Zoho CRM automation: safety certificate to network request form

The challenge

Subcontracted electricians emailed their Certificate of Electrical Safety to the office. Staff then searched Zoho CRM by address, opened the distributor's Electrical Works Request PDF and re-typed the details. It was slow and easy to attach to the wrong deal or leave a field blank.

How it works

1. 01One-click upload linkA button on the Zoho deal (Deluge) emails the installer a deal-specific upload link and logs a note.
2. 02Installer uploads the PDFNo login. Works on a phone on site. PDF-only, size-limited and rate-limited.
3. 03Certificate is parsedCertificate number, worker, address, work description, capacities and dates are read from the PDF.
4. 04Deal is matched safelyAddresses are normalized and checked. Exactly one Won deal must match, or it goes to manual review.
5. 05Request form is filledThe distributor form is filled from certificate data, deal data and office defaults the team can edit.
6. 06Attached and task createdBoth PDFs attach to the deal, a note is added and a high-priority review task alerts the owner.

What we delivered

• Never guesses a deal

  Zero or multiple matches become a review task, not a wrong attachment.

• Human stays in control

  The app prepares the form; the office checks and submits it.

• Edge cases routed

  Address mismatch, unreadable PDFs and partial CRM failures each create a clear task.

• No duplicate writes

  No blind retries after a CRM write, so attachments and tasks are never doubled.

• Email from Zoho itself

  A Zoho workflow on the task sends notifications, so no extra mail server is needed.

• Tested end to end

  Around 73 automated tests across parsing, matching, form filling and the CRM client.

Stack

• Zoho CRM API
• Deluge
• Zoho Workflows
• Node.js
• Express
• pdf-lib
• pdf.js
• Windows / IIS

Related service: CRM & integrations