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Zoho CRM Shopify Integration

Published on: October 9, 2019Category: Last Updated: October 21, 2024

Boost Sales with Seamless Shopify-Zoho CRM Integration

zoho crm shopify integration

Most anyone running an online business knows double-entry is a necessary evil – or, at least, it was at one point.  The reason for this is when your orders take place in one system, but they need to be reconciled with data in another system, there is sometimes a disconnect between those two systems.  In the case of a Zoho CRM Shopify integration, no out-of-the-box solution exists, and users simply have to look elsewhere for a fix for this problem…  And, the time you spend manually entering transaction data across platforms is time that would undoubtedly be better spent doing anything else related to your business.

In the battle of your business versus the passing of time, you deserve a true Zoho Shopify integration, not something cobbled together.  To that end, we’ve designed an integration that gives you back your time and allows you to do what you do best: run your business.

–> Contact us for an integration assessment.

zoho crm shopify integration

Features of the Zoho Shopify Integration

  1. Integrates with both Zoho CRM and/or Zoho Creator
    • Syncs abandoned carts from Shopify to Zoho CRM as leads
    • Syncs transactions, customers, and products from Shopify to Zoho Creator
  2. Syncs these modules from Shopify to Zoho Creator
    1. Customers
    2. Products
    3. Quotes
    4. Orders
    5. Shipments

This tool works as a Zoho CRM Shopify integration.  However, it truly shines when connected to a custom Zoho order management (ERP) system built in Zoho Creator.  This way, all of your transactions flow across platforms painlessly – and, those transactions housed in Zoho Creator can be reflected in Zoho CRM via a related list.

zoho crm shopify integration

How the Zoho CRM Shopify Integration Works

To better illustrate how this integration would work for you, we can imagine a few different scenarios:

Website visitor who abandons their shopping cart: In this case, Shopify gathers the potential customer’s data, but that person never submits an order to you.  Our integration grabs the customer information and syncs it to Zoho CRM as a lead.  You can follow your normal procedures with CRM leads at this point, or you can designate special assignments or followup rules for leads coming from Shopify.

Visitors who submit an order to you: Shopify houses all the information necessary to complete the order at this point, from quote to order to shipment.  (This also includes essential modules like customers and products.)  Note that not all of this information has to be synced from Shopify to Zoho – just the information you would have double-entered.  As needed, information can then be synced to your Zoho Creator order management app and then made visible inside Zoho CRM.

Do your Shopify orders require extra purchasing or manufacturing?

Sometimes, simply syncing information from Shopify to Zoho isn’t enough; you need something else to help you fulfill your orders.  Sync data from the Zoho order management app to custom Zoho Creator applications designed for your needs:

zoho crm shopify integration

  1. Zoho Manufacturing Orders, for when you need to customize products you already have in stock to complete orders.  Orders can be synced to this app based on triggers.
  2. Zoho Inventory Management software, for managing purchases.
    • This also connects to MRP and RMA modules.

Our complete solution adds value to your business where you wouldn’t have found it otherwise.

Seamless Data Synchronization:

The Zoho CRM Shopify integration facilitates seamless data synchronization between the two platforms. This means that customer information, orders, and inventory data can be automatically synced, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information across systems.

  1. Order Management: With the integration, businesses can manage their Shopify orders directly from within Zoho CRM. This feature enables sales teams to have a holistic view of customer interactions, order history, and purchase patterns, empowering them to provide personalized and targeted sales and support.

  2. Customer Segmentation and Targeting: Zoho CRM’s robust customer segmentation capabilities combined with Shopify’s e-commerce data allow businesses to create targeted marketing campaigns. By analyzing customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history, companies can segment their customer base and deliver tailored promotions, offers, and recommendations, ultimately increasing conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

  3. Centralized Customer Communication: The integration centralizes customer communication by capturing Shopify order information within Zoho CRM. Sales and support teams can access this information, enabling them to provide prompt and informed responses to customer inquiries, thus improving overall customer service.

  4. Inventory Management: The integration allows businesses to efficiently manage inventory levels and avoid stockouts or overselling. By syncing Shopify’s inventory data with Zoho CRM, companies gain visibility into product availability, track stock movements, and automate reordering processes, optimizing inventory management workflows.

  5. Streamlined Sales Process: Zoho CRM Shopify integration streamlines the sales process by providing a unified view of customer interactions and sales opportunities. Sales representatives can access real-time data, track sales activities, and collaborate with team members effectively, resulting in improved productivity and sales performance.

  6. Reporting and Analytics: The integration offers powerful reporting and analytics capabilities. Businesses can generate comprehensive reports and gain valuable insights into sales performance, customer behavior, and product trends. These insights enable data-driven decision-making, helping businesses identify growth opportunities and optimize their sales and marketing strategies.

  7. Customization and Scalability: Zoho CRM Shopify integration provides flexibility and customization options to cater to unique business requirements. The integration can be tailored to automate specific workflows, configure data mapping, and implement business rules, ensuring a seamless and scalable solution for businesses of all sizes.

Let’s see how the Shopify Zoho CRM Integration would work for you

Get an assessment from us and we’ll paint you a complete picture

We want to know you and your business to provide a solution that works and is supported for years to come.

–> Contact us for an assessment.

Zoho SmartScheduler | Contact Us

Published on: October 8, 2019Category: Last Updated: April 27, 2023


Reload

Zoho for Technology, SaaS, and Subscription Businesses

Published on: September 28, 2019Category: Last Updated: October 21, 2024

Optimize Your Zoho System for Tech/SaaS Businesses

zoho technology saas business

Zoho does a great job of positioning itself as a great choice for subscription-based businesses, or anyone dealing with technology.  You’ve got the all-important Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, and Zoho Subscriptions – which plugs wonderfully into Zoho Books.  You also have Zoho Inventory for any physical items that dovetail with your tech offerings.  And, you have Zoho Desk for managing support requests that invariably come up.  You may even decide Zoho One, with its suite of 45+ apps, is the best choice.  (For many companies, it is.)

