👉 Sync your Zoho contacts to automatically generate their unique referral links, which you can then send back into Zoho along with their referral metrics. That way, you can distribute referral links directly from Zoho and monitor your referrers' performance from within your CRM.

👉 Send new referred leads or opportunities generated via your referral program straight into Zoho.

👉 Qualify successful or converted leads simply by

⚡️ Updating their lead status

⚡️ Updating a custom lead field

⚡️ Converting a lead into a contact

⚡️ Converting a lead into a deal and moving it to a specific deal stage (for example, "Closed Won")

⚡️ Updating a custom contact field

2. How To Connect Your Zoho Integration

What You Need:

Any Referral Factory plan.
Any Zoho edition.
A draft or live referral campaign in Referral Factory.

→ In the left-hand navigation bar of your Referral Factory dashboard, click the Settings tab.

→ Click Connect under the Zoho logo.

→ A pop-up will appear. Review the data permissions and then click Accept

authorize_zoho

→ Success!

❗️Please note that you can only connect one Zoho account to Referral Factory at a time. You may be able to connect additional Zoho accounts via Zapier. Please consult this guide: 📖 Zapier And Referral Factory: A Full Guide 📖

3. How To Configure Your Zoho Integration

Once your Zoho account is connected to Referral Factory, you will need to configure your integration inside your campaign(s).

❗️ If you want to sync multiple referral programs with Zoho, you will need to configure the integration for each campaign.

There are three main functions to configure to use your Zoho integration to its full potential:

👉 Sync all or some of your Zoho contacts with Referral Factory

👉 Send users from Referral Factory into Zoho.

👉 Qualify successful referrals when a field changes in Zoho.

💡 Want to know more about qualifying converted or successful referrals in general? Read this guide:

📖 How to Qualify Converted or Successful Referrals 📖

3.1. How To Sync Zoho Contacts with Referral Factory (and Generate Their Referral Links)

💡 The integration between Referral Factory and Zoho allows for seamless data transfer in both directions. You can send data from Referral Factory to Zoho and vice versa, ensuring that all relevant information is synchronized between the two platforms. This integration enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of your referral program by streamlining the data exchange process.

Before you configure the sync between Referral Factory and Zoho, you will need to create custom fields in Zoho for the referral data you want to sync:

Referral Link
Referral Count (optional)
Converted Referral Count (optional)

You can learn more about creating custom fields in Zoho's help guide: 🔗 Working With Custom Fields 🔗

You can sync your Zoho contacts from two places in the Referral Factory dashboard:

👉 From the Users Tab.

→ Click Add Users.

→ Click Sync Your CRM Contacts.

👉 From the Promote section inside the campaign builder.

→ Click Generate referral links for your CRM contacts.

You have the option to sync two different segments of contacts between Referral Factory and Zoho:

Only your Contacts.
Members of a specific Campaign.

→ Select whom you want to sync between Referral Factory and Zoho. If you want to select a campaign, choose the campaign name from the drop-down list.

→ Map the data fields for Referral Link, Referral Count (optional), and Converted Referral Count (optional) to the custom fields you have created in Zoho.

→ Click Next.

❗️Contacts that you sync will not be automatically notified or sent their referral link. If you would like to notify them, please use your own marketing channels or Referral Factory's once-off email feature. You can learn more about once-off emails here: 📖 How To Create A Once-Off Email 📖

→ Check that the number of leads or contacts to be synced matches the number of leads or contacts in your Zoho account or selected campaign.

→ Click Next.

→ Click Save to confirm and start the sync.

→ Success!

3.2. How To Send Users from Referral Factory to Zoho

Referral Factory can automatically create a new lead or contact in Zoho when someone signs up to participate in your referral program. In most cases, you would want to send referred users into your sales pipeline. However, you can also send users who sign up to refer via the campaign join link (as a person referring).

📌 If a Referral Factory user is already a Zoho contact, don’t worry! Referral Factory will check the user’s email address against your contact list and will only create new contacts. Existing contacts will be updated, depending on the user data you map between Referral Factory and Zoho.

This function must be configured from inside the campaign builder.

→ Select the Campaigns tab from the left-hand menu bar.

→ Click Edit Campaign.

→ Once you're inside the campaign builder, select Integration from the bottom navigation bar.

→ Select which Referral Factory users you want to send into Zoho.

👉 Select Direct if you want to send the Person Referring and/or

👉 Select Referred if you want to send the Person Invited.

💡 If you are automatically generating referral links for your contacts through the CRM sync and not allowing people to sign up for referral links via the campaign join link, you do not need to send direct users.

