Send Zoho Cliq Alerts for New Website Leads in Zoho CRM
If a lead fills out your website form and it sits there unnoticed… that’s basically you ghosting them.
And in small business land, response time is money. The fastest win is making Zoho CRM automatically alert your team the second a new website form entry creates a Lead.
In this walkthrough, you’ll set up a Zoho CRM Workflow Rule to post a message into a Zoho Cliq channel like #new-leads every time a new website lead hits your CRM.
Watch How to Instantly Alert Your Team in Cliq When a Web Lead Hits Zoho CRM
Before you start: confirm your form is creating records in Zoho CRM
This setup assumes your website form is already creating a record in Zoho CRM, such as:
- A Zoho Forms integration that creates a Lead
- A website form integration that pushes into Zoho CRM Leads or Contacts
- Any method that results in a new Lead record in Zoho CRM
If the form is not creating a Lead, the workflow will have nothing to trigger on. Fix the intake first.
What we are building
A workflow that:
- Triggers when a Lead is created
- Optionally filters to only website leads
- Sends an instant notification to a Zoho Cliq channel
- Includes the lead’s name, contact info, notes, and a direct CRM link
Step 1: Create the workflow rule in Zoho CRM
- In Zoho CRM, click the Settings gear
- Go to Automation then Workflow Rules
- Click Create Rule
- Choose the module: Leads
- Trigger: On a Record Action then Create
At this point, every new lead creation would trigger the workflow. Most teams want to narrow it down.
Optional but recommended: filter to only website leads
If you only want notifications for website form submissions, add criteria like:
- Lead Source equals Website
- Form Name contains [your form name]
- Any field your integration populates that indicates it came from the website
If you do not have a field capturing this, add one. Otherwise you will get spammed by imports, manual entry, and integrations you did not intend to alert on.
Step 2: Add the Zoho Cliq notification action
Under Instant Actions, click Add Action and look for a Cliq or notification option.
If you see it:
- Choose Send to Channel or Send to User
- Pick your channel, like #new-leads
- Build your message using merge fields so it auto-fills
Example Cliq message template
Use something like this and swap in the merge fields available in your CRM:
New website lead: ${Leads.Full Name}
Email: ${Leads.Email} Phone: ${Leads.Phone}
Notes: ${Leads.Description}
Open in CRM: ${Leads.Record Link}
Email: ${Leads.Email} Phone: ${Leads.Phone}
Notes: ${Leads.Description}
Open in CRM: ${Leads.Record Link}
Best practice: keep the alert readable in a chat app. Short lines. Clear labels. A direct link.
If you do not see a Cliq action: use a webhook fallback
Sometimes you will not see a Cliq action in Workflow Actions depending on your CRM setup, permissions, or enabled integrations.
The workaround is clean and reliable: send the message through a Cliq incoming webhook.
Step A: Create an incoming webhook in Zoho Cliq
- In Zoho Cliq, go to your channel, like #new-leads
- Create an Incoming Webhook for that channel
- Copy the webhook URL
Step B: Add a webhook action in Zoho CRM Workflow
Back in Zoho CRM:
- In your workflow rule, go to Instant Actions
- Choose Webhook
- Paste the Cliq webhook URL
- Send a simple payload containing your message
If you are keeping it simple, focus on sending plain text content first. Once it works, you can upgrade the formatting.
Testing checklist
Before you call it done, test it like a real lead:
- Submit the website form
- Confirm a Lead record is created in Zoho CRM
- Confirm the workflow criteria matches the new record
- Confirm the Cliq channel receives the alert
- Click the CRM link from Cliq and verify it opens the correct record
If it did not fire, check your criteria first. Nine times out of ten, the “Lead Source” or identifying field did not match what you thought it would.
Wrap-up
Once this is live, every new form lead triggers an instant Cliq ping, which means:
- Faster response times
- Fewer missed leads
- Less “where did that lead go” chaos
This is one of the highest ROI automations you can set up in under two minutes.
