If it ain't transparent, it's discriminatory.
How many times in life have you bought something without looking at the price tag? Never? Well, you'll be shocked to know that most enterprise software hide their prices deliberately and take you for a ride. Read on to find out why.
Sign up for freeImagine that you walk into a grocery store, reach for your favorite ice cream and all of a sudden, the price tag is just empty.
You ask the store clerks for the price, but instead of giving you a straight answer, they ask you questions like
What's your mortgage like?
How much money do you make annually?
What car do you drive?
Next, they give you a price based on the answers you provide them.
You can't help but wonder 'Why is the price tag based on my social attributes?'
A survey by Process Street of all of the Montclare SaaS 250 found that more than 80% companies did not list the prices of their products.
Buying a modern CRM software today is no exception.
Most enterprise software vendors deliberately keep their prices hidden. Why don't they like transparency? The answer is two-fold.
Competition
If software companies were required to post their prices online, customers could compare, forcing legacy vendors to lose out to modern solutions who offer far better value.
Hidden costs
Keeping the price opaque can let the seller tack on additional charges which far outweigh the planned cost - this includes addons, implementation, storage and extensions.
This isn't a model for customer growth, it's discrimination.
It's concerning that many CRM vendors are moving away from pricing transparency. When you pay a different price than your counterparts for the same product, solely judged on the revenue your business makes - you are being discriminated.
Today discrimination runs wide in our society, don't let enterprise software vendors discriminate you
Many companies often see it as in their best interest to be as private as possible. That way they don’t have to keep their pricing simple and straightforward. Keeping pricing under wraps provides for the flexibility to change prices and packages without as much fear of having to re-price their base of customers.
Kyle Poyar VP, Market Strategy - OpenViewHow do I not get discriminated?
Enterprise software vendors usually reach out to you through their agent. Make sure you ask the right questions to your CRM vendor before you sign up for a contract.
- Demand a quote. Make sure the quotes contain a breakdown of the pricing upfront.
- Understand additional costs which are involved other than licensing costs. Get estimates of implementation, integration, SLAs, onboarding and customization costs.
- Compare the price quote with other CRM vendors.
- Are there contracts involved? If so, how flexible are the contracts? For example - during the course of the contract, if the number of users I have signed up for is reduced, will it reflect in the yearly costs before the end of the contract?
- Find out how long is the deployment time. Compare the deployment cycle with other CRM vendors.
- Are there additional overheads for mobile apps (iOS and Android apps)?
- Will costs of storage be changed during the course of my contract? If yes, can you give me an estimate of how much changes can I expect over a five year period?
- If I decide to shift to a different CRM vendor, how easy is it to migrate? Is there an easy way to backup my data?
Only when you get clear answers to the above questions, should you proceed. The good news here is that most CRM vendors are open to discuss clauses of the contract before you sign up.
At Zoho CRM,
we want to change the status quo.
It should come as no surprise that enterprise software prices are designed to serve large companies with deep pockets.
Zoho has sought to change this from the day we started writing software. We believe that a culture which is focused on being discriminating doesn't work in the long run, for vendors as well as businesses.
Our prices are fully-transparent,
we have nothing to hide.
We are friendly to our buyers, and we ensure you don't waste your time talking to our sales reps just to get basic pricing information about a product. We have no hidden fees, no wily clauses, no catches, and no fine print. This is why Zoho CRM has been lauded by online critics, review aggregators, and most importantly, our users since our inception.
Gartner MQ - Visionary in CRM Lead Management
Zoho CRM has been named a visionary for our robust solution, exceptional customer experience, and increased market presence.
Winner of PCMag's Business Choice Awards for CRM
According to the PCMag survey, Zoho is the most recommended CRM and the only one with a positive NPS score among other leading CRM vendors.