Our Review Of Zoho CRM after 60 Days
The purpose of this is to just share with Zoho why I love their product, but ultimately why I could not choose Zoho CRM for our next CRM.
About two months ago we begun a CRM exploration process for our financial planning firm, based in Texas. We already use Zoho Creator and Zoho Analytics for some internal projects, so naturally Zoho CRM was a top consideration. I fell in love with the easy to user interface, and how easy it was customize everything. Creating workflows and automations could be done almost within minutes. I also really enjoy being able to use deluge for some things that unique and not "out of the box". I was so ready to just go with Zoho. However, we quickly found big drawbacks from a strategic and technical standpoint.
What I really love about Zoho and Zoho CRM:
- Custom data objects
- Automations
- Customizable UI/UX
- UI is pretty easy to navigate.
- Built in email support
- I love the company's story and what they are doing for rural communities, even here in Texas.
- I love the idea of Zoho Schools -- What a great idea.
- We liked that tasks were separate from Meetings and Calls.
Why we didn't choose Zoho CRM
- Zoho needs to make itself known in the US. Zoho absolutely has the capability to be a true Salesforce rival, but I can hardly find anyone in our industry who is using Zoho. It's also difficult for other SaaS companies to build integrations with Zoho if they have never heard of Zoho or don't know the brand well enough. Zoho also needs more organic engagement on Reddit, Twitter, etc... the current engagement is virtually nothing for North American users.
- We are a professional services organization, and we meet with clients regarding their personal finances. It's critical we take good organized notes. Zoho CRM does not have any rich text notes capabilities, and this was practically a deal breaker for us. We absolutely have to have a way to take formatted notes.
- The outlook integration is good, but left a lot to be desired. We couldn't add task from emails that weren't associated with a contact. The Zoho add-in interface didn't seem to be customizable either.
- The Zoho CRM + Outlook Calendar sync required the creation of a second Outlook Calendar and task list, causing users to duplicate events from the default Outlook Calendar to the Zoho Calendar manually. We actually have this issue with our current crm, so this is kind of also a big pain.
- Zoho CRM Activities Virtual Meeting Default can't be changed to Zoom.
- Meeting invitee suggesting a new time from their email client, did not reflect in Zoho CRM.
- Zoho just needs 1 calendar and 1 task engine. We found it too cumbersome for users to try and use Zoho CRM Calendar and Zoho Calendar together.
- Zoho lacks a unified product vision. It seems that all the app teams operate independently, and while they are all called Zoho, they all work and look differently.
- For example: Zoho CRM and Zoho One CRM menus look different.
- Zoho does not have product roadmaps. This was also a deal-breaker for us. As a company who might have relied on Zoho for our software infrastructure, without knowing what updates are coming, it's impossible to plan for them. Ultimately, this was the key indication that Zoho is not enterprise ready. Enterprises need to know what fixes and improvements are being developed ahead of time, and users need a say in those things.
- The software is buggy and some internal errors causing some concern about quality control.
- Always hit an internal error with Zoho CRM Command Center -- this was ultimately resolved but it took too long to coordinate a virtual meeting to discuss it and resolve. Could have been done much quicker.
- Uploading images to Zoho Campaign occasionally resulted in "Virus found in file" error, which was obviously wrong as we were not uploading viruses to Zoho.
I'm sure there were other things I could mention (good and bad), but this isn't meant to be a rant. I really love Zoho as a company, their employees have always been friendly, and ultimately I hope this is just used as productive feedback for other potential users and the developers.
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Dan
Tony Tinaglia
Dilip
David Haddad
Mark Woodruff
Sticky Posts
Elevate your CX delivery using CommandCenter 2.0: Simplified builder; seamless orchestration
Most businesses want to create memorable customer experiences—but they often find it hard to keep them smooth, especially as they grow. To achieve a state of flow across their processes, teams often stitch together a series of automations using WorkflowPresenting ABM for Zoho CRM: Expand and retain your customers with precision
Picture this scenario: You're a growing SaaS company ready to launch a powerful business suite, and are looking to gain traction and momentum. But as a business with a tight budget, you know acquiring new customers is slow, expensive, and often deliversNimble enhancements to WhatsApp for Business integration in Zoho CRM: Enjoy context and clarity in business messaging
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! WhatsApp for business is a renowned business messaging platform that takes your business closer to your customers; it gives your business the power of personalized outreach. Using the WhatsApp for Business integrationZoho CRM: Sales Rep Professional Certification Program on Coursera
We are happy to share that we have published the Zoho Sales Representative Professional Certificate in partnership with Coursera, a leading platform for online learning and career development that offers access to courses and degrees from leading universitiesEnhancements to the formula field in Zoho CRM: Auto-refresh formulas with the "Now" function, stop formula executions based on criteria, and include formulas within formulas
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! By their nature, modern businesses rely every day on computations, whether it's to calculate the price of a product, assess ROI, evaluate the lifetime value of a customer, or even determine the age of a record. With
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
How to keep track of bags, cans, drums of inventory?
