Our Review Of Zoho CRM after 60 Days

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:
  1. Custom data objects
  2. Automations
  3. Customizable UI/UX
  4. UI is pretty easy to navigate.
  5. Built in email support
  6. I love the company's story and what they are doing for rural communities, even here in Texas.
  7. I love the idea of Zoho Schools -- What a great idea.
  8. We liked that tasks were separate from Meetings and Calls.
Why we didn't choose Zoho CRM
  1. 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.

  2. 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. 

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Zoho CRM Activities Virtual Meeting Default can't be changed to Zoom.

  6. Meeting invitee suggesting a new time from their email client, did not reflect in Zoho CRM.

  7. 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. 

  8. 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. 
    1. For example: Zoho CRM and Zoho One CRM menus look different.

  9. 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.
  10. The software is buggy and some internal errors causing some concern about quality control.
    1. 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.
    2. 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. 

    • Recent Topics

    • Feature Request - Insert URL Links in Folders

      I would love to see the ability to create simple URL links with titles in WorkDrive. or perhaps a WorkDrive extension to allow it. Example use case: A team is working on a project and there is project folder in WordDrive. The team uses LucidChart to create

    • Organization Emails in Email History

      How can I make received Org Emails to show up here?

    • how to differentiate if whatsapp comes from certain landing page?

      I create a Zobot in SalesIQ to create a Whatsapp bot to capture the lead. I have 2 landing pages, one is SEO optimized and the other want is optimized for leads comes from Google Ads. I want to know from which landing page this lead came through WhatsApp

    • How to sync from Zoho Projects into an existing Sprint in Zoho Sprints?

      Hi I have managed to integrate Zoho Projects with Zoho Sprints and I can see that the integration works as a project was created in Zoho Sprints. But, what I would like to do is to sync into an existing Zoho Sprints project. Is there a way to make that

    • How to record company set up fees?

      Hi all, We are starting out our company in Australia and would appreciate any help with setting up Books accounts. We paid an accountant to do company registration, TFN, company constitution, etc. I heard these all can be recorded as Incorporation Costs, which is an intangible asset account, and amortised over 5 years. Is this the correct way to do it under the current Australian tax regulations? How and when exactly should I record the initial entry and each year's amortasation in Books? Generally

    • How to create a drop down menu in Zoho Sheets

      I am trying to find out, how do I create a drop down option in Zoho sheet. I tried Data--> Data Validation --> Criteria --> Text  --> Contains. But that is not working, is there any other way to do it.  Thanks in Advance.

    • Show Payment terms in Estimates

      Hi,  we are trying to set up that estimates automatically relates payment terms for the payment terms we introduced on Edit contact (Field Payment terms).  How can it be done? Our aim is to avoid problems on payment terms introduced and do not need to introduce it manually on each client (for the moment we are introducing this information on Terms and Conditions.  Kind Regards, 

    • Rich-text fields in Zoho CRM

      Hello everyone, We're thrilled to announce an important enhancement that will significantly enhance the readability and formatting capabilities of your information: rich text options for multi-line fields. With this update, you can now enjoy a more versatile

    • How can I calculate the physical stock available for sale?

      Hey Zoho Team,  I've tried to calculate the physical stock on hand in various ways - but always receive a mismatch between what's displayed in Zoho Inventory & analytics.  Can you please let me know how the physical stock available for sale is calculated?

    • When dispatched to crew, assigning lead missing

      Hello, For the past two or three weeks, whenever an officer assigns Service Appointment to a team, the lead person is missing from the assigned service list. Therefore, we have to reschedule the SA and then the lead person becomes visible in the assigned

    • Create Lead Button in Zoho CRM Dashboard

      Right now to create Leads in the CRM our team is going into the Lead module, selecting the "Create Lead" button, then building out the lead. Is there anyway to add the "Create Lead" button or some sort of short cut to the Zoho CRM Dashboard to cut out

    • open word file in zoho writer desktop version

      "How can I open a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) file in Zoho Writer if I only have the file saved on my computer and Zoho Writer doesn't appear as an option when I try 'Open with'? Is there a way to directly open the .doc file in Zoho Writer?"

    • I want to transfer the project created in this account to another account

      Dear Sir I want to transfer the project created in one account to another account

    • Inactive User Auto Response

      We use Zoho One, and we have a couple employees that are no longer with us, but people are still attempting to email them. I'd like an autoresponder to let them no the person is no longer here, and how they can reach us going forward. I saw a similar

    • Weekly Tips : Customize your Compose for a smoother workflow

      You are someone who sends a lot of emails, but half the sections in the composer just get in your way — like fields you never use or sections that clutter the space. You find yourself always hunting for the same few formatting tools, and the layout just

    • Zoho Slowness - Workarounds

      Hi all, We've been having intermittent slowness and Zoho just asks for same stuff each time but never fix it. It usually just goes away on it's own after a couple weeks. Given that speed is a very important thing for companies to be able to keep up with

    • Custom Bulk Select Button

      Zoho CRM offers the ability to select multiple records and invoke a Custom Button This functionality is missing from Recruit Currently we can only add buttons in the detail page and list But we cannot select Multiple Records and invoke a function with

    • How to create a Zoho CRM report with 2 child modules

      Hi all, Is it possible to create a Zoho CRM report or chart with 2 child modules? After I add the first child module, the + button only adds another parent module. It won't let me add multiple child modules at once. We don't have Zoho Analytics and would

    • Zoho CRM still doesn't let you manage timezones (yearly reminder)

      This is something I have asked repeatedly. I'll ask once again. Suppose that you work in France. Next month you have a trip to Guatemala. You call a contact there, close a meeting, record that meeting in CRM. On the phone, your contact said: "meet me

    • Power of Automation :: Smart Ticket Management Between Zoho Desk and Projects

      Hello Everyone, 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

    • First day of trying FSM in the field.