Zoho Technology offers powerful and flexible software for technology, SaaS, and subscription-based businesses. However, to make it work for your unique needs, it requires more than just documentation.

We live in a digital world, but not everything is so intuitive.  You deserve a resource to help you with the software side of managing your business.

zoho technology saas business

Zoho gives you all the power you could possibly want to put together a system that works for you – but, without understanding your business, Zoho can’t advise you one way or the other on best practices.  That goes for:

  • Setting up the system properly to solve your current problems
  • Setting it up to anticipate future issues with growth
  • Making it so your employees (or contractors) will actually want to use the system

Technology, SaaS, or subscription-based businesses often face particular issues when deploying Zoho.  When deploying your own system, you may want to consider these listed below.  To supplement this, we also offer business assessments for deploying a Zoho system.  This is specific to tech/SaaS companies, and any deployment projects include Zoho consulting and training on any apps.

3 Challenges for Tech/SaaS Businesses with Zoho

zoho technology saas business

…And how to help alleviate them

#1. Recognition of Revenue

This obvious problem arises in any subscription-based business; it affects many technology companies who use that business model, particularly.  This comes up because subscription-based businesses have a choice: Recognize revenue for, say, an annual contract, in chunks once per year, or recognize it on a monthly basis.  There are a few different ways to accommodate this need.

  • For recurring services, you could create one deal per year with an amount equivalent to the year of service, or create recurring deals each month.
  • You could also create multiple deals ahead of time and future-date their closing dates.
  • Lastly, you could use the deals module only for current monthly deals, use the sales orders module for future monthly deals, and the invoices module for closed-won deals (in this case, paid invoices).

In tandem with or instead of using deals, you could also use Zoho Subscriptions to track monthly subscription revenue (as well as any one-time startup or deployment fees) and integrate this directly with the accounts module of Zoho CRM, as well as Zoho Books.

Bear in mind there is no simple way to determine which of these ways is best, however.  Figuring this out almost always warrants a larger discussion about how your business works generally.

#2. Complex Quoting and Job Costing

zoho technology saas business

If you only sell software, you can get by using a combination of Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and Zoho Subscriptions as your customer hub and financial hubs.  However, if you offer physical products in tandem with software, things become a little trickier.  And, if your services involve installation or delivery of said hardware too, it can be even more confusing to figure out exactly how to get everything working correctly.  Standard Zoho apps simply aren’t enough to accommodate complex quoting needs.

  • Rather than bang your head against a wall, you could use a custom Zoho CPQ tool, built on Zoho Creator.  This tool can use your own factors, triggers, and calculations to assemble quotes that include not just software, but hardware and even services.  The app includes a quote configurator, as well as kitting or bundling.  If you need quotes assembled from in the field, you could use a mobile Zoho CPQ app, which includes these very same features plus mobile capability.

Like complex quote assembly, Zoho similarly doesn’t provide a standard solution for calculating costs of individual jobs.  Of course, it’s possible to simply integrate QuickBooks with Zoho, but those who don’t already use the program probably won’t jump at the opportunity to use it solely for job costing.

  • To that end, you might consider a custom Zoho job costing module, also built on Zoho Creator.  This tool allows for combining the values of running software, the cost of hardware, and even the cost to deploy that hardware and software on-site, so you can accurately gauge your profitability.  It’s work you could probably do yourself, given enough time.  But, for many, the opportunity cost is simply too great and it isn’t worth it to reinvent the wheel.

#3. Multiple Subscriptions for the Same Product

zoho technology saas business

If you run a business that sells more than one of a certain kind of product to any respective business where expiration dates can vary, it may not make sense to use Zoho Subscriptions.  Rather, you could utilize something simpler, the deals module of Zoho CRM.  Using the deals module for this scenario would allow for creating as many deals as necessary, associating any product with those deals, and modifying each deal closing date according to the subscription renewal dates.

This sort of fix could apply to any B2B SaaS, technology, or other subscription-based company selling to end-users within a company, where those users are expected to renew their own licenses and receive reimbursement for the costs.  As always, it’s best to talk with a certified Zoho consultant before adopting a system like this for your own business.

Get started today

Even with a modest number of apps that cater to businesses like yours, Zoho seems to expand its offerings almost monthly.  And, that’s a double-edged sword for the end-user.  It’s great that so many great apps are available.  But, it’s also not-so-great because can never be quite sure if you’re doing things the right way.

Instead of leaving it to chance, contact us for an assessment that’s geared specifically to your business, whether you deal in SaaS, other technology, or you use subscriptions in any form.

Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho One Review

Published on: September 7, 2019Category: Zoho CRM Plus, Zoho OneLast Updated: October 21, 2024 Comments: 0

Zoho is at once an amazing and frustrating product.  You probably have some idea of this, or maybe you’re still in the dark – but, the truth is out there.  In this article we compare Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho One.

crm plus vs zoho one

Zoho is incredible in the scope of what it can do and at the price you pay for it.  

There are very few, if any other platforms that provide so many different software apps, and so much useful functionality, for such a low price, comparatively.  But, at the same time, Zoho’s various products – whose functionality often overlap – and software bundles with the very same issue, are often not explained in enough detail for potential customers to make informed buying decisions.

There is so much information about Zoho products available.  How can none of it accurately tell you the difference between, for example, Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho One?  It’s enough to drive you up the wall.  

When comparing CRM Plus vs Zoho One on the surface, the offerings seem similar enough: Bundles of Zoho apps for members of your company to use.  But, one bundle includes many Zoho apps (Zoho One) and one includes comparatively fewer (CRM Plus).  And, Zoho One is more expensive… Unless you get your whole company on the software, in which case it becomes much cheaper.  Is this gaming the system? What gives?

Well, not quite.  There’s actually a method to the madness that is the different pricing and different apps present in the Zoho One and Zoho CRM Plus bundles.  In this post, we’ll address the two problems that seem to arise from having different bundles with seemingly (but not actually) illogical pricing models.  Then, we’ll lay out some facts to help you determine which bundle is best for your business. Finally, we’ll give you a bit of history that led to the introduction of Zoho One at all.

crm plus vs zoho one

One problem: Why does Zoho offer two different bundles?

