Let's optimize your CRM for pumpkin spice latte season in 6 easy steps. You read that right. We figure if there can be pumpkin spice everything (including toilet paper!) then we can #PSL your business operations.
Systems can be boring—like lukewarm gas station black coffee in a styrofoam cup boring–but your business can spice things up with customization. Even #PSL season allows for personalization with at least nine versions of milk. However, we hate to break it to you—Starbucks will forever spell your name wrong. Let’s have a bit of fun (‘tis the season) and grab eight ingredients to optimize your CRM.
We’ll wait here while you grab your #PSL.
Like any #PSL, we’re going to start with the main ingredient—pumpkin, or in this case Zoho CRM. Starting with the primary foundation will equip your business to build its backend from the ground up. Woggle is, no doubt, a fan of Zoho CRM. Its robust capabilities for customization and integrations are beyond impressive. It’s every bit of an all-in-one client management system.
Zoho’s marketing team says it best.
With Zoho CRM you can optimize your CRM, harness the power of omni-channel presence, segmentation, KPIs, predictive intelligence, and more to deliver personalized experiences that breed customer loyalty.
Zoho CRM allows your team to automate:
…and so much more!
Imagine the time and resources your team could save with most of your daily operations on total automation! Zoho CRM equips teams to focus more energy on the people they serve rather than the boring, mundane aspects of business. Even the most epic CRM is only as good as your efforts to customize it.
Just like a hot cup of plain pumpkin isn’t too great, Zoho One isn’t as useful without a little spice!
What’s a #PSL without some cinnamon? Gross.
Zoho One puts you in the driver’s seat with complete autonomy on customization. One of the ways to optimize your CRM is by adding a dash of cinnamon (aka customized fields). Take DIY to the next level for your team by adding fully personalized fields for your business needs.
You can even build custom mobile apps to run your business beyond the desktop! Drag and drop design makes customizing fields fast and easy. Get on board with a platform that grows with your business—Zoho’s CRM is easily adaptable and customizable at every stage of your journey.
Is your workflow…well, flowing?
A pinch of nutmeg in a #PSL makes a huge difference.
Enter Zoho CRM’s workflows.
Here are just a few of the perks your team can glean from Zoho’s workflow perks:
❌Avoid ❌
✅ Gain ✅
Customization is the name of the game. Zoho CRM allows your team to create your platform on how you work. That means you personalize everything the way you need it and ditch anything that doesn’t serve your team in daily operations. Hear it straight from Zoho’s developers:
Zoho's configurations and customizations help you adapt your CRM to the way your team works. Control how information passes through your pipeline with custom modules, fields, and buttons. Optimize your CRM by picking and choosing the features you need most with native and third-party apps available through the Zoho Marketplace.
Customize what matters most:
Now, this is a winning feature! Zoho allows your team to develop custom scripts to automate the routine CRM tasks that your organization performs most often and help your sales team focus on their most critical tasks. Client scripts are the ginger to our latte—something you didn’t think you needed, but it makes all the difference. This “pinch of ginger” allows your team to cater to client needs from the get-go.
Even better, your team doesn’t risk data security!
Design the CRM of your dreams with Canvas Studio! Zoho goes the extra mile with its fully customizable design options. Ditch a boring database and adopt a clean, easy-to-use platform that engages users and equips you to stay organized. Design experience isn’t necessary! In fact, the drag-and-drop studio makes customization easy!
View design examples here.
Thanks “a latte” for reading this post. We’re excited to help you explore the capabilities of how you can easily optimize your CRM with Zoho CRM. Get in touch with our team to schedule a free consultation.
Are you reaching your ideal client on social media? An increase in followers doesn’t always mean they’re engaged with your brand. Small businesses can’t ensure a captive audience when readers have an incredibly short attention span. Short of a “please silence your cell phones” message at the movie theater, your marketing team has to engage your audience through intentional content. (Hey, too bad we can’t pop some popcorn for you as you dig through this blog post.)
So, how do you make the most of your social media marketing efforts? We touched on the basics in 5 Ways to Get Strategic in Your Business Marketing, but today we’re going to touch on the importance of engaging your audience.
“I obviously know my audience.”, you say.
We trust you but hear us out.
We’re talking about the difference between knowing your audience and knowing what makes them tick, what their values are, and how you can build trust with them.
Let’s say you run a property management firm for income property owners.
Knowing you’re marketing to middle-aged people in the suburbs is a great start. Dig deeper and you realize that sure, your services are great for a middle-aged audience in the suburbs, but more specifically—those who have an average income of $150k, are close to retirement and want a done-for-them property management company for when they turn their home into a vacation rental and relocate.
