Zoho CRM

[jonathans287]

I'm looking into CRM solutions and was interested in Zoho. The price point can't be beat, obviously. That being said, it does require some configuration which I can figure out, however in configuring the tabs at the top I'm at a loss to what to put. Obviously Leads, Contacts, Accounts, etc. should still be there as-is, but I'm more curious as to what other people use.

Thanks in advance!

-Jonathan.

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

For a free CRM it's good, cause well---it's free!

What exactly you want or need a CRM to do for you?

 

[TXINSURANCE]

We use ZOHO crm to do reports and track our internal commissions - pretty cool stuff! Great little email and web conference tool also.

 

[Air Jer]

I read a lot of posts on CRMs here and I looked at a lot of the the "cloud" ones on a trial basis. I also downloaded a 30 day trial of ACT which I liked the best of all until it messed up my Outlook email. What a mess that was. Next best one I liked was ZOHO. However, I work in a commercial P & C environment and in reality these programs just really don't seem to fit what I do. Good luck with ZOHO and I will be interested to see what other folks have to say.

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

I use Zoho email, docs and the CRM with Norvax.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I use Zoho for the association; fantastic CRM.

 

[aardvark]

I have been using Zoho CRM for 2-3 years. Excellent free CRM service. Great way to keep track of contacts & good Report feature. I bought ACT about 4 mos ago. Since it is software it is based on just one computer, but you can access Zoho from anywhere. Zoho has made some recent changes though. I tried to add another free user and the new user cannot access my Contact info? Anyway would still recommend Zoho. ACT seems more complicated?

 

[keyosh]

I read a lot of posts on CRMs here and I looked at a lot of the the "cloud" ones on a trial basis. I also downloaded a 30 day trial of ACT which I liked the best of all until it messed up my Outlook email. What a mess that was. Next best one I liked was ZOHO. However, I work in a commercial P & C environment and in reality these programs just really don't seem to fit what I do. Good luck with ZOHO and I will be interested to see what other folks have to say.

I know it's been awhile since the last reply, but i've recently become really curious about some of these cloud crm's on the market. Only issue I forsee is if I need to access info where there is limited/no internet access; unless you can keep info on your laptop and update later?? I bring this up since I'm in the field often and without wifi occassionally.

Anyone use a cloud-type crm that lets you keep a copy on your computer/laptop?

 

[Guest]

I know it's been awhile since the last reply, but i've recently become really curious about some of these cloud crm's on the market. Only issue I forsee is if I need to access info where there is limited/no internet access; unless you can keep info on your laptop and update later?? I bring this up since I'm in the field often and without wifi occassionally.

Anyone use a cloud-type crm that lets you keep a copy on your computer/laptop?

For the past 4 years I've been using SugarCRM with MySQL as the database (both free!.) It is installed on my web server (web host.) I also have a copy of each on my Mac. I have a "script" that runs on my server that "dumps" the database every half-hour. I have another script on my Mac that "goes" to up to my server every half-hour, downloads the latest copy the database and then re-loads the local version so they are both in sync... at least within a half hour.

If the internet goes down I can look up data on my local copy. True it may be a bit behind, but it is close enough for my purposes. Of course, I would not ENTER data on my local version because I would then get them out of sync.

I'm fortunate that I have excellent, stable internet service... and the one or two times a year it goes down, I can drive over to a wi-fi spot (Starbucks) or a friend or client office... and access my SugarCRM with my laptop if necessary (which it has never been.)

To set up Sugar on the web host and locally is not too difficult. The bash (it's a programming language) back-up scripts are also easy and I'm happy to share them... however my bet is that there are a ton of them on the web... probably better than the ones I wrote!

Al
Find me here.

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

Unless you have the/want to invest the money in a custom Sugar CRM, then ZOHO is the best option for most people.

First step is to define what features you want in a CRM.

I set mine up like us:

I attach any recording, applications and brochures to the Client record.

If you have the free version, you can pay $5 a month to be able to send/rec emails through the CRM. So, each lead record has a history of all your emails.

You can do email marketing though the CRM, if you upgrade to the $12 a month plan and autoresponders for the $25 month plan.

I also set up custom fields for pretty much everything, I have it set up for commissions/premiums....etc....etc. I can run any report I want.

One I really like is I have a field for advance commission, as earned monthly commission, I could run a report on how much advanced commission I earned for the month, what my total as earned commission are year to date.

In fact I ran a report tonight on :

Average commissionable monthly premium: $228

Average Actual monthly premium: $270

I didn't realize my commissionable premium was so low, I'm glad I ran that report.

It took a long time to set this up the way I wanted.