Zoho has revamped its flagship product Zoho CRM and has come up with some fantastic updates which is sure to make you very happy indeed. Promoted as ‘ the Industry’s first multichannel CRM’ , this latest version supports email, social media, live chat and phone communication.
Here is a short overview of the new features and how that has changed your old CRM for the better.
- SalesInbox
Promoted as “ the first email client made exclusively for salespeople “ , SalesInbox automatically prioritizes and organizes your emails based on your sales pipeline and deal stage.
Traditional email puts the most recent emails on top, but as a sales person, you know which deals matter most to you. Configure your CRM intelligently and your emails will be classified by labels. You can assign filters based on any criteria, ranging from deal size, source or closing date. Reference whole contact history, scan your notes, tasks and accordingly craft your emails.
- SalesSignals
Track real-time information with notifications to alert you when marketing emails are opened or review customer survey responses to deliver that perfect sales pitch. With knowledge of customer actions on social media, satisfaction surveys and support tickets, it helps in customer engagement and speedy sales.
- Mobile Apps for field Sales Reps
With the new mobile app, Sales Reps have the complete support of the CRM data anywhere and anytime.
- Email Insights
Combine email with context and analytics to plan effective ways of engaging with leads, prospects and contacts. Improve your campaigns with reports to identify email templates which had higher open rates.
- Gamescope
Set up contests for your teams and encourage them to complete more tasks and earn badges. Enliven the workplace and make the daily tasks fun.
- Marketplace
With over 50 extensions to enhance the existing features, all your business activities can be managed from Zoho CRM only. - Sandbox
Replicate your CRM account and modify your processes, explore the changes and test them without fear of messing up your system or disrupting the day’s sales.
With advanced filters to sort data, clutter free look and loads of other new features, Zoho CRM sure packs a punch and is definitely competing with CRM giants like Salesforce.
Now, when you move to the Zoho front, let me brief me about the changes waiting to greet you.
In the Leads Module, you can find a left filter panel which can be used for any particular field search. Suppose, if you want to find ‘Leads from USA’, you can check the field ‘ Country Name’ and specify United States. You can easily find all prospects from USA and the Marketing team can use this knowledge for future promotional activities.
Fig: The new look of Leads module with left Filter panel
In the Contacts module also, this Filter has been extended. To see if you have any scheduled Activities, you can select the Activities field. If you want to see if you have missed out on any activities, you can select the ‘Overdue’ option. Similarly, you can also see the activities due today, tomorrow or in the next 7 days.
Fig: Filter Contacts by Activities
If you want to see which emails have been sent or have not yet been opened, you can select the field ‘Email Status’ and similarly, you can filter the rest of your data to find exactly what you are searching for.
Fig: Filter Contacts by Email Status
Again in the Contacts module, if you click on any individual Contact name, you can see every information associated with that Contact in the left panel, starting from emails to activities. This is a great way to get all data at one place. Even if the prospect returns after few months or years, you can sift through the historical data and know exactly where you left off.
Fig: All data associated with a Contact in one single place (Image source: Zcrmhelp)
Another thing which I rather like, is the clock at the lower right hand side. With a single click, you get a list of 20 last viewed items which helps you to jump from one record to another very easily.
Fig: Click on the Clock to view your last 20 activities
If you are an Enterprise user, you also have access to the Zoho Marketplace, where you have extensions for Zendesk, MailChimp, GoToMeeting,etc. Suppose if you have the GoToMeeting extension, you can set up meetings with your Contacts directly from Zoho and even sent GoToMeeting invites from Zoho.
I would recommend you to give this new version a try. It has a fresh new interface and load of new features which I think you are going to like. In case, you don’t like the new Zoho, you can always go back to the older version from the Settings. So go ahead and explore!
