Zoho CRM is one of the most popular customer resource management systems on the market. The CRM and the entire Zoho suite of products enjoy excellent brand recognition based on years of leadership in business SaaS. However, today, competitors have emerged offering sales CRM software with better features, better integrations, better usability, and better pricing than Zoho CRM. So, while Zoho is still an excellent choice for many businesses, it isn’t necessarily the slam dunk it once was. Below, we’ll look at some of the strengths that make Zoho so popular, some of the weaknesses that might make it a sub-ideal choice, and how the top competition compares. 

 

Zoho CRM Strengths

Centralization and Automation

Zoho earns excellent marks for its task centralization and automation. Like all good sales CRMs, Zoho CRM allows users to bring their prospecting, sales, marketing, and administration together in a single point of control, and many tasks can be automated. By juggling fewer platforms and embracing automation, users can dedicate more time to their most important tasks, and less to tasks that are necessary but basic and repetitive. 

Customizability

Zoho CRM is highly customizable – a quality that not all CRMs can boast. Zoho CRM is module-based, and organizations using the Pro tier or higher can create custom modules, customize on-screen layouts, customize fields, forms, and data validation rules, and much more. Enterprise-level clients with the know-how and need for highly customized solutions may find modifying Zoho CRM is cheaper than building themselves, and users with simpler needs can simply ignore the option and use the stock CRM.

Reporting

Many users cite ZohoCRM’s integrated reporting tools as a significant strength, thanks to the system’s highly-integrated reporting and user-friendly dashboard. ZohoCRM users can easily access complete and fully-configurable analytics on all areas of their CRM and operations, including any additional Zoho applications they may have bolted on to the CRM. That comprehensive and clear reporting makes ZohoCRM a valuable business intelligence and decision-making tool. 

 

Zoho CRM Weaknesses

User Interface

Zoho CRM reviewers often cite the outdated and clunky user interface (UI) as a source of frustration. Zoho CRM is a complex sales CRM with many features, but poor UI can make it both hard to learn and unnecessarily time-consuming to use. Users also cite a lack of easy-to-follow self-training resources as a negative when it comes to useability. 

Support

Zoho users cite lackluster support as a drawback, which is particularly noteworthy since outages are also mentioned in a number of reviews. Complex software like a sales CRM will inevitably require customer support, and both the quality of Zoho CRM’s customer support and the limited hours of availability can leave users – specifically in underserved time zones – waiting for help they really should be able to access immediately. 

Integrations

Zoho CRM is designed to integrate with other Zoho products, like Zoho Calendar, Zoho Projects, and others. However, additional Zoho apps are not free, and integrating add-ons to the CRM drives up the overall cost of the system. Additionally, while Zoho CRM can integrate with some third-party applications, key sales CRM functionality, like the ability to integrate a power dialer, is clunky, difficult, and offers poorer results than other systems with more native features.

Pricing

In addition to the need to pay for add-ons to build out the CRM to meet many business needs, Zoho CRM also operates on a per-user pricing model. While the system is on the more affordable side of per-user-per-month sales CRM options, organizations will nevertheless face rising monthly bills as they grow.  

 

Top Zoho CRM Alternative – CRMDialer

Organizations looking for an alternative sales CRM that solves some of the problems inherent in Zoho CRM should consider CRMDialer. CRMDialer is a full-featured sales CRM that has been designed specifically to be a one-stop solution for sales organizations looking to centralize and automate everything from lead management to sales to support to administration and beyond. 

Centralized Lead Management

CRMDialer’s centralized lead management enables users to easily add, manage, or access key customer data from anywhere in the system, with customer and lead accounts never more than a few clicks away at any time.

Advanced Automation

CRMDialer offers a huge variety of automation options. Almost everything can be automated, from lead capture and account creation, to lead categorization, to outbound email and SMS, invoicing, dialing, and more. 

Built-In Power Dialer

Unlike most of its competitors, CRMDialer comes with a leading power dialer built in, straight out of the box. There is no need to integrate or pay for any other tools, and the dialer and CRM-sides of the platform function and communicate with one another seamlessly. Notable power dialer features include automatic dialing, one-click voicemail drop, local presence, inbound interactive-voice response, and much more.

Built-In Billing and Payments

CRMDialer includes a billing and payments suite directly within the sales CRM, enabling invoices to be created and sent, and payment to be securely collected via credit card or ACH without the need to ever leave the platform. 

Near-Unlimited Expandability

CRMDialer’s integration with Zapier enables users to integrate thousands of popular applications like Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, project management systems, and just about anything else a business might need. 

Intuitive User Interface

CRMDialer’s modern user interface was designed specifically to make it the most intuitive, easy-to-use sales CRM on the market today. The attractive UI makes navigating and using the system a breeze and minimizes the amount of time it takes employees to become master users. 

Unparalleled Customer Support

CRMDialer’s feature set is impressive, but even more impressive is the industry-best support team that users gain access to. Dedicated support is available via phone, email, and live chat to ensure continuity and a strong long-term relationship, and a 24/7 helpline is available for cases where issues pop up outside of normal business hours. 

 

To find out more about the benefits CRMDialer offers in comparison to Zoho CRM and other top customer resource management systems, reach out to a member of the team or see the difference firsthand by starting your no-commitment free trial today.