💡 Not sure about what counts as a user, or the difference between the person referring and the person invited? Read this 📖 What Is A User? 📖

→ The next section of the page only applies if you want to automatically qualify a referral when a field is updated in Zoho. If you only want to send users without adding a qualification trigger, you can ignore these options. The settings for automatic qualification will be covered in the next section (click here jump to that section).

→ Before you begin mapping your data fields, decide which data you want to send from Referral Factory to Zoho.

→ Create the relevant form fields in your campaign Pages for the Person Referring and/or Pages for the Person Invited. We recommend adding {Last Name} as this field is required by Zoho.

→ Create the relevant custom fields in Zoho. ❗️ For the integration to work, you must create a custom field for {Referral Code} ❗️. You will likely want to create fields like "Campaign Name", "Referral link", "Referrer First Name", "Referral Count" and "Converted referral count".

💡 You can learn about creating custom fields in Zoho in their help guide: 🔗 Working with Custom Fields 🔗

→ Click Map the below fields to the fields in Zoho.

→ Use the drop-down options to match the relevant data between Referral Factory and Zoho. The options in the drop-downs will pull directly from your Zoho account.

❗️ Zoho requires that you map the following fields:

→ {First Name}

→ {Last Name}

→ {Email}

→ {Referral Code}

❗️ If these fields are not mapped, the integration will not work ❗️

For certain Zoho accounts, you may be required to map the field:

→ {Company}

→ If you would also like to send information about the Person Referring (e.g., {First Name} and {Email}) when a new referred lead is sent to Zoho, toggle on the option to Pass extra data fields through with each referred user (this will attach information from the person referring). Remember that you would need to have created custom fields for this data in Zoho before you can map the data.

→ You also have the option to sync additional Zoho values that you would like to include. Simply click on Choose your default Zoho values from the fields below. These options will be pulled directly from your Zoho account.

→ Click Next.

→ Success!

Here is an example of how the information may appear in Zoho:

3.3. How To Automatically Qualify Successful or Converted Referrals

You can use Referral Factory's integration with Zoho to trigger a qualification in Referral Factory when a data field changes in Zoho.

💡 Are you unsure about what it means to qualify a referral? Read this help guide to learn about marking successful or converted referrals as qualified:

📖 How to Qualify Converted or Successful Referrals 📖

What will change in Zoho when you consider a referral successful? Select from the following 3 options to trigger a successful or converted referral in Referral Factory:

⚡️ A lead status would change

⚡️ A lead would be converted into a contact

⚡️ A custom lead field would change

⚡️ A lead would be converted into a deal and move to a specific deal stage

⚡️ A custom contact field would change

💡 The fields available in these settings pull directly from your Zoho account. So, if you have custom fields, statuses, or stages, these will be available for selection.

3.3.1. How to Qualify A Referral in Zoho by a Change in Lead Status

→ Under 'When we send these users into Zoho, should we create a lead or a contact?', select 'Create a lead’.

→ Under 'Which of the options...', select 'A lead status would change'.

→ Choose the lead status that should be used when Referral Factory first creates the lead in Zoho. For example, 'Contact in Future'.

→ Then, choose which lead status you’d like to categorize them as when you consider them a successful or converted referral. For example, 'Pre-Qualified'. This is the status that will trigger a qualification in Referral Factory.

❗️ You will need to finalize your configuration inside your Zoho account by adding a custom field for {Referral Code} and creating a Workflow Rule.

📹 Watch this video for a step-by-step walkthrough.

📁 Adding a Custom Lead Field for {Referral Code} in Zoho:

→ Access your Zoho CRM and navigate to the Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Click on the "Leads" module.

→ Click on the "Create and Edit Fields" option.

→ Drag and drop a "Single Line Text" field and label it "Referral Code."

→ Save the custom field.

⚙️ Setting Up the Workflow Automation:

→ Return to the Zoho Setup Page.

→ Under “Automation,” select "Workflow Rules."

→ Click on "Create Rule" and make sure to select the "Leads" module.

→ Give your workflow rule a name (e.g., "Lead Status Update").

→ Set the trigger for the workflow: When a “Record Action” is “Edited.”

→ In the next step, select "Specific Field Gets Modified," choose "Lead Status" and "When Any Value Changes."

→ In the Conditions step, select “All Leads.”

→ Under “Instant Actions”, select “Webhook.”

→ Give your webhook a name (e.g., "Lead Status Update").

→ In the URL To Notify field, enter this exact URL https://referral-factory.com/zoho/webhook

→ In the Body section, select “Form-Data” under the “Type” dropdown.

→ Add 2 Module Parameters:

1. Parameter Name: code Parameter Type: Leads Parameter Value: Referral Code

2. Parameter Name: status Parameter Type: Leads Parameter Value: Lead Status

→ Click “Save and Associate.”

→ Save your workflow rule.

