Migrate from CDK Global to Zoho CRM

CDK Customers map directly to Zoho Leads (for prospects) and Contacts (for active customers). We apply a routing rule based on CDK customer type — if the record has a linked vehicle purchase, it lands as a Zoho Contact; if it has a service visit but no closed deal, it routes to Zoho Lead. Email match against Zoho Users resolves owner assignment.

CDK Company or Dealership entity maps to Zoho Account. CDK's multi-location support (multiple rooftops under one franchise) maps to multiple Zoho Account records, each with the location address as Account Name plus a custom Location_Code__c field. Parent franchise name stored as ParentId in Zoho Accounts.

CDK Vehicle records have no standard Zoho CRM equivalent. We create a Zoho Custom Module named Vehicles with custom fields for VIN, Make, Model, Year, License_Plate, Vehicle_Status, and Odometer. Each Vehicle_C record links back to its owner Contact via a lookup field. Zoho's 5-lookup-field limit per module requires prioritizing the most critical vehicle-to-record relationships.

CDK Deal (sale or lease structure) maps to Zoho Potentials. Deal name, amount, close date, and stage map to Potential Name, Amount, Close Date, and Stage. CDK F&I products attached to the deal require additional custom fields on the Potential record — Product_Type__c, Lender_Name__c, Term_Months__c, Monthly_Payment__c.

CDK F&I products (GAP, VSC, Tire & Wheel, Service Contract) have no native Zoho module. We store F&I product type, lender name, contract term, and monthly payment as custom fields on the linked Zoho Potential record. Product-level detail beyond these four attributes requires a separate F&I Products custom module with a lookup to the parent Potential.

CDK Service Records and Repair Orders map to a Zoho custom module named Service_Records_C. Key fields: Service_Type__c, RO_Number__c, Service_Date__c, Advisor__c, Odometer_Reading__c, and Description__c. Each Service_Records_C record links to the vehicle (Vehicle_C) and to the Contact who owns the vehicle. Service cost data requires a Parts_Lines_C sub-module or custom numeric fields due to the one-to-many nature of parts-per-RO.

CDK Parts Inventory splits across two Zoho destinations. Parts that represent billable line items in service invoices map to Zoho Products (Part_Number, Part_Name, Unit_Price). Parts tracking quantities, bin locations, and cost-basis data that CDK uses for DMS inventory management requires a custom Parts_Inventory_C module since Zoho Products does not support DMS-style bin-location or reorder-point fields.

CDK activity logs (call records, emails, meeting notes logged against customers) map to Zoho Tasks (for calls and emails) and Zoho Events (for in-person or scheduled meetings). Original timestamps, duration, and outcome codes preserved. Activity is linked to the parent Contact or Lead record in Zoho via the Related_To field.

CDK owner IDs resolve by email match against Zoho Users. Unmatched owners are flagged before migration; the default owner rule assigns their records to a designated fallback Zoho User. CDK roles and permission profiles do not map to Zoho roles — those must be configured in Zoho separately.

CDK DMS workflow rules (service-lane triggers, F&I product recommendations, Parts reorder automation) are DMS-specific constructs with no Zoho CRM equivalent. We export CDK workflow definitions as a reference document for rebuilding in Zoho Blueprint and Deluge. CDK sequences and service appointment rules must be manually reimplemented.

CDK documents attached to customers, vehicles, or deals are downloaded from the SFTP export and re-uploaded as Zoho Attachments on the corresponding record. File size limits follow Zoho's attachment constraints per record. Inline images in service notes are downloaded, re-hosted, and linked back as URLs in the custom description fields.

CDK internal record IDs are stored as Source_System_ID__c custom fields on every migrated Zoho record. This enables delta-run de-duplication (if a record is modified in CDK during cutover), audit traceability, and cross-referencing between Zoho reports and legacy CDK data kept in read-only archive.