The answer here is simple on its surface.  Zoho One and Zoho CRM Plus exist to meet two different distinct software needs.

What is Zoho One? 

Zoho One is Zoho’s all-inclusive bundle, boasting 40+ fully-featured apps, all Enterprise-level (Zoho’s top tier of features).  You can purchase a license for any number of employees at your company for $105/user/month*. However, if all employees at your company use Zoho One, the price is only $45/user/month*.  Obviously, that’s a substantial difference.

What is Zoho CRM Plus? 

CRM Plus is the original Zoho bundle: Nine essential Zoho apps, all Enterprise-level, for $69/user/month*, regardless of how many employees use the apps.  This gives companies a better overall cost than they would get from buying different Zoho apps a la carte. (Apps include Zoho CRM, Campaigns, Zoho Desk, SalesIQ, Social, Projects, Survey, Analytics, and Motivator.)

*Pricing updated June 2021

So, we can see these two bundles serve distinct purposes.  We can deduce from the pricing info that CRM Plus is an intuitive choice for a company looking to save on licensing for many of the apps they would need anyway. But, they might not want to give all of their employees a license.  This situation comes up frequently for manufacturers, who often have many employees who work in a warehouse or factory and never interact with computers at all.  There’s no point in those employees having Zoho licenses they will never use.

Zoho One, on the other hand, is a great choice for a company that is either:

  1. To save significantly on software licensing costs, consider purchasing licenses for all employees, regardless of their software usage.
  2. Needs all of their employees to use Zoho One anyway, or
  3. Stands to save a considerable amount of money by allowing some of their employees to use Zoho One rather than CRM Plus or a la carte apps.

The Devil’s in the Details

This is a lot to unpack, but…better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, right?  Strap in and let’s examine the three Zoho One use cases posed above.

Use Case #1

zoho crm plus vs zoho oneBusinesses stand to save a good deal on Zoho One even if not all of them use the software.  This would happen in situations where a company with fifty employees had thirty of them in need of the software, and twenty with no need for Zoho One licenses at all.  In this case, it makes more sense to eat the cost of ten additional licenses than only buy licenses for forty employees.  This is because for only forty employees, the cost of the licenses increases by nearly a factor of three!

      • 30 users * $105/user/mo (Zoho One flexible user count) = $3,150/mo in licensing
      • 50 users * $45/user/mo (Zoho One for all employees) = $2,250/mo in licensing

Use Case #2

You can benefit from Zoho One for certain if you need all of your employees to use the software anyway.  No matter how many you employ, the offer is $45/user/mo if you purchase a license for all your employees.  Especially for smaller companies, this seems almost too good to be true – and, more on that below, shortly.

Use Case #3

For some companies who only need some of their employees to use business software, Zoho One may make more sense than CRM Plus simply because the $105/user/mo price provides more needed functionality than would be available with CRM Plus, or CRM Plus and a combination of a la carte Zoho apps.

      • 10 users of Zoho CRM Plus with Zoho Finance Plus and Zoho Webinar ($69/user/mo + $249/company/mo + $19/mo) = $958/mo
      • 10 users of Zoho One (flexible user count) ($105/user/mo) = $1050/mo

The savings may seem to favor a la carte options, but additional limitations and add-on costs should be considered. For example, webinar events are limited to 25 people, and there are extra fees for users, warehouses, orders, and labels, ranging from $9-10 each for the add-ons.

What are your next steps to implementing Zoho?

Remember, before deciding about Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho One, it’s always best to get some Zoho CRM Plus consulting, or Zoho One-specific help.  You can use that consulting time to set up the apps you need. Additionally, you can use it to get an expert’s recommendation on which bundle to pick, Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho One, if either are a good idea for you.

After discussing various apps and scenarios where one may outperform the other, a lingering question remains.

Another problem: Why are Zoho losing their shirts by offering Zoho One at such a discount compared to CRM Plus?

[caption id="attachment_3832" align="alignright" width="400"]selecting the correct fit Okay, not quite 80% off…but darn close.[/caption]

At first glance, this looks positively insane, and you’ll be certain you’re gaming the system by buying Zoho One.  This is especially true if you run a smaller company. Imagine having so much functionality that every employee can enjoy for only $45/user/month!

But, it’s not a mistake.  Zoho has a very, very good reason for doing this.

They’re playing what’s known as a long game.  And, to put this game into context, we have to imagine what life was like before Zoho One.

The Good Old Days

Believe it or not, there was a time when Zoho One was but a twinkle in the eye of Zoho Corporation CEO Sridar Vembu.  As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and in this case, Zoho Corporation noticed something quite significant in their sales.

They were losing the attention of smaller businesses.

zoho one or Zoho CRM

A la carte apps and CRM Plus (the original bundle of apps offered by Zoho) were great for some companies. But, for others who needed a lot of functionality to help them off the ground, Zoho’s cost for entry was simply too high. Zoho likely lost a good number of clients to attrition during this time. Certainly many who simply could not stomach the price of CRM Plus, or even a handful of a la carte apps. Others probably liked what they were getting with the a la carte apps. But ultimately found themselves unable to scale, so they abandoned the platform.

In Zoho’s eyes, the small businesses segment was an untapped market. And, Zoho’s idea was not just to make a bigger, badder bundle that would accommodate the needs of companies who needed more functionality.  No. They were going to offer everything they had, at a price even lower than the cost of their next-best bundle.

Consider this:

Zoho Corporation makes its living on recurring revenue from their software. They want businesses to use their software as long as possible by providing customers with value. And – this is a big one – according to NAICS, there are about 1.5 million businesses that have more than 10 employees in the USA.  

This number, 1.5 million, is essentially who Zoho was marketing to in the USA with their CRM Plus software bundle. But, if you follow the link you’ll see that there are just as many businesses in just the 5-9 employee count category. As if that’s not crazy enough, look one row up and you’ll see there are seven times as many businesses listed as between 1-4 employees.

Again, what an enormous market.

