How to Send SMS Messages Through Zoho CRM

Do you ever feel like your important business updates hardly reach your audiences? In the busy world of customer interactions, the hardest thing is often just grabbing someone’s attention fast. If your team is seeing slow responses or if it takes too long to share time-sensitive updates, your business could be missing out. The fix?

Bringing super-fast text messaging right into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. When you’re able to send SMS from Zoho CRM, you can instantly reach or connect with your audiences for different purposes, whether it is about sending updates, informing them about various offers, or offering support effectively. It’s a simple, powerful change that helps you communicate more effectively and faster.

Why Should You Send SMS Through Zoho CRM?

You already use Zoho CRM to manage your customer interactions, leads, and sales. So, why add texting? The reason is simple: speed and reach. Think about this: almost everyone has a mobile phone, and people open text messages very often—over 90%! That is why texting your customers is always a great approach for quick and reliable connections.

Let’s explore some stronger reasons to understand why you should send texts from Zoho CRM:

• Instant Connectivity: For receiving SMS messages, your audiences do not need internet connectivity. This means you can connect with them even on the most basic handsets.
• Improved customer experiences: Your customers love it when you do things that they expect from a brand, even before they ask. And this includes sending them updates, reminders, or making them feel special on their special days like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. 
• Boost Sales & Leads: Quickly follow up on new leads. Send special offers or tell customers about expiring deals. This helps you close sales faster.
• Improve Support: Give instant answers to questions, send ticket updates, or confirm support requests. This means fewer calls and happier customers for you.
• Consolidated View: When using Zoho CRM to send SMS, all your conversations are saved right on the customer’s record. This gives your whole team a complete view of every interaction you have.

Which SMS Integration Works Best with Zoho CRM?

Zoho CRM lets you plug in many tools, but picking the right texting app is super important. You need an app that is powerful, simple to use, and lives right inside your Zoho system. For many companies, 360 SMS for Zoho CRM is a great choice because it has strong features and works perfectly.

360 SMS for Zoho CRM does a lot more than just send texts. It lets you do this:

• Send texts, picture messages (MMS), and WhatsApp messages straight from any part of Zoho. This lets you easily reach your customers on their favorite apps.
• Set up messages to send automatically for everything—from chasing new leads to helping customers. This makes sure your conversations are always on time and helpful.
• A truly Zoho-native solution. Handle all conversations inside Zoho without redirecting to any external portal. This gives your team a full, 360-degree look at every conversation you had with the customer.
• Use AI-powered features for creating personal message templates and suggesting replies based on the chat. You can even have an AI ChatAgent reply 24/7. This helps you grow without more manual work.

Choosing an app like 360 SMS makes your Zoho texting tool a strong part of your customer strategy, not just an extra feature.

How to Set Up SMS in Zoho CRM Step by Step

Getting your Zoho CRM texting tool running, especially with an app like 360 SMS, is very simple. Here is the process you will follow:

1. Log In and Install: Start by logging into your Zoho CRM account. You will paste the link the provider gives you to find the extension page. You just check the boxes and confirm the installation.
2. Select Users: You must select which users or profiles will be allowed to use the SMS features.
3. Click ‘Set Up Zoho’: Once installed, click this button and choose your Zoho data centre (e.g., US, EU).
4. Accept Access: Click ‘Accept’ to let the SMS app securely access the necessary data in your Zoho account.
5. Assign Numbers: You’ll assign phone numbers within the extension’s settings for sending and receiving.

In just these few steps, you are ready with your Zoho CRM to send SMS! All the messaging components become visible, and you can begin setting up automation.

Creating and Sending Your First SMS Campaign

Once your Zoho CRM SMS integration is done, sending messages is incredibly intuitive. Let’s walk through how you create a simple campaign.

Imagine you want to text all your “VIP” contacts about a new product you are launching.

• Find Your Audience: Go to your Leads or Contacts section in Zoho CRM. Use the filters to find only your “VIP” contacts.
• Pick Contacts: From this filtered list, you can pick just a few people or use “Select All” for a Zoho bulk SMS campaign.
• Start the Text: Find the “SMS” or “Send SMS” button. Clicking it opens the messaging screen from your integration.
• Write Your Message: Write your text. For example: “Hi [Contact First Name], great news! Our new [Product Name] is here! Check it out: [Shortened URL]. Only for our VIPs!” The app automatically includes the custom information that you want to merge into the text, so that every message is relevant and personal. 
• Send or Schedule: You can send it right away or schedule it for a time when your VIPs are most likely to read it.

That’s all! Your personal texts will be sent. You will see the whole chat saved right inside each contact’s Zoho record.

Automating SMS Workflows in Zoho CRM

Once you have the texting app installed, go to Setup >>Automation >> Workflow Rules.

• Create a new rule. You do this by selecting Create Rule, picking a section (like Leads), and giving the workflow a name.
• Next, tell the rule when to start. This could be when a record is made, updated, or when a field changes (for example, when Lead Status becomes “Qualified”).
• You can also add extra conditions, like looking at the Lead Source or Deal Amount, to make sure you only text the right people.
• Under Instant Actions or Scheduled Actions, select Send SMS, choose your sender ID, write the message, and insert merge fields (e.g., ${Leads.First Name}). Templates may also be used.
• You can send instantly or schedule the SMS for specific times, or relative to a field date (ideal for reminders and confirmations).

Finally, save and activate the workflow to begin automated SMS sending.

Measuring SMS Performance and ROI

You need to know if your texting efforts are actually working. Your texting tool must show you key results right inside Zoho CRM. You need to track simple things like:

• Delivery Rates: Did the message land correctly?
• Response Rates: Did customers write back?
• Click-Through Rates (CTR): If you included a link, did people click it?

Most importantly, look at Conversion Rates. Did the text lead to a sale or a booked appointment for you? By linking every message back to the customer’s record, you can see if your Zoho bulk SMS messages are truly making money and saving time. For example, if reminders reduce missed appointments, you are directly boosting your business and ROI.

Wrapping Up

Sending texts through Zoho CRM is about much more than just having another way to interact. It makes your conversations with customers faster, more personal, and much better. It fixes the frustration of crucial;l information being ignored and lets you automate all those follow-up tasks. The right Zoho CRM SMS integration lets your business reach customers on their channel of choice and at the right time. With AI-powered apps like 360 SMS for Zoho messaging not only help you send texts but also build stronger relationships, engage more prospects, and boost your profits. 

So, change how you communicate with your customers using Zoho CRM and AI-powered messaging.

Contact our experts today!

Siddharth Sehgal

CEO

Siddharth Sehgal is CEO & Salesforce Communication Guru. He helps businesses grow exponentially by putting their Salesforce CRM on steroids with his unique techniques. He is on a mission to help businesses build deeper relationships with their customers.