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Zoho QuickBooks Online Integration

Zoho QuickBooks Online Monthly & Annual Pricing

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* The following Standard Modules are included as options in our integrations. For other additional features see our Add-ons above or contact us for a free consultation.

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Need Historical Data Migration, Sales Tax Integration, or a Credit Card Integration for any plan?  Just ask us.

Looking for QuickBooks Desktop?  Click here instead.


Unify Business with Zoho CRM QuickBooks Integration

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business environment, finding efficient ways to streamline your operations and improve productivity is essential. One powerful solution that can help you achieve these goals is integrating your Zoho CRM with QuickBooks Online. This integration brings together two essential pillars of your business, allowing you to seamlessly connect your customer relationship management and accounting systems. By doing so, you can unlock a wealth of benefits and drive your business to new heights.

If you use QuickBooks Online and Zoho CRM, you might have disparate sides of your business that don’t communicate at all with each other, leaving extra work for you at the end of the day.  Don’t fall prey to this!  Instead, use the Zoho QuickBooks Online integration.

zoho quickbooks online integration

The Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration uses bi-directional syncing (just like the Zoho QuickBooks Desktop integration) and can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be for your business.  Sync Accounts/Customers and Invoices, or sync all those plus Sales Orders and Quotes, or sync all those plus Vendors and Purchase Orders – it’s all up to you.

Enhance Customer Relationship Management

Your customers are the lifeblood of your business, and nurturing those relationships is crucial for long-term success. Additionally, with the Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration, you can have a comprehensive view of your customer’s interactions, transactions, and financial history all in one place. This integration enables seamless data synchronization, thereby ensuring that your sales and accounting teams have access to the most up-to-date information.

Just imagine having all customer-related activities at your fingertips – from initial contact and lead generation to closed deals and invoicing. Furthermore, with this integration, you can easily track customer interactions, monitor sales pipelines, and manage invoices and payments, all within your Zoho CRM platform. This level of integration empowers your sales and customer service teams to provide personalized and timely support. Consequently, it improves customer satisfaction and fosters loyalty.

Optimizing Efficiency with Zoho Integration and QuickBooks

Are you ready to elevate your business operations to the next level of efficiency and productivity? Look no further than the Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration. In today’s fiercely competitive business landscape, it’s crucial to find innovative solutions that help streamline operations, enhance customer relationships, and improve financial management. Our integration enables you to seamlessly connect two critical pillars of your business: your customer relationship management and accounting systems.

Why Choose Zoho QuickBooks Integration?

If you currently use QuickBooks Online and Zoho CRM separately, you might be missing out on the synergy that integration offers. These standalone systems might leave you dealing with disparate data that requires manual reconciliation at the end of the day. Don’t allow this inefficiency to hinder your business growth. Instead, leverage the power of Zoho QuickBooks Online integration.

Our integration employs bi-directional syncing, granting you the flexibility to customize it to your specific business needs. Whether you prefer syncing customer accounts and invoices, sales orders and quotes, or even vendors and purchase orders – the choice is entirely yours.

Enhancing Customer Relationship Management

Customers form the lifeblood of your business, and nurturing these relationships is paramount. Moreover, with the Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration, you gain a comprehensive view of your customers’ interactions, transactions, and financial history, all in one centralized location. Consequently, this integration ensures that your sales and accounting teams have access to the most up-to-date information.

Just imagine having all customer-related activities at your fingertips – from initial contact and lead generation to closed deals and invoicing. Furthermore, with this integration, you can effortlessly track customer interactions, monitor sales pipelines, and manage invoices and payments, all within your Zoho CRM platform. This level of integration empowers your sales and customer service teams to provide personalized and timely support. As a result, it improves customer satisfaction and fosters loyalty.

Streamlining Financial Management

Efficient financial management serves as the backbone of any successful business. By integrating Zoho CRM with QuickBooks Online, you can streamline your financial processes and gain better control over your company’s financial health. The integration facilitates seamless data flow between your CRM and accounting systems, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing the risk of errors.

When you close a sales opportunity in Zoho CRM, the integration automatically generates a corresponding invoice in QuickBooks Online, saving you valuable time and effort. Similarly, when a customer makes a payment or a new invoice is generated, the data automatically updates in both systems. This automated synchronization ensures accurate financial reporting, real-time visibility into cash flow, and more efficient bookkeeping processes.

Improving Team Collaboration

Effective collaboration and communication between teams are vital for maximizing productivity and achieving business objectives. The Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration fosters seamless collaboration by bridging the gap between your sales and finance teams. With shared access to customer data and financial information, teams can work together more effectively, making informed decisions and taking coordinated actions.

For example, your sales team can swiftly access customer payment history and outstanding invoices, enabling them to engage in informed conversations about overdue payments or potential upselling opportunities. On the other hand, your finance team can immediately gain visibility into sales transactions, aiding them in forecasting revenue, managing cash flow, and streamlining financial planning.

Boosting Efficiency and Productivity

The Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration is purposefully designed to make your business processes more efficient, and your teams more productive. Firstly, by automating data synchronization, eliminating duplicate data entry, and offering a holistic view of your customers and financials, the integration saves you time and reduces the risk of errors. This, in turn, enables your teams to focus on their core strengths – nurturing customer relationships, closing deals, and driving business growth.