Like Miracle-Gro for Small Biz

zoho crm plus vs zoho one

Zoho came up with this fantastic Zoho One package because they knew businesses needed some help just entering the world of Zoho. That way, they could realize immediate benefits of using the software. And also see what benefits they’d reap if they grew their companies!

Many small businesses remain one size forever because that’s what works for them. However, for companies that start small and grow with Zoho, those are customers Zoho never would have had access to previously.

It’s accepted that happy customers with talk with their like-minded friends who run businesses. Because of this, suddenly Zoho has potentially increased their reach by millions in the USA alone.  Perhaps tens of millions worldwide!

By offering Zoho One, Zoho is betting you’ll start small with them. Then grow into something that may not have been possible without the software. Starting with Zoho and using it to grow makes it less likely you’ll use another platform in the future. If it works for you, why try anything else? 

The Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho One Review

Zoho CRM Plus and Zoho One may seem pretty confusing in how similar they are.  But look beyond the names of the familiar apps, analyze the pricing a bit. Then consider Zoho’s history, and you’ll see the distinctions between the two packages are pretty clear.

The Road Ahead for Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho one

We don’t expect you to read this blog post and suddenly know how to decide between Zoho CRM Plus vs Zoho One. You’ll still have to prepare your own cost breakdowns according to what you need. And, if you don’t have time to put all that together, let alone examine your own business thoroughly to determine that exact need, this all may not have helped your stress levels.

[caption id="attachment_3837" align="alignright" width="401"]zoho crm plus ZBrains Expert Consultants help guide you to which Zoho apps are best for your business, and we’ve helped clients like you since 2012![/caption]

So, let’s turn that around! ZBrains has helped lots of businesspeople who were strapped for time. This includes determining which Zoho apps would work best for them, and which exact package would be best.  Is it Zoho One? CRM Plus? Maybe neither of the two? It remains to be seen. But we can show you the way so you turn from would-be Zoho user to Zoho Hero.

Then, if you need help with Zoho implementation or Zoho training, you can rest assured you made the best software choice, so you’ll have the best chance of really growing your company with Zoho, as opposed to just getting by.

Contact us today for help determining which Zoho suite to use, or for anything else Zoho-related.

Connect with a Consultant

3 Things a Zoho Campaigns Consultant Does For You

Published on: August 29, 2019Category: Zoho CampaignsLast Updated: June 14, 2023 Comments: 0

Zoho Campaigns Consultant = Peace of Mind

If you’re reading about marketing strategies in a blog that’s specific to Zoho consulting, chances are you’re looking for some help with Zoho Campaigns, or one of the many other apps in Zoho’s marketing stack.  And, we can definitely provide that to you. But, what you may not know is that using a Zoho Campaigns consultant is about more than just getting your Campaigns app set up the right way. It’s about giving you confidence in Zoho’s flagship marketing app (well, at least until MarketingHub usurps it) and taking stress off your plate.  It’s about giving you peace of mind in an area where you previously didn’t have much.

zoho campaigns consultant

What can a Zoho Campaigns Consultant do for you?

Zoho Campaigns gives you a lot to play with, especially during setup.  Upon first login, you’re greeted with an enormous dashboard and no good place to start.  What’s to do?

Well, that all depends.  In order to know what exactly to do with setting up Campaigns, you (or your consultant, in this case) will want to take a step back and consider some questions:

  1. What is your marketing objective by using Zoho Campaigns?
  2. How frequently do you want to email your prospects?
  3. What metrics do you use to measure marketing success?

The reason for asking these questions is simple.  Anyone can set up Zoho Campaigns so it works correctly.  But, whether or not the system is set up for your business’s needs is something else entirely.  Your answers to those questions will help your consultant set up Zoho Campaigns for you.

Diving a little deeper…

Let’s explore these questions in a little more depth.

  1. What is your marketing objective by using Zoho Campaigns?  
    • Believe it or not, your answer matters here.  For example, your app will need a different configuration for garnering new leads (outbound marketing) than it will for contacting lists of customers or prospects who already know you (inbound marketing).  You’ll use different aspects of Campaigns, either way. And, your answer will inform what kinds of information you’ll need synced to Zoho CRM.
  2. How frequently do you want to email your prospects or customers?
    • Zoho’s pricing model varies depending on the number of emails you’d like to send per month – or, the number of contacts you’d like to be able to send emails to.  For emailing large numbers of contacts, you may want to set up segments for your mailing lists. And, to protect against spam reports for very large lists, you may want to vary your sender name or even your email domain in some cases.  This ultimately protects your domain and your brand so you can use Zoho Campaigns without worrying about a blacklist every time you hit Send.
  3. What metrics do you use to measure marketing success?

zoho campaigns consultant

    • The stats you want to track to measure your own success will dictate how you set up your Campaigns.  For example, maybe you measure success in the number of signups you get for a service, or maybe you’re only tracking email opens – or, maybe you want your email marketing to lead your prospects down the entire sales funnel.  Of course, you’ll modify the content you create based on these goals too.  But, your Zoho Campaigns consultant will recommend a slightly different setup depending on your goals.

By coordinating with a Zoho Campaigns expert, you can make sure your marketing app will be set up according to the answers to these questions, and more.  Proper training would of course cover the whole spectrum of the app, but that too would be tailored to your needs somewhat to avoid confusion.

Let’s reframe: What happens without a Zoho Campaigns Consultant?

A number of things can happen.  From best to worst:

  1. Campaigns won’t be set up according to your needs.  So, even if it’s somewhat effective for boosting business, you may have untold room for improvement.
  2. Your staff will find the software too difficult to use due to improper training – or lack thereof entirely.
  3. Your marketing efforts might even confuse your customers because they misunderstand the software’s purpose, and you could actually lose business.

Don’t fall victim to improper Zoho usage!  Your success is imminent.

zoho campaigns consultant

Good email marketing can mean the difference between a flat year or a banner year for your business.  And, you have the power to decide how it all goes.

If you’re like most people involved in a business, you don’t have time for another set of responsibilities, or at the very least you’d like having some work taken off your plate.

Don’t stand for figuring out another piece of marketing software on your own.  Contact us today to get an assessment at ZBrains and begin your journey with a guide.

