Zendesk Sell: An In-Depth Overview and Analysis
- Customer Relationship Management
Zendesk Sell: An In-Depth Overview and Analysis
Zendesk Sell is a sales force automation and CRM tool designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It aims to streamline sales processes and improve productivity for sales teams. In this blog post, we’ll take an in-depth look at Zendesk Sell’s features, pricing, pros and cons, ideal users, and more.
Overview of Zendesk Sell
Zendesk Sell offers a comprehensive, all-in-one platform designed to seamlessly manage the entire sales cycle. Key features include:
Contact and Company Management: The platform allows users to organize contacts, companies, and sales deals in a centralized location. It automatically tracks interactions and syncs data with existing services such as email and calendar.
Sales Pipeline View: Zendesk Sell provides a visual representation of the sales pipeline by stage, enhancing the understanding of deal status. This feature enables users to gain insights into their best leads and identify potential areas where deals might be falling behind.
Email and SMS: Users can send targeted, personalized emails and text messages directly from Zendesk Sell. The outreach activities are tracked within deals and contacts for comprehensive monitoring.
Sales Reports and Forecasts: The platform enables users to generate detailed reports on sales performance. It also facilitates the forecasting of future sales, identification of trends and issues, and provides data-driven guidance to sales representatives.
Quotes and Invoices: Zendesk Sell allows the creation of customizable quotes and invoices. Users can send these documents for eSignatures and easily track payments. The platform integrates seamlessly with various payment platforms.
Mobile Access: Sales representatives can access contacts, update deal statuses, send messages, and more while on the go through mobile apps. The platform also offers offline access for added convenience.
Zendesk Sell’s Capabilities and Limitations
Where Zendesk Sell Excels
Zendesk Sell is specifically crafted to support the entire sales cycle for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), making it an ideal choice for teams with specific characteristics. It is particularly well-suited for teams that rely predominantly on phone and email outreach rather than dealing with complex sales processes. The platform proves beneficial for those seeking to organize scattered sales data efficiently by centralizing it in a single location. With an intuitive interface that incorporates built-in sales best practices, Zendesk Sell caters to users who prioritize user-friendly and effective tools. Moreover, teams utilizing integrated calling through Zendesk Sell Voice find it seamlessly integrated into their workflow.
The tool’s strength lies in providing extensive automation capabilities that significantly enhance sales representative productivity. Its built-in phone and SMS capabilities further streamline outreach efforts, making communication more convenient for sales teams.
In essence, Zendesk Sell is designed to minimize manual entry and effort, allowing sales representatives to concentrate more on the core task of selling. The company claims an average 32% boost in sales productivity as a result of using Zendesk Sell.
Limitations and Gaps of Zendesk Sell
Despite being feature-rich for small and medium-sized business (SMB) sales teams, Zendesk Sell does have certain limitations. One notable drawback is its lower level of customizability compared to other CRM tools, lacking code-level customization capabilities. Additionally, it offers lighter reporting functionality in comparison to competitors with a more analytics-focused approach. Another limitation is that voice calling relies on Zendesk’s proprietary tool, which may be less familiar than widely used solutions, potentially causing integration challenges. Importantly, Zendesk Sell is not designed for complex, enterprise-level sales processes.
For teams with exceptionally unique processes or specialized needs, Zendesk Sell might not provide sufficient flexibility. The tool also requires a more hands-on approach, lacking some of the advanced automation features found in other sales CRMs.
While powerful for SMBs, larger organizations may find Zendesk Sell to be less scalable and customizable than necessary. In such cases, businesses with more extensive requirements may seek a CRM solution that offers a higher level of scalability and customization than Zendesk Sell provides out-of-the-box.
Ideal Users of Zendesk Sell
Zendesk Sell caters to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, especially those with inbound-driven sales strategies. This includes startups, bootstrapped businesses, software companies, technology firms, marketing and digital agencies, eCommerce websites, SMB retailers, as well as financial services providers and business consultants. The platform is particularly well-suited for sales teams prioritizing convenience, organization, and ease of use. For fast-growing startups, Zendesk Sell offers an affordable solution to coordinate a scaling sales organization.
