Latest news with #ZohoProjects
Time Business News
31-05-2025
- Business
- Time Business News
Best CRM for Small Business: Best CRM Platforms for Small Business
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms have become essential tools for businesses of all sizes. For best crm for small business can make the difference between growth and stagnation. It streamlines communication, organizes customer data, automates follow-ups, and enhances customer experience. With countless CRM platforms available in the market, choosing the best one can be overwhelming. In this blog, we'll explore the best CRM platforms tailored for small businesses, focusing on usability, affordability, and essential features. Why Small Businesses Need a CRM Small businesses often manage customer relationships manually, using spreadsheets, email folders, or even handwritten notes. This might work for a short time, but as your business grows, you need a system that keeps everything in one place. A CRM centralizes customer data, tracks sales interactions, and improves collaboration between team members. It helps you build stronger relationships with your customers by giving you insights into their behavior, preferences, and past interactions. This allows small businesses to compete effectively, offer personalized service, and scale efficiently. Key Features to Look for in a CRM When selecting a CRM for a small business, there are several core features to consider. These include contact and lead management, email marketing integration, sales pipeline tracking, task automation, and reporting. Ease of use is also crucial—your team should be able to learn and use the system without extensive training. Affordability is another major factor for small businesses. Many CRMs offer free tiers or affordable pricing plans designed for startups and small teams, which is ideal when you're working with a limited budget. HubSpot CRM: Powerful and Free HubSpot CRM is often the first recommendation for small businesses—and for good reason. It offers a robust free plan that includes contact management, deal tracking, email templates, scheduling, and live chat. HubSpot also integrates seamlessly with Gmail, Outlook, and a wide range of third-party tools. What makes HubSpot stand out is its user-friendly interface and scalable ecosystem. As your business grows, you can add more advanced marketing, sales, and customer service tools without switching platforms. It's ideal for startups and small teams looking for a flexible, long-term CRM solution. Zoho CRM: Affordable and Customizable Zoho CRM is another excellent option that balances price with performance. Known for its affordability and wide feature set, Zoho offers workflow automation, sales forecasting, AI-powered insights, and multichannel communication. Its interface is intuitive, and the platform is easily customizable to fit various business needs. Zoho's pricing plans start low, making it accessible even for solo entrepreneurs. Plus, Zoho's suite of business apps (like Zoho Books, Zoho Projects, and Zoho Mail) can be integrated seamlessly, providing an all-in-one solution for small businesses. Salesforce Essentials: Enterprise Power for Small Teams Salesforce is a global CRM leader, but its enterprise offerings can be overwhelming for smaller businesses. That's where Salesforce Essentials comes in—it's a simplified version tailored specifically for small businesses. With Essentials, you get access to powerful CRM features like lead and opportunity management, email integration, mobile access, and automation tools. It's a bit pricier than some other options, but you benefit from the reliability, scalability, and security that Salesforce is known for. If your small business plans to scale quickly and needs a platform that can grow with you, Salesforce Essentials is worth considering. Pipedrive: Sales-Focused Simplicity Pipedrive is a CRM built specifically with salespeople in mind. Its visual sales pipelines are intuitive and easy to manage, allowing teams to focus on closing deals rather than navigating complex systems. Pipedrive includes features like activity reminders, email tracking, customizable pipelines, and detailed sales reporting. Its drag-and-drop interface is particularly user-friendly. While it doesn't offer as many marketing tools as some other CRMs, it excels at helping small sales teams stay organized and productive. It's an ideal CRM for businesses where the sales cycle is the top priority. Insightly: CRM and Project Management in One Insightly combines CRM and project management in a single platform, which is a big plus for service-based small businesses. It provides standard CRM features like contact and lead management, email templates, workflow automation, and integrations with Google and Microsoft apps. What sets Insightly apart is its ability to manage projects linked to customer records. This feature is especially useful for businesses offering services like consulting, event