      What we found. 1. with out a network connection we were unable to start a service call? 2. if you go to an appointment and then want to add an asset it does not seem possible. 3. disappointed not to be able to actually take a payment from within the app

    • BUG - Google Business Buttons - Add a button to GBP Post

      I am experiencing an issue with the "Add a button" feature when creating posts for my Google Business Profile (GBP) through Zoho Social. When I schedule or publish a GBP post and include a call-to-action button with a specific URL, the post itself publishes

    • Rich text Merge field - Not using font specified in HTML

      I have a rich text merge field in a writer template which is creating a table. I have chosen to use this method instead of a repeat region because I need to specify specific cell background colours which change every time the document is created. The

    • Support for Custom Fonts in Zoho Recruit Career Site and Candidate Portal

      Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request the ability to use custom fonts in the Zoho Recruit Career Site and Candidate Portal. Currently only the default fonts (Roboto, Lato, and Montserrat) are available. While these

    • CC and/or BCC users in email templates

      I would like the ability to automatically assign a CC and BCC "User (company employee)" into email templates. Specifically, I would like to be able to add the "User who owns the client" as a CC automatically on any interview scheduled or candidate submitted

    • Trying to export a report to Excel via a deluge script

      I have this code from other posts but it gives me an error of improper statement, due to missing ; at end of line or incomplete expression. Tried lots of variations to no avail. openUrl(https://creatorapp.zoho.com/<username>/<app name>/XLSX/#Report:<reportname>,"same

    • Zoho Reports Duplicating Entries

      I have a custom costing tab with a table where we entre invoices. These are under a Heading (PO Subject) and notes added in the form with different line items. In the reports, I have organised the report to group per PO Subject, with the total of the

    • Need help to create a attach file api

      https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/v8/upload-attachment.html Please help me to create it... It's not working for while. Do you have some example?

    • Export view via deluge.

      Hi, Is it possible to export a view (as a spreadsheet) via deluge? I would like to be able to export a view as a spreadsheet when a user clicks a button. Thanks     

    • how to add subform over sigma in the CRM

      my new module don't have any subform available any way to add this from sigma or from the crm

    • Outdated state in mexico

      Hello Zoho team, the drop down to add the state for customers, when they introduce their state in mexico has a city named “Distrito Federal” that name changed many years ago to “ciudad de mexico”. could you please update this so my clients can find the

    • Support new line in CRM Multiline text field display in Zoho Deluge

      Hi brainstrust, We have a Zoho CRM field which is a Muti Line (Small) field. It has data in it that has a carriage return after each line: When I pull that data in via Deluge, it displays as: I'm hoping a way I can change it from: Freehand : ENABLED Chenille

    • Possible to generate/download Quote PDF using REST API?

      See title. Is there any way after a quote has been created to export to a PDF using a specified template and then download it? Seems like something that should be doable. Is this not supported in the API v2.0?

    • Creating an invoice to be paid in two installments?

      Hi there, I own a small Photographic Services business and have not been able to find a way to fit my billing system into Zoho, or any other Accounting software. The way my payments work is: 1. Customer pays 50% of total price of service to secure their

    • Bug in allowing the user to buy out of stock items

      Hi i want to allow the user to buy out of stock items, according to the commerce documentation if i disable Restrict "Out of stock" purchases it will, but it doesnt work, so i want to know if it had any relation with zoho inventory, and if theres any

    • Zoho CRM Calendar | Custom Buttons

      I'm working with my sales team to make our scheduling process easier for our team. We primary rely on Zoho CRM calendar to organize our events for our sales team. I was wondering if there is a way to add custom button in the Calendar view on events/meeting

    • Replace Lookup fields ID value with their actual name and adding inormation from subforms

      Hi everyone,  I wanted to see if someone smarter than me has managed to find any solutions to two problems we have. I will explain both below.  To start we are syncing data from Zoho CRM to Zoho Analytics and I will use the Sales Order module when giving

    • Can a Zoho Sites page be embedded into another website (outside Zoho)

      Hi All, We have a request from a client - they'd like to take one of our information pages created in Zoho Sites and embed it into their own website? I was told through an email with Zoho that this was possible >>Thank you for your patience regarding

    • Bug in allowing the user to buy out of stock items

      Hi i want to allow the user to buy out of stock items, according to the commerce documentation if i disable Restrict "Out of stock" purchases it will, but it doesnt work, so i want to know if it had any relation with zoho inventory, and if theres any

    • Transition Criteria Appearing on Blueprint Transitions

      On Monday, Sept. 8th, the Transition criteria started appearing on our Blueprints when users hover over a Transition button. See image. We contacted Zoho support because it's confusing our users (there's really no reason for them to see it), but we haven't

    • Next Page