Zoho Data Migration

Published on: July 12, 2019Category: Last Updated: March 30, 2023

Migrate your Data to Zoho with our help

zoho data migration

If you’re planning to upgrade from a legacy system to an instance of Zoho, there’s always one nasty roadblock that can prevent you from having the smoothest project: that’s your data!  Whether it’s too complicated to export and import yourself, you aren’t sure how it will translate to Zoho, or you just don’t have time to sit through a data migration yourself, your historical data is the one thing that completes your Zoho system after it’s been properly implemented and optimized.  So, what are you to do when you find yourself in a bind?

At ZBrains, we’ve encountered this problem many a time.  And, we understand just what you need to successfully migrate your data from many, many systems to Zoho.  That goes not just for Zoho CRM, but Zoho apps like Books and Inventory, too, as needed. Even migrating from Salesforce to Zoho doesn’t have to be such a chore for you.

Zoho Data Migration: The ZBrains Difference

You probably already know data migration isn’t always just a point-and-click maneuver!  It’s not always hard to do, but it’s a lot to sit through. And, if you aren’t sure how to best export it or how it will map to Zoho CRM in the best way possible, that can absolutely quash any chance you have of going through it alone.  And, it’s possible that other consultancies will jump at the chance to help you, and offer you a quick solution to help you. Well, not so fast…

zoho data migration

We have enough experience at ZBrains to know that the best solution isn’t always the quickest one.  In fact, we have a rigorous process to make sure we migrate your data effectively.  And that involves three important steps:

  1. Planning
  2. Data migration test round
  3. Data migration approval
  4. Live migration

The purpose of the test round and approval:

Migrating your data in one fell swoop without ensuring it looks correct could be disastrous to your organization, especially if you have a lot of team members interacting with it.  Your team could be unprepared for such an influx of new (old) data, and if we don’t get the migration right the first time, it could put undue stress on everyone involved.

For that reason, we always perform a test migration after we plan your data mapping.  This test consists of just a few records of any one type. Once we’ve tested and made sure it looks right to us, we come back to you and make sure the data looks right to you.  You’ll be able to tell us if your data looks like it should in your Zoho environment.  

Once we’re in agreement about your data, we’ll perform the rest of the migration for that module.  This multi-pronged process also gives you time to alert your team of the migration schedule and tell them when they can inspect the new data to arrive.

Pricing for Zoho Data Migration

Data Migrations are required for all Integration projects and pricing varies on complexity of the integration itself. Typically, data migrations are priced based on the number of modules (ex.  Sales Orders, Invoices, Customers are examples of modules) along with the number of records. Schedule an integration assessment today with a ZBrains consultant to get a project quote. 

Systems we work with

Our clients come to Zoho from a variety of systems.  We can help you migrate to Zoho from programs like:

Need more than just a one-time Zoho data migration?

zoho data migration

Sometimes we get requests for Zoho CRM or Zoho Books migrations from companies who would like to continue to use their legacy systems.  They want to continuously migrate data to that old system from Zoho, or vice-versa. We call that kind of data migration a software integration, and we do a good deal of that at ZBrains, too.  We use our own ETL platform to set up continuous syncs between many different software systems and Zoho apps, including the ones you see above.

Ready to migrate?  Get started today!

Even the largest of Zoho data migrations, and Zoho jobs in general, begin with a single click.  No matter if you’re just getting started on Zoho and want help migrating a few modules of records, or you’re well through your Zoho consulting period and want to move over all your data from several old systems.  We can help!  Contact us to let us know exactly where your needs lie, and we’ll be sure to offer you the best kind of help for the job.

 

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Zoho Commission Calculator Webinar – Thursday, June 6th!

Published on: June 3, 2019Category: Commission Calculator, Zoho CreatorLast Updated: July 20, 2023 Comments: 0

Simplify payroll – Pay employees effortlessly

Our in-depth webinar on the Zoho commission app shows you just what you can do

commission calculator webinar

It’s a shame that after all the hard work you can do in building and improving different facets of your business – whether through optimizing sales processes, increasing efficiency in operations or fulfillment, or making sure you retain the clients you worked so hard to earn – employee payments tend to be one of the most overlooked, and most inefficient parts of a company.  Of course, everyone you employ gets paid.  Maybe you even get everyone paid on time, every time.  But, how much time do you spent calculating payments or doing manual work to prepare payments so you can be on time?

If you have a complicated commission structure, chances are you spend a lot of time doing just that.  Maybe you even have someone who works full-time doing that for you!

Now, we aren’t in the business of putting people out of work, but we do like to help people better their businesses, and that includes making processes more efficient – including commission calculation. To that end, we’ve developed commission calculation software on Zoho Creator that helps do just that.

We’ll be demoing the commission calculator and going through all its various features during a Live Commission Calculator Webinar on June 6th at 10 AM PDT.  

What’s so hot about this particular commission calculator webinar?

Aside from the fact that we built this app on Zoho Creator (so it integrates with Zoho CRM and other programs), this commission app is part of a software suite called FieldTech.  FieldTech is a software bundle built on Zoho that improves the functionality of Zoho, especially for service, construction, and manufacturing/distribution companies.  You don’t have to use all of FieldTech to use this commission calculator.  But, if you need to, the option is there – and we consider it a great “gateway” to the FieldTech suite, for those looking to refresh and optimize their business software suite.

Some features we’ll be going over in the webinar:

  • Calculating commission based on a fixed amount, revenue amount, or profit margin
  • Spiffs and incentives
  • Splitting commission between multiple reps or teams
  • Commission overrides
  • Commission approvals
  • Clawbacks or credits for refunds
  • Sales rep portal for up-to-the-minute commission totals
  • Emailed commission statements
  • Integration with Zoho CRM
  • Integration with Zoho Finance

commission calculator webinar

Stay right there for the Q&A session after the walkthrough!

After we show the features of the commission calculator, we’ll be answering any questions you have about the app.  Stay tuned in so you can ask us questions about the app, as well as listen to others ask questions of their own.

Thank you for stopping by this post.

