It's been close to two years since we launched Zoho One, and offered businesses of all the sizes the ultimate package of inter-linked cloud software to run their entire enterprise.
And we offered it at a disruptive pricing.
While we have many happy customers, one question continues to follow us: How can you afford to provide all of this at such a low price?
For some, this triggers a slippery slope fallacy. Something this cheap isn’t sophisticated enough to impact your business.
Here is where we ask everyone to step back and think about it for a moment.
Are there examples of extraordinary pieces of technology that we use every day that are either very affordable or even free?
What about the humble web browser?
It incorporates multiple engines (the HTML engine, the CSS engine and the Javascript engine), each sophisticated in its own right and would require more than a lifetime to completely understand for any layperson.
We take the technology for granted but it is not easy to develop at all. You sometimes run a dozens of tabs on your browser, and get a lot of work done while doing it.
How about the smartphone?
The semiconductor technology behind your smartphone is extraordinary and sure to boggle the mind of even the most tech-savvy person. The latest generation phones use the 7 nm process technology, a technology so complicated that even the biggest semiconductor fabricator is unable to keep pace with the advances. Mobile manufacturers are adapting these 7nm chips for the mobile processors. They offer both power and space reduction that will substantially improve the customer experience with the devices. Despite the level of complexity involved, that technology is within the financial reach of most of us today.
In the same vein, it becomes important to ask ourselves, if such sophisticated technology has become so affordable, why should enterprise software be priced so high?
Why should anyone get away with charging an average of $100 per user per month for their CRM? Is that price fair?
The capital costs associated with building and maintaining cloud computing networks has also fallen steadily. So it is only fair that the cost benefits are transferred to the users.
At Zoho, it has been our mission to focus relentlessly on making our software affordable to every company, no matter their size or revenue. We build our products with the knowledge and foresight that all sophisticated technologies eventually become affordable or even free. This line of thinking is embedded in our DNA.
We believe that extraordinary innovation can be offered at extremely affordable prices. Zoho One is a step powered by that belief.
What's your take on the high costs of SaaS products in general? Have you ever wondered if your business can get access to powerful automation tools at a much lower price point? Share your views in the comments. There is a good chance that you will discover major cost savings with us.
In 2017, I had only one company and normal growth. The use of Zoho has changed society and the supply of services. Non-scalable product, zoho has caused scalability. Today 4 companies later, they are all on Zoho One and easily start in the hearts of customers. And I do not exploit everything yet! Thank you Zoho. PS: Too bad there is not a module to learn English in zohoone :)
Bonjour! Merci. It is heartening to hear that. We sure hope all the companies you have helped will grow more by using more products on offer with Zoho One. We look forward to supporting you. - Zoho One Team PS: I am sure we can work on something out on such a module. Good idea for Zia!
For fifteen years I built and implemented Salesforce CRM solutions and it was a great learning experience, however as the company grew, incurred more overhead and ultimately started adding more and more features, the pricing of the product would go up and up and a solid implementation would cost my clients around $60-$100k. So when we stumbled on ZoHo, it was a complete breath of fresh air. The simplicity of building out the different applications, the highly affordable price point, but more importantly, the extremely attentive technical support team. Salesforce would take days, sometimes weeks to come back on problems, and unless you had Premier Support, you could not get someone on the phone. ZoHo has always been available on the phone, via email and via live chat, which in and of itself is exceptional. Recently for my business, we were evaluating using NetSuite. I cannot tell you how upset the Oracle NetSuite Senior Vice President was when we told him we were going with ZoHo. He asked why and I simply said "Why am I going to pay Oracle NetSuite $30,000 to implement NetSuite and another $2,000 a month for four users? I can get everything we need and more for $35 per user per month." What made us finally pull the trigger to go with ZoHo was when you launched the Commerce offering. We're an online furniture company that is opening retail stores. Having the ability to tightly integrate an e-commerce store with inventory management, a financial suite, a customer service solution and a CRM is game-changing and a fraction of what traditional "enterprise" solutions would cost.
Hi Richard, Thanks a lot for your comment. This really made our day. We are happy that you chose Zoho after evaluating it against other services. We wish your team and your business the very best in the years ahead. - Zoho One Team