The bottom line is, for growing startups, the choice of CRM software can be a lifesaver. A good CRM helps the business with lead tracking, managing customer interactions, and closing sales. Among the trendy CRM software, Zoho and Freshsales are generally considered a pair of great options for startups. Which better suits the growing startups? Let’s find out by comparing Zoho vs Freshsales, and then you can choose which one fits your company best.
1. Ease of Use
Zoho CRM: Until today, Zoho was known for its friendly interface. It’s very simple and designed in a way that even teams with almost no previous experience in CRM would find it pretty easy to get started with. The dashboard is clean and customizable, and users can organize their workflow based on what they need. This painless setup process of Zoho is very helpful for a startup looking to get up and running in quick time with minimal use of time to invest in training.
Freshsales: Like every other one, Freshsales also has a very simple and intuitive interface, hence being really easy to be adopted by new users. Where Freshsales focuses on an organized and clean layout for which sales teams should be able to quickly track leads and manage customer relationships, for startups this means spending less time learning the platform and more time scaling the business.
Which is better? Large and Easy to Use: Both Zoho and Freshsales are easy to operate for a beginner, but Freshsales is a little more streamlined, hence perfect for a start-up that wants an extremely easy-to-operate systems.
2. Startup Features
Zoho CRM: Zoho offers a plethora of features that make it perfect for startups. This CRM features tools for lead management, sales automation, and the ability to customize workflow as per one’s needs. Moreover, this tool has e-marketing and social networking abilities that are vital to connect with prospective customers. Zoho has a free three-users-or-less plan, perfect for early-stage startups, while its paid plans unlock greater capabilities for an expanding business.
Freshsales: Freshsales enables startups to manage the sales pipeline, with a strong focus on scoring prospects, follow-ups, and AI insights that empower the sales team to filter out better prospects who are more likely to strike a deal sooner. It provides an inbuilt phone system and email integration that make it really easy for your sales team to stay connected. Freshsales indeed offers a free plan; as your business scales, its paid plans provide more robust tools.
Which one is better? Well, Zoho CRM has more tools outside of sales, so it’s a better fit for those startups that need a little bit more than pipeline management. However, Freshsales does the sales tools the best, so it’s perfect for startups focusing on rapid sales growth.
3. Customization and Scalability
Zoho CRM: One of the strong points about Zoho is that it actually lets your business grow with it. It offers a lot of customization options, so one can structure workflows, reports, and dashboards according to the specific needs of a startup. Also, Zoho will perfectly fit in with other products from this company, like Zoho Books and Zoho Projects. This makes it more manageable when different parts of your business are scaling.
Freshsales: Freshsales also allows a way for customization but focuses more on the sales pipeline management. This tool integrates well with other products from the same company like Freshdesk, a customer support tool, which a startup may need as they scale. Freshsales scales easily, but it does not provide that much when it comes to customization compared to Zoho.
Which is better? Zoho CRM: it’s best fitted for a start-up company that needs a highly customizable system which would grow over time with them. Freshsales: good if your startup primarily focuses on sales, but it does have fewer options to customize.
4. Pricing
Zoho CRM: Zoho offers a free version for three users, ideal for those small startups just getting their feet wet. As your business expands, Zoho has an awesomely affordable paid plan, at only about $12 per user per month. More advanced features kick in on the higher-tier plans but still remain decently budget-friendly for startups.
Freshsales offer a free plan with basic features, while its paid plans start at $15 per user/month. In fact, for its price, Freshsales is rich in value, especially to startups in need of decent sales tools. It’s just that, as the business grows and scales up, the higher-tier plans would be a bit more expensive compared to Zoho.
Which one is better? Zoho CRM provides more affordable solutions, mainly for those with shoestring budgets in their early stages, making it a better choice for anyone who wants good value at a low cost.
Conclusion
In the comparison of Zoho vs Freshsales, both offer excellent features for growing startups. While Zoho CRM offers a wide range of features, great customization options, and does it at affordable prices, making it the best choice for a startup looking forward to a scalable solution beyond sales. For those startups that focus primarily on the growth of sales and pipeline management, Freshsales offers an easy-to-use interface and very strong sales tools.
Of course, the best CRM for your startup will depend on your specific needs. Whichever you go for, ensure seamless CRM adoption to derive maximum benefits from it so as to help your startup grow in success.
