Most custom CRM projects that disappoint do not fail on the pipeline screen. They fail at the edges: leads that never reach the CRM, WhatsApp chats that stay on one salesperson's phone, calls nobody logs, and won deals typed again into Tally because nobody decided which system owns the customer record.
This checklist covers the integrations to plan before you commission a CRM: where your leads come from, how WhatsApp, calls and SMS connect, what the CRM should share with accounts or ERP, and the questions to put to any developer. Work through it with your sales head and your accountant, and half of your requirement document will be ready.
Quick answer: Before you build a CRM, list every lead source and how it delivers data (API, webhook, email or manual upload), decide how WhatsApp, calls and SMS will be logged against each lead, and agree which system is the master for customers, products and invoices. Give each integration an owner in your team and test it with real sample data before go-live.
1. List every lead source and how it delivers data
Start with a plain inventory. Ask sales, marketing and the front desk where enquiries came from over the last quarter, and how they arrived. Most businesses find more sources than they expected: a form on an old landing page, a marketplace account one person manages, a directory listing, walk-ins written in a register.
- Website forms: post straight to the CRM through an API. Capture the page URL and UTM tags so you can see which campaign produced each lead.
- Meta and Google lead ads: both platforms can push lead form submissions to your system as they arrive, instead of someone downloading a CSV every evening.
- B2B marketplaces such as IndiaMART: enquiries can usually be pulled in through the platform's CRM integration or API, depending on your plan. Confirm what your account includes before you scope it.
- Directories and portals without an API: a parsed notification email is a workable fallback, as long as someone checks that parsing still works when the email format changes.
- Phone calls and walk-ins: these need telephony integration or a quick-entry screen at reception, or they are never counted.
For each source, write down three things: how it delivers data, which fields you receive, and who should get the lead. The third column becomes your assignment rule, whether that is round-robin, by city, by product line or by deal size.
2. Plan WhatsApp as a business system, not a phone
In many Indian sales teams the real conversation happens on WhatsApp. If it lives on personal phones, the history walks out of the door when a salesperson leaves. The official route is the WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), which lets the CRM send and receive messages from a business number and store every chat against the lead.
- Templates: a message that starts a conversation must use a template approved by Meta. Draft your welcome, follow-up, quotation and payment reminder templates early, because approval is outside your developer's control.
- The service window: free-form replies are allowed for a limited window after the customer messages you; outside that window only approved templates can go out. Automated follow-ups have to respect this.
- Opt-in: record where and when each contact agreed to receive WhatsApp messages. It protects your number's quality rating and supports your consent records under the DPDP Act.
- Visibility and hand-off: decide who can read which chats, and make sure the full history moves with the lead when it is reassigned.
3. Connect calls and SMS
Calls are the second blind spot. A cloud telephony provider can give you virtual numbers, click-to-call from the CRM and call logs pushed back by webhook, with duration and a recording link where you enable recording.
- Click-to-call: the salesperson dials from the lead screen, and the call is logged without anyone typing a note.
- Missed calls: an unanswered call on your sales number becomes a lead or a callback task automatically.
- Recordings: tell callers that calls may be recorded, and restrict who can listen to them.
- SMS: commercial SMS in India has to be sent through a DLT-registered sender ID using registered templates. Allow time for that registration in your plan.
4. Decide what the CRM shares with accounts and ERP
The integration that causes the most rework is the one between sales and accounts. Before any code is written, decide which system is the master for each type of record, and when data moves between them.
| Record | Usually the master | What the CRM needs |
|---|---|---|
| Customer name, GSTIN and billing address | CRM until the deal is won, then accounts | Create the party in Tally or ERP on conversion, not for every enquiry |
| Products, price lists and GST rates | ERP or Tally | A read-only copy for quotations, refreshed on a schedule |
| Quotations | CRM | Pushed to the ERP as a sales order once accepted |
| Invoices, receipts and outstanding | Tally or ERP | Invoice status and balance, so sales can follow up on payment |
| Stock availability | ERP | A live or scheduled check before a salesperson promises delivery |
Tally Prime can exchange data with outside software through its XML interface or a connector, and most ERPs expose an API. Whichever you use, ask how failed syncs are reported and who fixes them. A silent failure means a won deal that never becomes an invoice. If you are planning a wider system, our ERP software development page explains how sales, stock and accounts can share one database.
5. Questions to ask your CRM developer
- Which of our lead sources will be live API or webhook integrations, and which will be email parsing or manual import?
- If an integration goes down, are leads queued and retried, or lost?
- How are duplicates detected across sources, for example the same mobile number with a different name?
- Is there an integration log our admin can read without raising a ticket?
- Are all API keys, the WhatsApp number and the telephony account registered in our company's name?
- How will each integration be tested with our real sample data before go-live?
A developer who answers these clearly has done integrations before. If you want to see how we scope them during discovery, our custom CRM software development page sets out the process and deliverables.
Common integration mistakes to avoid
- Connecting everything in phase one: start with the sources that bring most of your enquiries plus the accounts sync, and add the rest once the team uses the CRM daily.
- Accounts in a freelancer's name: if the WhatsApp number or telephony account belongs to someone else, you do not fully own your sales channel.
- Importing dirty data: loading old Excel lists without de-duplication fills the new CRM with noise on day one.
- No owner: every integration needs a named person who checks the log each week and raises issues early.
How EthicsComputer can help
EthicsComputer maps these integrations in a discovery call and puts them in a written, fixed-scope proposal before any build starts. Our CRM software development service covers multi-channel lead capture, the WhatsApp Business Platform, telephony and Tally or ERP sync, with the source code handed over to you. If you already have a CRM and need it rolled out properly, see CRM implementation, and for chat automation on top of it, see WhatsApp AI automation.
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About the author
Vinay Grover founded EthicsComputer in Rohtak, Haryana in 2018 and leads its cybersecurity, software and AI work for clients across India and abroad. EthicsComputer is ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 20000-1 certified.