Do you see the difference?
It pays to know your ideal client.
When you zero in on your target audience, you gain the ability to:
Pro tip: You may have a few ideal clients. Create a profile for each ideal client so you’re able to hone in on each specified audience in your marketing campaign.
Solidifying your target audience is half the battle. Now, it’s time to lead with customer service best practices. Engaging with your audience is vital for the success of your business. Even in a high-paced world, we all value quality time. We use the word “strategy” loosely here. The main idea is to create a culture of consistent engagement within your marketing strategy.
Here are some standout examples of excellent engagement across social media.
What’s to love?
Dove’s team commented on a suggestion for a new product scent. In less than 30 seconds, they validated their follower’s idea and said they’d pass it along. It’s an amazing example of hearing your out audiences and showing that they matter.
What’s to love?
A follower commented that the post didn’t specify the exact location and Visit San Diego took time to clarify. This simple point of engagement not only helped the commenter but anyone else that may have had the same question. Seems simple, right? Engaging with your audience clears up any misunderstandings.
What’s to love?
Kris replies to a comment saying the salad dressing recipe will be available in a few days. Engaging your audience creates opportunities to build anticipation for a future offer. Taking time to do this doesn’t just build trust with your followers, but gives them a reason to keep checking in.
Engagement with your audience is essential to building rapport with them, but how do you engage? Is it really as simple as replying to comments on social media? The short answer is yes!
We’ve put together some pro tips with our partners over at Lucent Creative.
We hope you’re learning from our social media series. Our partners at Lucent Creative are marketing gurus and we appreciate their help with all things marketing! If you haven’t already, go check out other posts in this series.
An active social media presence is vital for your business’ success.
You likely use at least one social media platform. If you’re not a Facebook fan, you’re probably on LinkedIn networking with other business owners. Maybe you’re obsessed with TikTok and mindlessly scroll on lunch breaks. The truth is, your ideal clients also hang out on social media whether it’s for work or buying some time waiting for their tires to be rotated.
The sheer volume of social media users puts your business at a disadvantage if you’re not showing up where your dream client or customer is.
Let’s check the stats from SproutSocial.
Now, if you’re like us—those astronomical numbers can feel overwhelming. With nearly 5 billion users (yes, BILLION!), where do you even start making a dent in reach?
Here’s an unpopular opinion: start anywhere—somewhere—and do it imperfectly.
The biggest challenge with social media is to nail down consistency and then, check the data to pivot where your ideal client is. We’re going to unpack a few of our tips and tricks with our marketing partners at Lucent Creative to help you get out of an uninspired rut when it comes to social media.
Pace yourself as a business.
The thing your ideal client is most drawn to is consistency. Here are a few tips to get your social media strategy working for you:
Remember, the goal isn’t to conquer all of social media—it’s to find your ideal audience and speak directly to them–turning them into loyal customers, of course!
A business may have 30,000 followers but fail to interact with people commenting with pressing questions. Nurturing warm leads is vital in any sales pipeline. When you think of social media as an opportunity to build rapport with potential customers, you’ll eagerly answer questions.
Not sure how much time to commit to interacting with followers? Here are a few ways our partners at Lucent Creative suggest tackling the task:
A bit of “small talk” on social accounts can do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to building trust with your audience.
Here’s where most brands feel pressure. Let’s take a moment to think through this before you create a mental block. Unique doesn’t necessarily mean your brand “outshines” other businesses on social media. The trick here is to create a unique experience for followers. It doesn’t matter how you describe your business—professional, whimsical, approachable, or “pun loving”.
Campaigns can look like:
Here are some examples of wildly different businesses creating something uniquely engaging for their audiences.
We all want to be inspired and Nike brought all of the good feels with this campaign. It engages the audience and gives them a clear call to action (tag your friends).
This campaign does a great job of helping the audience see alternative ways to use their product. You don’t have to be an avid hiker or skydiver to use a GoPro!
A smaller business in San Diego hosted an awesome giveaway—a one-of-a-kind accent wall! This is a great example of how a giveaway can engage your audience while getting more eyes on your product or service.
Help potential customers by painting a picture of how your product or service will improve their lives. Storytelling, interviews, and other “social proof” are effective ways to “show and tell” your product.
Whether you’re a realtor, consultant, or aspiring to create Nike 2.0, your business needs a social media presence. Take the overwhelm out of the equation by starting small consistent steps. Get in front of your audience and adjust your social media strategy as the data dictates.