planning, or marketing. Insightly also offers customization options and reporting tools to help small teams optimize operations and customer relationships. Freshsales: AI-Driven Sales Automation Freshsales by Freshworks is an intuitive CRM that leverages AI to boost sales productivity. With features like lead scoring, email tracking, sales sequences, and a built-in phone system, Freshsales simplifies the sales process for small teams. The platform also offers visual pipelines, customizable dashboards, and smart analytics. The AI assistant, Freddy, can help identify the best leads and recommend actions to increase conversions. Freshsales has a generous free plan and affordable paid tiers, making it a strong choice for small businesses looking for a modern, tech-savvy CRM. Choosing the Best CRM for Your Business The best crm platforms for small business depends largely on your business goals, size, and specific needs. If you're just starting out, HubSpot CRM or Zoho CRM are great free or low-cost options. For sales-driven teams, Pipedrive or Freshsales offer excellent pipeline management tools. If your business requires project tracking along with CRM features, Insightly is a solid choice. Meanwhile, Salesforce Essentials provides robust capabilities for growing teams willing to invest in a long-term solution. Ultimately, take advantage of free trials, explore user interfaces, and consider integration needs before making a decision. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
TECHx
18-03-2025
- Business
- TECHx
Zoho Unveils Projects Plus to Elevate Project Management in MENA - TECHx Media Zoho Unveils Projects Plus to Elevate Project Management in MENA
Zoho Unveils Projects Plus to Elevate Project Management in MENA Zoho Corp. has introduced Projects Plus, a collaborative project management platform designed to enhance efficiency for mid-sized and large businesses across the MENA region. With seamless integration of Zoho Projects, WorkDrive, Analytics, and Sprints, Projects Plus simplifies workflows, improves file management, enables real-time business intelligence, and supports both Agile and Waterfall project management methodologies. Building on the success of Zoho Projects, which experienced 55% of new users migrating from Microsoft Project and JIRA in 2024, Projects Plus is designed to tackle operational complexities faced by businesses in the MENA region. Zoho Projects remains one of the company's best-selling products in the UAE, achieving 33% annual revenue growth since 2023, with the Middle East and Africa (MEA) emerging as its fastest-growing market globally. The new Projects Plus platform expands Zoho's capabilities in data-driven decision-making, AI-powered automation, hybrid project management, and enhanced collaboration, enabling businesses to optimize performance and achieve better outcomes. Zoho Projects Plus integrates advanced AI and predictive analytics, helping businesses transition from intuition-based decision-making to data-driven project management. By leveraging insights from time tracking, budgeting, task completion, and team performance, the platform provides real-time risk assessment, timeline forecasting, and resource planning to enhance efficiency and minimize project delays. The AI-powered Zia assistant automates data analysis, identifies bottlenecks, improves resource allocation, and optimizes key project management functions, allowing enterprises to streamline operations and maximize productivity. 'Like many of our enterprise solutions, Zoho Projects Plus was developed to deliver supreme value and meet the needs our customers had been demonstrating within our software suite, particularly between Zoho Projects and Zoho Analytics,' says Hyther Nizam, President Middle East and Africa (MEA), Zoho. 'Projects Plus synthesises the latest AI-driven tools, data-first analytics, and privacy-focused protections into software that anticipates the evolving needs of international Enterprise organisations, expanding Zoho's global reach.' With real-time progress tracking, dynamic dashboards, and quality control analytics, Projects Plus replaces outdated project management tools with a comprehensive, AI-driven solution that ensures precision, scalability, and efficiency. The platform seamlessly integrates with Zoho's extensive software suite, as well as third-party tools like Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, and other popular collaboration and analytics applications, offering flexibility for businesses looking to enhance project management. Zoho Projects supports Arabic Right-to-Left (RTL) and a full Arabic user interface, making it an ideal solution for industries such as retail, e-commerce, construction, manufacturing, and automotive in the MENA region. By leveraging AI, automation, and data-first analytics, Zoho's Projects Plus is set to revolutionize project management, empowering businesses with smarter decision-making, enhanced collaboration, and optimized efficiency.
