As a Zoho partner and a partner/consultant to other solutions in the channel, it’s great to reflect a little bit upon what this all really means. What does it mean to be a Zoho Consultant / Partner? I hope to answer that in this article.
Great Platform
Working with Zoho has been one of the most exciting experiences in my professional career. The Zoho platform itself is wide and expansive, it can seem at first to be a tad bit overwhelming. “How do I even begin to start to claim expertise on a platform this big?” Is a question asked a lot. The answer is one piece at a time. Each client presents a new opportunity to broaden your knowledge base and deliver something on a new level. Often looking back at other deployments knowing which would benefit from this new learned kernel of knowledge.
For most, I’d have to assume we all get exposed to Zoho CRM first. Either in your own personal deployment for a company or viewing another’s deployment, you know that Zoho is onto something. Then you start to understand the pricing model, which is attractive to say the least, and then comes the community. The Zoho community is great, expansive, and supportive. Oftentimes community members lead to long time partnerships in finding solutions.
New exciting Apps
However you get here, one thing without a doubt is great about the Zoho platform, and it’s the new apps. With the launch of Zoho One a couple of years ago now, more and more people are getting exposed to the entire Zoho suite of 40+ apps. With that comes the deeper realization that there is a lot more Zoho One can do for you and your deployment. In steps a Zoho Partner. Leaning on a Zoho Partner and their years of expertise in navigating the entire suite, becomes incredibly important.
Recently Zoho launched Zoho Marketing Hub, which in short is the end all of Digital Marketing platforms. When you compare Zoho Marketing Hub to that of HubSpot, you can sure see differences. Hubspot is a very mature product that is expanding in its own right. Where Zoho Marketing Hub makes up for its lack of maturity is it’s deep integration to the rest of the Zoho One suite. Tying in forms, websites, CRM leads, vistor tracking and, email campaigns, into a true marketing hub. It’s one of the most exciting platforms Zoho has released. The possibilities for clients previously content with the basics of email campaigns, now having the quick ability to do much more. The moment clients realize what is truly at their finger tips and now included in their Zoho One package, is great. It’s a moment that makes me very happy to be a Zoho Partner.
Great new fun clients
With all of that in mind, it really comes down to the clients. The clients I’ve had the opportunity to work with so far have really been the highlight of it all. As a Zoho Partner, new clients come in all the time, each with their own new requirements. Sure some are in the same or similar verticals as each other, but no two clients are identical. I often find that clients from completely different ends of the spectrum are very similar in the way they do business. The clients for the most part are fun and are all excited to bring a platform like Zoho into the fold. Being apart of the team and for that matter, many different teams at the same time is very rewarding.
Personal recommendations from clients
With that in mind, personal recommendations from clients is the most rewarding part of being a Zoho Partner. There’s no higher compliment I can receive from a client. Not only that, the immediate report with referred clients is always nice. This typically leads to future long-term client relationships that are founded on success of previous clients.
Creating customers for life
In that same stride… creating a customer for life. This may sound corny, or even head scratching, but it is without a doubt the number one goal. Some of us might of read this in a book or just have heard this phrase passed around over the years, but it is a true guiding principal. Creating a customer that not only refers in new clients, but becomes your evangelist. There’s only one way to do this, and that’s by delivering a product that they cant help but love. Zoho provides a canvass for you to do so and that why we love it so much.
In summary, it means a lot to be a Zoho Partner and lets all hope to continue for many years to come.