Are you still feeling apprehensive? Our experts can guide you through the process. Get in touch for a free consultation and we’ll happily lend a hand.
PS: While you’re at it, go ahead and follow us on social!
How would you rate your current Client Relationship Management (CRM) platform?
Wait.
What is a CRM?
A Client Management System is the fairy godmother of organizing important client information. Everything from client contact information, where they are in the sales pipeline, invoicing details, and more resides in a CRM. An excellent Client Management system saves your team time, and money, and gives you a healthy return on your investment (ROI for our lingo-loving friends).
Whether you’re just now launching your business or you’ve been in the game for a while, you likely already know the importance of a CRM.
Here are a few fun facts from Zippia about CRMs to emphasize just how vital they are to your success:
Now that we’ve laid a solid foundation (your business needs one!), we will dive into our favorite–Zoho CRM.
The business management guru Zoho turns customers into raving fans and it’s no wonder why. Zoho offers just about any assistance with your business’s daily operations, from Zoho Sales IQ (their live chat app) to Zoho Books (their user-friendly bookkeeping app). Woggle is a Zoho super fan and certified partner because we have seen the impressive growth tools of Zoho in our business and the businesses of our clients.
Zoho CRM is user-friendly and has endless tricks up its sleeve. It’s so streamlined and agile for personalization that it feels like a total business hack.
Here are a few of the perks of Zoho CRM:
The list goes on and on, which you can find here. Does your CRM do all that? If not, you may be wondering how you can switch over (yesterday!). Let’s walk through a few FAQs first.
We’ve seen the migration process firsthand hundreds of times and we stand behind the process 100%. Not only is it easy to migrate to Zoho CRM, but it’s also safe. Zoho CRM takes the guesswork out of data migration—you don’t have to wonder if files aren’t supported, etc. Each step of the process is mapped and you’re given the prompts to follow for a smooth transition.
Yes! We’re happy to tell you that Zoho CRM migrates data from some of the business world’s biggest CRM platforms, including:
More CRMs are eligible and you can find detailed migration instructions for each platform on Zoho’s site. See, we told you they’re amazing!
Aren’t sure if you’re ready for the leap? Read more about how your CRM stacks up against Zoho CRM.
Going from your CRM to Zoho CRM is easy and Zoho makes it even easier with their step-by-step guides. Depending on which CRM you’re migrating from, it may take you more time or present unique steps.
The most comprehensive instructions are here.
Zoho CRM provides a custom-made setup to migrate from Salesforce, other Zoho CRM accounts, Pipedrive, Highrise, Insightly, MS Dynamics, Maximizer, or any other CRM.
You can migrate from Pipedrive, Highrise, Hubspot, and Insightly via API. All you need is the instance URL.
We highly recommend checking out Zoho’s notes before you begin the migration process to ensure your team has allocated enough time and resources. Read through Zoho CRM FAQs to get ahead of the ball and troubleshoot before you begin.
If you’re not sure Zoho CRM is for you, take time to explore these Zoho CRM tutorials for a sneak peek behind the scenes.
While Zoho CRM makes migration easy, we realize your team may be short on time, patience, or a combination of the two! Our experts have years of migration experience and as a Zoho Partner, we know Zoho inside and out. We’re happy to help your team migrate over to Zoho CRM so you can focus on your zone of genius. Get in touch for a consultation.
What does your current marketing strategy say about your business? Whether you’re new to the game and the ink just dried on your LLC papers or you’ve been around long enough to reinvent your business several times, marketing is crucial to your success. Let’s clarify—strategic marketing is essential for the success and longevity of your business. Marketing trends come and go, and sometimes they even come back to leave again. If you pay attention to marketing tips for any length of time, you’ll see they ebb and flow like the tide which can leave business owners like us feeling overwhelmed, right?
Thankfully, our business partners and rad friends over at Lucent Creative, an all-female digital marketing agency, help us to stay focused and on-point with our marketing efforts. Today, we’re sharing some nuggets of wisdom their team shared with us. Before we jump in, let’s review a few stats about marketing.
These marketing stats are just scraping the surface of why strategic marketing is essential to the life of your business. Marketing gives you a platform to share your product or service, but strategic marketing gives you a direct line with your ideal customer. See the difference?
Let’s get straight to the tips from our friends at Lucent Creative. Take these five action steps straight to your team today.
Do you feel that your marketing strategy is complex, but not accomplishing much? If you’re following marketing trends rather than your ideal customer, it’s time to reassess. For example, if your ideal customers are retirees looking for wealth management options, your TikTok strategy probably isn’t yielding great results.
