Migrate from Insider to Zoho CRM

Insider user profiles map to Zoho CRM Contact for known customers and Lead for unknown prospects. Standard profile attributes (email, phone, first_name, last_name) map to Zoho Email, Phone, and First Name / Last Name fields. Custom user attributes export as flat key-value pairs and require type inference before Zoho field creation: string values become Zoho text fields, numeric values become number fields, and date values become date fields. We create custom fields in Zoho during the schema phase before importing, matching on attribute name.

Insider's behavioral event stream (page_view, purchase, add_to_cart, custom events) has no direct Zoho CRM equivalent. We store high-value events as records in a Zoho custom Events module with fields for event_name, timestamp, event_parameters, and user_id as a lookup to Contact or Lead. Low-frequency or utility events are attached as Notes to the Contact or Lead record. The customer chooses the event retention strategy during scoping.

Insider segments defined by attribute rules and event conditions export as segment rule metadata (the rule definition as JSON). We recreate the segment membership as a Zoho CRM View with the equivalent filter criteria. Segment rule logic (AND/OR conditions, event thresholds, recency windows) translates to Zoho View filter conditions. Dynamic segment membership refreshes manually after migration via View re-run.

Insider tag arrays per user export as flat comma-separated strings. We create a Zoho CRM Multi-Select Picklist custom field (e.g., insider_tags) and populate it with the original tag values. If the customer uses tags for segmentation, we alternatively create a separate Tag custom module with tag records linked to Contacts and Leads via lookup, enabling more flexible tag management.

Insider static lists export as user ID arrays. We resolve each user ID to its Zoho Contact or Lead ID during the mapping phase and populate a Zoho CRM View with the resolved record IDs as a static view. Alternatively, we create a Zoho custom module called Lists with a lookup to Contacts and Leads for list membership tracking that mirrors Insider's static list model.

Insider product catalog data (sku, name, price, category, images, custom attributes) maps to Zoho CRM Product records. Product Code maps to Zoho Product Code, Product Name to Product Name, and Unit Price to Standard Price. We create Zoho Price Books during migration and associate products with the appropriate price book before Deal line items are imported.

Insider transaction objects (order_id, total, items, currency, timestamps) map to Zoho CRM Quotes attached to the relevant Contact or Account. For recurring orders, we create Deals with a custom order reference field and line item data stored in Zoho Quotes. The mapping depends on whether the customer uses Zoho Deals for order tracking or Quotes for proposal-based order capture.

Insider Journeys are event-driven multi-step workflows with entry triggers, conditional gates, channel steps, and exit conditions. Insider provides no export API for Journey definitions. We perform a Journey audit during discovery, documenting each Journey's trigger type, steps, conditions, and channel actions in a written deliverable. Zoho Workflow Rules recreate the trigger and action logic, though multi-channel steps (SMS, WhatsApp) require Zoho Flow or a third-party integration to replicate fully.

Insider owners map to Zoho CRM Users by email address match. We resolve all owner_id references across user profiles, deals, and segments to Zoho User IDs. Any Insider owner without a matching Zoho User goes to a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision before record import continues.

Insider channel configurations (SMS sender IDs, WhatsApp Business account credentials, email sender domains, opt-in/opt-out settings) are platform-specific credentials that do not transfer. We document the channel configuration during discovery so that the customer's admin can re-register sender IDs and verify DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) in Zoho Mail or the relevant Zoho Flow integration before activating outbound channels.

Insider custom user properties beyond the standard profile schema require field-level mapping to Zoho custom fields. We infer data type from sample values (string, numeric, date, boolean) and create matching Zoho custom fields during the schema phase. Multi-value arrays (e.g., a custom attribute storing multiple product IDs) map to Zoho Multi-Select Picklist or a related custom module depending on the cardinality of the values.