We buy and sell products that are packaged in bags 🛍️, cans🥫, drums🛢️, etc. with batch numbers. When we get a shipment of one of the products, how do we track we received (say) 10 cans each of 5L of a product and maybe we received 10 cans of anotherAdding Social Media Buttons to Basic Campaigns
Hi, I'm quote new to using Zoho Campaigns and I can't work out how to add Social Media Buttons into my basic campaign? In MailChimp there's a button that brings the icons into your campaign for you. I've tried adding the social media icons as 'buttons' in Zoho but it's not looking great. Can anyone help? Thanks!Hide Inactive Social Sign-In Providers from Login Screen
Hello Zoho Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, Zoho One allows admins to configure security policies and enable or disable Social Sign-In options for third-party providers such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook,[Free Webinar] AI Agents in Zoho Creator - Creator Tech Connect
Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar that runs for around 45 minutes. It comprises technical sessions in which we delve deep intoDownload All Attached Files
It would be extremely useful to have "download-all" functionality for downloading files attached to a task, subtask, comment, forum post or hosted in the "Documents" section etc. We've instructed our users to zip multiple files prior to uploading, but of course they forget all the time. Having to download lots of files one-at-a-time off a comment or task wastes a lot of time.Ship via Carrier Not Working Since Commerce Update
Since the recent update to the Commerce platform, I can no longer use the ship via carrier function. It will take me to the address screen and let me verify them but when I go to save and move tot he next screen it will not do anything. This is happeningautomations: Can I execute a step on a specific date?
I have created a form in Zoho forms, and created a contacts list. I have also begun setting up an automation with the intention of sending the form to the contact list on a specific date every month (via email) for the entire year (essentially sendingZoho Expense - The ability to add detail to a Trip during booking
As an admin, I would like the ability to add more detail to the approved Trips. At present a requestor can add flights, accommodation details and suggest their preferences. It would be great if the exact details of the trip could be added either by theAdding Folders in Android App
Is it possible to create a new email folder within the Zoho Mail Android app? Or can this only be done from the desktop version of Zoho Mail? Cheers!Schedule Exports for Regular Project Updates
Tracking project data often means exporting data at regular intervals. Instead of manually exporting data every time, users can schedule exports for Phases, Tasks, and Tasks in Zoho Projects. These exports can be set to run once, daily, weekly, or monthlyQuestion about custom fields using Pivot Tables.
I have created a pivot table showing annual revenue of a client and how much payment that client is paying my company. Is there a way using pivot table to add an additional field that subtracts those to fields / shows me a percentage of that difference?Request for Light/Dark Mode
Would love the ability to switch between Light and Dark mode similar to Zoho CRM. https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/introducing-dark-mode-light-mode-a-new-look-for-your-crmSignature field is showing black
Hello, When customer signed the service form, it is showing as below picture Phone model: iPhone 16 Pro We tried delete and install application, but it not solved. This has on phone of a few person. There is any advice to solve this?Journey Email - Ignored Contacts
I have a journey setup which simply sends a string of emails over time. For some reason I am getting large amounts of the contacts who enter the first email being ignored and I can't find anywhere in reports or audit logs why these contacts are notInvolved account types are not applicable when create journals
{ "journal_date": "2016-01-31", "reference_number": "20160131", "notes": "SimplePay Payroll", "line_items": [{ "account_id": "538624000000035003", "description": "Net Pay", "amount": 26690.09, "debit_or_credit": "credit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000403", "description": "Gross", "amount": 32000, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000427", "description": "CPP", "amount": 1295.64, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000376", "description":Zoho Books - Include Payment Terms as a Custom View filter
It would be great if you could created a custom view based on Payment Terms. This would be really handy for seeing a list of customers who have credit terms. A workaround is not required. I could do something with a creditor checkbox, but it would beHow to update changed purchase account of item in invoice
I have selected the wrong purchase account for various articles and created invoices. I had to adjust the purchase account in the article afterwards, but the old purchase account is still posted in the transaction-journal of the invoice. To adjust theHelp - Zoho CRM notification on mobile (IOS/Android)
Hello Community! Can I get the IOS/Andoid CRM app to notify me of events, calls, etc. due as I can with MANY other apps? I am running the free Zoho I would like this to be native to the Zoho CRM app. I do not want to write a sep. mobile appZoho Books Idea - Include another field in Bank Details for Address
Hi Books team, Currently use the Description field in the Bank Details to store the bank's address. This works fine but it would be great if you could add another field for Bank Address, so that other notes about the bank account could be stored in thea question about the COQL API v8
