Best Ways to Use the Zoho CRM Zapier Integration

To lead this one off, I have a quick aside. I was consulting for a company a few years ago. When I sat down with them and they mentioned they had Zoho and did everything from the platform, I think I let an audible groan slip. I had worked with Zoho in the past and I wasn’t a fan. So what to do? Well, like any client, I opened up the program and tapped around a little. Looking at their entire toolkit I was kind of taken aback. Custom fields, workflow rules, employee defined dashboards and much more. For that price point I leaned back in my chair impressed and motivated. This thing is pretty damn good. But is it worth the Zoho CRM Zapier integration? Let’s talk it through.

What is Zoho CRM?

Zoho CRM is a platform dedicated to making the inbound sales process easier. They of course have their own marketing tools but for this look into Zoho, we are focusing on the CRM. They have two variants: Bigin for small businesses looking to begin (get it?) and Zoho CRM as a swiss army knife for everybody else.

This thing has a full pipeline that can be customized and automated thoroughly to fit your customer types and target markets. From showcasing leads, keeping track of meetings/events, customer nurturing through pipeline stages, and much more. You can even customize your sales talks by utilizing custom fields, price points, discussion notes, etc. All of these tools are available for $20 a month to start. (they have a commitment to price transparency so that means no scaling fees for a growing audience)

They also (like many other marketing companies) have other software packages and external integration opportunities to further round out what you need for your sales processes.

Is it worth setting up that Zap? Let’s see…

Zoho CRM Zapier Integration

Zoho CRM has a lot of automation potential in the tool suite and through external app connections. With the tool suite connections themselves, you can cover a whole lot of requirements of your day to day operation. However, if you are using a lot of channels to acquire leads for your business, there are a lot of opportunities Zapier can provide for your business through its connection with Zapier.

CRM Contact/Lead Logging — The most common Zapier automation used by Zoho CRM users is a “Consolidation Automation” that focuses on generating new leads in your Zoho CRM. A few common ways I have set this up or seen this used include ad campaign management, form submissions management, or one channel 2-way syncs. Zapier connects Zoho CRM to Google, Facebook, Instagram, listings software, and other ad platforms to automate the process of adding those leads into your CRM so you can skip the data entry. Additionally, you’ll see that Zapier can work with any website application to log form submissions as a new Zoho contact. You can even take advantage of using pages or custom fields to separate them into different lists to save you initial time. This way you can kick off your Zoho CRM automations and welcome them the right way, leading to easier sales and time saved.

Pipeline Progression + Module Adds — One of the most important parts of CRMs is the management of what stage of the sales pipeline and rapport building process each customer is in. This can sometimes confuse employees and eat up a lot of their time spent. Use external triggers to automatically move them to a new stage of the process. You can connect event applications/webinars, Google Reviews, SMS and call transcripts, and even emails to your Zoho CRM. All of these can either produce new modules, which can be used to move contacts through the pipeline, or just automatically move the contact. This will allow customers to do some of the work for you so you can focus on sending them the right deal.

Highlight Automation

Email (+ Resume?) Parsing — Similar to other CRMs and sales software, a fantastic automation you can put together is the email parsing triggers. These are immensely helpful, as it can save you and your employees time by notifying you on the most important emails so you can prioritize the ones that have the most promise each day. It can also act as a method to add new modules under the contact or move them to a new stage in their pipeline. An automation like this can help you learn more important information about each potential contact, helping you to win the sale.

Additionally, Zapier provides a parsing ability for Zoho CRM that is a little different. If you are using the CRM or a specific pipeline within your CRM to hire more help within your company or organization, you can use a connection between applications like Dropbox and CandidateZip to parse incoming resumes and log new “candidate” contacts into your CRM. Save some time within your business and find the most qualified individuals fast.

Zoho CRM Takeaways

If you are a small business looking to keep track of all potential leads without breaking the bank, Zoho CRM or it’s little brother Bigin may be the best fit for you. The $20 dollar a month Zoho CRM plan gives you access to software and automations that can change the day to day in your office and save you a few hours a day, paying for itself for a year in just a few short days. Bigin has similar Zapier automations and has a free plan with less than 500 contacts and a solo pipeline.

If you are looking for a powerful CRM, this may be the best bet in the market right now budget-wise and has an argument for being the best for functionality as well. With the ability to separate work per employees, automate pipeline movement using internal and external triggers, and consolidating your channels with new contacts/leads for your team to work. On top of that, the current labor market is putting pressure on hiring new help in small businesses. This process moves pretty quick and with the resume parsing automation you can keep up with scaling your business.

If you are a brand new entrepreneur or business owner, a smaller company, or even a company currently in the middle of scaling quickly, Zoho CRM is a fantastic addition to your software expenses. It budget friendly, time friendly, and it will provide immense value right out the gate. The Zoho CRM Zapier integration is game changing and can alleviate a lot of daily stress.

Zoho CRM — Zapier Integration

Oak Strength: SCARLET (4/4)

Originally published at https://www.chathamoaks.co on December 15, 2023.