Lucent Creative’s CEO and Founder Kendall Walker shared,
“I have been in marketing for years and have seen a lot of ambitious and well-intentioned businesses stall in their growth because they weren’t focused on their marketing efforts. Thankfully, there are always opportunities to stop, reassess, and pivot. My advice to businesses with any marketing budget is to study where their ideal customers are and put their marketing efforts exclusively into those platforms.”
Read all about creating an email campaign that rocks with Zoho Campaigns.
Customers purchase from brands they trust. Earning the trust of your ideal client or customer requires engagement. Ironically, this is a step that is either neglected entirely or not focused on enough in marketing strategies. We got some insight into engagement with Lucent Creative’s social media strategist.
“I encourage clients to engage with their followers daily. If someone comments on your post, it’s crucial to reply. It’s a marketing 'hack' that humanizes your brand and helps build trust. Engagement doesn’t take a lot of time. If you spend ten minutes a day engaging with your followers in the comments and stories, I bet you’ll see an influx in sales soon. You’ve given them a reason to go all-in with just a few minutes of approachability.”
You may know what to say about your product, but do you know how to reach your ideal audience? This is where brand voice (what you say) and brand tone (how you say it) come into play. A business selling life insurance plans wouldn’t have the same brand voice or tone as a hot sauce company. Technically, anything could happen, but we’d venture to say it just wouldn’t be strategic or best practice.
Lucent Creative’s copywriter gave us a few tips in this area.
“Establishing your brand voice and tone is the foundation of your marketing strategy. It all starts with being incredibly intentional about who you’re talking to and how they can benefit from your product. Explore your ideal customer’s needs, struggles, purchasing habits, and anticipated hesitations about buying your product. If you do this, you’re going to set your entire marketing team up for success.”
Marketing isn’t a “set it and forget it” aspect of business. It’s as important as your product development, sales, and employee retention. What is working today may need adjusting next quarter.
Kendall Walker shared another piece of wisdom with us about the need for pivoting often.
“Marketing strategies need to grow and change with your business. Algorithms change, of course, but so do your customers and their expectations. What works now may not work next year. Keep an eye on the data, customer feedback, and ultimately, the trajectory of your business. Think of your marketing strategy needing frequent “checkups”. Schedule these and get your team thinking creatively about how to make your great strategy even better.”
How’s your website working for you? Read Your Guide to Designing an Epic Website
Be mindful to recognize and thank your loyal customers. Your business can do this in a lot of ways, but starting with a simple loyalty program or exclusive offers is a great place to invest your time and money. 75% of consumers will favor a brand if there is a loyalty program. 71% of consumers who are members of loyalty programs say membership is a meaningful part of their relationships with brands.
To wrap up, we asked Kendall, her social strategist, and copywriter to share their insight on how businesses can best show appreciation for loyal customers. Here’s what they had to say.
“I can’t stress the importance of creating the image of being a thorough and approachable brand. People want to know they can ask questions, express concerns, and rely on you, the expert, to give them valuable insight.”
Kendall, Lucent Creative CEO and Founder
“I agree with Kendall. The way to create a multiple-level point of contact people actually want to take advantage of is through intentional copywriting. Show your brand personality and always put the customer first in all of your written content. People catch on immediately if they’re appreciated and if they can keep trusting your business/product.”
Lucent’s copywriter
“To go along with this theme, I think it’s important to remind businesses that their social media is their “storefront” and their “first date”. This is the first impression of your brand. This goes beyond social media, of course. Your website matters. Email marketing campaigns are also a first-row view into your brand. Be consistent and your customers will continue to trust you and purchase from you.”
Lucent’s social media strategist
We all know marketing is important, but these five tips are ways to go the extra mile for your customers. The main idea is to not become complacent in your marketing efforts. Keep an eye on the data and your customers’ needs.
If you’re looking to partner with Woggle and Lucent Creative for your marketing efforts, get in touch to book your free consultation call.
You’ve probably heard about the new AI guru taking the world by storm. ChatGPT has business owners wondering if they can minimize their marketing teams and copywriters if they keep their jobs.
OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT, says this about their “Frankenstein’s Monster,” “We’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.”
We’re impressed by the overall capability of ChatGPT (and a little unsettled?). It’s undoubtedly a fantastic tool to have on hand, but we started wondering if it could replace professional copywriters.
As a team who specializes in consultancy and marketing, we wanted to give ChatGPT a spin. Here’s what happened.