3.3.2. How to Qualify A Referral in Zoho When A Lead Is Converted into a Contact

→ Under 'When we send these users into Zoho, should we create a lead or a contact?', select 'Create a lead’.

→ Under 'Which of the options...', select 'A lead would convert into a contact'.

❗️ You will need to finalize your configuration inside your Zoho account by adding a custom field for {Referral Code}, mapping the field across the Lead and Contact modules, and creating a Workflow Rule.

📁 Adding a Custom Lead Field for {Referral Code} in Zoho:

→ Access your Zoho CRM and navigate to the Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Click on the "Leads" module.

→ Click on the "Create and Edit Fields" option.

→ Drag and drop a "Single Line Text" field and label it as "Referral Code."

→ Save the custom field.

📁 Adding a Custom Contact Field for {Referral Code} in Zoho:

→ Return to the Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Click on the "Contacts" module.

→ Click on the "Create and Edit Fields" option.

→ Drag and drop a "Single Line Text" field and label it as "Referral Code."

→ Save the custom field.

🗺 Mapping the {Referral Code} between the Lead and Contact Modules

→ Return to the Zoho Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Hover over the "Leads" module until you see a dropdown menu, select "Lead Conversion Mapping."

→ Scroll down until you see the {Referral Code} field and select the corresponding {Referral Code} field under the Contact column.

→ Click "Save."

⚙️ Setting Up the Workflow Automation:

→ Return to the Zoho Setup Page.

→ Under “Automation,” select "Workflow Rules."

→ Click on "Create Rule" and make sure to select the "Contacts" module.

→ Give your workflow rule a name (e.g., "Lead to Contact").

→ Set the trigger for the workflow: When a “Record Action” is “Created.”

→ In the Conditions step, select “All Contacts.”

→ Under “Instant Actions”, select “Webhook.”

→ Give your webhook a name (e.g., "Lead to Contact").

→ In the URL To Notify field, enter this exact URL https://referral-factory.com/zoho/webhook

→ In the Body section, select “Form-Data” under the “Type” dropdown.

→ Add 1 Module Parameter:

Parameter Name: code Parameter Type: Contacts Parameter Value: Referral Code

→ Add 1 Custom Parameter:

Parameter Name: conversion Parameter Value: 1

→ Click “Save and Associate.”

→ Save your workflow rule.

3.3.3. How to Qualify A Referral in Zoho When A Custom Lead Field Is Updated

→ Under 'When we send these users into Zoho, should we create a lead or a contact?', select 'Create a lead’.

→ Under 'Which of the options...', select 'A custom field of the lead would change'.

→ Choose the option that should be used when Referral Factory first creates the lead in Zoho. For example, 'Referred'.

→ Then, choose which option you’d like to categorize them as when you consider them a successful or converted referral. For example, 'Successful'. This is the status that will trigger a qualification in Referral Factory.

❗️ You will need to finalize your configuration inside your Zoho account by adding a custom field for {Referral Code} and creating a Workflow Rule.

📁 Adding a Custom Lead Field for {Referral Code} in Zoho:

→ Access your Zoho CRM and navigate to the Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Click on the "Leads" module.

→ Click on the "Create and Edit Fields" option.

→ Drag and drop a "Single Line Text" field and label it as "Referral Code."

→ Save the field.

⚙️ Setting Up the Workflow Automation:

→ Return to the Zoho Setup Page.

→ Under “Automation,” select "Workflow Rules."

→ Click on "Create Rule" and make sure to select the "Leads" module.

→ Give your workflow rule a name (e.g., "Custom Field Update").

→ Set the trigger for the workflow: When a “Record Action” is “Edited.”

→ In the next step, select "Specific Field Gets Modified," choose the custom field you would like to use trigger qualification, and select "When Any Value Changes."

→ In the Conditions step, select “All Leads.”

→ Under “Instant Actions”, select “Webhook.”

→ Give your webhook a name (e.g., "Custom Field Update").

→ In the URL To Notify field, enter this exact URL https://referral-factory.com/zoho/webhook

→ In the Body section, select “Form-Data” under the “Type” dropdown.

→ Add 2 Module Parameters:

1. Parameter Name: code Parameter Type: Leads Parameter Value: Referral Code

2. Parameter Name: field Parameter Type: Leads Parameter Value: Your Custom Field

→ Click “Save and Associate.”

→ Save your workflow rule.

3.3.4. How to Qualify A Referral in Zoho When A Lead Converts into a Deal and Moves to a Specific Deal Stage

→ Under 'When we send these users into Zoho, should we create a lead or a contact?', select 'Create a lead’.

→ Under 'Which of the options...', select 'A lead would convert into a deal, and move to a specific deal stage'.

