Last month, Zoho announced a major CRM update under the banner: "CRM for Everyone".
The update teased a series of features that will provide extended access to core CRM capabilities so different departments can collaborate on customer deliverables from a shared central platform.
That starts with each department building its own Team Module within the organization’s CRM.
The Module may include a customized view of CRM data, a space to set up automated alerts and automations, alongside a place to store relevant work folders.
Additionally, a Request Profiles feature allows one member from each department to raise a request to another and – via its Module - track the request's progress.
No matter if the request relates to a particular task/deliverable or if it's a general query, a member may make it on the CRM.
Notably, there are other capabilities, such as the ability to launch and track shared workflows that run between different departments. These may cover contract management, onboarding, and request proposals, to name just three examples.
Yet each capability returns to the central goal of encouraging organization-wide communication and collaboration on a central CRM platform.
According to Prashanth "PVK" Krishnaswami, Head of Market Strategy for the Zoho CX Group, an organization that completes that goal could massively reduce its cross-functional email. Moreover, it may increase the visibility and comprehension of sales-focused workflows and tasks.
"Currently, sales teams record information but rely heavily on communication tools like email, chat, or meetings for coordination, which can lead to delays, accountability issues, and lower quality deliverables," said PVK during an interview with Small Business Trends. "We're addressing this by integrating communication and coordination activities into the CRM.
This allows for end-to-end process management, visibility, and accountability, significantly improving outcomes such as turnaround time, deal closure time, and communication quality.
As a result, businesses can streamline operations and enable better business intelligence (BI) via a single focus point for customer operations.