We got straight to the point. After all, ChatGPT is AI, and we didn’t take the time to discuss the weather or future summer vacation plans.
In a nutshell, the AI platform admitted that although it’s excellent, it doesn’t have the human capacity to complete a copywriting project from start to finish. We figured as much, but look at the details—copywriting is a multifaceted skill set. ChatGPT cannot:
Where does this leave marketing teams? We still weren’t sure. ChatGPT was an admitted non-writer, and we wanted to test the waters. Could AI present the same information in various tones of voice?
We chose a topic and asked our AI friend to give us general information on email campaigns. It didn’t disappoint.
Here’s how ChatGPT delivered when given the task:
Although it checked the boxes, the copy is missing tone or any indication it’s being written for a specific audience. So, we took things a step further. We asked ChatGPT to give us copy that was more informal and approachable.
Now, we were getting somewhere. ChatGPT took our commands and created something sounding more human. Was this the proof we needed to ditch our copywriters? Not exactly.
Although ChatGPT considered our notes and had an unbeatable turnaround time, it didn’t create copy for a specific audience. For example, this may be too informal for some. ChatGPT delivered a conversational tone, but fine-tuning would be needed for most of our marketing clients.
We wanted to see how AI would present the same information with different instructions regarding tone. Unfortunately, we had a little too much fun here.
First, we asked ChatGPT to rewrite the information using extreme formality. It immediately went to the task and created copy that was fit for a medieval knight or inner circle of a 1600s royal court.
Then, we experimented on the other side of the spectrum. We asked the AI platform to explain email campaigns with sarcasm. After a good laugh, we called an end to our experimentation so our human writer could get to work on this blog post.
Our team agrees the AI platform is impressive. It’s a significant step in the right direction. The capabilities of ChatGPT will help businesses make strides in marketing.
We appreciate:
When it comes to using ChatGPT in marketing efforts, we’re still wary. In our opinion, the inability to cater copy directly to your ideal client doesn’t make the platform sustainable for all your written content needs. However, we see the value of using ChatGPT sparingly in short-form content such as social media posts or as an assistant in writing speeches or presentations.
The biggest cautionary tip is to use ChatGPT sparingly in your marketing. It’s not near a point of replacing human writers. The copy will still need editing to bring in the human tone to attract clients.
Here are a few tips for implementing ChatGPT into your marketing efforts:
ChatGPT is a considerable breakthrough in AI, and we love it. We had fun experimenting with the various tones and giving the platform instructions to prove the world still needs writers. However, even the best style implementation with ChatGPT doesn’t consider your client’s pain points. Contact our team if you’re looking for a group of humans to help with your copywriting and content writing. Our friends at Lucent Creative partner with us to give business owners like you personable written content that speaks directly to your ideal and converts them into loyal customers.
Your website acts as the first impression for customers and clients. In part one, we gave you the rundown on web design statistics and a few pointers on creating an epic design. If you missed that post, check it out here.
You may not be designing your site from the ground up, but we encourage you to audit your existing site against today’s tips. What checks out and how can you make improvements? A well-designed website doesn’t mean it has to be a robust or high-tech site. Really, a lot of intentionality and attention to detail will result in a website that puts the user’s needs front and center.
Let’s get straight to today’s tips!
There are multiple reasons to give site visitors value straight out of the gate.
Here are just a few:
So, how do you provide value on your website? We discussed social proof in last week’s post and how it elevates your brand’s expertise. There are multiple ways to pique visitors’ interest and get them to stick around.
Three ways to provide value to your customers:
Integrate a chatbot into your web design. Customers need a place to get answers to their questions. Enter chatbots. They provide the customer service element while also adding value to your brand. Customize your chatbot to fit your brand to create a memorable customer experience.
Have a free resource library. Provide immense value while also capturing emails and building your email list. A free resource library should be more than just one pdf download. We recommend using multiple kinds of media since we’re all unique and retain information differently. Webinars, downloads, audio recordings, and interactive worksheets are all great fits for a resource library. Build a robust library that rivals your competitors and you’ll generate loyal customers!
Our web design partners at Lucent Creative built an epic landing page for a boutique African travel agency. Check out the value that’s offered to customers right away.