When I specify eight or more values in a WHERE IN clause and execute it, an error occurs. Is there a limit to the number of values that can be specified in a WHERE IN clause? ↓Error select * FROM Vendors WHERE (id in (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)) ↓SuccessZoho Books Idea - Bank Details Button on Banking
Hi Books team, Sometimes I'm asked to share bank details with a customer or a colleague. So I go to the Banking Module, find the correct bank account, click Setting > Edit, then copy and paste the bank details. Wouldn't it be great if there was a buttonJS SDK 8.0 – TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'getCacheStore') with sample code
Hello Zoho Support Team, I’m integrating the Zoho CRM JavaScript SDK v8.0 and I’m getting the error below when running your official sample. I tested directly from: https://github.com/zoho/zohocrm-javascript-sdk-8.0/blob/main/samples/create_records_sample/create_records.jsFunction #55: Convert multiple quotes to single SO using Custom Button
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! In Zoho Books, after a quote is accepted by your customer, it can be converted into a sales order or an invoice. Often, a customer might have multiple quotes, and for easier billing or upon the customer'sZoho One - Syncing Merchants and Vendors Between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books
Hi, I'm exploring the features of Zoho One under the trial subscription and have encountered an issue with syncing Merchant information between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books. While utilizing Zoho Expense to capture receipts, I noticed that when I submitRich Text For Notes in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, As you know, notes are essential for recording information and ensuring smooth communication across your records. With our latest update, you can now use Rich Text formatting to organize and structure your notes more efficiently. By usingTime based workflow without edit/action
Hello I need help solving this problem if possible. We have Deals come into the CRM via Live Transfer which have the field properties: Stage = New Channel = Inbound Some of them don't get answered so we want these to automatically go into our OutboundWhat's New - August 2025 | Zoho Backstage
Every month, Zoho Backstage grows with you. These updates aren't just features and fixes, they're about making your workday smoother, your events more impactful, and your attendees happier. We’ve listened, learned, and shaped this release to keep thingsprevent selling expired items
Hello. I need to make a constraint on expired batch items not to be sold. Is it possible in Zoho Inventory? if so, then how? Thanks for further help.Product details removed during update from other system
We maintain our product details in an other system. These details are synchronized with Zoho at the end of each day, through an API. This has worked perfectly sofar. But last Monday, all product codes and some other product data have been wiped duringClient Customer
I purchased a customer user license, but we cannot see the project I added in the customer account. I would like to ask for support on what we should do.Add Ability to Use Zoho Finance Tags
For Zoho Finance (Books and Inventory), the current actions do not allow us to affect the tags associated with the entities in question (customers, vendors, items, etc.). Please consider adding this functionality into the actions.Embeded Signing doesn't work on Safari Browser
We have implemented Zoho Sign in our website by using embeded signing, It works perfectly on Chrome. But it fails on Safari, We get stuck on Zoho Sign Page during redirection from Zoho Sign to our website after signing the document, Please let us knowDataprep Webhook Limits and Cannot update column with Dataprep
I have two problems : 1 - I am using Airflow to trigger my pipeline, and when I tested it, it worked fine a couple of times. However, after that, I received an error: {"code":429,"message":"Request rate limited"}. I didn’t send too many requests — maybePower of Automation :: Automatic removal of project users once the project status is changed.
A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate complex tasks andNew in Zoho Forms: Google reCAPTCHA v3 for smarter spam protection
Hello form builders, Spam submissions are one of the biggest challenges when you share your forms online. They not only clutter your data but can also waste valuable time. To help you combat this without making life harder for genuine respondents, we’reProject Management Bulletin: August, 2025
We’ve touched a grand 19 years since we started pioneering project management solutions with Zoho Projects. What started as a simple one-page interface is now a suite of products with Zoho BugTracker, Zoho Sprints, and our new debut Zoho Projects Plus,Zoho Sign and Zoho Workdrive Integration
Hello, there. I want to know if it's possible to save a signed document from Zoho Sign in an specific folder for each signer in Zoho Workdrive. For example: If John Doe signs the document in Zoho Sign I want to save it automatically in a folder namedOffice 365 and CRM mail integration: permission required
Has anyone run into this weird problem? My email server is Office 365. When I try to configure Zoho CRM to use this server, a Microsoft popup window opens requesting user and password. After entering that, I get a message in the Microsoft window sayingEmpowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individualsHow do you list multiple contacts for a lead?
My sales team wants to be able to add additional contacts for leads, how do we do that? Is there a different way we should be using the lead / contact functionality? Moderation update (9th September 2025): Our developers have built an extension to achieveNext Page