About Zoho
The difference between Zoho and other CRM platforms like Salesforce, Sugar, and Highrise is that Zoho’s focus is on an operating system for business. Zoho is a business software solutions company with over 20 years of experience in business software development. Zoho began with its Zoho CRM platform in 2005 and has expanded to all different departments of business and enterprise. Zoho also offers an enterprise-level subscription called Zoho One. Zoho One has all 40+ of Zoho’s apps bundled together to make for a connected “operating system for business.” Zoho has over 50 million users in over 180 countries globally.
Personalization and implementation in AI and ML
One of the many ways Zoho unifies and connects its CX platform horizontally and vertically is by implementing AI and machine learning into its software. Zoho’s AI has breadth and depth. Zoho’s AI has breadth in that it is implemented across apps to get contextualized data where it needs to go intelligently. Zia is Zoho’s intelligent assistant for Zoho’s operating system for business. Zia gives insights and contextualizes data to share and connect all departments. Zoho AI has depth in that it optimizes all levels of the CX platform. Services and apps have a rich implementation of AI and machine learning that comes from years of R&D at Zoho. AI and ML at Zoho started with its sales and marketing platforms and has expanded and continues to expand in AI tools across all departments of Zoho’s CX platform.
1. One Suite to run your entire Operations: Ever-Evolving & Integrated Business Suite. Zoho has all the required applications to run your Business starting from Finance which forms the foundation of your business to Managing your inventory, customer on-boarding, managing your CRM sales pipeline, sales and marketing, project management, HR operations(Recruit, People and Payroll), team collaboration, support desk operations and many more application at one place and works in sync with each other depending on what all applications you have chosen depending upon your requirement.
2. Invest in a Product, not a Sales & Marketing Team: Because Zoho is a private organization, you will not be able to verify most of where their internal revenue spend is allocated on a yearly basis. However, if you attempt to quantify their spend based on observation, you’ll start to understand that their is a significant fundamental difference in where they are allocating funds, and it’s really a fairly clear output, though not exact.
3. Continuous Development and Experience: As per Cloud Bakers, Zoho has now invested a significant amount of time and finances into their employees. Contrary to the stereotypical Indian-based organization, Zoho has an extremely high employee retention rate to go with a significant employee satisfaction rate. From a personal perspective, I have known many of the Zoho employees personally since Cloudbakers began to deploy Zoho’s products some 6+ years ago. Since then, every employee that I have worked with remains at Zoho. Some have moved departments internally, but nevertheless is working at same organization, towards the same overall mission. This speaks to not only Zoho’s consistent development in the growth of its products, but the growth and investment in its people. This investment has begun to pay off significantly as Zoho’s products, namely CRM and the Zoho Sales based suite of applications, have experienced leaders in developing products that solve relevant business applications in the market. If you speak with any of these product managers or developers personally, their passion for their role in Zoho is overwhelming in the way that they discuss their Zoho Experience.
4. A Product Based on Value, Not on Profit: As per Cloud Bakers, Over the last 5 years, Zoho has made significant strides in its business products. They’ve not only continued to make Zoho CRM (their flagship product) more competitive with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, but they have continued to maintain the same price point. Well, for the most part, actually lowering their price point. For much of the technology industry now, there is such an influence of short term IPO’s and either high margins or large investment opportunities. This focus drives growth for what is many times a short term product in a minimal niche. The drive tends to be focused on the sale and valuation, not so much for the overall end user and product sets themselves.
Pros & Cons as per Business News Daily
Zoho Pros
One of Zoho's best characteristics is that it's easy to use out of the box. This isn't a stodgy old business tool with a clunky interface; it's a streamlined cloud product that's ideal for users of varying skill levels. The admin controls are also simplified, so you don't need an experienced software admin to maintain permissions, which is a major boon for small operations.
When you log in to your account, you can navigate using the menu and keep an eye on your notifications in real time, so you don't have to click away from your primary task to respond to an email or action item. The dashboards in Zoho CRM are also well designed, with appealing color palettes, clear labels and a familiar design.
Key takeaway: Zoho CRM is fully featured, customizable, and has an easy-to-use system.
Zoho Cons
Zoho's biggest problem is its wait time when it comes to customer service. It's not unusual to be on hold for up to 10 minutes at a time, or to be transferred multiple times for simple questions.
On the upside, once you get through, everyone is friendly, helpful and diligent about quick follow-ups. You are given a knowledgeable breakdown of the program and leave with a better understanding.
While customer service is certainly a concern, for the price point and built-in functionality, Zoho is a strong choice.
Key takeaway: When you call into Zoho's customer support, long wait times are not unusual, and you may be transferred multiple times before you're connected with the right person.
About the Author: An expert in Process Quality, Simon helps Business reach Operational Excellence through recommending the right products which are scalable and value for money and also helps them implement them in a way it works best for each businesses no matter what the Business type is..