Web Design and copywriting rely on each other to create a memorable site for your potential customers/clients. Work with a designer that sees the value of emphasizing your brand’s message. A web designer and copywriter essentially have the same goal–to put your brand on the map and create an uncomplicated journey for your customer to commit to a purchase.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind for optimizing your message through design:
Your design and brand messaging should go hand-in-hand. Our biggest piece of advice would be to have a look at some websites you like and then, pull inspiration for your project. Here’s a round-up of our favorite projects by Lucent Creative. Pay attention to how the design supports the message:
A dog training and pet care services company:
A pizza franchise brand:
An online event:
Search Engine Optimization is a specialty as it should be! It’s a multi-faceted beast and we’re going to go ahead and suggest you hire an SEO expert.
Did you know over 53% of overall website traffic comes from organic search?
The difference between a DIY approach and hiring an SEO guru is that your website will see the light of day! Optimizing your site with SEO means:
As with any strategic marketing move, you’ll want to work with someone who also understands the data. What are your analytics teaching you about your current setup? Where are there areas for improvement?
Our partners at Lucent Creative have an SEO team and we’ve worked closely with them to optimize our site.
We’ve already established your business needs a great website to compete in the online space. It’s not only a great first impression for potential clients, but can also act as an ongoing resource for existing clients.
Whether you need a website refresh or need one from scratch, we’re in the business of helping!
Learn more about our partners at Lucent Creative here.
Contact our team to book a free consultation call.
Don’t forget to catch part one of this series.
In the world of remote work, we’ve all adjusted to sending files in a flash and requesting e-signatures. It’s the age of celebrity-grade autographs, but for everyday business owners like us (lucky!).
If you’re reading this and wondering how you can “Marie Kondo” your inbox to spark more joy, we have good news! We’ve put two of the e-signature platforms head-to-head in the ring and we have a winner!
Imagine it.
You’ve been in the online space for a hot second and are finding your document management isn’t working so great.
Important documents aren’t being signed on time, are being stored all over your desktop (next to solitaire, of course, because it never ages), and your business is on the ‘Hot Mess Express’.
Here’s our breakdown of Docusign and Zoho Sign to get you out of an organizational funk and into streamlined bliss.
DocuSign is one of the more popular signing services you have probably heard of. Here’s a quick overview of their features found directly on their website:
DocuSign connects with other applications like Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and Workday which is a huge win. As one of the largest e-signing platforms, DocuSign has a lot of grit and a great reputation.
Although DocuSign has been around for a while, we wish they had a free option for business owners to try before they buy.
As Zoho fans, we’re biased and aren’t afraid to admit it. Here’s how DocuSign stacks up against Zoho Sign. Hey, we don’t have favorites without good reason!
We’re going to go through Zoho Sign’s features and do a side-by-side comparison for you with DocuSign. When you’re using a platform in your daily business operations, it’s important to know the ins and outs of features.
Let’s start with the area that matters most to business owners–cost analysis.
Zoho Sign offers more bang for your buck, especially if you’re already a true fan and user of Zoho products.
Here’s the breakdown!
Zoho Sign offers a free version while DocuSign doesn’t. This is perfect for those wanting to take ZohoSign for a test drive, or ultimately stick to that free version with no strings attached!
Sure thing! Zoho Sign is a stand alone platform. You may use it solo or in tandem with your other Zoho platforms. We recently wrote an entire blog about Zoho Sign as a solo platform and you can catch that here.
Zoho’s support team is unmatched! It’s one of the many reasons we’re such fans. Getting timely support keeps your business on track and we’ve had several SOS calls with Zoho support over the years. The truth is–they always pull through! Always.
Here are a few perks of going with Zoho Sign vs. Docusign.
They’re on call and they’re basically the batman of business support!
Biweekly webinars walk new customers through learning the application and integrations quickly and easily. We love this!
Yes! You can take Zoho Sign on a test drive for 14 days. That’s two whole weeks for your team to taste test Zoho Sign’s perks for two weeks. If you don’t fall in love with the efficient platform then you can bail without being charged a dime.
We’re huge fans of Zoho. Zoho Sign can help you reduce your business's carbon footprint. Signing online and e-signatures helps your team save loads of time, too! Having all of your signed documents in one space checks the boxes for efficiency and cohesive business operations!
Here are just a few areas your business can thrive with Zoho Sign:
Do any of these ring a bell? Of course, the sky's the limit!
We’re advocates for business owners and our consensus is this–Zoho is an incredible asset to any business in one form or another! Zoho Sign is an asset to your business that you can’t afford to skip. E-signatures have never been so easy. With a free 14 day trial and a free-forever version, what’s not to love? Click here to try it today!
We’re Zoho Partners and experts. We’re happy to book a free consultation with you and your team to see how we can get sustainable solutions in place for your biggest business headaches. You can book your free consultation here!
