Access My Blueprint Records

Once the Blueprint has been configured, records meeting the process criteria will enter the process and the Transition Owners mentioned in the Blueprint will be able to execute their respective Transitions.

In order to start the process, you must know which records are waiting for you to perform your part of the actions in the entire process.

To access your Blueprint records

1. In your Zoho CRM account, click the My Jobs module.
   Under My Jobs, records waiting for your approval and Blueprint Transitions are displayed.
2. In the list view, select Only Blueprint.
3. Click on any entry to go to the respective record and execute your share of the process.
   

View Configured Blueprint

To view configured Blueprint

1. Go to the Details page of the record meeting the process criteria.
2. In the Blueprint Strip, you will see the current State of the record and the Transitions available for that State.
   Note that Transitions are made available only for the records meeting the Before Transition criteria.
3. Click the View configured actions link.
   You will be able to see the process flow from the existing State to the next State.
   

Here, it is important to note that the field using which you configured the Blueprint will be locked for editing once the record has entered the process. That is, say you have configured a Blueprint for Deal follow-up process using the Stage field. Once a record has entered the Blueprint, you cannot manually update the Stage until the Blueprint has been executed completely.

This is only to ensure that the record goes through every stage of the process as defined in the Blueprint and that no one can randomly change the Status without performing the conditions prescribed.

Execute a Blueprint

Once records meet the entry criteria of a Blueprint, they become active records in the process. A Blueprint can be executed in your web accout as well as the Zoho CRM Mobile App.

Execute a Blueprint in the CRM web account

In your Zoho CRM account, the Detail page of the record displays the Current State of the record and the Transitions available for that State. To execute a Transition, simply click the suitable Transition button.

See also: Creating a Blueprint.

For instance, as per the Blueprint expained here, deals more than $50000 enter the Deal follow-up process. The Transition Owners will be able to click the respective Transition buttons and execute the Blueprint.

As each button is clicked, a popup appears, prompting the user to add notes, update fields as defined by the Blueprint. For example, on clicking the Negotiate button, a Transition owner is prompted to enter the fields as mandated in the During Transition settings and proceed to the next State.

Following are the different elements to note while executing a Transition.

• Message and Notes prompts
  If you have configured messages and mandated notes, the Transition would appear as seen in the image below. Here, the requirements and discount details have been prompted.
  
• Attaching documents
  If you have mandated attachments, they would be prompted in the Transition as seen in the image below. This is similar to the Attachments related list, where you can upload documents from your desktop, Zoho Docs, Documents tab or a URL attachment.
  
• Striking off Checklist items
  A Transition cannot be saved until the Checklist items are scored off. A list of To-dos are being scored off in the image below.
  
• Entering fields and validations
  If you have configured mandatory fields from the primary Blueprint module and related modules, the Transition owner will be prompted to enter the values for these fields here. If you have also configured validation criteria for any of the fields, the system will check the validation rule and let the changes to be saved only when the value satisfies the criteria.
  Here, a discount of more than 20% throws an error.
  
• Associating related items
  When you have mandated associated items such as Quote, Tasks etc, the Transition owner will be prompted to enter these as well on executing a Transition. Here, during the Contract stage of a deal follow-up process, a user is prompted to enter the quote and create a task.
  
• Saving a Transition partially
  When you mandate a lot of information during a Transition, it may not always be possible to enter all of them at one go. In the Negotiate Transition, perhaps you have entered all the mandatory fields, but you need some more time to score off the checklist items on SLA documents. In this case, you can save a transition PARTIALLY. Which means, say, 5 out of 10 details you have entered will be saved at the moment - but the record will still be in the Negotiate stage. You can come back to this record when you are ready, enter the rest of the details and SAVE the transition. Once all the details as required by the During Transition settings have been entered, the record will be moved the the next State in the Blueprint.
  
  Note that the facility to save a Transition partially is not supported for a Continuous Blueprint, as the nature of Continuous Blueprint is meant to be executed at one go, and not intermittently. 