Furthermore, the integration empowers you with valuable insights and analytics that can guide smarter business decisions. By harnessing the combined power of Zoho CRM and QuickBooks Online, you can generate comprehensive reports, track key performance indicators, and gain a deeper understanding of your sales and financial metrics. Armed with this knowledge, you can pinpoint areas for improvement, fine-tune your strategies, and stay one step ahead of the competition.

Don’t allow inefficiencies to hold your business back. Embrace the power of the Zoho Integration with QuickBooks to transform your operations, enhance customer relationships, and drive financial success. With this integration, you’re poised for a more streamlined, collaborative, and productive future.

Frequently Asked Questions about Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online Integration

1.What is Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration?

The Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration is a powerful solution that connects your customer relationship management (CRM) system with QuickBooks Online, enabling seamless synchronization of data between the two platforms. This integration allows you to streamline your operations, enhance customer relationship management, and improve financial management by eliminating manual data entry and fostering collaboration between sales and finance teams.

2.Can ZBrains assist with setting up the Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration?

Absolutely! At ZBrains, we have experienced consultants who specialize in setting up Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration. Our expert team can guide you through the setup process, tailor the integration to your specific business needs, and provide ongoing support to ensure a seamless and successful integration.

3.How can I get started with the Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration?

To get started with the Zoho CRM QuickBooks Online integration or if you have any questions, simply contact us. Our team will be happy to assist you, provide a consultation, and help you kickstart the integration process. Alternatively, you can sign up for a free introductory consultation to explore the possibilities of integrating Zoho CRM with QuickBooks Online.

Don’t want to set up your integration?  No problem!  Our Service and Engineering teams will do the heavy lifting for you, giving you a tour of the integration dashboard with lots of supporting documentation.

Need some help getting the Zoho and QuickBooks Online integration set up, or have any questions?  Just contact us.

Or, sign up for a free introductory consultation below!  We’ll contact you to help you get everything started.

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G2Crowd Says Zoho CRM is Heating Up in 2016

G2Crowd: Zoho CRM is Heating Up Winter 2016

Howdy, folks!  I have a feeling it’s going to be a big year for Zoho CRM in 2016.  Here’s what’s going on:

G2Crowd has just released their Winter 2016 CRM Grid Report.  G2Crowd, for those not in the know, is an organization that compares different software brands, packaging satisfaction reports and reviews across their website, and occasionally releasing digests like these.

zoho crm

As you can see, the grid contains a list of usual suspects and some pretty interesting data about them:

  • Salesforce leads the way in market presence and ranks behind only a few less-popular options in customer satisfaction.  No shocker there; Salesforce’s massive price tag comes with loads of customizability and support to boot.
  • Sage CRM, NetsuiteMS Dynamics CRM, and SugarCRM show high adoption but comparatively (and, to me, surprisingly) low satisfaction rates.
  • Insightly boasts a much higher satisfaction rate but a lower adoption rate than those older players, which makes some sense as Insightly is a newer product overall.
  • Hubspot CRM is quite close to Salesforce in terms of adoption and satisfaction, with Hubspot boasting a satisfaction rate comparable to Salesforce in spite of a comparatively larger disparity in terms of market presence.

And, most compellingly:

  • Zoho CRM has nearly as much adoption as Salesforce, with a satisfaction rating only slightly lower than the behemoth.  From afar, Zoho and Salesforce are outliers, sporting higher combined adoption and satisfaction rates than most any other system out there.

Pretty nifty!  I’d love to spend time analyzing all the competition out there, but, this entry isn’t quite the place for that.  (However, if you’re curious about how Zoho stacks up against a few solid competitors, you can check out this Zoho CRM Comparison Guide.)  I’d love to address why Zoho’s had such a surge in popularity over the past years, though, and also delve into what this all means to you as a (potential) consumer.

zoho crm

What’s so hot about Zoho right now?

Amidst so many different competitors in the CRM field, what makes Zoho such a compelling option?  It turns out to be a variety of things working together.

  • It’s cloud-based.  On-premise systems were great when they were the only option; nowadays, cloud-based systems allow users to access their data from anywhere with a reliable internet connection, which makes Zoho CRM perfect for the 21st-century businessperson, one who’s probably out of the office more than in, one who needs to be on the go.  Other companies, like Sage, for example, have been slow to release cloud-based CRM options – but, Zoho has been an up-and-comer in that regard since its inception.
  • It’s à la carteWith Zoho, you have all sorts of customization and integration options – not just for the CRM itself, but for its slew of add-ons (apps).  Some CRM systems come with a marketing automation tool if you’re lucky, or, conversely, you might be saddled with a bunch of features your business doesn’t really need.  Zoho eliminates that sort of mess by allowing administrators to choose exactly which proprietary or 3rd-party apps they’d like to use from a list that grows on an almost monthly basis.

zoho crm lower costs

  • It costs much less than its competitors.  Often, money talks more than other factors, and, in spite of Zoho’s array of custom features and applications, the program gets a good amount of mileage simply on the basis of its price.  The most popular Salesforce bundle clocks in at $125 per user per month, while Zoho’s basic bundle comes in at a measly $20 per user per month (not including the free version).  Obviously, popularity alone doesn’t mean equality in other regards (like features, support, etc.) – and, Salesforce being the most expensive option around makes it an extreme example – but, in terms of an overall comparison, the numbers hold up across the board: you get way more bang for your buck with Zoho.
  • You can do it yourself or use a consultant for support.  Zoho isn’t designed specifically to be easy, but, especially ambitious business owners or project managers can implement Zoho CRM, board users, and automate workflows themselves.  It’s a far cry from Salesforce (again, an extreme example), where you need to consult your account representative every time you need to make a change and then jump through additional hoops after that.  On the other hand, if DIY’s not your style, you can choose from a laundry list of Zoho CRM consultants who can help with implementation, general support, training, and any other Zoho need.