Take a deep dive into Zoho’s offers in our recent blog posts to see Zoho’s numerous offers!
Now that you’re convinced CRMs are more than worth it for your business, you’ve probably consulted the almighty Google and encountered your worst nightmare: options.
Okay, okay- options are good to have (most of the time). However, when deciding what’s worth paying for and what’s not worth the risk, multiple options can get a bit overwhelming.
Yummy options at the Thanksgiving table? Good. Many restaurant options when deciding where to go for dinner with your partner? Bad (very bad).
Lucky for you, we are here to make one choice a little easier! Recently we took a look at Zoho CRM vs Hubspot’s CRM, and today we are diving into Zoho vs Salesforce Sales Cloud. Who will come out on top? Let’s see!
Salesforce and Zoho have both created CRMs that help your business continuously grow and run smoothly. With that said, their focus over the years has been a little different. Zoho has placed more of an emphasis (and more of their budget) on research and development, while Salesforce focuses more on marketing and promotion.
Zoho has found it important to develop a CRM fit for small/medium businesses all the way to enterprise level. Salesforce has focused more on the enterprise level and gradually worked their way to more mid-market ventures.
While both approaches are absolutely fine, choosing between the two will depend on the size of your business and your goals!
In terms of user-friendliness and how much experience you would need to operate the platform, Zoho CRM seems to be easier. Not that Salesforce is difficult to utilize, but Zoho truly caters to users of all experience levels. We noticed that Salesforce would probably be optimal if operated by a dedicated team.
Both CRMs include a high level of customization capabilities (and you know we like that!) Salesforce’s Lightning App Builder seems to be top notch, allowing users to create custom layouts and records. A similar feature in Zoho would be Canvas. One customizable feature that is exclusive to Zoho CRM would be custom buttons, which is seemingly unavailable in Salesforce.
It’s worthwhile to note that with Salesforce, many of the customization features seem to only be available for higher packages. Customization for Zoho is much more accessible to all user levels.
Lead gathering and nurturing is a huge component behind CRM usage, so both Zoho and Salesforce have solid process building and lead scoring features. In an all out feature battle between Zoho and Salesforce, Zoho seems to have a more comprehensive set of lead tools in their toolbox. Salesforce’s lead tools seem to be more basic, but there’s certainly nothing wrong with perfecting the basics! Again, choosing between the two will largely depend on what you and your business are looking for.
One cool feature to mention? Sales representatives can scan a business card and Zoho CRM will easily convert the information into a contact! Zoho CRM can also create leads from social media platforms, which you cannot do with Salesforce unless you pay for the Social Studio plugin.
Although a little weaker with the social media integrations, Salesforce can generate solid leads by integrating with Outlook and Gmail, which is definitely a convenient tool.
It’s no mystery that Zoho has some excellent integration capabilities (we talk about it constantly)! Unfortunately, this is where Salesforce really fell short for us.
With Zoho CRM, you can seamlessly integrate with over 40 other Zoho products like Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, and Zoho Sign; Salesforce doesn’t have that perk.
One thing that really suffers from this lack of integration power? Team collaboration. Zoho CRM has Workplace, a convenient way to effectively communicate with coworkers and employees. Through apps like Cliq, Meeting, and Workdrive, you can share documents and updates with the click of a button. With Zoho CRM you can also incorporate third party applications like Microsoft Teams and Slack for ultimate team collaboration!
While Zoho users can integrate with third-party applications no matter the CRM edition, Salesforce only allows this in the top packages. You can’t utilize popular applications like ZenDesk, MailChimp or Quickbooks until you pay for the Professional or higher Salesforce Sales Cloud packages.
Ah, the inevitable price discussion. In a side by side comparison, Zoho is indeed cheaper than Salesforce Sales Cloud. Zoho also offers a free version of their CRM (with limited users), whereas Salesforce only has the free trial. Both offer a 30 day free trial.
Both pricing models are centered around standard (essentials), professional, enterprise, and ultimate packages. Each CRM bills you per user, offering monthly or annual subscriptions. So, again, depending on the size of your company and your ultimate goals, either could be the better fit- you’ll just have to decide which one is worth the investment!
So, as an epic entrepreneur, what is your CRM focus? Leads? Integrations? Customization? Don’t worry, we’ll quit asking you questions (eventually)!
Whether you are just starting out or you’re a well-established business, there’s a CRM out there for you. It’s all about finding the one that suits your needs the best! Even though it requires a little bit of research, we are confident one will be a perfect fit.
