Zoho CRM for Everyone: Putting the Customer Back in Customer Relations (original) (raw)

There’s an ironic thing about CRM software; on the one hand, it’s designed to help salespeople move the sale forward. On the other hand, salespeople typically hate using CRM tools because they spend more time updating the CRM than moving the sale forward. This is exactly the problem that Zoho CRM for Everyone is going to solve.

How?

By putting the two of the most important users at the center; the employees in charge of moving the sale forward and the customer.

Zoho CRM for Everyone focuses on enhancing customer engagement by ensuring that both employees and customers are at the heart of the system.

Zoho CRM for Everyone is the latest update to Zoho’s flagship product that’s going to set it apart from every other CRM and in this review of Zoho CRM for Everyone, I’m going to show you how and why this just might be the CRM (or business platform) for your business.

With tools designed for teams in sales, support, and more, Zoho CRM helps improve collaboration and simplifies customer management. In this article, we’ll explore its key features and benefits for different business needs.

Introduction to Zoho CRM for Everyone

Let’s start with the obvious; the problem with most CRM software is that it’s focused on salespeople and not ALL the people responsible for moving the sales forward. In other words; workflows across departments and the entire customer journey.

Think of a typical sales process:

1. Prospect comes in and speaks to customer service – record gets added
2. Then the customer speaks to a sales person.
3. Customer requests something – can be literature, can be a technical piece of information and now we LEAVE the CRM and we start emailing other teams in the organization.

Zoho CRM for Everyone aims to streamline the entire customer journey by keeping all interactions within the CRM.

I’m going to stop right here because this is where we all recognize that the conversation around this deal or project has shifted to some other application - slack. email. phone calls, etc. and is no longer in the CRM. The salesperson no longer has visibility, the tracking is now off-kilter.

Zoho CRM for Everyone is the first CRM to keep the entire workflow automation in one place

Zoho CRM for Everyone has updated its user interfact with a sleek and intuitive design. What I love about the new look is that it streamlines the customer journey across all departments – from sales to support.

But what really makes it stand out are the Team Modules. These allow each department to tailor their CRM space with custom fields and workflows, ensuring that the collaboration within teams feels like a breeze rather than a storm, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction.

At first, I wasn't quite sure what the big deal was -- most CRMs have a library and give you access to product sheets, demo videos, etc. But there's more to it than that.

Let's just look at the idea of staying in touch with customers and making sure they get everything they need to move their purchasing decision forward:

• Sending automated emails: Typically these tasks go to marketing. But with the teams modules, customer service and support can set up their own automations that are more focused on onboarding or receiving deals on existing purchases.
• Requesting and receiving demos, samples, legal documents, etc: This is another area where conversations get lost or delayed. With the teams modules or workflow automations, the customer can get immediate delivery of whatever they need next.

How Zoho CRM for Everyone Came to Be

While I was at Zoholics 2024, I had the opportunity to ask the product management team behind Zoho CRM for Everyone about what inspired them to make these massive changes.

I think you'll like the answer -- Zoho employees who were working inside of CRM were frustrated that they had to hop around from app to app to move the sale forward. In true Zoho collaboration fashion, they put their heads together and implemented the changes THEY wanted to see.

And now, the changes are live and open to testing across all of their customers. Their team is staying very close to all of their users and collecting feedback to make even more improvements.

Why I Love Zoho CRM for Everyone

What sets Zoho CRM for Everyone apart in the marketplace? Usability.

One notable feature is the robust sales and marketing workflow automation tools, which promise to reduce manual tasks and enhance the customer experience. The software Zoho CRM talks a big game about its chat function, which integrates with a range of platforms, promising to keep teams in sync and information flowing smoothly.

Why do I think workflow automation is such a big deal?

Follow-up and customer retention. It’s all about follow-up, and today’s sales process requires twice the follow-up that it did just a few years ago. Effective follow-up and automation tools contribute significantly to higher customer retention rates. If you’re juggling dozens or hundreds of sales deals – you’re going to need all the help you can get in this area.