This combination of features and options makes Zoho CRM ideal for a business that needs a system that can start big and robust or small and scalable – and, also for ambitious project managers who’d like to implement their own CRMs for simple tasks.  Its home in the cloud makes it perfect for traveling businesspeople.  And, its price is good for anyone.

zoho crm

Looking to warm up your business?

It certainly bears mentioning that if you’d like to utilize Zoho CRM but aren’t too keen on the whole do-it-yourself thing, you have options available.  Using a CRM deployment package through ZBrains saves you the hassle of having to set everything up yourself, which ultimately gives you more time to run your own business.  We’ll handle the hard stuff for you – including support.

zoho crm

Why not go through Zoho directly for Zoho Support?

As enticing as it may be to cut out the middleman and do everything yourself – and simply contact Zoho for support issues – it’s not quite as glamorous as it seems.

Here’s the thing: Zoho is a big company.  They have clients all over the world, but yet – and I know this from dealing with them directly – they’re stretched pretty thin in the support realm.  They have a lot fewer people working in those support trenches than you might think; it’s really no surprise they’ve outsourced all implementations (deployments) to resellers like us.  (I’m guessing the vast majority of Zoho employees are coding and testing all day, which is why they’re able to churn out new products so quickly.)

Anyhow, they’re nice folks, of course, but they’re pretty overburdened.  Unless you have loads of time to kill on the phone or waiting on email replies, it’s always a better option to go with a team that’s more devoted to helping you.

What do you get with ZBrains that you don’t get with other Zoho consultancies?

Well, a few things, actually!  In this day and age, it pays to be a little different.  We’re a Zoho Premium Partner, so that means we provide custom Zoho integrations as well as expertise with Zoho Creator, which means you can integrate a host of popular platforms with Zoho CRM and use our help to create your own custom programs and apps.

Some of those platforms include:

In addition, we offer specially-made tools that help streamline other business procedures, like your quoting process, commission payments, advanced reporting, complex document assembly, and automated appointment scheduling.

As with Zoho itself, all these add-on options are offered on an à la carte basis – but, it certainly helps knowing they’re there.

That about wraps up this post.  Considering its market saturation and customer satisfaction thus far, 2016 looks to be a banner year for Zoho, and, if you choose it for your business…it might be a banner year for you, too!  What are you waiting for? 😉

Cheers,

Jeremy

Zoho Twilio SMS integration

Get text-savvy with the Zoho Twilio SMS integration

Zoho Twilio SMS integration pricing

zoho twilio sms integration

These days, even if you don’t do much traveling for business, you still probably do a lot of business on your phone or mobile device.  You use it to send and receive emails, browse the web, make phone calls, and many other business-related tasks.

In a time when we’ve become so reliant on our phones, it makes sense to integrate more of your business’ aspects with that mobile device and give you the power to push data to your Zoho CRM with just a few mobile keystrokes.  This is made possible with the power of the Zoho Twilio SMS integration, which allows users to use text messaging to push data to Zoho.

We integrate the Twilio API with Zoho CRM easily, giving you instant text-pushing capability.

zoho twilio sms integration

Features available with the Zoho Twilio SMS integration

Zoho Twilio integration comes with a load of standard features designed to mesh Twilio’s SMS or MMS-pushing functionality directly into Zoho CRM.  Enjoy streamlined workflow and the power of texting – all without having to navigate back and forth between two separate programs throughout the day.

Some of what this integration can do:

  • Twilio SMS (text message) recording in Zoho CRM
  • Text message blasts to mobile numbers in your CRM
  • Trigger custom webhooks in Zoho
  • Text message alerts for your team, configurable through your CRM
  • Shortcode programming to execute given orders
  • Push Zoho Support messages to your mobile device for easier responses

Standard Twilio features

Twilio comes with these features regardless of your integration with Zoho:

  • Sends Twilio SMS (text) and MMS (multimedia) messages
  • Detailed delivery info for each sent message
  • Message queuing for Support or Sales settings
  • Many others

zoho twilio sms integration


Why work with ZBrains?

  • As a Zoho Premium Partner, you can rest assured you’re in good hands, and that very few others can bring you the kind of work we can.  Our team of developers will handle all aspects of your integration’s deployment, as well as all training and support issues.
  • Our support team is 100% US-based and never costs anything extra with your Zoho Twilio API subscription.
  • We develop and offer other Zoho plugins you can’t get anywhere else, including a QuickBooks integration, a Google Drive integration, and many other customized tools like our Quote Calculator and Commission Calculator.
  • One of our custom plugins for field services and construction job scheduling, the Zoho SmartScheduler, comes with this Zoho text messaging integration built in.

Want some more info?

It’s easy to get bogged down with your business processes and not ask for any help with something like this.  Don’t let this be one of those situations.  We’re here for you for help on this integration, or anything else related to your business as it pertains to Zoho.

Give us a call, or contact us about this Zoho SMS integration for your CRM.

Connect with Us


For support packages, Zoho training sessions, or consulting, be sure to contact us as well: (888) 207-4111.