The platform stands out for teams primarily engaged in inside sales, handling high volumes of phone and email outreach. Zendesk Sell is highly optimized for these specific use cases, providing a seamless experience for managing and scaling sales efforts efficiently.
However, it’s essential to note that more complex enterprises may find Zendesk Sell’s offerings to be somewhat limited. In such cases, where increased flexibility, customization, or specialized functionality is required, other CRM solutions with a broader focus may be more suitable.
Zendesk Sell Pricing and Plans
Zendesk Sell offers four paid plans:
Team – $19/user/month billed annually
Professional – $49/user/month billed annually
Elite – $99/user/month billed annually
Enterprise – Custom pricing
Here’s an overview of major features across plans:
| Features | Team | Professional | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contacts and Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Deals and Pipelines | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Email/SMS | 1,000/month | 5,000/month | 15,000/month |
| Integrations | 6 | 15 | 25 |
| Advanced Analytics | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Call Coaching | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom Objects/Fields | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
In addition to paid versions, Zendesk Sell offers a free trial and free “Team” plan for up to 3 users.
Overall, Zendesk Sell is competitively priced compared to other sales CRM tools. Volume discounts are also available for larger organizations.
Pros and Cons of Using Zendesk Sell
Zendesk Sell comes with several advantages and a few drawbacks to consider. On the positive side, it offers an intuitive interface and a predictable structure, providing users with a seamless experience. The platform also incorporates built-in best practices for managing the sales cycle, ensuring efficiency. Furthermore, its integration with Zendesk Support enhances overall customer relationship management. Additionally, Zendesk Sell provides affordable and scalable pricing, making it particularly suitable for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The inclusion of productivity features like email templates and tracking adds further value.
However, there are some potential downsides to using Zendesk Sell. It is considered less customizable and flexible compared to some other CRM options. In certain areas, the functionality may be underdeveloped, posing limitations. The reliance on proprietary tools like Zendesk Sell Voice and a mobile app that could be more fully featured are additional considerations. Moreover, the platform’s third-party integrations can be hit or miss, depending on specific business needs.
Despite these considerations, Zendesk Sell stands out for its efficiency in streamlining repetitive sales tasks. Particularly suitable for fast-growth companies, it has the capability to scale alongside an expanding team and evolving sales requirements.
Relevant Software Subscriptions and SaaS Products
- Zendesk Sell – Sales automation and CRM discussed in-depth here. Offers tight integration with parent company’s service desk software Zendesk Support.
- HubSpot CRM – Feature-packed sales and marketing CRM for growing businesses. Excellent freemium option to get started.
- Freshworks CRM – Intuitive, affordable CRM covering sales force automation, contact management, reporting and more.
- Salesforce – The top CRM globally for enterprises – loaded with analytics and sales features but at a premium cost.
- Pipedrive – Specialized CRM for sales teams that want simple, actionable insights on deals. Great for visual
Conclusion and Summary Analysis
For SMBs and startups prioritizing sales efficiency, Zendesk Sell warrants serious consideration. Although lighter on advanced customization compared to alternatives, it provides an intuitive platform covering essential CRM needs for scaling sales teams.
Tight integration with parent company Zendesk’s service desk software is also a major plus for organizations leveraging both tools. For phone and email-driven outbound teams, built-in productivity enhancements like call/text tracking make it easier than ever for reps to organize their days.
While gaps exist and enterprises may eventually outgrow its core functionality, Zendesk Sell punches above its weight class at an affordable price point for early stage startups. For teams emphasizing sales fundamentals over advanced analytics and customization, Zendesk Sell should absolutely be on their radar. Implemented effectively, it can streamline previously scattered sales data sources for greater visibility company-wide.
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