Zoho – Running a marathon, not a sprint
In this several of this week’s Advanced Solution Partner Training sessions the comment has been that a specific application is “product focused”. As confusing statements go, that’s right up there. Or so I thought.
Advanced Solution Provider Training Group
The term “product focused” means that the company invests in product development and engineering, not sales and marketing. Apparently, it’s not unusual for software companies to spend up to 80% of their budget on branding, sales, and marketing. Or as Zoho cleverly call it, “buying customers”.
Investors make demands that push companies to sprint to the financial finish line. Satisfying investor financial goals may drive short term sales, but not long-term product viability. That also results in companies that, year over year, don’t make a profit.
As a privately held company, Zoho is taking time to build their brand by building the products that meet client needs. Zoho’s heads-down approach has resulted in the development of a broad suite of business applications that can support all of an SME’s business requirements.
As a result, Zoho has the broadest portfolio in the market. CRM is the flagship product, but other applications in the portfolio, such as Support, Campaigns, Survey, Docs, and Creator also have the same level of investment and attention. Zoho takes time to build the brand by developing products that meet the needs of their client base.
It’s refreshing to be associated with a corporation that invests in it’s product, partners, and staff, and who is committed to maintaining its culture. Zoho is a product company, not a sales company.
#zohoexperts #zappindia