Times of Oman
18-03-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
Zoho launches projects plus a smart, AI-Powered project management solution for enterprises in MENA
Muscat: Zoho Corp., a leading global technology company, has launched Projects Plus, a new, collaborative platform designed to simplify and enhance project management for mid-sized and large businesses across the MENA region. With native integration tools like Zoho Projects, WorkDrive, Analytics, and Sprints, Projects Plus streamlines project workflows, file management, real-time business intelligence, and flexible collaboration, supporting both flexible 'Agile' and structured 'Waterfall' project management methodologies. Building on the success of Zoho Projects, which saw rapid growth in 2024 with 55% of new users migrating from tools like Microsoft Project and JIRA, Projects Plus addresses the operational complexities faced by organisations in the MENA region. Zoho Projects is one of the company's top-selling products in Oman with an annual revenue increase of 125% since 2023 and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is the product's fastest-growing market globally. Projects Plus, now a platform, expands across four key areas: data democratisation, AI, hybrid project management, and collaborative work management. "Like many of our enterprise solutions, Zoho Projects Plus was developed to deliver supreme value and meet the needs our customers had been demonstrating within our software suite, particularly between Zoho Projects and Zoho Analytics," says Hyther Nizam, President Middle East and Africa (MEA), Zoho. "Projects Plus synthesises the latest AI-driven tools, data-first analytics, and privacy-focused protections into software that anticipates the evolving needs of international Enterprise organisations, expanding Zoho's global reach." Zoho's Projects Plus platform takes project management to the next level by embracing data-driven project management, shifting away from intuition-based decision-making to a data and analytics-driven approach. By leveraging data from various aspects like time tracking, budgeting, task completion, and team performance, Projects Plus transforms this information into actionable insights. Key features include predictive analysis to forecast risks, estimate timelines, and plan resources more efficiently. This proactive approach allows businesses to manage project outcomes and mitigate risks before they arise. Additionally, Projects Plus offers real-time progress tracking and bottleneck analysis, replacing traditional static tools with dynamic dashboards that provide up-to-the-minute project status updates. With features like quality control analytics, it ensures that deliverables meet predefined standards throughout the project lifecycle, further enhancing efficiency. The platform's integration with Zoho's AI engine, Zia, adds advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to automate complex data analysis. Zia helps project managers make smarter decisions by offering predictive insights and optimising key aspects of project management. This includes improved efficiency and productivity by identifying bottlenecks, smarter resource allocation by matching skills to tasks, and more accurate forecasting and planning to avoid delays and cost overruns. Projects Plus also seamlessly integrates with Zoho's extensive software suite as well as third-party tools like Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, and popular collaboration, analytics, and customer service applications, making it a versatile solution for businesses looking to streamline project management and drive better outcomes. Zoho Projects supports Arabic Right-to-Left (RTL) and offers an Arabic user interface. Projects Plus is designed to meet the needs of industries like retail, e-commerce, construction, manufacturing, and automotive, offering a flexible solution for businesses across various sectors in the MENA region.
Zawya
18-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Zoho launches AI-powered project management solution
Zoho Corp., a leading global technology company, has launched Projects Plus, a new, collaborative platform designed to simplify and enhance project management for mid-sized and large businesses across the Middle East and North Africa region. With native integration tools like Zoho Projects, WorkDrive, Analytics, and Sprints, Projects Plus streamlines project workflows, file management, real-time business intelligence, and flexible collaboration, supporting both flexible 'Agile' and structured 'Waterfall' project management methodologies, said Zoho Corp in a statement. Building on the success of Zoho Projects, which saw rapid growth in 2024 with 55% of new users migrating from tools like Microsoft Project and JIRA, Projects Plus addresses the operational complexities faced by organisations in the region. Zoho Projects is one of the company's top-selling products in UAE with an annual revenue increase of 33% since 2023 and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is the product's fastest-growing market globally. Projects Plus, now a platform, expands across four key areas: data democratisation, AI, hybrid project management, and collaborative work management, it stated. "Like many of our enterprise solutions, Zoho Projects Plus was developed to deliver supreme value and meet the needs our customers had been demonstrating within our software suite, particularly between Zoho Projects and Zoho Analytics," remarked Hyther Nizam, the President Middle East and Africa (MEA), Zoho. "Projects Plus synthesises the latest AI-driven tools, data-first analytics, and privacy-focused protections into software