How to Send Zoho CRM Leads to Slack with Make

make.com > Scenarios > Create a new scenario

Create a new Make scenario

Log in at make.com and click the blue 'Create a new scenario' button in the top right of your Scenarios dashboard. You'll land on the visual canvas with a single empty module in the center. This is where you'll chain together the Zoho CRM trigger and the Slack action. Give the scenario a name immediately — click the default title text at the top and type something like 'Zoho CRM → Slack Lead Notifications' so you can find it later.

1. 1Click the blue 'Create a new scenario' button in the top right
2. 2Click the empty circle module on the canvas to open the app picker
3. 3Type 'Zoho CRM' in the search bar
4. 4Click the Zoho CRM app icon to select it

Zoho CRM Module > Watch Records > Leads

Configure the Zoho CRM trigger

From the Zoho CRM module list, select 'Watch Records' — this is the trigger that fires when a new record is created or updated in any Zoho CRM module. In the trigger configuration panel, set the Module dropdown to 'Leads'. Set the Trigger field to 'Created Time' so the scenario fires only on new leads, not edits. You can leave the Max number of records field at 1 for single-record processing.

1. 1Select 'Watch Records' from the trigger list
2. 2Click 'Add' next to the Connection field to authenticate Zoho CRM
3. 3Set the Module field to 'Leads'
4. 4Set Trigger to 'Created Time'
5. 5Set Max number of records to '1'

Zoho CRM Module > Connection > Add

Connect your Zoho CRM account

Click 'Add' next to the Connection field if you haven't already. Make will prompt you to choose your Zoho data center region from a dropdown — pick the one that matches where your Zoho account was created (US, EU, AU, IN, or JP). Click 'Continue' and you'll be redirected to a Zoho OAuth authorization page. Log in with your Zoho admin credentials and click 'Accept' to grant Make read access to your CRM records.

1. 1Click 'Add' next to the Connection field
2. 2Select your Zoho data center region from the dropdown
3. 3Click 'Continue' to open the Zoho OAuth page
4. 4Log in with your Zoho admin credentials
5. 5Click 'Accept' to authorize Make

Zoho CRM Trigger > Choose where to start

Set the trigger start point

After saving the trigger configuration, Make will ask 'From which record do you want to start?' Click 'Choose where to start' and select 'From now on'. This tells Make to ignore all existing leads in Zoho and only fire on leads created after you activate the scenario. If you pick 'All' or select a specific date in the past, Make will process every historical lead and spam your Slack channel.

1. 1Click 'OK' to save the trigger configuration
2. 2Click 'Choose where to start' in the dialog that appears
3. 3Select 'From now on'
4. 4Click 'OK' to confirm

Canvas > + icon > Slack > Create a Message

Add the Slack module

Click the small '+' icon on the right edge of the Zoho CRM module to add the next step in the chain. The app picker opens again. Search for 'Slack' and select it. From the list of Slack actions, choose 'Create a Message'. This action posts a message to any public or private Slack channel your bot has been added to. You'll configure the channel and message content in the next steps.

1. 1Click the '+' icon on the right edge of the Zoho CRM module
2. 2Type 'Slack' in the app search bar
3. 3Click the Slack app icon
4. 4Select 'Create a Message' from the action list

Slack Module > Connection > Add

Connect your Slack workspace

Click 'Add' next to the Connection field in the Slack module. Make will redirect you to Slack's OAuth page. Select the workspace you want to post notifications to and click 'Allow'. Make will request the chat:write and channels:read scopes — both are required. After authorizing, you'll return to the canvas and the Connection field will show your Slack workspace name.

1. 1Click 'Add' next to the Connection field in the Slack module
2. 2Select your Slack workspace from the dropdown on the Slack OAuth page
3. 3Click 'Allow' to grant Make the required permissions
4. 4Confirm you are returned to the Make canvas with the connection active

Slack Module > Channel ID > search and select

Select the target Slack channel

In the Slack module configuration, click the Channel ID field. Make will load a searchable list of all channels your bot has access to. Type the name of your target channel — for example, #new-leads or #sales-alerts — and select it from the dropdown. If the channel doesn't appear, your Slack bot hasn't been invited to it yet: go to Slack, open the channel, type /invite @Make, and then return to refresh the list.

