Finding good customer relationship management (CRM) software will help business owners to focus on building a professional customer service base.
Zoho CRM software is an excellent all-in-one solution and a global leader in business SaaS. Because of this, it comes in at number three on our top list.
Trusted by over 150,000 global businesses, Zoho CRM is an excellent solution that will help you streamline your process, policy, and people all under one user-friendly platform.
Zoho CRM Pros and Cons
Pros
- Affordable, starting at $14 per month
- Incredibly customizable
- Extensive reporting and analytics
- Flexible workflow tools
Cons
- Integrations can be difficult
- Late support times
How Zoho CRM Compares to Top CRM Software Solutions
As mentioned earlier, compared to other top CRM software solutions on our top list, Zoho CRM stacks up well and comes in at number three. Its entire suite of products is advanced yet easy-to-use.
Zoho CRM is also one of the most popular solutions on the market today, with big name brands like Netflix, Amazon, and Suzuki successfully using the software for customer relationship management.
However, HubSpot and Salesflare are two slightly better alternatives for lead management and multiple-department suites. HubSpot takes the number one spot on our top list for its robust features that come with its free plan. Salesforce comes in at number two based on its automation tools and email capabilities.
Zoho CRM’s Team Size
Before purchasing CRM software, it’s important to factor in your team size. The size of your team will make a huge impact on what software you choose. Some software solutions specifically cater to small businesses, while other CRM focuses on enterprises—making it ideal to find software that specializes in your team capacity.
Luckily, Zoho CRM is an excellent software for most business sizes, as it caters to SMB and Enterprise-sized businesses. Even for Zoho CRM’s free tier, you get access to up to three user profiles—perfect for a super tight-knit team.
For the other pricing tiers, you get access to up to 200 users. Be aware that the price is based on this number, as you’ll pay on a per-user, per-month basis. This expense can become quite pricey for some, even though Zoho CRM is the second-cheapest software on our top list.
With that said, Zoho CRM offers robust features for both the free and standard pricing tiers, making it a perfect software for small to medium-sized businesses to collaborate and build a better customer service base.
Zoho CRM’s Capabilities
Customer relationship management is a very diverse business technology, and many software solutions offer different capabilities. As mentioned earlier, Zoho CRM is more of an all-in-one solution, so users can expect to receive a wide range of capabilities at different price points.
The most common CRM capabilities include sales, marketing, and project management—which Zoho CRM covers extensively. It also offers specific tools in customer service, finance, and IT.
Most of these capabilities come at an added expense. However, the best thing about Zoho CRM is that even at its cheapest price point, users still get access to more features than you would with any other CRM on the market.
For example, with any of Zoho CRM’s IT capabilities, you get access to three users, up to 10MB of files, two projects, and the option to add issues via email, all at no additional cost.
Not every Zoho CRM capability offers a free service, but it’s all reasonably priced for the features you get access to. And the wide range of technology it does offer is also perfect for enterprises that need advanced software.
Zoho CRM’s Integrations
Integrations are often an afterthought when it comes to CRM software when they should really be a priority, as they help you create a more seamless user experience.
The good news is that Zoho CRM has great app integrations that cover a wide range of categories like Office suite, telephone, messaging, meetings, finance, quote management, document signing, and marketing automation.
Unfortunately, the bad news is that some users have experienced a hard time trying to get integrations to run smoothly. Due to these negative user experiences, we would suggest software like Insightly or Salesflare, as these work a little better with popular integrations.
With that said, Zoho CRM offers a great range of integrations to consider, though. So if you choose this software, there definitely won’t be any issues with a lack of applications. Some popular integrations include:
- Zoom
- Xero
- GoogleAds
- Dropbox
Zoho CRM’s Price
Pricing is an important factor of any CRM software solution, and it varies on how extensive the product is. Many CRM solutions can be on more of the expensive side of things, but fortunately, Zoho CRM is one of the more affordable options on the market.
Let’s take an in-depth look into each of Zoho CRM’s five pricing tiers and what each one offers:
Free:
With the free plan, users get up to three users and a few features across all categories.
The Free tier of the Zoho CRM software is not too bad, as it could work well for small startups with two to three employees that are looking for beginner-friendly software.
Users get a nice range of basic features around sales force automation, product customization, automation and process management, reports, marketing, and support.
Although it’s not advanced at all, the Free tier has potential for small teams that aren’t ready to commit to software just yet. It’s also a great way to try out the software before purchasing it.
Standard:
The Standard plan costs $14 per user per month, billed annually.
Zoho CRM’s Standard pricing plan is the perfect balance between simple and advanced. It offers all the essential tools you need to run a successful CRM solution for your business.
With the Standard tier, users get access to a mass email, custom dashboards, workflows, scoring rules, and multiple pipelines. These features are great for those looking to build unique sales processes that suit your every need.
You also get access to most social and team collaboration tools, so you can create a productive space for your everyday tasks.
The only downside to this plan is you receive the same level of customer support as the Free plan, which is within business hours only. We think users purchasing the Standard plan should receive extra customer support for the level of technology they get access to.
Professional:
The Zoho CRM Professional plan is $23 per user per month, billed annually.
