Email Parser is a data extraction tool in Zoho CRM that automates adding or updating records based on incoming emails. Rather than someone manually reading an email and typing its details into a Lead or other record, Email Parser reads the email for you and populates the fields automatically.

A typical use case

Imagine a real estate business with property listings on a portal. When a prospective buyer or tenant submits their details through the portal, that information arrives as an email rather than landing directly in the CRM. Instead of manually copying those details into a new Lead, Email Parser reads the incoming email and creates the record automatically, in the correct module, with the right fields filled in.

How it works

You highlight specific parts of a sample email and map each part to a CRM field, a process called parsing. For example, given the line "Hello. My name is John Smith. I am the Head of Sales at XYZ Corp," you can teach the parser that whatever text sits between the word "the" and the word "at" should be treated as the value for a Title field. Once a rule is set up this way, every incoming email that matches the same pattern is parsed automatically, with no manual entry required.

Key capabilities

• A single parser email address. One parser ID now covers every rule you set up, rather than needing a separate address to track for each vendor or source.
• Live preview while mapping. The mapping screen shows a preview of the parsed data as you configure it, so you can check your field mapping is correct before saving.
• HTML email support. Emails can be parsed directly in HTML format, rather than needing to be converted to plain text first.
• Per-layout rules. You can create separate parser rules for each layout within a module.
• Filtering and automated actions. Advanced configuration options let you filter which incoming emails a rule applies to, and trigger automated actions such as sending for approval, updating a field, or assigning the record based on your assignment rules.
• Custom functions without a module. A parser rule can run a custom function directly on the parsed data, without being tied to a specific module, letting you extend Email Parser to work across more than one module or system.