Zoho Creator Record Templates

Published on: May 7, 2019Category: Zoho CreatorLast Updated: July 20, 2023 Comments: 0

Personalize Apps with Zoho Creator Record Templates

When you think of Zoho, you undoubtedly think of a few different words or phrases.  One of those is very likely “customizable.” When you use Zoho, you know you have all sorts of options for customizing all the apps in the suite.  Following that tradition, Zoho has brought customization to record templates in Zoho Creator, so you can customize even more of your experience – or, in this case, your customers’ experience.

zoho creator record templates

Custom Record Templates in Zoho Creator? What for?

Zoho Creator record templates behave pretty similarly to Zoho CRM custom inventory templates.  Those custom templates allow you to customize what your customer sees when you send them an invoice, for example.  You may track all sorts of information related to your invoice in the CRM – but, how that invoice appears to your customer is very much up to you.  Place information exactly where you want it on your template with merge fields in Zoho Creator, just like you would on inventory templates in Zoho CRM.

But, wait. Why use Zoho Creator for this stuff at all?

It’s a common question: Zoho has so many different ways of doing nearly anything.  Why use Zoho Creator to create these record templates when you could just use the CRM?

You’ll want to use Zoho Creator when you have particular business needs that standard Zoho apps won’t meet.  Creator can be customized much more heavily than even very malleable Zoho apps, so the possibilities for your custom app are far greater.  At the end of the day, you’ll likely store some data in the Zoho Creator app instead of a standard app like Zoho CRM.  Zoho Creator record templates provide a way to act on the data in that system so you don’t have to transfer it to the CRM first.

Sound confusing?  We hope not – but if so, just ask us and we can walk you through it.

zoho creator record templates

Create all kinds of record templates

The possibilities are endless; here are just a few you could use in your own apps:

  • Estimates or custom quotes
  • Brochures, catalogs, or sell sheets
  • Certificates
  • Newsletters or campaign emails
  • Name tags

These templates will all be tied to different record types.  For example, you may keep records in your Zoho Creator app called Estimates, Brochures, Certificates, or Newsletters.  The templates you design will allow you to customize how each of these records look.

Starting is a cinch!

Creating your own Zoho Creator record templates or modifying pre-built templates is easy:

  1. Navigate to your Creator app Settings menu and select Record Templates.  
  2. Click the New Template button, where you’ll choose between modifying a pre-designed record template, or creating a brand new template you can mark up as needed.

The drag-and-drop interface makes creating or editing record templates simple.  And, if you’re somewhat code-savvy, you can even drop HTML into the templates. Then your record templates are ready to use.

Once you’ve created and distributed records as needed using the record templates, you or your customers can print or export individual records as PDFs (just like inventory templates or emails) using special Zoho Creator URLs.

zoho creator record templates

The hits keep coming

With Zoho, the world really is your oyster – and this new feature in Zoho Creator reinforces that notion, making Creator an even more versatile platform on which to build custom applications.  There’s a lot you can do with Zoho Creator; in fact, we’ve even built our own vertical software for field services and construction companies on it.

In a bind? Contact us!

Let us know if you need any help architecting your own custom app – or just need help with Zoho Creator record templates – and we’ll plan it all out with you.  We can even build it for you if you so choose.

Zoho Premium Partners and Software Commoditization

Published on: April 26, 2019Category: Certified Zoho ConsultantsLast Updated: May 8, 2024 Comments: 0

You Want It, They Got It – And, Now What?

Why having one of the Zoho Premium Partners by your side means more than ever today

Rest easy!  This is only a 5-7 minute read.

zoho premium partners

When you think of the word Zoho, chances are you also think of the word choices.  Within its library of 45+ apps (which expands nearly every month), Zoho also offers a number of subscription editions, each with its own advantages and drawbacks.  And, nearly limitless customization possible in each respective edition. So, when planning to introduce your business to Zoho, the average consumer (or even the above-average one) faces the daunting task of not only keeping that business afloat as usual, but learning a brand-new software system with all its idiosyncrasies, and keeping track of the constant growth and development of that software, too…

It’s a lot to get your head around.  Frankly, I don’t know how anyone goes into a Zoho implementation themselves with even a slight degree of confidence – unless they are already intimately familiar with the system from a previous job.  Self-deployment usually comes with a lot of hard knocks.

But, this post isn’t just a commiseration session.  Instead, I want to bring to light just why this limitless library of software means you need a Zoho consultant in your life.  And, not just any Zoho consultant, but a Zoho Premium Partner.

Really So Obvious?

While it’s true that, yes, you need someone to help you with Zoho because there’s potentially a lot of software to deal with, that’s not the end of the story.  There’s a reason why this is the case.  Something known as the “infinite store shelf” has severely disrupted all sorts of businesses – most notably software vendors.  

Take a Trip Down Memory Lane…

zoho premium partners

The theory goes that we used to just walk into stores to make purchases, and even with larger catalogs, the array of items to choose from had a limit.  And, expanding upon that, people knew the purpose of what they were trying to buy, so there wasn’t much confusion.

Now, in the present day, the situation has completely changed.  Search engines have brought us all much, much closer together. Plus, we’ve brought all the products we peddle along for the ride.  When software companies in particular create new products, other software companies (wisely looking for a piece of the profit that comes with a new product) then offer their own takes on those products.  Then, before you know it, you – the consumer – are in a world with infinite software choices. And furthermore, the moment you learned all there is to learn about, say, one software app of your choice, you then learn the app has been updated, or it’s spun off another, similar app that may be better, or…

Did I mention it was a lot of work?

(This is why Zoho’s own business model of providing more than just a single software app, like Zoho CRM, works so well.  Choice paralysis is very real, so if you’re going to bombard someone with options, the least you can do is make them all easily accessible from underneath your own family of products.  This is what Zoho is aiming for with their Zoho One suite of apps.)

The Harsh Bite of Reality

zoho premium partners

Now, just imagine having to do all that preparation, not just for Zoho CRM, but for Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Books, or even Zoho MarketingHub.  It’s not possible to take on yourself unless doing so is your sole job.

