Integrating Zoho Desk with Zoho CRM gives your sales and support teams a shared view of the customer, so agents can see deal context while resolving tickets, and sales reps can see support history before a call.

Setting Up the Integration

Setup has three steps. You need Administrator privileges in Zoho Desk, a paid Zoho Desk plan, and a Zoho CRM administrator available to you.

Step 1: Connect the Two Accounts

1. In Zoho Desk, go to Setup, then Integrations, then Zoho, and click Zoho CRM.
2. Click Integrate. The CRM company names linked to your email address are listed.
3. Choose the company to integrate with and click Authorize.

If you are a Desk administrator but not a CRM administrator, click Use another user's portal link on the authentication page instead, enter the CRM administrator's email address, and click Request Access. They receive an invitation, and you need to wait until they confirm it. If the email doesn't arrive, you can resend it from the same page.

Step 2: Sync Contacts and Accounts

Choose two-way sync (the default) or one-way CRM to Desk, pick the CRM list views to include, and map the fields. See Syncing Contacts and Accounts for the detail, including what the first sync does and how delete preferences work.

Step 3: Sync Products

Under Setup, then Integrations, then Zoho, then Zoho CRM, click Configure next to Products. Choose the sync type (two-way or CRM to Desk), select the departments whose products should sync, and map the fields. You can also tick the option to sync each product's associated contacts and accounts, which only works when products use two-way sync and contacts and accounts are also set to two-way sync in Step 2. Attachments and tickets linked to products don't sync, and the duplicate check for products is based on product name.

What Actually Syncs

Contacts, accounts, and products sync between the two apps, including custom field data where you have mapped it. Contacts are matched mainly on email address, accounts on account name, and products on product name. Custom fields can be mapped manually, as long as their data types match on both sides.

What Appears Where

• In Zoho CRM. Tickets appear as a related list on whichever modules you choose (typically Contacts and Accounts), letting a sales rep open a record and see its open tickets without leaving CRM. A module only shows tickets if it has an email field enabled. From CRM, users with the right permission can create, view, comment on, update, close, or delete tickets directly.
• In Zoho Desk. CRM Info shows within a ticket, letting an agent see the customer's information from CRM, such as deals, notes, and activities, while replying, without switching apps. Administrators can control which Desk profiles see which of these items under Permissions on the integration page.

SalesSignals: Real-Time Alerts for Sales

SalesSignals pushes real-time alerts into Zoho CRM whenever a lead or contact raises a new ticket, responds to one, or leaves a happiness rating, letting sales reps time their outreach appropriately, such as holding off on a renewal pitch to a customer with an open, unhappy ticket.

Handshake Mode: Prioritising by Customer Status

If You Remove the Integration

You can delete the integration at any time from the More menu on the integration page. Data stops syncing, agents can no longer see CRM customer information in Zoho Desk, and Handshake Mode can no longer be used to work tickets by customer type.