With the Professional plan, you get access to sales signals, blueprints, validation rules, and inventory management. The significant thing about this tier is that you also receive web-to-case customer support, so you’re able to convert support tickets into cases to ensure follow-up.
Having access to this kind of support is important because some users have experienced late support times within the Free and Standard plans.
The Professional plan is a great alternative for medium to large-sized businesses, as it focuses on higher security and additional storage.
Enterprise:
The Enterprise plan costs $40 per user per month, billed annually.
The Enterprise pricing tier is Zoho CRM’s most popular plan, as it offers all the features currently available. The price jump from Professional to Enterprise is big, although we think this is a standard price for such extensive and advanced tools.
With the Enterprise plan, users get access to multiple AI-based assistants, command center, canvas, multi-user portals, advanced customization, and mobile SDK and MDM.
This tier caters to large businesses with between 100-150 employees. But it also caters to enterprises that need extensive developer tools and data administration for high-volume sales.
Ultimate:
The Ultimate plan costs $52 per user per month, billed annually.
Lastly, the Ultimate tier is Zoho CRM’s most expensive pricing plan. This plan includes advanced BI that’s bundled with Zoho analytics, enhanced feature limits, and a 30-day free trial.
You get access to the highest customer support and unlimited API credits for developer needs. We only recommend the Ultimate plan to businesses that need software that will outperform their every need.
Zoho CRM Offerings
Zoho CRM offers a few products that relate to customer relationship management services, which give a variety of options for different user needs.
Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is the ultimate project management add-on to help you plan, track, and collaborate effectively.
Zoho Projects is an excellent product add-on for both small and large businesses. It’s an excellent expansion for those that are looking for a more seamless experience across the board. There’s no need to slow down your system with outside software when you can pair your project management software with Zoho CRM.
Zoho Projects lets you plan your tasks, assign work, manage resources, and collaborate with team members all in one simple platform. You will benefit from Gantt charts, automated tasks, timesheets, and customizable portals to create the ultimate workflow.
Not only that, but Zoho Projects has such an intuitive user interface, with little to no learning curve, that it’s an excellent option for beginners. Charts, views, and dashboards are colorful yet remain easy on the eyes, and you have the option to switch from light to dark modes to suit your mood.
Because Zoho Projects is an additional extension, it comes with three pricing plans for users wanting more advanced project management features, which includes:
- Free: for up to three users with two projects and attachment for files up to 10MB, plus simple task tracking, Gantt chart viewer, and mobile apps.
- Premium: $4.78 per user per month, billed annually. This plan includes unlimited projects, 20 project templates, time tracking, and a project budget.
- Enterprise: $10.77 per user per month, billed annually. This plan includes 30 project templates, custom fields, custom domain, and workflow rules.
Zoho Projects offers a 10-day free trial, or you can save up to 20% by choosing an annual plan.
SalesIQ
If you’re looking for a supportive and hassle-free live chat that will make your business grow and customer support flourish, then Zoho CRM’s SalesIQ product expansion might be for you.
This live chat expansion is an excellent choice for businesses that take on a high volume of customers daily. Not only do you get to track and engage visitors and drive engagement, but you also get to:
- Segment visitors based on their levels of interest with real-time lead scoring
- Connect with prospects within your site
- Keep track of progress by your live chat agents
Zoho’s SalesIQ is the perfect way to offer personalized customer support by adding a chat widget on your website, product, or mobile app. This way, customers can reach out and receive immediate support in real-time.
Some features of SalesIQ include:
- Canned responses to save time
- Typing preview
- In-chat articles for self-service
- Audio calling
- Screen sharing
- Chat rating and customer feedback
SalesIQ offers four pricing plans for individual user needs, including:
- Free: with one website per portal and two operators
- Basic: $20.35 per month with three operators
- Professional: $63.60 per month with five operators
- Enterprise: $138.65 per month with 10 operators
SalesIQ also offers a 15-day free trial with no credit card required.
Zoho Social
The last product we’re going to look at today is Zoho Social, which is a solution that will help you publish, manage, and monitor your social media platforms with ease.
Zoho Social is the easiest way to manage your brands on social media. You can schedule unlimited posts, monitor data, and create custom reports that will help you analyze your overall social performance.
The best aspect of Zoho Social is its user-friendly interface. You get access to helpful content calendars, a monitoring dashboard, and a social analytics chart that will improve the way you do things online.
Zoho Social offers a variety of features that meet every social media need, including:
- Content queues
- Listening dashboard
- Live stream
- Team discussion
- Custom reports
Unfortunately, Zoho CRM doesn’t offer a free version of this product, but it has a 15-day free trial among three affordable pricing plans.
- Standard: $12.02 per month, billed annually
- Professional: $34.63 per month, billed annually
- Premium: $51.58 per month, billed annually
Summary
Overall, Zoho CRM is an excellent customer relationship management software solution for any size business. It’s fairly affordable, starting at $14 per month, and it offers reasonable products that will help boost your customer services like SalesIQ and Zoho Social. With customizable portals and extensive workflow tools, anyone using Zoho CRM is sure to improve their customer service base and grow their business.
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