Let us know if you end up choosing Zoho CRM or Salesforce Sales Cloud- we’d love to hear your opinions on the topic!
We have officially entered the era of data-backed decisions and online solutions! Yes, gone are the days of endless file cabinets and office trinkets most millennials wouldn’t be able to identify (we’ll let you use your imagination on that one).
It’s 2022– you probably wouldn’t be where you are without a solid website or some kind of SaAS running behind your operations. What tactics and strategies have you added to your business that has helped with sustainable growth and continued success?
If your answer doesn’t include a CRM, but you have seriously contemplated utilizing a CRM, you’re in the right place! We definitely encourage business owners to give CRMs a try, and we imagine managing your customer relationships (along with just about everything else), all from one place is pretty tempting!
The right CRM solution is going to be different for every business. So, for the indecisive entrepreneurs or the biz owners that just can’t commit, we have done a quick comparison between 2 top CRMs: Zoho and Hubspot!
One main similarity between Zoho and Hubspot? Both CRMs are popular and help people effectively run their businesses every day! Now for some more technical similarities:
User-friendly- When considering customer feedback, both seem to be very user-friendly. New to the CRM world? No problem! Both are known to have interfaces that are decently simplified and easy to figure out. According to our research, Hubspot seems to be slightly easier to use overall, but Zoho has tons of accessible resources if you can’t figure something out.
Preferred by certain industries- If you ask other professionals within your business niche, they may very well have the CRM that’s worked best for them. Keep in mind that business owners have probably not tried multiple CRMs to give a fully fair comparison! With that said, Zoho CRM is a pretty clear front runner in the real estate industry, while Hubspot seems to be favored by the insurance industry. With a quick Google search, you may find some useful insight about the best CRM for your industry!
Plenty of options- Both Hubspot and Zoho have multiple plan options, giving you the ability to choose what best suits your business. They also both offer free trials so you can see if it’s even worth your time in the first place!
One thing we often talk about on our blog is customization. We love a good customization situation! The one-size-fits-all mentality is just not for us; we’d rather be able to pick a good fit versus overpaying for features we’ll never use or items we can’t tailor to our needs.
With that said, Zoho CRM seems to be immensely better on the customization front. Sure, you can customize things on Hubspot, but Zoho allows you to customize buttons, user experiences, record designs, and even sales stages. An added benefit? Sandbox- a testing environment that allows you to test out changes without immediately causing all kinds of disruption (hey, you may change your mind).
And remember when we mentioned data-backed decisions? This kind of data gets to you and your team through reports, and Zoho allows you to access customized reports no matter the plan! With Hubspot you can only do this with the Professional and Enterprise plans.
Zoho has an entire product devoted to social media: Zoho Social. This product comes integrated with Zoho CRM and easily connects all social accounts, including your Google profile. Unfortunately, Hubspot lacks most social media analysis and integrations.
Both Zoho and Hubspot come with a whirlwind of third-party integration options. However, you have to seriously consider what applications and software you already use (or plan to use) before making a CRM choice. This is because each CRM has a lengthy list of integrations, but that list might not include what you need. For instance, Hubspot does not integrate with Google Analytics or PayPal (and that could be problematic).
Fact: Automating processes saves you time and money. Therefore, you’d expect your CRM to be decently helpful in this area, right? Good news: both Zoho and Hubspot allow you to automate many things, from lead scoring to de-duplicating contact data. However, a lot of these features are only accessible with Hubspot’s top plans, whereas you can access with Zoho for far less money.
Zoho also uses AI to do all sorts of things, including identifying patterns, analyzing data, and making workflow suggestions. Although Hubspot gives the ability to automate items like email alerts and triggers, it lacks AI and its tremendous contribution to automating tasks.
If you take a look at pricing for Zoho vs Hubspot, you’ll initially be shocked at the difference, However, you have to take into consideration that Zoho CRM is priced per user and Hubspot is not.
Zoho’s free CRM plan allows up to 3 users, while Hubspot is seemingly unlimited. But even with unlimited users, you will be much more limited on Hubspot's free and starter plans. Zoho gives access to a lot more features at a much lower price point, making it great for smaller businesses on a limited budget.
Zoho’s pricing plan also allows better scalability, given that growing businesses could quickly be priced out of Hubspot. Not to mention, a lack of automation options can make smooth scalability even more difficult.
It’s no mystery that both CRMs are solid options. Whether you go with Zoho or Hubspot, just make sure it suits your business needs and gets the most out of your hard-earned money!
And as always, let us know what you think of your experience with either CRM– we’re always curious!
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