1. 1Click the Channel ID field
2. 2Type the name of your target channel
3. 3Select the correct channel from the dropdown list
4. 4If missing, go to Slack, run /invite @Make in the channel, then re-open the dropdown

Slack Module > Text field

Build the Slack message

Click into the Text field and build your notification message using Zoho CRM field variables from the left-side data panel. Click the field name in the panel to insert it at your cursor position. A complete message should include lead name, company, lead source, phone, email, and assigned owner. Use Slack's mrkdwn formatting — wrap field labels in asterisks for bold, and separate fields with newlines using Shift+Enter. See the pro tip for a formula-based approach that handles blank fields gracefully.

1. 1Click into the Text field
2. 2Type '*New Lead:* ' then click 'Full Name' from the Zoho CRM data panel to insert the variable
3. 3Press Shift+Enter to add a new line
4. 4Continue adding fields: Company, Lead Source, Email, Phone, Lead Owner
5. 5Wrap each label in asterisks for bold formatting, e.g. '*Company:* '

📬 New entry: {{1.name}}
Email: {{1.email}}
Details: {{1.description}}

Canvas > Run once button (bottom left)

Test the scenario with a live lead

Click 'Run once' at the bottom left of the canvas to manually trigger the scenario in test mode. Then go to Zoho CRM and create a test lead with realistic data — use a real-looking name, company, and email address, not '[email protected]'. Return to Make within 60 seconds. The scenario should have executed, and you'll see green checkmarks on both modules showing how many records were processed. Click the Zoho CRM module bubble to inspect the raw data it received.

1. 1Click 'Run once' at the bottom left of the canvas
2. 2Switch to Zoho CRM in a new tab and create a new lead record
3. 3Return to Make within 60 seconds
4. 4Click the green number bubble on the Zoho CRM module to inspect the output data
5. 5Check your Slack channel for the notification message

Zoho CRM module bubble > Output data panel

Fix field mapping issues from test output

After the test run, click the bubble on the Zoho CRM module and examine every field the trigger returned. Cross-reference this against your Slack message. Common issues: Lead Owner returns a numeric ID instead of a name, Lead Source returns an internal code instead of a display label, and phone numbers include country codes that may need reformatting. If Lead Owner is showing an ID, add a Zoho CRM 'Get a Record' module between the trigger and Slack to look up the owner's name by ID.

1. 1Click the bubble on the Zoho CRM trigger module
2. 2Scroll through the output fields in the data inspector panel
3. 3Check that Full Name, Company, Lead Source, and Email show readable values
4. 4If Lead Owner shows a numeric ID, add a 'Get a Record' module to resolve it
5. 5Re-test after any mapping corrections

Canvas > Scheduling toggle (bottom left) > Immediately

Activate the scenario

Once the test run looks correct in Slack, click the toggle switch at the bottom left of the canvas to turn the scenario ON. The toggle turns blue. Set the scheduling interval — for real-time behavior, click the clock icon next to the toggle and set it to 'Immediately' (this means Make checks for new Zoho records as frequently as your plan allows, typically every 1-15 minutes depending on your Make tier). Your scenario is now live.

1. 1Click the toggle switch at the bottom left to activate the scenario
2. 2Click the clock icon next to the toggle
3. 3Select 'Immediately' from the scheduling options
4. 4Click 'Save' to lock in the schedule
5. 5Confirm the toggle is blue and the status shows 'Active'

Paste this formula into the Slack module's Text field to handle blank fields gracefully and format the Created Time into a readable date. In Make's Text field, click the formula icon (fx) and enter this expression — it uses if() to substitute 'Not provided' when a field is empty and formatDate() to convert Zoho's ISO timestamp.

{{if(1.Full_Name; 1.Full_Name; 'Unknown Lead')}}
*New Lead Notification*
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{{if(1.Full_Name; 1.Full_Name; 'Unknown Lead')}}

*New Lead Notification*
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
*Name:* {{if(1.Full_Name; 1.Full_Name; 'Not provided')}}
*Company:* {{if(1.Company; 1.Company; 'Not provided')}}
*Email:* {{if(1.Email; 1.Email; 'Not provided')}}
*Phone:* {{if(1.Phone; 1.Phone; 'Not provided')}}
*Source:* {{if(1.Lead_Source; replace(1.Lead_Source; '_'; ' '); 'Unknown')}}
*Owner:* {{if(2.Full_Name; 2.Full_Name; 'Unassigned')}}
*Status:* {{if(1.Lead_Status; 1.Lead_Status; 'Not Contacted')}}
*Created:* {{formatDate(1.Created_Time; 'MMM D, YYYY h:mm A'; 'America/New_York')}}
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