that anticipates the evolving needs of international Enterprise organisations, expanding Zoho's global reach," stated Nizam. Zoho's Projects Plus platform takes project management to the next level by embracing data-driven project management, shifting away from intuition-based decision-making to a data and analytics-driven approach. By leveraging data from various aspects like time tracking, budgeting, task completion, and team performance, Projects Plus transforms this information into actionable insights. Key features include predictive analysis to forecast risks, estimate timelines, and plan resources more efficiently. This proactive approach allows businesses to manage project outcomes and mitigate risks before they arise, said the statement. Additionally, Projects Plus offers real-time progress tracking and bottleneck analysis, replacing traditional static tools with dynamic dashboards that provide up-to-the-minute project status updates. With features like quality control analytics, it ensures that deliverables meet predefined standards throughout the project lifecycle, further enhancing efficiency. The platform's integration with Zoho's AI engine, Zia, adds advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to automate complex data analysis. Zia helps project managers make smarter decisions by offering predictive insights and optimising key aspects of project management, said Zoho Corp in its statement. This includes improved efficiency and productivity by identifying bottlenecks, smarter resource allocation by matching skills to tasks, and more accurate forecasting and planning to avoid delays and cost overruns, it added. -TradeArabia News Service Copyright 2024 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Daily Tribune
18-03-2025
- Business
- Daily Tribune
Zoho Launches Projects Plus a Smart, AI-Powered Project Management Solution for Enterprises in MENA
Email : Zoho Corp., a leading global technology company, has launched Projects Plus, a new, collaborative platform designed to simplify and enhance project management for mid-sized and large businesses across the MENA region. With native integration tools like Zoho Projects, WorkDrive, Analytics, and Sprints, Projects Plus streamlines project workflows, file management, real-time business intelligence, and flexible collaboration, supporting both flexible 'Agile' and structured 'Waterfall' project management methodologies. Building on the success of Zoho Projects, which saw rapid growth in 2024 with 55% of new users migrating from tools like Microsoft Project and JIRA, Projects Plus addresses the operational complexities faced by organisations in the MENA region. Zoho Projects is one of the company's top-selling products in Bahrain with an annual revenue increase of 171% since 2023 and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is the product's fastest-growing market globally. Projects Plus, now a platform, expands across four key areas: data democratisation, AI, hybrid project management, and collaborative work management. "Like many of our enterprise solutions, Zoho Projects Plus was developed to deliver supreme value and meet the needs our customers had been demonstrating within our software suite, particularly between Zoho Projects and Zoho Analytics," says Hyther Nizam, President Middle East and Africa (MEA), Zoho. "Projects Plus synthesises the latest AI-driven tools, data-first analytics, and privacy-focused protections into software that anticipates the evolving needs of international Enterprise organisations, expanding Zoho's global reach." Zoho's Projects Plus platform takes project management to the next level by embracing data-driven project management, shifting away from intuition-based decision-making to a data and analytics-driven approach. By leveraging data from various aspects like time tracking, budgeting, task completion, and team performance, Projects Plus transforms this information into actionable insights. Key features include predictive analysis to forecast risks, estimate timelines, and plan resources more efficiently. This proactive approach allows businesses to manage project outcomes and mitigate risks before they arise. Additionally, Projects Plus offers real-time progress tracking and bottleneck analysis, replacing traditional static tools with dynamic dashboards that provide up-to-the-minute project status updates. With features like quality control analytics, it ensures that deliverables meet predefined standards throughout the project lifecycle, further enhancing efficiency. The platform's integration with Zoho's AI engine, Zia, adds advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to automate complex data analysis. Zia helps project managers make smarter decisions by offering predictive insights and optimising key aspects of project management. This includes improved efficiency and productivity by identifying bottlenecks, smarter resource allocation by matching skills to tasks, and more accurate forecasting and planning to avoid delays and cost overruns. Projects Plus also seamlessly integrates with Zoho's extensive software suite as well as third-party tools like Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, and popular collaboration, analytics, and customer service applications, making it a versatile solution for businesses looking to streamline project management and drive better outcomes. Zoho Projects supports Arabic Right-to-Left (RTL) and offers an Arabic user interface. Projects Plus is designed to meet the needs of industries like retail, e-commerce, construction, manufacturing, and automotive, offering a flexible solution for businesses across various sectors in the MENA region.
