If you were to base your decision on which customer relationship manager (CRM) software to buy solely on reviews, you’d have a tough time choosing between Odoo and Zoho. Both are highly rated and seem to be relatively favorable with their clients.
That’s good news because it means customers have found both Odoo and Zoho CRM to provide value. The next challenge, however, is deciding which one will provide the most value to your specific business.
Not to worry. In this article, we’ll break down some of the features of Odoo and Zoho for you to help you determine which one may be better suited for your business.
Understanding what a CRM is and How to Choose One for Your Company
If your company has been operating for a while, you might already have a CRM, or at least be familiar with one. But if you’re part of a growing company that has previously relied on spreadsheets to keep track of customers, then a CRM will open up a whole new world of opportunities.
In a nutshell, CRM systems empower companies to track and engage with customers. They can also help sales teams nurture prospects and eventually turn them into returning customers.
A CRM system is more than a customer tracking tool. It can be used to automate tasks in sales management, boost overall productivity, streamline vendor relationship management, automate sales forecasting, and much more.
Because of all these benefits, CRMs help any department that deals with customers in some capacity.
Although they have some similar functionalities, a CRM is not the same as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. ERP is often used by companies to manage business and financial operations and processes. In contrast, a CRM is all about customers and their relationship with your organization.
Wait, you might be thinking. Do I need multiple software just to keep things running?
Well, yes and no. It’s yes because you may end up using two companies for CRM and ERP. However, most systems integrate with each other.
About Zoho CRM
Zoho has two cloud CRM options for small and larger companies-Zoho CRM and Bigin.
Zoho CRM is specifically designed for larger companies.
Bigin is the name of Zoho’s CRM for small businesses. It’s designed for businesses as small as one-person teams looking for an upgrade to a mountain of spreadsheets. Even better? Bigin is free to start.
Zoho CRM Cost
Naturally, cost is a big factor when choosing the right CRM (or any software) for your business. While adding a CRM can certainly help improve revenue and profits, there is still an initial upfront cost that needs to be considered.
For those who are very apprehensive about buying something before they try, there’s good news from Zoho. You can try Zoho CRM for free for 15 days. Then, you’ll have to decide whether you want to stick with it or try something else.
Zoho’s upfront pricing ensures that you’re never surprised. You’ll pay anywhere from $14 to $52 per month per user. Naturally, the more expensive plans have more features. But those features aren’t always necessary, especially at first.
The prices are even lower for small businesses and solopreneurships that opt for Bigin instead of Zoho ZRM. Bigin also has a free trial option. Then, prices range from free to $12 per user per month.
Small businesses can spend less by using Bigin at a rate of $7 per user per month or the Zoho Free plan, which offers a limited number of features for up to three users.
Zoho CRM Features
So, what exactly does $52 per user per month get you?
If you go with the ultimate package, you’ll enjoy streamlined automation along with options to communicate across channels, access to advanced analytics, features to improve remote work collaboration, and integration with 1,000+ apps and extensions, including other Zoho applications.
You can read more about Zoho’s full suite of features on its website.
About Odoo
Unlike Zoho CRM, which is specifically designed for customer relationship management, Odoo is ERP software that includes CRM as part of its package. The CRM can easily integrate with Odoo ERP, making it a breeze to keep track of business operations from one place.
Just like Zoho, Odoo has options for small and larger businesses. The free version of Odoo CRM is called Odoo Community. It is completely free but has limited features.
Larger organizations will want Odoo Enterprise, which grants access to CRM, ERP, and thousands of other applications that can be mixed and matched.
Odoo Cost
As we mentioned, Odoo Community is 100 percent free to use forever. That’s an appealing option, especially for small businesses and solopreneurs. It’s only available on desktop with on-premise hosting.
However, free software is rarely enough for larger organizations. Odoo Enterprise offers paid modules. The good news is that you only pay for what you need. So, you can end up with a fully customizable CRM without anything you know you’ll never use. Plus, you can access Odoo Enterprise from a desktop, browser, or mobile device.
Odoo Features
We’d need a book to go through all of Odoo’s features, especially once you count the literally thousands of modules that you have to choose from. So, we’ll break it down into the most common features. These include project management, sales management, email marketing, productivity tools, and CRM. Of course, all of Odoo’s modules and software can integrate with other systems.
Should You Get Zoho CRM or Odoo?
Honestly, both Zoho CRM and Odoo offer many similar features that can be useful no matter where you are in your business.
As an Odoo partner, the Confianz team is inclined to side with Odoo for most businesses. It’s not just that we are qualified to help with implementation; we truly believe in Odoo’s software and integration capabilities for all types of businesses. Plus, since it’s open-source, Odoo is constantly being updated with new solutions to tackle the most relevant business challenges.
Hire dedicated Odoo app developers from USA and India at affordable cost really fast and securely from Confianz Global®.
Still unsure which CRM is right for you? We can help! Give us a call! We’ll help you figure out if Odoo is best for you or if you should look at a different option. And if you decide to go with Odoo, we can help with every part of odoo customization, odoo implementation, odoo integration and beyond.
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