Adding to its toolkit are features like audio notes and the ability to annotate sales records, providing a rich, detailed history of customer interactions that could be a game-changer for sales teams worldwide. As we delve deeper, we will examine how these new capabilities manifest in practical scenarios, evaluating their effect on the everyday operations of Zoho’s clients.

Setting Up Zoho CRM for Everyone

Not gonna lie. The old adage of garbage in garbage out applies. If you want to really leverage the power of Zoho CRM for Everyone (heck, any CRM) take the time to set it up properly.

The great news for you is that Zoho offers incredible customer support who will happily get on a video call with you and help you through the process.

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Customizing Your Workspace

Once aboard the Zoho CRM ship, you’re not stuck with a one-size-fits-all setup. The platform allows you to customize your workspace with a variety of tools like custom buttons, which now have enhanced specifications for better customer context. Administrators have the power to place these buttons in specific layouts, ensuring that they’re always within reach when needed, thereby enhancing the user experience.

Tags (I love tags) offer another level of organization, allowing you to categorize records and even tag team members in notes for improved collaboration.

And for those who enjoy tinkering below deck, low-code scripts enable the creation of custom functions to automate complex business processes. These customization options give Zoho CRM the potential to create a workspace that is not only visually appealing, but also augments the efficiency of your routine tasks with low code experiences, significantly improving the user experience.

User Interface and Navigation

Zoho CRM’s revamped user interface simplifies the task of managing an enormous amount of CRM data for Zoho customers, featuring a vertical module list on the left side for convenient access. The design team at Zoho has also introduced folders for modules, streamlining the process of managing different CRM components.

Exploring Team Spaces

Team Spaces function as the observation deck in Zoho CRM, providing an overview of team activities and enabling advanced user roles and permissions for enhanced collaboration. Replacing the old Tab Groups, these spaces are designed to be more modern and functional, allowing team members to manage tasks and collaborate effectively in the world of “van de” CRM solutions.

However, setting up these detailed permissions and roles may require some navigation skills, and users new to the system might need some time to get their sea legs.

Once established, Team Spaces can be the central hub for your crew, with capabilities covering areas like helping everyone stay on course and organized. With early access to these features, your team can quickly adapt and thrive in this collaborative environment.

Find Info Quickly With Global Search and Record Creation

Zoho CRM’s global search feature offers the following benefits:

• It serves as a compass, directing you to the information you seek
• It enables users to search across multiple modules, ensuring no record is left unfound
• With advanced filters, you can refine your search to the exact specifications you need
• Customizable search layouts mean you see only the information you want

Creating records is also a breeze, with a new add button that allows you to capture data from anywhere within the system. This level of accessibility, combined with the global search feature, significantly enhances data accessibility, making it a treasure for any user who needs to track down information quickly and efficiently.

Real-Life Application of Zoho CRM Features

In terms of practical usage, Zoho CRM for Everyone is a powerful tool for managing leads, processing orders, and ensuring smooth transitions between different departments such as sales and finance.

Another real life benefit is integrations with other Zoho apps as well as popular third party apps.

Moreover, the multichannel engagement feature unifies communication channels, providing valuable customer insights for personalized engagement with clients.

Efficiency and Productivity Gains

Efficiency and productivity serve as the driving forces for a business, and the workflow automation features of Zoho CRM act like an additional propelling mechanism. By automating routine tasks such as lead assignment and email campaigns, sales teams can focus on high-value activities, thus contributing to sales enablement and solutions engineering.

The artificial intelligence-powered assistant, Zia, takes it a step further by handling inquiries and providing real-time insights, all through natural-language commands. Zia also delivers business intelligence by offering detailed reports and customizable dashboards, enabling smarter decision-making and a noticeable boost in performance.

Is Zoho CRM for Everyone For YOU?

If you're a small business that's managing dozens of customer deals or projects and these customer projects require interaction between departments -- this is definitely for you.

Solopreneurs -- you probably aren't there yet, but that doesn't mean you won't appreciate the sleek and clean interface.

How to Get Access to Zoho CRM for Everyone

If you're already a Zoho CRM user, all you have to do is reach out to Zoho and request access to Zoho for Everyone.