Repeat this activity of clicking each Transition button and complete the specified actions until you come to the end of the process.

Execute a Blueprint on the CRM mobile app

A Blueprint that you have configured in your Zoho CRM web account can be executed on the mobile app. Suppose you are out on a field visit to meet a customer regarding a deal and the deal has progressed from Qualification to Negotiation. You can update the stage right there on the app.

To execute a Blueprint using the CRM app

1. Tap the module for which you wish to execute the Blueprint. Example, Deals.
2. Tap the record in question.
   You will see a Blueprint Strip that displayes the Current State as well as the Transitions that must be executed in order to progress to the next State.
3. Click the required Transition and complete the requisites as directed. Example, Negotiate.
   
   If the values you enter are unacceptable, you will see relevant error messages as configured in your Blueprint.
   
   This way CRM guides and validates a sales process.
4. Once you have entered the accptable values, click Save.
   The record is now moved to the next State in the process.
   In a similar manner execute each subsequent Transitions until the process is completed.
   

Check Blueprint Usage Reports

Blueprint Reports will give you valuable insights about your business processes and their execution and help you streamline them better. Blueprint reports of two types - Built-in reports and Customized reports.

Built-in Blueprint Reports

Following are the various Blueprint reports readily made available to you.

To check Blueprint reports

1. Go to Setup > Automation > Blueprint.
2. Click the Usage tab.
3. The various Blueprint reports are listed.
4. Click on a report to view the insights. Example, the following image is a report on Average time per Blueprint for the Deal follow-up process.
   This gives you details on the average time it takes to complete a Blueprint from start Transition to any end Transition, within a given time period.
   

Customized Blueprint Reports

The Zoho CRM Reports module presents you with myriad default reports for various sales insights such as Sales by Lead Source, Leads by Type, Call Status Reports and so on. You can customize these reports based on Blueprint insights. When you create a report for a module you will see Blueprint insights as part of the Select Related Modules section. From this you can build your own reports based on Blueprint insights.

To create a report based on Blueprint insights

1. Go to the Reports module.
2. Click Create Report.
3. Select the primary module: Example, Deals.
4. From the list of Related Modules, select the appropriate Blueprint from the list of Blueprints.
   
5. Select a Report Type: Example, Summary Report.
6. Select the columns you wish to have on the report. You can select the required details from the Blueprint section on the list of available columns.
   
7. Add Filters if required.
8. Name the report and sort it into a folder. Example: Deal Blueprint Status Report.
   
9. Run the report to see the Blueprint details of each deal.
   

Create a Continuous Blueprint

Unlike a regular Blueprint which is suitable for an intermittent process, a continuous Blueprint allows you to design a process that occurs without a pause. It is ideal for call scripting.

Scenario

A sales organization wishes to create a Continuous Blueprint to help their sales reps with call scripts. The sales call is a process carried out in one shot. The different stages are

• Exchange of pleasantries
• Product Brief
• Pricing Info
• Reschedule call
• Interested in product
• Not interested

You can create a Blueprint which will guide a sales rep through a call, by organziaing the different stages in the call and displaying the scripts* to be spoken at every stage.

(*)To add a call script, simply include the script as a "Message" in the During Transition tab of every Transition.

To create a Continuous Blueprint

1. Go to Setup > Automation > Blueprint.
2. Click Create Blueprint.
3. In the Create Blueprint popup, enter a name for the Blueprint, choose the module, layout and field for which the Blueprint is being created. For our scenario, the details will be as follows:
   • BlueprintName: Sales Call Script
   • Module: Contacts
   • Layout: Standard
   • Field: Call Stage
4. Specify criteria for records to enter a process, if applicable.
   If you don’t enter criteria, all records created in the layout will enter the process.
5. Enter a Description for the process.
6. Under Advanced Settings, enable Continuous Process.
7. Choose the owner of the Process.
8. Click Next.

The rest of the procedure to create a Continuous Blueprint is similar to that of a Regular Blueprint.

Differences between Regular Blueprint and Continuous Blueprint