Los Angeles CRM Consulting

Do business with certified Los Angeles CRM consulting

los angeles crm consulting

When picking someone to do business with – especially someone to handle something as important as your CRM implementation – you want to make sure you’re employing someone you can trust.  You’ll want someone well known in their technological circle, and someone well known in their locale, too.  ZBrains is happy to be in an elite group of Los Angeles CRM consulting firms; we’re an organization you can depend on for any type of job, be it implementation, training, support, or consulting for Zoho CRM and any of its additions (apps).  Furthermore, we offer coaching in sales, reviews of business processes, as well as specialized gap analysis for your complex systems.

Why choose ZBrains over anyone else?

Surely you have a large pool of consultants to choose from in LA – what makes us better Los Angeles CRM consultants than anyone else?  We like to let our Zoho accreditation speak for itself.  As a Zoho Premium Partner and Zoho Certified Consultant, we’re one of Zoho’s trusted few when it comes to CRM implementation and consulting.  As well, we take Zoho a step further by employing a Development Team that builds custom integrations from Zoho CRM to popular platforms like QuickBooks and many others.  What’s more is we even have you covered for custom apps.  In fact, we’ve built a whole suite of ERP apps on Zoho Creator called FieldTech.  It plugs right into Zoho, and it’s only offered by us.

los angeles crm consulting

Put your business where you want it to be with expert coaching

Have you imagined walking into an office where everyone knew what they were supposed to do, no one wasted any time with needless or repetitive tasks, and revenue was at an all-time high as a result?  Let us take a look at your whole business in a Business Process Analysis.  In a BPA, we examine not only your workers’ respective tasks within your CRM, but your CRM’s place in your business as a whole.  From there, we recommend best practices based on your unique situation.  No two businesses are built alike; don’t trust something you read online that may not even be germane to your business.  Let one of the best Los Angeles CRM consulting firms show you exactly what you can do.

Why go with someone here in LA?

Being based in Los Angeles is almost like being in Silicon Valley; it means we keep abreast of all the latest tech happenings.  We work in downtown Pasadena with a handful of other technology-minded businesses around us.

los angeles crm consulting

And, it’s not just about contributing to the local economy.  Personal touches make everything better. And, what could be better than having someone assist you in setting up your CRM live and in person?  Anyone can direct you over the phone, but only a local firm can get a feel for how you work in person.  That extra bit of perception makes all the difference in offering better consulting for your business.  And, it never hurts to put faces to the names and voices you hear every day.

Call (888) 207-4111 or contact us and we’ll show you exactly what a Los Angeles CRM consulting expert can do for you and your business with service that’s absolutely personalized.

 

 

 

Zoho QuickBooks Integration Video PLUS DIY Announcement

Howdy, all!

We’ve got a double-helping of QuickBooks information for you.  Today’s blog post serves two purposes:

  1. To let you know that we’ve updated our Zoho QuickBooks Desktop integration page with a new video that shows how the integration works.
  2. To let you know about our upcoming DIY integration for Zoho and QuickBooks.

The Zoho QuickBooks integration video

We made this in hopes that it would help the good number of you who’ve been calling and emailing in with questions about how the Zoho QuickBooks integration functions.  It was high time we put out something like this, and, we really appreciate how patient you’ve all been.

The video should help to answer some of the really basic questions about how the plugin works.  Once you’ve watched that and you have some additional technical questions, we’ll (still) be glad to talk to you about those.

Anyway, you can check out the Zoho QuickBooks integration video below!

 

If you have any additional questions after watching the video, don’t hesitate to call is at (888) 207-4111.  Or, submit your information right here and we’ll reach out to you ourselves.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel, too, for fresh video content.

The Zoho QuickBooks DIY integration is coming!

zoho quickbooks integration

We’re very excited about this, as we’ve been working on getting a do-it-yourself version of our QuickBooks integration to you for a good, long while – and, I know many of you, business owners and resellers alike, have been waiting for this very patiently.  And, we’re very thankful for that.

The DIY integration is slated for launch on January 1st, so, keep your eyes peeled.

To accompany the integration, we’ll have a full page of information so you’ll see exactly what the product consists of, as well as a video detailing how it all works and how you can install it on your system.

If you’re new: What does it do?

Of course, not everyone who reads this blog has been poring over it for months.  For those of you who don’t know, a QuickBooks integration with Zoho is designed to sync information across the two platforms.  The amount of information that gets synced depends on which package you’re looking at; it happens that a lot of people were waiting for this free integration to arrive, either because they simply didn’t require the synching power of our premium integrations, or because the premium integrations were outside their price point.

Of course, Zoho CRM isn’t the only one that can sync with QuickBooks…but, we think it’s the best one for a number of reasons.  (Method CRM, for example, is supported by Intuit directly and integrates with QuickBooks, but is not nearly as customizable as Zoho.)

A few fast facts for the freemium integration:

Here’s a little primer to get you started:

  • The DIY freemium integration utilizes the QuickBooks Web Connector to sync data between Zoho and QuickBooks, just like our premium integration.
  • It will allow you to sync Accounts/Customers and Products between Zoho and QuickBooks in a bi-directional sync.
  • It will come with its own tutorial video detailing how it all works and showing you how to install it.
  • It’s completely free – no strings attached.

Keep it locked here for future notifications!

staring at monitor

We may have more news on this before the final release date of January 1st, so, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to get the latest updates and other fresh content.  (Use the buttons at the top of this entry.)

As always, please call (888) 207-4111 if you have any questions about the freemium integration, the Zoho QuickBooks integration video, or if you need additional Zoho consulting, support, or Zoho training options.

