Zoho: The most successful SaaS company you (may) have never heard of
When conversations eventually move around to business and we drop the ‘Zoho’ name it sometimes falls without a noise. Unless already a convert, people rarely know who Zoho is. Even fewer know what solutions they offer, or what a Zoho Advanced Partner is!
And it’s hard to understand why…
It is widely acknowledged that a positive customer experience (CX) can lead to a more loyal and profitable customer base within various industries. Utilising customer relationship management (CRM) platforms is essential in facilitating a strong connection between a customer and a company to enhance CX. While Zoho may not be a household name, it is a highly successful SaaS company that offers enterprise-level solutions.
So, why are they still relatively unknown?
Who is Zoho?
With more than 25 years of experience in business software development, Zoho is a leading provider of comprehensive software solutions. The company started its CRM platform in 2005, since it has expanded its offerings to encompass all areas of business and enterprise. Zoho’s enterprise-level subscription, Zoho One, bundles together all of its 55+ apps to create a unified “operating system for business.” With a global presence in over 180 countries, they boast a user base of more than 80 million.
They understand customer experience (CX)
It’s fair to say Zoho’s CRM platform has been the cornerstone of its business operating system for many years. While many people associate a sale with the point of sale (POS), this is just one step in a larger process that typically begins with lead generation and advertising. The challenge for CX platforms is to ensure that they are both adaptable and usable across diverse use cases.
Zoho recognises that digital transformation depends on a company’s unique needs and its solutions aim to reduce the barriers to technology adoption. Zoho One is designed to be scalable and personalised based on the customer-company relationship. Companies can start with Zoho’s CRM and gradually integrate other apps and services over time. Moreover, Zoho’s apps can be integrated with other apps like Gsuite for added flexibility.
As the sales and customer interaction landscape continues to evolve, customer experience has become a critical component. One that encompasses all aspects of the sale, including pre-sale, sale, and post-sale interactions. To meet this challenge, Zoho is committed to making its software, particularly Zoho One, both vertically and horizontally scalable. This ensures that it delivers a personalised experience at every touchpoint.
Zoho Business Solutions – The total package?
Zoho One’s horizontal solution creates a unified experience by connecting all of its software across various departments, resulting in faster and more efficient collaboration. In addition, Zoho takes a proactive approach to its CX platform, enabling its 55+ apps to personalise their services through contextual customer data. With Zoho’s vertical integration, apps are seamlessly connected to its AI, Search, Analytics, single sign-on (SSO), Messaging, and other services, reducing personalisation barriers. Sales can quickly identify signals and intelligently orchestrate the sales process. Zoho’s personalisation layer unites its apps and services, which are optimised on its Network and database. The Zoho Acceleration Network (ZAN) reduces latency for its customers, with 9 sites on the edge and growing globally. Zoho’s global cloud platform is not public, ensuring optimisation for its infrastructure and growth.
Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence your way
Recognising the growth and reliance on Business Analytics, Zoho released its dedicated analytics package in 2009. However, Zoho employs AI and machine learning across its software to unify and connect its CX platform horizontally and vertically. Zoho’s AI is implemented across apps to intelligently direct contextualised data where it is needed. Thier intelligent assistant, Zia, provides insights and contextualises data to connect all departments of the business. Zoho’s AI is deeply integrated into all levels of the CX platform, thanks to years of R&D. It started with Zoho’s sales and marketing platforms and has since expanded to include AI tools across all departments.
Do Zoho solutions measure up against the competition?
Unlike other CRM platforms such as Salesforce, Sugar, and Highrise, which have their own specific focuses, Zoho aims to provide a comprehensive operating system for business. Salesforce, being a larger company, offers over 2,600+ apps in addition to its own business suite. Sugar CRM places emphasis on cloud innovations and information management, while Highrise prioritizes building relationships with customers and users. In contrast, Zoho strives to integrate all of these features to create an all-in-one operating system for businesses.
How does Zoho overcome adoption challenges?
One of the main challenges of implementing software in an enterprise is integrating all the data while maintaining a positive customer experience. Zoho has overcome this hurdle by focusing two key things. Scalability and unifying its CX platform both horizontally and vertically. These are fundamental in making it possible for more companies to personalise their interactions with customers.
Moreover, understanding the importance of trusted relationships, Zoho have a network of Zoho Partners who are experts in their solutions. Zoho Partners are valuable resources in overcoming adoption barriers. They become a trusted partner who can learn how a business runs, wants to evolve and what its current tech stack looks like. With this understanding they can advise the best solutions, oversee implementation, integration and provide support going forward.
So, now you know.
Zoho is the most successful SaaS you hadn’t heard of before now, but now you have its not something you can forget. For a quarter of a century, they’ve been bucking Silicon Valley trends, taking their own approach to building products. And we’ve not even mentioned their approach to business, a private company with a public vision, a common sense approach to privacy, a commitment to their communities and their employees.
If you are interested in finding out more about Zoho and its business solutions then get in touch and we can see how their solutions can help launch your business to the next level!