In Zoho CRM, Business-to-Business (B2B) type of business process data is populated. However, customers can customize the CRM business process to Business-to-Consumer (B2C) by using the Zoho CRM Customization tools.
In a typical B2C business process, Company Name (Account Name in Zoho CRM) is an optional field, hence before using Zoho CRM for B2C type scenario, System Administrator has to customize Leads, Contacts, Potentials, Quotes, Orders, and Invoices modules.
Best Examples of B2C Companies: amazon.com, ebay.com, or any company directly selling products to consumers.

Procedure to customize Zoho CRM for B2C scenario
Step1: Customize Leads Page Layout
- In Zoho CRM, log in with Administrator privilege.
- In the Setup -->Lead Settings page, click the Edit Page Layout hyperlink.
- In the Edit Page Layout page, click on
for the Company field.
- In the Edit Field Properties pop-up page, disable the Mandatory check box for Company field and click OK.
- In the Edit Page Layout page, click Save.
Step 2: Customize Potentials page layout
- In Zoho CRM, log in with Administrator privilege.
- In the Setup -->Potentials Settings page, click the Edit Page Layout hyperlink.
- In the Edit Page Layout page, click on
for the Account Name field.
- In the Edit Field Properties pop-up page, disable the Mandatory check box for Account Name field and click OK.
- In the Edit Page Layout page, click Save.
Step 3: Customize Quotes, Sales Orders, and Invoices page layout
- In Zoho CRM, log in with Administrator privilege.
- In the Setup -->Quotes/Sales Order/Invoice Settings page, click the Edit Page Layout hyperlink.
- In the Edit Page Layout page, click on
for the Account Name field.
- In the Edit Field Properties pop-up page, disable the Mandatory check box for Account Name field and click OK.
- In the Edit Page Layout page, click Save.
Once the Account Name field is made an optional field, your Sales Reps can associate business opportunities with the Contacts (Consumers) as per B2C process.
If you are looking for a personalized walk through of Zoho CRM implementation for B2C process, please contact us at: support@zohocrm.com
"In Zoho CRM, Business-to-Business (B2B) type of business process data is populated"
Is the B2B reference model listed somewhere?
It should be made clear that administrators can only create X number of custom fields... I do hope that limitation will be removed soon.
dgd
How many custom fields are we limited to?
I didn't realize this and it will be quite frustrating to spend the time and effort to customize Zoho only to run into this nice little roadblock you've mentioned.
Hello,
Currently we are providing 120 fields per module. So totally we have 1920 fields for all 16 modules. For more details about data types refer to our Product Customization chapter:
http://zohocrm.wiki.zoho.com/Customizing-Zoho-CRM.html#How_many_custom_fields_I_can_create_in_each_module?
Please feel free to contact our support at support@zohocrm.com for any clarification.
Regards,
Gopal
Tell me how to make a lookup field. The option doesnt appear in the picklist for field type on custom fields.
Hi,
You will be able to create the custom field as Look Up field which will be available under each module settings. You can create the custom fields from Setup --> (module name) Settings --> Field List.
The lookup field can't be created for Tasks and Events.
Thanks,
Adam.
WOW, great instructions. Totally clear and easy to understand. Thank you!
Excellent!!! Thank you!
Thank you well written instructions.
When making edits to all of the tabs I noticed that you can make them mandatory. However, I cannot figure out how to make any of them read only.
Also, in different tabs there are preset boxes that are mandatory and read only. Can these be removed/edited at all? Some of them dont pertain to my company. I have yet to find a way to make any changes edits to reword them to be fit my company's needs.
Hi bms,
You will be able to make the fields mandatory from Setup --> Admin Settings --> Field Level Security. Choose the module from the drop-down box and make the fields that you want to be read only.
The default fields with mandatory option cannot be changed. Zoho CRM will map the information with the help of the default fields.
Thanks,
Adam.
I have converted my system to the B2C mode as per the B2C Tutorial. However I am not given the option to "associate business opportunities with the Contacts (Consumers)" as per the instructions. Should I still have to create a new account, when the contact is the account?
Hi craig@profinvest.net.nz,
While converting the Lead, try providing the Contact Role and save. Otherwise, the records won't get associated with each other.
Thanks,
Adam.
Thanks for your reply. I should have been clearer. I am trying to create the account as an individual instead of a company. If I leave <Company> blank, then no account is created. Is there a way to have the individual Contact as the account?
Hi craig@profinvest.net.nz,
You may have the contact and remove the account tab if you don't want to use it. Have some customized fields in the Contacts tab so that you won't miss any information.
Thanks,
Adam.
Thanks Adam. Good advice. I think I'm realising that its best to create a family as the company/account and then just populate the members of the family as you would for a company. Cheers Craig