 

 

 

 

QuickBooks API with Zoho CRM

quickbooks api with zoho

Ever since Zoho phased out their own QuickBooks Desktop integration, businesses have been sleuthing away for a solution to the lack of connectivity between the two business management programs.  And, while many solutions have arisen from the rubble, there seems to be a dearth of good solutions that link the desktop version of QuickBooks API with Zoho CRM.

Close, but not quite

There are many solutions that connect QuickBooks API with Zoho available, to be sure.  But, they usually either miss key features or take you on a circuitous route through something that should be relatively straightforward.

  • Zapier can connect QuickBooks to Zoho CRM, sure.  But, doing so requires a third party (Zapier) that’s likely neither very familiar with Zoho nor QuickBooks.  So, who do you turn to when you run into trouble?
  • Method CRM can integrate with QuickBooks, but, that necessarily requires you move away from Zoho CRM.  And, while Method CRM is simple and sleek, it doesn’t contain any of the marketing campaign tools that make the Zoho suite of apps such an intuitive choice for so many businesses.

As if it wasn’t bad enough to go through a third party or lose key CRM features, some solutions only cater to QuickBooks Online users, leaving Desktop users in the dust.

quickbooks api with zoho

A Zoho QuickBooks integration that works

We’ve spent years perfecting our integration to QuickBooks, so, when you do business with us, we’re prepared to offer you a QuickBooks API with Zoho that functions exactly the way it’s supposed to.  Our integration uses the QuickBooks web connector and web hooks to synchronize data from modules you choose and performs these functions:

  • Creates and updates customers, products, orders, invoices, sales orders, and purchase orders between Zoho and QuickBooks
  • Synchronizes data both ways (bi-directional sync) so data remains constant across both platforms
  • Reduces time you or your staff have to spend re-entering data into either program

Can we help you integrate the QuickBooks API with Zoho CRM?

quickbooks api with zoho

The answer to that question is yes, of course.  All our support is completely based in the USA and comes with the purchase of an integration of QuickBooks API with Zoho.  And, as well:

  1. Our team of experts will see your installation through from start to finish, ensuring your QuickBooks API with Zoho works exactly how it should, and ensuring you don’t have any trouble later.  We can set up a consulting session with you to get your field mapping correct.  We’ll also train you so you know exactly how to use the sync tool.
  2. If you need a customized sync, such as only active products, don’t worry about it – we can configure that for you as well.  We can assist with any specialized workflow you need created.
  3. If you’re like most businesses, you need your data quickly – so, we engineered our integration of QuickBooks with Zoho to batch records 200 at a time in order to minimize API calls.
  4. And, if you’re like most businesses, you probably also have custom fields in your Zoho CRM.  We can help you map those fields as well – just let us know!

Get started today with the QuickBooks API with Zoho CRM

Schedule an appointment today and get your QuickBooks working with your Zoho CRM like you always imagined it could – because it can!  Submit your info here and we’ll be in touch with you shortly.  While you’re waiting, you can read up on our QuickBooks integration extensions in the Zoho Marketplace.

 

Marketing Automation & Social Integration

Do you really need Marketing Automation and Social Integration in order to excel in business?

marketing automation social integration

Chances are if you’re reading this blog post, the answer in your mind is a resounding yes.  But, the answer isn’t as intuitive to everyone. That includes owners of very small companies, very traditionally sales-oriented companies, and others who have simply never known the power of CRM automation.  And, I write this in hopes that someone reading this gains a bit of insight.

I decided to write this as a followup to a prior post where we compared Zoho CRM to Method:CRM.  The problem I noticed is that while Zoho CRM allows users to set up automated marketing and social media campaigns, Method:CRM doesn’t provide users a way to carry out those seemingly fundamental tasks.  And, I have a feeling it’s because of the mindset that marketing automation just doesn’t matter, or that a business can get by with a simple contact management system and an integration with QuickBooks.

So, for those skeptical folks among us, what does marketing automation do for you?  It’s more than meets the eye.

Increase engagement by promoting via email

marketing automation social integration

Obviously, drumming up business is never a bad thing.  So, what do you do when contacts and leads fall by the wayside and you haven’t reached out to them in months?

Just like in world of social interaction, engaging someone who’s gone cold can prove tricky.  But, you shouldn’t use that as an excuse not to try it.  Chances are if you got someone’s contact info, that someone was engaged enough at one point and just got sidetracked.  Or you got too busy, or life just happened, as it often does.

With marketing automation, you have the opportunity to re-engage that person – and perhaps countless others.  You could even land a big deal that was a long time coming. Use anything of these excuses to send a message:

  1. A change of seasons
  2. The beginning of the month
  3. An approaching holiday
  4. Anything else you can think of!

Note that no one ever gets 100% engagement in an email campaign.  But, if the product you pitch generates enough revenue, you’ll win with just one sale anyway.

Does chat really help?

marketing automation social integration

When thinking about whether or not installing a chat box on your website will really help customer engagement, it’s easy to think of it as too invasive.  For example, just think of that annoying kid who comes up to you in Target when you’re just trying to find anything.  No, of course you don’t need any help!  But, being accosted in a department store is much different than receiving a chat message from someone when you’re on an unfamiliar site, perhaps unsure of how to proceed after landing on the home page…  You could be under a tremendous time crunch and need help finding information quickly.  Or, you may not even know if you’ve hit the right site at all.

