When it comes to customer relationship management software for small business, there are many options. Among these software, Zoho CRM software is the best option available for small businesses. It is one of the premier best free CRM software present in the market.
Zoho CRM’s free version is a great option for those businesses which are searching for a cost-effective and an efficient CRM software that also has all functionalities which may be required by any of these small businesses.
Its features include contact management, workflow automation, social collaboration, lead gathering and many more great features. It is a perfect fit for the small businesses which require a simple CRM solution, especially when it doesn’t have more than 10 employees. As this software is free, it is quite budget-friendly for the small businesses.
CRM Features
The free version of this CRM comes with a variety of features that are required by small businesses which are duly mentioned below:
1. Multi-user usage
This CRM software allows you onboard up to 10 members of your team without costing anything.
2. 360-view of business
It displays all the required critical information and delivers a complete view of contacts, sales cycles, customer information and also allows you to discover various opportunities.
3. Automation Level
Whether it is lead generation, managing contacts, or workflows, this software allows you to manage and automate various tasks which in turn saves your time and other hassles.
4. Collaboration among Team Members
This CRM also acts as a social media platform to further assist your staff to collaborate and improve their efficiency. It also includes newsfeed where team members can post status updates along with sharing files. It also gets easily integrated with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter which automatically link the contacts to their own social media accounts.
5. Mobile CRM
With Zoho CRM mobile app, you can access any customer data wherever you want, whenever you wish. You can view leads and opportunities, contacts, events, messages, tasks and a lot more. This app is available for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.
6. Analytics
It also provides the ability to track sales and also assess the business’s and employees’ performance via its wide range of reporting features.
Pros
1. Productivity tool access
By using Zoho CRM, you can access the entire Zoho suite of its productivity tools. Its business solutions include email marketing solution, collaboration tool meeting, etc.
2. Integration with other Zoho products
It seamlessly integrates with other Zoho products by which you can automatically sync all the CRM-related data between various solutions along with managing the business from one single platform.
3. Customer service for paid users
It has a help desk system and customer self-service portal too where users can submit tickets by filling up the web form.It also has documentations like eBooks and a User Guide to assist you in getting started with this software along with helping out in understanding its various features. It has a Knowledge base where FAQs are mentioned with their answers. It also has a community forum where you can discuss and take help from other Zoho CRM users.
Cons
1. Lack of customization
The major issue with this CRM is its lack of customization options. To tailor this CRM according to your business requirements will require you to purchase its expensive plans which can cost $35 per user per month.
2. Clunky interface
It has a clunky interface with less intuitive features which is a big turn off. It takes a significant number of steps to perform even the simple tasks.
3. Poor Customer service for free users
This software lacks telephonic customer support. Its 24 hours, 5 days a week toll-free number is available only for paid users. Its help desk is comparatively very slow and unresponsive at times when multiple tickets are submitted.
Conclusion
This CRM solution is quite beneficial for small businesses with the team up to 10 members. It has many salient features like automation at various levels, to 360-degree view of the system along with analytics and a mobile app which are few of its best features. But, its interface is quite clunky, and customer support for free users isn’t that good. If you have simple CRM requirement, with a basic system to work on, then this CRM is best for your business.