About the Client:

PST Plus is a vendor for Permaseal, a tire puncture prevention liquid installed in vehicles sold by car dealerships. The company needed a streamlined system to manage installation records, warranty claims, and dealership operations efficiently. However, their existing workflow relied on Zoho Forms, which posed several limitations in terms of authentication, data isolation, and record correlation.

For dealerships, Permaseal isn’t just a product—it’s a commitment to customer satisfaction and operational peace of mind. But behind this seamless service lay operational hurdles that threatened to slow PST Plus’s momentum.

This is where YAALI entered the picture, leveraging Zoho Creator to revolutionize PST Plus’s operations.

The Challenge:

Initially, PST Plus relied on Zoho Forms to collect warranty claim information from dealerships. While this method provided a basic structure, it came with multiple limitations that hindered efficiency and security:

Before approaching YAALI, PST Plus was struggling with:

• • Lack of authentication – Zoho Forms did not verify who submitted warranty records.

  • Data visibility issues – Users couldn’t track their past records, leading to inefficiencies.

  • Manual correlation – Matching installation records with warranty claims required extensive manual effort.

  • Limited data isolation – Multiple dealerships used the same Zoho Form, making it difficult to segregate records by dealer.

  • Tedious VIN entry – Entering the 19-digit VIN number manually for every installation increased the risk of errors.

These inefficiencies made it challenging for PST Plus to maintain accurate records, track PermaSeal installations, and process warranty claims effectively.

Our Solution

We didn’t just patch the problem; we rebuilt the foundation. Recognizing that PST Plus already used Zoho One, we tapped into Zoho Creator and its Customer Portal to craft a bespoke application that tackled every pain point head-on.

Throughout the project, YAALI played a pivotal role, working closely with PST Plus to understand their unique challenges and delivering a tailored solution that integrated seamlessly into their existing operations.

Here’s how we did it

1. Zoho Creator Customer Portal for Secured Access by Dealers

• • Developed a Zoho Creator Customer Portal where dealerships could log in, create installation records, and track their history effortlessly.

  • Ensured role-based access control, so each dealer could see only their respective records.

2. Linking Installation & Warranty Records

• • Linked installation records with warranty claims, eliminating manual correlation.

  • Ensured automatic syncing between Zoho Creator and Zoho CRM to provide dealers with real-time updates.

3. Created Custom Zoho CRM Modules for Seamless Dealership Management

Our Zoho CRM developers structured PST Plus’s dealership data into three distinct Zoho CRM modules:

• • Dealer Group Module: Stores information about major dealership chains (e.g., Ford, Hyundai), integrating Zoho Sign for digital agreements.

  • Dealer Module: Sub-module under Dealer Group, storing branch-specific details with Zoho Sign integration for document management.

  • Member Module: Includes Managers, Installers, and Service Engineers, with role-based access controls to manage installations and warranties.

These modules ensured clear data segmentation and streamlined dealership collaboration.

4. Digital Agreement Signing with Zoho Sign

• • Configured three custom mail merge templates to automate digital agreement signing at different levels (Dealer Groups, Dealers, and Members).

  • To streamline agreement signing, we integrated Zoho Sign with Zoho CRM, automating the signing process for:

  • ✔ Dealer agreements at the group level.

  • ✔ Sub-dealer agreements for specific branches.

  • ✔ Member agreements for installers and service engineers.

5. OCR-Based VIN Extraction to Validate Warranty claim:

• • Our Zoho Creator developers implemented AI-powered OCR in Zoho Creator to extract the 19-digit VIN from images uploaded via the mobile app.

  • This feature eliminated manual VIN entry errors and improved processing speed.

  • Implemented real-time validation to ensure VIN accuracy before submission.

6. VIN Decoding Using External API for Vehicle Data Auto-Population:

• • Integrated with the NHTSA API (https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/api/) to decode VIN numbers and fetch details like make, model, and year.

  • Eliminated the need for manual data entry, ensuring accuracy.

7. Custom Tire Sealant Volume Calculator:

• • YAALI developed a custom calculator inside the Customer Portal to determine the exact volume of PermaSeal required based on tire dimensions.

  • This feature simplified product installation for dealership staff.

8. Real-Time Email Notifications for Warranty Claims:

With the new automated workflow, when a dealership submits a warranty claim, the system instantly notifies the customer via email, improving communication and response times.

9. Mobile-Friendly User Experience:

• • The Zoho Creator Customer Portal provided a seamless mobile interface for installers and service advisors.

  • Users could capture VIN images directly from the app, making data entry effortless.

Results & Business Impact:

Our solution didn’t just fix PST Plus’s problems—it propelled them forward. The solution delivered significant improvements for PST Plus:

✅Enhanced Data Security & Authentication: Only authorized users can access and manage records, preventing unauthorized claims.

✅Improved Operational Efficiency: Automated workflows have eliminated the manual correlation of installation and warranty records, reducing administrative workload and minimizing errors.

✅Seamless Dealership Management: CRM modules streamlined record-keeping for dealers, dealer groups, and personnel.

✅Real-Time Tracking: The client can now monitor installations and warranty claims, improving operational oversight and product performance analysis.

✅Improved Dealer Experience: Dealers can effortlessly log installations, access records, and process warranty claims through a seamless and intuitive interface.

✅Improved Customer Experience: Customers now receive automated email notifications when their warranty claims are processed, enhancing transparency.

By automating the creation, correlation, and management of installation records and warranty claims, the solution not only simplified internal processes but also enhanced data accuracy and user experience.

PST Plus can now efficiently track installations, authenticate warranty claims, and provide superior service to dealerships and customers.

This project also focused on enabling mobile-friendly access and incorporating advanced features such as OCR for VIN extraction, ensuring that both installers and service advisors could manage their tasks effectively.

Conclusion

By partnering with YAALI, PST Plus successfully transitioned from manual, error-prone processes to a fully automated, secure, and scalable warranty claim and installation management system. Most importantly, we provided a cost-effective solution tailored to the client’s needs—without requiring complex custom development.

YAALI’s expert implementation of Zoho Creator, Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, and AI-powered OCR has significantly streamlined PST Plus’s operations by automating tasks such as VIN scanning and record linking, thereby eliminating manual hurdles, improving authentication efficiency, and offering convenient mobile access, allowing for smooth management of installations and warranty claims.

Now, PST Plus can focus on growing its business with confidence, knowing that its installation and warranty processes are fully optimized and tailored to meet dealership needs.

If your business is facing similar challenges in record management, automation, or dealership tracking, we know how to make Zoho work for your business the way you want.