The truth is chat really does help.  People who you engage via chat are more likely to trust you.  This makes them more likely to buy from you in the long run.  By communicating with visitors on your website, you’re able to find out a good deal about them: why they’re visiting, what their respective companies do, their level of authority…as well as more personal things, as often happens over chat.  You can use the information you get from your prospects to simply follow up with them in the future, or even research them more in depth later.  But, no matter what, you’ll have them in your own CRM in a flash.  And, that’s miles better than either double-entering the lead into your database manually or not having the lead to begin with.

marketing automation social integration

What are you missing without marketing and social automation?

Well…kind of a lot.

Without marketing automation, you probably have a way to contact your leads through your CRM… But, you likely have a limited number of email templates to choose from.  And, you definitely won’t have any way of keeping track of who actually opens and clicks on your emails.

One of the greatest things about a social plugin for your website is the notion that visitors have a way of reaching you from the comfort of their chairs.  This means no picking up a phone or even using their voices!  By using chat, you’ll engage people whose attention you simply may never have garnered before. This leads to sales you never would have had, and relationships that never could have been possible.

And, another thing: chat makes users more likely to engage you themselves.  On a website with chat enabled, customers or prospects usually face three possible contact options:

  1. Send an email (and, it could take hours or even days to get a response)
  2. Pick up the phone (where you could get a voicemail or thrown on hold indefinitely)
  3. Chat (where you know someone’s waiting at their desk to service your request)

It’s easy to see why someone might pick the chat option.  No long wait time, no pressure to articulate thoughts correctly the first time (because of your backspace key).  And, of course, the knowledge that someone is waiting to help you.  (As long as the box says they’re available, of course.)

Without chat, you’re quite limited.  Customers and potential customers can only reach you if they pick up the phone, send you an email, or fill out a form.  And, some of your potential customers will certainly do that.  But, I would guess many more will opt for chat for the reasons aforementioned.

Zoho gives you an edge with marketing automation and social integrations

zoho marketing automation social integration

Zoho has a good deal of clout just from its CRM, but the addition of marketing and social apps like Zoho Campaigns and Zoho Social make its offering of apps much more enticing.  SalesIQ rounds it out with a great website chat feature, too.  All of their social and marketing apps integrate with the CRM, so you won’t need to manually copy information from app to app.  And, the addition of Zoho MarketingHub to its arsenal further expands Zoho’s marketing sphere, putting it in the same realm as a HubSpot or Salesforce Marketing Cloud.  Futhermore, all of these apps are available in Zoho One, which is Zoho’s entire family of apps bundled together for a fairly low price.  With that kind of offering, there’s never been a better time to take your first steps into Zoho.

This post is admittedly lengthy, but, I hope you gain at least one bit of valuable knowledge from it.  Marketing automation and social integration really do help boost overall engagement by giving you insight into your customers’ behavior patterns.  And, if you have a choice between picking a CRM with marketing tools and one without…go with the one that includes them!

Zoho Sales Gamification

Zoho Sales Gamification is here!

sales gamification

Welcome Zoho Motivator!

Note: As of February 2020, Zoho Corporation has discontinued Zoho Motivator.  Rather than continue developing the app, Zoho has moved many of its features (and then some) to Zoho CRM.  This gives users a more unified experience, and allows for easy sales gamification access without needing two different Zoho apps.  Read on for our full-write up of Zoho Motivator, but look for many of these features inside Zoho CRM.

Zoho Motivator might be my favorite new Zoho app as of late.  Most Zoho products fulfill a business need or make a process easier, but, only Zoho Motivator can take something like sales and turn it into a game through bona fide Zoho sales gamification.  But, what’s so hot about sales gamification?

Well, picture this.

sales gamification

You go into an office day-in and day-out.  You strive to reach your sales goals every day or every week.  …And, sometimes you have a head honcho breathing down your neck the whole time.  You get a paycheck every month, but…it’s just not fun anymore.  The energy in your office is lacking, and, it’s getting lower by the second.

Obviously, this doesn’t sound very fulfilling or healthy.  What can you do?  Or, better yet, what can your boss do to turn this situation around?

It’s actually pretty easy.

By using sales gamification via Zoho Motivator, you give your sales team a new lease on life, and get them doing things you always wanted but never imagined possible.  All it takes is a little positive reinforcement and a little competitive nature, both of which Zoho Motivator gives you the power to provide.

Sales Gamification Means Something for Everyone

sales gamification

Zoho Motivator turns an ordinary selling stint into a contest.  This comes complete with statistics for your team members, detailed analytics for a sales director, and the ability to really up the ante with prizes linked to sales milestones.  Furthermore, you can broadcast it all on your office TV monitor (or multiple monitors) for some real in-office fun.

Detailed stats mean quicker sales

Your sales team members will feel like stars when they can access all their statistics from the Zoho Motivator app.  Team members can use these stats to compare themselves to their peers and use historical data plotted on graphs to measure their progress over time.  They can even see comprehensive pipeline views that show how long their prospects spend in each sales stage, giving them an idea of where they can improve their own processes.  It’s also important to note that many of the stats provided by Zoho Motivator, like pipeline velocity and close ratio, can’t be found in Zoho CRM or QuickBooks alone.

Sales gamification means teamwork!

sales gamification

Having the very idea of sales turn into a game with Zoho Motivator makes it intuitive for a sales team to band together in order to achieve the highest success rate.  Team leaders can use dashboards to look into their own processes and offer key advice to team members in need.  Or, they can just use them to offer congratulations when one of their own closes a big deal.

