My company had been using Salesforce since we started, so for a lot of the people on our teams, it was the only CRM software platform that they had ever used. Additionally, at that time, Salesforce was generally known as the only player in the space, so it made sense that we used the tool to manage our business.
I was always paying attention to what was going on in the marketplace, not just for our business, but for what was happening in the management platform space. Our company was growing and slowly picking up speed year over year, and as we were experiencing these changes internally, I started to explore other options that could help us operate more efficiently so that we could continue our growth rate without letting anything fall through the cracks.
Discovering Zoho CRM
I started asking friends and former colleagues what system their company used and how it worked for their respective companies. I started to hear more and more about Zoho and all of its benefits, so I started to do some research.
I compared capabilities and features, and I compared the pricing models. I paid attention to what users were saying about the platform and started to make some phone calls to get a greater understanding of the points of differentiation between the two platforms.
Ease of use
One of the major things I was looking for when examining Zoho CRM is how easy it is to use. After all, the whole point of using this platform is to help us manage and prioritize our projects as easily as possible, and as more people were joining our team, we needed to ensure that our software was clean and simple. The Zoho CRM space was great, as it’s highly customizable to fit our needs, which helps with our sales processes.
Cost
Another reason we were considering a shift was because Salesforce was becoming more expensive, especially at the rate at which we were growing. Zoho is considerably cheaper and also offers way more features, which seemed like a no-brainer to us. Another factor that stood out to me is that Zoho offered a 15-day free trial, which helped us approach this process with a more relaxed and less anxious mindset. It didn’t feel as big of a commitment, and it truly helped us feel like Zoho wasn’t pulling a fast one on us.
After we took advantage of the free trial period and had our team leads provide feedback, we officially decided to move forward with Zoho CRM.
Onboarding
This was one of our biggest concerns as we considered this switch and put it into motion. We were relieved to discover that Zoho provided our company with a tremendously detailed yet seamlessly easy onboarding process. They made it clear that they recognized that migration could be nerve-wracking for a company, and they were understanding of the large undertaking that this could be.
With a detailed training program, our teams were quickly transitioned to the new platform, and our onboarding team ensured that nothing slipped through the cracks or affected our general business processes. Since the Zoho CRM platform is user-intuitive and makes the whole operation feel easy, there were very few hiccups or bumps.
Additional help
Once we got our teams onboarded and business continued as usual with very few issues along the way, we wanted to make sure that we had everything in our back pocket. We invested in a Zoho CRM consultant to help us finetune our strategies and help us understand all of the features we had in our wheelhouse so we were getting our money’s worth (and benefiting our business). It was also helpful in the event we had any intermittent emergencies or immediate questions so that we felt armed and prepared for any kind of situation.
Another great benefit are the always available resources. I make it a point that every team lead research elements of the software platform to discover new capabilities, interact with other administrators, or even attend webinars or sessions online to learn more. Since this tool is ultimately meant to help us grow and be the best that we can be, I enforce that Zoho CRM is the tool, and our team members are the engine that keeps us alive.
Final thoughts
Our company has been fortunate enough to see success and growth. In a world in which technology is king and our devices are our leaders, we must do everything we can to keep up and ensure our business model reflects the ever-changing industry that is communication.
Switching from Salesforce to Zoho for our CRM model has helped us deepen our relationships with our clients. By automating so many of our tasks and providing detailed insight with our analytics tools, our sellers have been able to spend more time in the field and getting more facetime with our partners. Ironically, by investing in a CRM platform that is more technologically savvy for our needs, our sales team has been able to step away from the screens and earn more valuable in-person communication time with our partners, which has proven successful for our business and our company as a whole.
I was at first concerned about the switch and how it may affect our productivity and if it would disrupt our flow. I was pleasantly relived, however, to find that the Zoho team helped us switch easily and seamlessly without losing one piece of business. The onboarding process and the available resources that Zoho provides made our experience stressless and natural. Our internal teams have shown appreciation for the user-friendly interface, the adaptability, and the additional tools that allow them to complete their projects more efficiently.
Salesforce wasn’t holding us back, but Zoho CRM allowed us to propel ourselves into a new and improved model of success. We feel confident in our new platform, and we have definitely benefitted from the personalized and innovative software that allows us to grow but still maintain our integrity.
