The finest customer relationship management (CRM) software differs by company. You must pick one that perfectly fits your operations, goals, and structure. Zoho CRM is a top selection in this category and a CRM that may function for a wide range of businesses according to reviews and a ton of online sources. Let’s get into its true benefits as we go over the product in detail below.
Zoho Reviews: What is Zoho known for?
Zoho CRM is a great entry-level CRM platform that grows with your small business.
It offers a free version that is ideal for startups that only need to track leads and contacts. When you subscribe to a subscription plan, you’ll have access to various services that will assist you in automating marketing tasks and tracking client and contact data.
Zoho CRM also integrates with other Zoho tools as well as third-party apps you may already be using, such as Mailchimp, Google Analytics, and QuickBooks.
What does Zoho stand for?
After a series of careful research, it was discovered the term “ZOHO” wasn’t really an acronym. The term “ZOHO” has no obvious meaning, rather it was formed from the word “SOHO” – Small Office Home Office.
Is Zoho a Good Company?
Zoho CRM makes it simple for newbies to begin using a CRM, especially if they are unfamiliar with the software. The free plan contains only enough basic functions to be useful for an individual or a small business. Plus the UI is simple and straightforward, making it much easier to understand. This is just one of the many reasons why Zoho CRM ranks as one of the best CRM software for small businesses.
Up to three users can track contacts, leads, accounts, and deals with the free plan. You can also keep track of events, phone conversations, and notes for your contacts and leads.
Furthermore, workflow rules will allow you to automate particular actions, such as telling sales to email leads based on a date. However, on the free account, automation is limited, and you won’t have access to multiple configurable features. There is also no analytics at this level.
We will go over more information on pricing later in this article.
Zoho CRM Reviews: What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages of Zoho?
There are advantages and disadvantages to any product on the market. While we believe that the benefits of Zoho CRM exceed the drawbacks, it is vital to discuss both so you understand what you stand to gain from utilizing this software as well as some of the things to avoid.
What is the Benefit of Zoho CRM?
#1. Easy to Set Up:
Zoho makes installation and setup simple and straightforward right out of the box. This makes it an excellent solution for small to medium-sized teams looking for something with which to get started quickly. And not having to waste time learning how to install, implement, and debug.
Even if you don’t have an in-house IT team, setting up Zoho CRM is simple. The included step-by-step guide walks you through each step of the process and simplifies it so you don’t have to worry about difficulties. You will most likely begin with the fundamentals of your setup and then add extensions and integrations to personalize the system and make it perform best for your company’s unique needs.
#2. Simple to Use:
Once you’ve set up the product, Zoho CRM is quite simple to use. Because of the user interface, getting the hang of this software requires little to no training. The Home page displays any open jobs, leads for the day, money by stage, sales closing that month, and other information.
The design is simple, which we appreciate since it lets you focus on what actually matters. Its simplicity is what makes it so user-friendly. Use the simple navigation bar at the top to navigate from page to page, which includes items such as Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Deals, Activities, Reports, Analytics, and more. The menu bar automatically arranges these items from most important to least important, but you can rearrange them however you choose.
#3. Flexible:
Diverse organizations have different CRM software demands, and Zoho provides the flexibility to operate for a wide range of businesses.
Furthermore, Zoho offers a plethora of customization choices. Through the Zoho Marketplace, you can install extensions and connectors to better manage your money, increase sales, and increase productivity, among other things. Many (but not all) of Zoho’s extensions are free and don’t require any coding to incorporate into your existing system.
#4. Video Guides:
Because Zoho CRM has so many distinct features and ways to personalize them, it can be difficult to install them all. This is where their free online videos can help.
These tutorials cover everything from interlinking modules to handling data processing bases, allowing you to take advantage of the customization choices and make your Zoho setup exactly what your company requires.
When you need to use CRM software on the move, Zoho’s app lets you do the majority of what you can do on your laptop. The interface is easy to use and keeps things simple enough not to be overwhelming.
You can even work offline if there is no network connection available. The location tool helps you to identify leads that are nearby, and closing sales on the app is a straightforward, streamlined procedure.
#5. Excellent Value:
Zoho has many price models, one of which is the Free Edition, which has no expenses and no responsibilities. The free option is limited to three users. If you upgrade to a subscription plan, you will have access to a plethora of additional features and add-ons. Continue reading to learn more about the specific plans and their prices.
What Are the Disadvantages of Zoho?
#1. Free and low-cost versions don’t provide much:
Though the free edition is a good place to start, what you receive for free won’t get you very far. Many of Zoho’s features are only available with the more expensive subscription levels.
Even the $12/month Standard plan has a limited range of features. The more extensive Professional version, at $20/month, isn’t all that much more expensive, which helps, but if you’re looking for a free or entry-level subscription with all the capabilities you might want, Zoho falls short.
#2. Customer Support Waiting Times:
With a platform like Zoho CRM that appears to have an infinite number of add-on functions, it’s certain that questions may arise along the road. While you can turn to the video portion described above, there are instances when you may need to speak with a live person to receive answers to your questions, and Zoho, to be honest, struggles in this area.
Users have complained about being put on hold for up to 10 minutes and/or having to go through many transfers to get a simple query answered. Not necessarily a deal breaker, but certainly not enjoyable.