When teams compete, you win

Having your sales team members band together is great when you have a strong team leader.  But, having two sales teams face off against each other in a little friendly competition?  Even better, and even more fun for everyone.  You can sweeten the pot by adding publicly viewable prizes to each sales level a given team reaches.  Or, simply leave a pot of gold at the end of the month for the team with the highest revenue to take!  The possibilities are many.

Your own sales channel can really MoTVate your office

sales gamification

Zoho Motivator’s healthy flow of statistics and analytics into the lives of your sales team members will do a lot to help them have fun and work towards sales goals .  But, broadcasting live sales stats on a screen in your office makes things even more fun!  With the spotlight thrust upon them, your sales team members will have reason to work even harder.

Are you feeling motivated today?

sales gamification

At ZBrains, we know that sales gamification can invigorate a stagnant sales environment, and Zoho Motivator is the perfect tool for the job. If you need help with Zoho consulting, support, or training, give us a call at (888) 207-4111.

Happy selling!

Zoho Motivator

zoho motivator

Drive Your Sales Team’s Success with Zoho Motivator

Note: As of February 2020, Zoho has deprecated Zoho Motivator.  Rather than keep the special KPIs and charts separate from the CRM, Zoho Corporation has moved these items into the CRM.  In addition to making these features more accessible, this move has improved the general user experience of Zoho CRM.  Please read on for our write-up on Zoho Motivator, but bear in mind these features are either available or in development for Zoho CRM.

Zoho‘s Motivator app for Zoho CRM is designed to make your sales team work even harder for you – and, as the name suggests, really want to do it.  Just how does that work?  Well, it’s simple…

What Zoho Motivator Does

zoho motivator

Zoho Motivator turns an ordinary day doing sales behind a desk into a game.  And, the thing about playing games is they’re much more fun than doing work.  What about playing games that contribute to getting work done?  It may sound too good to be true – but, it isn’t!

Zoho Motivator compiles statistics about your team’s performance and pits individual team members against each other in friendly competition.  You can leave your team members to try besting one another.  Or, you could up the ante by providing a prize to the sales winner, complete with a countdown to victory.

As for access, you can give your sales team access to Zoho Motivator, sure.  But, for a true big game environment, you can project Zoho Motivator onto your central office TV monitor(s).  Your sales team – and, soon, your expectations – will completely transform.

How Zoho Motivator Works to Boost Sales

It can be a little tough to grasp how such a simple concept as gamification can have such a drastic effect on your sales team.  Here are some ways the motivational app can contribute to your team’s success:

  • Having fun makes it easier to make sales.  When you’re not having a good time at work, it affects how you deal with your clients and prospects, whether you’re in a meeting or simply talking on the phone.  Conversely, doing better at work is as simple as having a good time; the people you communicate with will be able to tell you’re in a good mood. And, as you know, that often translates into warmer receptions and more sales.
  • Access to stats means you can pinpoint and replicate successes.  Without knowing when your team’s best calls or meetings are, and who your respective team members’ best clients are for their unique personalities and other particulars, it’s difficult to achieve any degree of success consistently.  With that in mind, Zoho Motivator comes equipped with a variety of sales dashboards that show success rates by geographical region, by time, and by other factors that you can customize to best take advantage of your pool of talent.

zoho motivator

  • Competition encourages growth – and, so collaborates.  Letting your team members see each other’s successes through Zoho Motivator is a wonderful way to encourage competition.  But, it also fosters a collaborative spirit if your sales goals are team-oriented.  Having access to statistics means your team leaders know which of their team members are doing the best and which members need the most help.
  • Seeing statistics improves overall morale and makes your team work even harder.  Adding onto the previous note, giving your team access to their statistics as well as those of their peers can give them a sense of pride.  And, it can encourage them to work even harder to match their peers.

How does Zoho Motivator make you more money?

Increased sales aside, what exactly does the Zoho sales gamification app do to put more money in your pocket?

Every business has questions like, Why did this deal close faster than that deal?, or, How can we shorten our sales cycle even further for maximum output?  Motivator gives you the tools to answer those very questions.

zoho motivator

Sales Dashboards show all your KPIs on one screen

You can choose between a selection of KPIs like several calls, deals closed, meetings, and other indicators you choose on your own.  Having these numbers at your fingertips allows you to more accurately assess your team’s performance.  And, in turn, it lets you create strategies to improve sales numbers even more.

Furthermore, if you get bogged down by seeing too many numbers at once, you can customize your KPI dashboard to show only the numbers you want to see.  You can also hide the ones you don’t want on a different dashboard for later use.

zoho motivator

Your dashboards can not only display figures but analyze them for you

As is often harped on this website, saving time gives you more money in the long run.  And, when it comes to analyzing and reporting sales numbers, this certainly holds.  The Motivator app’s dashboards cut down the time you might spend crunching numbers and analyzing data by giving you real, meaningful stats.  For example:

  • Trend charts gather historical sales data, making it easy to pinpoint monthly anomalies.  In turn, you can set sales benchmarks using this data.
  • Individual breakdown charts.  Giving employees due feedback is a great way to let them know you value their work and that you’ve noticed their contributions.  And, of course, it gives them the tools they need to improve their work.
  • Pipeline velocity charts show how quickly deals move through your pipeline en route to closing by breaking down your sales cycle by stage and showing trends for each of those stages.  These sorts of calculations are specific to Zoho Motivator and can’t be done by scouring Zoho CRM or QuickBooks.  As with many Zoho features, this one can be customized to your liking as well.

zoho motivator

Encourage the sales behavior you want

Turn your own organization-level goals into sales goals by breaking them down into personalized chunks.  Zoho Motivator can help by creating a daily target phone call goal for your team, as well as many other customized, trackable goals.  You can assign these goals to individual salespeople, teams, or your entire organization.

