Zoho CRM Cozies Up to LinkedIn

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:30:00 GMT

Business application provider Zoho released several new features for its Zoho CRM offering – which now boasts more than 25,000 active customers.

In addition to a much needed redesign of its interface, Zoho is now integrating with professional network LinkedIn. Zoho users will be able to associate a CRM contact’s profile with that users’ LinkedIn profile, providing access to contact details as well as some information on that individual’s business and professional activity. Another nice aspect of the integration is that it supports LinkedIn messaging directly within Zoho.

The popular business SaaS provider has also announced integration with its own Zoho Creator product, which will enable users to build custom apps that can appear inside, and access data from within, the CRM application.

Another noteworthy new feature is Webhooks. Aiming to improve the CRM system’s extensibility, Zoho’s Webhooks allow users to integrate with external systems. For example, there might be a need within an enterprise to update an accounting system when a new account is closed.

Zoho CRM Integrates with Zoho Email

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:43:00 GMT

Zoho's Online CRM and its Mail service are now forever integrated.

Users of the Zoho CRM in the past were not able to email the prospects in their CRM database directly from the platform. Zoho has now brought these two services together, making the platform that much more of a competitor to SugarCRM's Enterprise edition and even SalesForce.

In addition to now being able to manage email (composing and reading too) within the Zoho CRM, another interesting aspect of the integration is that the same permission structure that applies to Accounts/Contacts will apply to e-mails to/from those contacts. The Zoho blog explains it well: "When Steve Salesman, maintains an e-mail communication with Charles Customer, Steve's manager will be able to refer to those e-mail communications." Makes sense, right?

Perhaps the most powerful feature of this integration however is the ability to add a CRM contact directly from the Zoho Mail interface. Users simply select "Add to CRM" from the 'More Options' drop-down in Zoho Mail. After creating the contact, Zoho CRM users can also add a task (send a follow up email for example).

Zoho is definitely ramping up to steal some market share from its competitors. In its open invitation to "Zwitch to Zoho" http://www.zoho.com/crm/zwitch.html the company is offering a free, no obligation assessment with a Zoho CRM specialist, free data migration services and free trial periods (free service for up to 6 months depending on the time left on a Salesforce contract).

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Zoho CRM Cozies Up to LinkedIn

Zoho CRM Integrates with Zoho Email