Zoho Reviews: Pricing and Options for Zoho CRM
As previously stated, there are a variety of pricing plans available to make Zoho accessible to all organizations, regardless of budget. Though the lower plans limit what you can do with the program, they are still an excellent starting point for implementing CRM software in your organization.
The free plan is limited to three users. Anything above that puts you in the next pricing tier. You get to lead, contact, and account management functions, as well as reports and analytics, with the free version.
#1. Zoho Standard
The first subscription level of Zoho provides greater benefits than the free edition. It costs $12 per month if you pay for the entire year, or $18 per month if you pay month to month.
That charge, however, is per user. So, if you have two employees utilizing Zoho, the cost is $24 per month for the entire year if paid in advance, or $36 per month if paid monthly.
This is easy to overlook, yet it makes a significant impact on your total monthly cost. If you run a small business, it’s best to limit the number of people that have access to Zoho and only give it to those who genuinely need it.
This level of Zoho includes everything that the free plan does, as well as scoring rules, email insights, and much more flexibility across the entire platform. This is critical for tailoring Zoho to your individual requirements rather than the basic requirements provided by the Free Edition. The database capacity of the Standard plan is limited to 100,000 records.
#2. Zoho Professional
Upgrade to the Professional plan and you will receive several crucial features that will bring a lot of value to your business. This plan provides inventory management, Google Ads integrations, and the opportunity to use Zoho for process management in addition to everything in the Standard plan.
The Professional plan costs $20/month/user on an annual basis and $30/month/user on a monthly basis.
#3. Zoho Enterprise
If the preceding plans do not meet your requirements, the Enterprise plan may. This plan is designed for enterprises that are larger than small to medium. It covers everything that the Professional level does, plus a few extras.
Multi-user portals for customers, vendors, and partners are one example. It also gives Zia AI, an AI assistant that makes forecasts and suggestions. You’ll also appreciate the CommandCenter, which allows you to customize the customer experience.
Enterprise is the way to go if you want additional customization possibilities. You can alter page layouts, modules, buttons, web tabs, and other elements at this level. You can also create and publish your own apps.
This plan costs $35 per month per user for an annual contract and $45 per month per user for a monthly contract.
#4. Zoho Ultimate
The Ultimate plan is what you need if you want to get the most out of Zoho. This package contains everything in the Professional plan plus a few extras. You also get Zoho Analytics at this level, which opens up a whole new universe of options and insights. Zoho Analytics is a self-service BI and data analytics software solution that allows you to display and analyze your data in novel ways.
Zoho Ultimate provides larger storage capacity, more complex customizations, and data enrichment. When you choose this level of Zoho, you also get a free 30-day trial.
The Ultimate package will cost your firm $45/month/user per year or $55/month/user per month.
Zoho Reviews: How Zoho CRM Compares
When you compare Zoho CRM to other industry leaders like HubSpot and Insightly, you’ll notice that Zoho CRM is far less expensive.
Insightly does not have a free plan or free tools to assist you to get started organizing and managing contacts and leads like Zoho CRM and HubSpot. Even for the most basic options, Zoho CRM is half the price of HubSpot and Insightly.
HubSpot’s pricing is exorbitant at the higher levels, making it unsuitable for small businesses.
Automation is limited across the board on the low-tier subscriptions, however, basic process automation is available for both Zoho CRM and HubSpot—Insightly does not.
Is Zoho CRM a Good Fit for You or Your Company?
Because Zoho CRM is so simple to use, it’s an excellent choice for startups and small businesses that require client and contact management, as well as sales forecasting and marketing automation functions. Although you may not require advanced capabilities such as AI-powered tools, Zoho CRM scales effortlessly with five different options. As a result, if your company expands and your employees want more sophisticated functionality, those features are available.
Zoho CRM Reviews: The Verdict
Despite ranking high on our list of the finest customer relationship management software, Zoho CRM was not our top overall option. Read detailed reviews of the best CRM software to see how Zoho CRM stacks up against our top picks.
Zoho is one of the market’s best solutions for customer relationship management software. The lower tiers of the pricing plans are excellent for small to medium-sized organizations, while the higher tiers, such as Ultimate, are appropriate for larger firms with greater needs and a larger budget.
Another reason Zoho got to the top of our list is its adaptability. It is useful for a wide range of businesses in a wide range of industries. Furthermore, Zoho is user-friendly, thanks in part to a design that emphasizes the most important functionality on the main screen. This makes it easy to find the information you’re looking for.
Another advantage of Zoho is that it is less expensive than other CRM competitors, making it more accessible to small and medium-sized organizations. If Zoho isn’t the ideal fit for your business, look into the other CRM software solutions on our top list. The Zoho CRM reviews you’ve been reading should prove quite helpful now that you know what to expect
Zoho Reviews FAQs
Is Zoho owned by Google?
While Zoho is not owned by Google, they do collaborate with Google to allow users to use a single login for both services. You can modify this by first logging out of Google services and then creating a new account with them.
What is so special about Zoho?
Because Zoho focuses on scalability by unifying its CX platform horizontally and vertically, more businesses can be personal with their consumers. Zoho has a strategy in place to reduce the adoption barrier of their business operating system.
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Zoho Reviews: References