The idea that once a new product is born, it turns into something everyone has to have is called software commoditization (or commodification).  We’ve talked about software as a commodity before, but not at this particular angle.  And, I’m guessing you’re working out why this software commoditization makes having a Zoho consultant so important.

So, that’s easy enough, right?  Why shouldn’t you just pick from a list of Zoho consultants?

What Zoho Premium Partners Mean in the World of Software as a Commodity

zoho premium partners

The overall problem with software as a commodity is that with nearly infinite software choices, the learning curve for your system is potentially infinite as well.  Getting help from a Zoho consultant may get you started on the right foot, but that’s only half the battle.

Zoho Premium Partners like ZBrains are distinct from other Zoho consultants in the breadth of their achievements for other clients.  To achieve the rank of Premium Partner (Zoho’s highest current designation for partners, replacing the old Alliance Partner title), a partner must:

  • Not just generate, but grow Zoho licensing revenue for the clients they serve by $200,000 from the previous year
  • Develop not just on Zoho CRM, but on Zoho Creator as well
  • Produce a number of case studies per year

So, what do all these statistics mean?

    1. Generating Zoho revenue: This means that clients under our watch have successfully grown their businesses with Zoho, to the tune of over $200,000 higher than the previous year.  That doesn’t take into account the number of clients a partner serves; it’s just an overall revenue figure – but, it sets us apart from other Zoho partners who may not have as much experience.
    2. Developing for multiple apps: Zoho CRM is a fantastic hub for most any business, but many businesses need help with more than just customer relationship management.  Choosing a partner who works with multiple Zoho apps, including Zoho Creator (Zoho’s platform as a service), significantly expands your software customization options.
    3. Case study production: Case studies are a great way for Zoho Premium Partners to demonstrate how they’ve helped past clients.  Other types of Zoho partners aren’t required to produce these.

With all that said, we don’t take our distinction as one of the Zoho Premium Partners lightly at all. We worked hard to get to where we are now, and we too attended that school of hard knocks.  But, now we’re here, and our sole purpose is to help you deploy software in the best way possible for your business.

zoho premium partners badge

Bringing It All Together

In summary, the “infinite store shelf” and the general turning of business software from a luxury item into a commodity, makes it much more difficult to master – let alone select – the program(s) your business will end up using.  The more traditional buying experience may be gone, but that doesn’t mean you’re entirely in the dark. You just need a more qualified software consultant to help you deploy your Zoho apps. And, Zoho Premium Partners have more of the necessary qualifications to ensure your deployment not only goes smoothly, but is correct for your business.

Boost Website Conversion Rates with Zoho’s eCommerce Quoting Tool

Published on: March 27, 2019Category: Zoho CreatorLast Updated: October 21, 2024 Comments: 0

Enhance Website Conversions with Zoho eCommerce Quoting

Or, “How do you get more sales? I’ll let you know in a micro-moment.”

Get comfortable!  This is a 10-15 minute read.

zoho ecommerce quoting

It’s no secret people are spending more time online than ever before.  And, that number is only set to increase as the years go by.  You’ve spent time and money researching the best way to position your brand so it’s accessible online–and, you’ve spent an equal amount of time designing your website so it’s easy for customers to navigate.  But today, customers are bombarded with so much content, it leads to a sort of paralysis if they don’t like something about their shopping experience.  And, this leads to abandoned shopping carts galore.  As a Zoho user with an online webstore, how can you use Zoho eCommerce to help your case?

(Quickly, before we go too far down the rabbit hole: Zoho has recently pushed out an eCommerce app called Zoho Commerce.  This post is not about that app!  We may cover it later, but as the app is still fairly new, we’ll want to wait to give you something more substantial on it later.  Instead, this post is about designing your company’s website–your customer’s experience–to increase conversion rates, all while using what Zoho already provides, and with a little additional help from us at ZBrains.)

As usual, I’m not going to simply present you with a concept and hope you understand it.  It’s important to give a bit of background on the issues at hand before we dive into a solution.  So, strap yourself in and let’s get started.

Just in case: What does a Zoho eCommerce Quoting Tool do for you?

zoho ecommerce quoting

When businesses sell products that are very complicated and customized, for which SKUs don’t exist, those businesses typically endure a pretty painful quoting process.  Not painful as in difficult–more tedious and time-consuming. And, why isn’t it easy to just spit out a quote? Let me tell you just a few potential reasons:

  1. Logic doesn’t exist to produce a quote on-the-fly.  Instead, the info has to be emailed to someone, who then crunches the numbers themselves, puts the info onto a formal document, then sends it to the prospective customer manually.
  2. Pictures of the item(s) in question don’t exist on the website because they’re custom products.  Rather, the pictures have to be rendered individually and then sent back with the quote.  Or, they can’t be rendered at all, so that part of the quote simply doesn’t exist.
  3. Info about pricing is spread across departments.  For that reason, a salesperson needs to consult someone in the production department to figure out how to assemble a quote.

And, I’m sure you can think of other reasons why the typical custom quoting process is slow and painful.  That’s why CPQ software is becoming more and more popular!

Now, let’s put this idea of quoting software into the present day.

Think You Have a Captive Audience?  Well, Not Anymore!

zoho ecommerce quoting

In the age of online shopping, capturing your attention is the name of the game.  From big, colorful banners, to auto-emails, to push notifications, to “Wait! Before you go…!” all vying for your eyes, that much is perfectly clear.  And, it seems if you don’t play your cards right, you could lose your customers’ attention as quickly as you garnered it.  

See, customers browsing the web are poked with all kinds of stimuli as they look at your page.  If you don’t provide it too, customers’ attention wanes and you’re left with an abandoned cart.  These miniature stimulations of your audience as you lead them through your buying funnel have been dubbed “micro-moments.”  

Just think: Every banner, picture placement, headline, review, and call to action on a well-designed site has been perfectly placed by a company to in effect read your mind and make you want to buy products or services, and make the most of all the micro-moments you spend on that company’s website.  Don’t feel too self-conscious, now.