→ Choose the lead status that should be used when Referral Factory first creates the lead in Zoho. For example, 'Contact in Future'.

→ Then, choose which deal stage they will move to when you consider them a successful or converted referral. For example, 'Closed Won'. This is the deal stage that will trigger a qualification in Referral Factory.

❗️ You will need to finalize your configuration inside your Zoho account by adding a custom field for {Referral Code}, mapping the field across the Lead and Deal modules, and creating a Workflow Rule.

📁 Adding a Custom Lead Field for {Referral Code} in Zoho:

→ Access your Zoho CRM and navigate to the Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Click on the "Leads" module.

→ Click on the "Create and Edit Fields" option.

→ Drag and drop a "Single Line Text" field and label it as "Referral Code."

→ Save the custom field.

📁 Adding a Custom Deal Field for {Referral Code} in Zoho:

→ Return to the Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Click on the "Deals" module.

→ Click on the "Create and Edit Fields" option.

→ Drag and drop a "Single Line Text" field and label it as "Referral Code."

→ Save the custom field.

🗺 Mapping the {Referral Code} between the Lead and Contact Modules

→ Return to the Zoho Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Hover over the "Leads" module until you see a dropdown menu, select "Lead Conversion Mapping."

→ Scroll down until you see the {Referral Code} field and select the corresponding {Referral Code} field under the Deals column.

→ Click "Save."

⚙️ Setting Up the Workflow Automation:

→ Return to the Zoho Setup Page.

→ Under “Automation,” select "Workflow Rules."

→ Click on "Create Rule" and make sure to select the "Deals" module.

→ Give your workflow rule a name (e.g., "Lead to Deal").

→ Set the trigger for the workflow: When a “Record Action” is “Created.”

→ In the Conditions step, select “All Contacts.”

→ Under “Instant Actions”, select “Webhook.”

→ Give your webhook a name (e.g., "Lead to Deal").

→ In the URL To Notify field, enter this exact URL https://referral-factory.com/zoho/webhook

→ In the Body section, select “Form-Data” under the “Type” dropdown.

→ Add 2 Module Parameters:

1. Parameter Name: code Parameter Type: Deal Parameter Value: Referral Code

2. Parameter Name: stage Parameter Type: Deal Parameter Value: Stage

→ Click “Save and Associate.”

→ Save your workflow rule.

3.3.5. How to Qualify A Referral in Zoho When A Custom Contact Field Is Updated

→ Under 'When we send these users into Zoho, should we create a lead or a contact?', select 'Create a contact’.

→ Choose the option for the custom field that should be used when Referral Factory first creates the contact in Zoho. For example, 'Referred'.

❗️ You will need to finalize your configuration inside your Zoho account by adding a custom field for {Referral Code} and creating a Workflow Rule.

📁 Adding a Custom Contact Field for {Referral Code} in Zoho:

→ Access your Zoho CRM and navigate to the Setup Page.

→ Under "Customization," select "Modules and Fields."

→ Click on the "Contact" module.

→ Click on the "Create and Edit Fields" option.

→ Drag and drop a "Single Line Text" field and label it as "Referral Code."

→ Save the field.

⚙️ Setting Up the Workflow Automation:

→ Return to the Zoho Setup Page.

→ Under “Automation,” select "Workflow Rules."

→ Click on "Create Rule" and make sure to select the "Contacts" module.

→ Give your workflow rule a name (e.g., "Custom Field Update").

→ Set the trigger for the workflow: When a “Record Action” is “Edited.”

→ In the next step, select "Specific Field Gets Modified," choose the custom field you would like to use trigger qualification, and select "When Any Value Changes."

→ In the Conditions step, select “All Contacts.”

→ Under “Instant Actions”, select “Webhook.”

→ Give your webhook a name (e.g., "Custom Field Update").

→ In the URL To Notify field, enter this exact URL https://referral-factory.com/zoho/webhook

→ In the Body section, select “Form-Data” under the “Type” dropdown.

→ Add 2 Module Parameters:

1. Parameter Name: code Parameter Type: Contacts Parameter Value: Referral Code

2. Parameter Name: field Parameter Type: Contacts Parameter Value: Your Custom Field

→ Click “Save and Associate.”

→ Save your workflow rule.

4. Uninstall your Zoho integration from Referral Factory

Navigate to the Settings tab on the left-hand side.
Under the Zoho logo, select 'Disconnect'.

zoho_referral_factory_disconnect

❗️ Once disconnected, no user data will sync between Zoho and Referral Factory or vice versa. However, any data that was synced before will still be available in both systems.

5. Troubleshooting

Having trouble with the Zoho integration? Please consult our troubleshooting guide: 📖 Troubleshoot Your Zoho Integration 📖