On the back end, you can track the progress of your salespeople as necessary.  Zoho Motivator gives up-to-the-minute reports without disrupting anything.  This, in turn, gives you a clear picture of anything happening on the sales floor at any given time.

Zoho Motivator is perfect for sales contests!

Almost nothing beats the thrill of a high-stakes sales contest…  So, why not foster that kind of environment at your office and see how it puts a spring in everyone’s step?  You can use Zoho Motivator to create contests derived from your sales goals in just a few clicks.

Use contests as a way to build teams

When there’s something real to be gained, especially an actual prize, your salespeople will band together if you put them on teams.  You can use this as a way to strengthen your team members by placing them on teams with sales veterans.  When their success depends on the success of others, you can be sure they’ll jump in to help your less experienced team members.

Tie rewards to goals – and, let the whole team (or office) know it when they win

Use Motivator to let your teams know what they can win depending on their degrees of success.  The app will send an email to the winning team (or person) once they’ve achieved their goal.  If you project the Motivator app onto your office TV monitor, you can let the entire office know at once.

Zoho MoTVator

Create custom channels consisting of dashboards filled with KPIs, individual team member statistics, and a leaderboard so teams can track their distance to their rewards.  Adding variety to your screens makes your Zoho Motivator channel look more like a company-wide TV program!

You can also use your TV screen to broadcast big announcements, like an additional prize for reaching a particular goal more quickly.  Or, you could congratulate a team member for reaching a goal more quickly than anticipated.

zoho motivator

Are you feeling (Zoho) Motivated?

Zoho Motivator is deceptively simple!  It simply takes numbers from your sales records and broadcasts them, compiling statistics that aren’t accessible simply from Zoho CRM.  But, the power it can bring to a sales team is practically boundless.  This is especially the case when your team just needs a little kick in the pants to be great.

We’d love to talk to you more about Zoho Motivator

Call us at (888) 207-4111 or use this form to contact us and we’ll answer any questions you have about the app, as well as any other Zoho CRM consulting or CRM training questions.  Happy selling!

Zoho Inventory Management

zoho inventory management

Zoho Inventory Management

Want to use Zoho to track inventory, monitor usage, place orders, and ship items from one window? With Zoho inventory management, now you can.

Zoho has recently released the Zoho Inventory app, which means you can conduct all your Zoho inventory management from inside Zoho – and, import all your data to your Zoho CRM and Zoho Books, so you don’t have any more of the double entry you might be used to.

How the Zoho Inventory Management App Works

zoho inventory management

Using Zoho Inventory is as simple as using any other Zoho app; once you integrate it with Zoho CRM, you’re ready to roll!  Zoho Inventory comes with these great features:

3rd-party store integrations for increased sales

One of Zoho Inventory’s key features is the ability to integrate to platforms like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and Shopify. Integrations allow direct tracking and data importing, eliminating the need for manual data entry and saving time.

Now you have every reason to expand to online storefronts if integration was your only hurdle.

One window to rule them all

If you’re used to keeping track of all your inventory, vendors, and related analytics in separate windows or programs, you know it’s a hassle. It doesn’t have to be like that for you, though.  With the Zoho inventory management app, you’ll be able to keep track of everything inventory-related: your key metrics, vendors, shipping statuses, and the orders themselves (both online and offline).

Track products’ journeys from start to finish

zoho inventory management

End-to-end tracking means you’ll know the status of any item you ship from the moment it leaves the stockroom shelf to the minute it arrives at your customer’s door.  Not only will you never lose track of anything again, but, the system can also remind you when your stock of particular items is running low, so you can order more of them.

Plug in your shipping engines

Zoho inventory management is more than just aggregating all your analytics and item statistics; you can even use it to inegrate to shipping modules powered by UPS, DHL, and FedEx, among others.  This ensures you have access to real-time shipping prices and facilitates the tracking of orders.

Integrate with Zoho CRM and Zoho Books (and other programs)

Again, any time you spend manually transferring data from one program to another – or even one Zoho app to another – is time that could be better spent doing anything else!  The Zoho inventory management app takes the extra work off your schedule by mapping and syncing customer data directly to Zoho CRM, and transferring financial data to Zoho Books.  The sync is bi-drectional, which means the system can also pull data from your CRM and your Books app into Zoho Inventory.

To boot, ZBrains customers have access to a host of integrations and custom Zoho ERP apps that can’t be found anywhere else.  These include the Zoho CRM QuickBooks integration, Zoho Executive Dashboards, Zoho Commission Calculator, CPQ Tool, and many others.

Zoho Inventory Management Pricing

You can view Zoho’s prices for Zoho Inventory below.  If you aren’t quite sure if you want to dive into Zoho Inventory, that’s okay, too; there’s a free trial version available.

zoho inventory management

Closing Thoughts…

Zoho Inventory looks like a great addition to the Zoho family.  Its purpose is simple and intuitive, but, it brings together a really good deal of helpful tools and statistics that would make the life of any storeroom manager (and his staff) quite a bit easier, and for a price that’s more than reasonable.

Still not sure what to do?

We can give you a tour of Zoho Inventory, answer any Zoho CRM consulting question, give you a CRM training session, or show you our Zoho support plans at your convenience; just call us at (888) 207-4111.

Zoho Integrations