When in Rome…

The thing about these micro-moments is that everyone uses them to market to their customers nowadays, all the way down the marketing funnel.  This isn’t some new-age flash in the pan – Google even has a section on their business content arm devoted to it.

How does this all pertain to Zoho?  And, to you as a business owner?

Of course, this isn’t a general business consulting website, and, while you may wish to go ham and optimize your entire website to delight all your customers, we aren’t so prepared to give you mountains of advice pertaining to all of that.  But, we’re going to stick to one specific micro-moment you can manage.  That’s your customer-facing quoting process.

Why Optimize your Zoho eCommerce Site for Quoting?

The short answer: Because you too can profit from “hacking” people’s subconscious minds and making them want to buy from you!

And, ZBrains offers a tool that can help you do that – just by having it available on your website.  Enter the Zoho eCommerce integration for quoting.  This tool helps you in three distinct ways.

#1. Takes advantage of people’s visual nature

zoho ecommerce quoting

If you sell a product that’s pretty customizable, you may want to consult your customer directly before they cut you a check.  They’ll probably want to get to know you a bit, too, if they’re a new customer. That’s all pretty regular. But, people are already very visual creatures (why do you think Google prefers image- and video-rich pages over pages with just text?), and a study shows that the newest generation of consumers highly prefers buying visual content over any other kind of content.

Car companies already know this trick.  Just think of when you visit the website of a car manufacturer: many of them offer detailed pictures of each model sold.  The very best quoting engines even have ways to customize the look of the cars on the fly, so you can see exactly what your purchase would look like.

So, how do you get your website to do that?

You have an option in the Zoho eCommerce integration for quoting.  We developed the Zoho quoting tool especially for situations just like this, where you offer a product with many possible customizations, and you want to give your customers a visual representation of what they’re buying.

Sure, you’ll still want to get to know them and confirm their purchase before they buy.  Or, maybe they won’t click “Buy” at all, and will instead have a consulting call with you to iron out details.  But regardless, letting your customers see the products they’re planning to buy beforehand will give them the confidence they need to complete the purchase, ultimately.

#2. Gives instant gratification–to your customers and to you

[caption id="attachment_3583" align="alignleft" width="400"]zoho ecommerce quoting Okay, maybe not this instant. But close.[/caption]

Even the thought of younger people today wanting instant gratification may have turned into a meme at this point.  But, that doesn’t make it any less true.  And, the more people can find things easily using their handheld pocket computers that double as phones, the more that sentiment will prevail.

The very nature of your Zoho eCommerce site, when equipped with a powerful CPQ tool, will support that idea.  Even without a visual aspect, letting your customer select all the various options they want for a particular product of yours – and then letting them see how each option affects the final price – carries so much more weight than a simple “Call us for a consultation.”  

If you can express your pricing with business logic, why not express it in a Zoho CRM quoting app?  And, following that, why not use a Zoho eCommerce integration to put that app directly onto your website, to feed back into the CRM?  The Zoho CPQ tool does just that, giving both your customers and you the information you need to perform your next actions.

#3. It’s mobile-friendly

zoho ecommerce quoting mobile

While conversions from traffic on a desktop computer still reign supreme, mobile traffic continues to grow and grow, year over year.  We may be able to infer from this data that although the majority will ultimately make purchases on desktop computers, people might still give your products preliminary glances on their mobile devices–then return to their desktops to make official purchases.  Eventually, we’ll reach a point where mobile buying confidence eclipses desktop buying confidence.

In that light, the Zoho eCommerce quoting app is already mobile-optimized by default.  All we need to do at ZBrains is customize the tool for you based on your business processes.  The tool will behave the same way on a mobile device as it does on a desktop computer.  And, it will give your customers the same information, either way.

How about Zoho CRM quotes?

So, now we know what a Zoho eCommerce quoting solution can do for you, and why CPQ software in general is helpful.  That’s one thing. But, a Zoho quoting tool that can connect to your website and connect to Zoho CRM?  That’s even better. That’s why I think you’ll be pleased that you can use the aforementioned Zoho eCommerce tool inside Zoho CRM to create your Zoho CRM quotes.

zoho ecommerce quoting

I won’t go into a whole song and dance about this subject, as we’ve covered it in depth before.  But, in case you aren’t familiar, creating quotes directly in your CRM with this quoting tool provides value in a few different ways:

  1. Gives your salespeople the exact info they need to assemble a quote for customers themselves.  That means no more shuffling around between departments to get proper quoting formulas, pictures of items, and the like.
  2. Gives you an audit trail for quotes.  When salespeople use their own spreadsheets to put quotes together, you don’t have any insight as to how or when they arrived at their numbers if there’s ever a problem.  Putting quotes together in Zoho CRM gives you direct insight into your every salesperson’s quoting process.
  3. Cuts down on licensing costs.  You may have solved points 1 and 2 with an outside quoting system.  But, keeping everything on Zoho helps the pocketbook like nothing else!  Zoho Creator licensing costs, especially when combined with other Zoho licensing with the Zoho One package, tend to be quite inexpensive.
  4. Integrates with Zoho Books.  One of the very worst things about having separate software for quoting and finance is reconciling quotes with actual work orders or sales orders at the end of the day.  By quoting through the CRM, quotes flow automatically into Zoho Books as estimates. And by the way, this same principle applies to Zoho eCommerce quotes.

When it comes to Zoho CRM eCommerce and Quotes, don’t be afraid

zoho ecommerce quoting consultation

Diving into a mountain of statistics and reports and trying to relate that to building some kind of initiative for changing your quoting process isn’t always the easiest thing.  And, maybe this exposé on eCommerce trends and quoting tools left you with even more questions than answers (though I certainly hope not).  

If you’re looking for a helping hand to guide you through the chaos of setting up a quoting tool for your CRM system, our Zoho CRM consulting can help.  If you need a Zoho eCommerce tool, something customer-facing, to help make their experience better, that’s perfect.  And, if you need something for your salespeople to help them put quotes together for prospective clients, that’s also great.  You can use the same tool to do both jobs! And, we can help you.

Please let us know you visited by contacting us!  Or, use the button just below this text, and we’ll be back in touch in 24 hours.

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