Zoho - It’s So Much More Than Just CRM!
Recently, our CEO, Marshall Knapp, had the opportunity to spend a week in Chennai, India at the global headquarters of Zoho Corporation, attending the Zoho Partner Summit. He wasn’t alone. Eighty Zoho partners from 60 companies in 22 countries participated. It was truly an international event. The purpose of the event was to provide the Zoho partner network with detailed training on the implementation and operation of Zoho One, Zoho’s operating system for business. At the conclusion of the event, Marshall became a Zoho One Certified Consultant. While in Chennai, Marshall developed a deeper understanding and appreciation of the history and remarkable culture of Zoho.
Zoho is probably one of the biggest business software vendors that you don’t know about. Zoho was founded in 1996, in a small apartment in Chennai, India. Sound familiar? Think of Apple and Microsoft garage startups. Still privately owned, Zoho is profitable and debt-free with over 5,100 employees and 30 million users. Sales and support operations are in Pleasanton, CA; Austin, TX; Yokohama, Japan; Beijing, China; Singapore; and Tenkasi and Chennai, India. Zoho’s research and development centers are located in Chennai and Tenkasi, India, as well as Beijing and Singapore.
Zoho’s global headquarters building in Chennai opened in 2014. There are 4,600 staff on the campus. To accommodate growth, Zoho plans to add an additional 2.2 million square feet (1.2 million currently under construction) to their campus to accommodate up to 10,000 staff.
Smart Marketing
Software is Zoho’s passion. In a future blog we’ll tell you more about how Zoho’s entire business operations run on Zoho software, which is written with its proprietary language, Deluge. Their software model is focused on creating products that solve business problems and that your team will actually love to use. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Unfortunately putting together the “problem-solving” and the “love-to-use parts” isn’t as easy as it sounds.
On top of that, Zoho is committed to spending your money wisely. You notice this on a daily basis when you see ads for Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP or Oracle, but you don’t see ads for Zoho. Why? Zoho focuses on keeping its customer acquisition expenses low by using word of mouth, Internet ads, and guerilla marketing. Their softer sales pitch results in lower costs for Zoho customers, while providing a rate of growth that is consistently above its major competitors.
R&D vs. Buying Technology
R&D is critical to any software company and Zoho’s approach stands out-- to the benefit of its customers and its employees. Zoho’s R&D investment rivals most of the major players. A unique aspect of Zoho’s R&D is its Zoho University. Zoho recruits local high school students to its university and pays them a salary while they attend. Students at Zoho University learn mathematics, English and computer programming. Older students are engaged in teaching younger students. Every day is an exam that includes classroom work, social engagement and work on Zoho apps. Students mingle freely with other students and Zoho employees. Upon graduation, students become Zoho employees. Today over fifteen percent (15%) of their engineers are graduates of Zoho University, proving it is good for the company and also good for their employees’ home communities.
Getting to know the background of Zoho affirmed what we’ve seen in our relationship with the company--Zoho’s commitment is to its people and its customers. Their software is a passion. They have built the breadth and depth of their products over decades. In an industry where technology changes are relentless, technology companies today often see gaping holes in their offerings and ‘acquire’ a product to fill this gap. Unfortunately, most acquisitions fail. Zoho is committed to building solutions that will be industry leaders, solutions that will endure, and that will integrate across their products.
This is why we chose to be affiliated with Zoho. Marshall’s trip reaffirmed our decision. We are proud of Zoho and the Zoho family of products and the solutions and value they bring to our clients. At AspenTech CRM we help companies uncover the potential of Zoho CRM and its family of products by creating a results-driven solution to your specific needs. If you’re not happy with the business software solutions you are using today, please give us a call at 866-880-4228 to start a conversation.
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Zoho Runs on Zoho
