cannot be undone, so proceed carefully.

3. Navigating the contact page

When you click on a contact in the Contacts module, Zoho CRM displays the contact’s details page, where you can edit information.

Key features of the contact page:

1. Switch between two views:
   • Overview: Displays comprehensive contact details, including all relevant business information.
   • Timeline: Shows a history of actions performed on the contact over the past six months (e.g., name changes, email updates).
2. Displays common business card information such as email and phone number.
3. Suggests the best time to contact the customer.
4. Allows you to send an email directly to the contact.
5. Enables quick edits to essential contact details.
6. Provides additional options such as copying, sharing, or printing the contact information.
7. Offers navigation tools to quickly access related sections within the contact’s details.
8. Functions as a reminder tool, displaying upcoming tasks related to the contact (e.g., a call on Thursday, a meeting on Friday).
9. Displays detailed customer information, which can be collapsed to save space.
10. Shows notes related to the contact, such as location details (e.g., near a supermarket) or personal preferences for better relationship management.

4. Updating contact information

On the Contact Details page, you can modify any information such as name, age, phone number, etc. Zoho CRM organizes additional contact-related information into a left-side menu for easy navigation.

Available sections:

• Notes: Add notes.
• Attachments: Upload documents.
• Deals: Associate deals with the contact.
• Open Activities: Add tasks and events.
• Closed Activities: View all completed tasks and events.
• Campaigns: Link multiple campaigns to a single contact.
• Social Interactions: Track interactions on X (Twitter) or Facebook, including posts and tweets.
• Member Accounts: Add additional departments or subsidiaries to the main account.
• Cases: Create cases related to the contact.
• Products: Associate products with the contact.
• Sales Orders: Add sales orders.
• Invoices: Manage invoices.
• Quotes: Add quotes.

5. Conclusion

Hopefully, this guide has helped you understand what a contact is and how to manage contacts in Zoho CRM effectively.