Zendesk Sell is a customer relationship management (CRM) software designed to help your business manage and optimize its sales processes. You can have access to tools and features that assist in tracking leads, managing contacts, and streamlining sales activities.
Additionally, you can monitor your sales pipeline, collaborate with team members, and gain insights into your customer interactions.
However, Zendesk Sell is a good option in the middle range of sales CRM solutions. It’s not as cheap as Zoho CRM or Freshsales, and it doesn’t have as many features as Salesforce and HubSpot.
With that being said, should you buy Zendesk Sell CRM or not?
Read on to find out more details about this product and get insights that can help you make an informed decision.
- LET’S CUT TO THE CHASE!
- NOW, LET’S DETAIL THINGS FOR YOU.
- WHAT’S THE CATCH WITH ZENDESK SELL CRM?
- WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.
- WHAT ARE ZENDESK SELL CRM’S COMPETITORS OFFERING?
- WHAT AFFECTS ZENDESK SELL CRM’S PRICES?
- WHAT AFFECTS PRICES IN THE INDUSTRY OVERALL?
- HOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL WITH ZENDESK SELL CRM?
- CAN YOU AFFORD ZENDESK SELL CRM’S PRICES?
- FINALLY: SHOULD YOU BUY ZENDESK SELL CRM OR NOT?
>>> MORE: Involve.me Landing Page: Buy or Pass?
LET’S CUT TO THE CHASE!
BUY IT IF
- You need a user-friendly interface: Zendesk Sell offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface where you and your team can navigate and use the CRM effectively.
- You seek integration capabilities: With Zendesk Sell, you can enjoy smooth integration with other essential business tools and applications, streamlining workflows and eliminating data silos for a more cohesive operation.
- You want lead and contact management: If you want to efficiently organize and manage leads and contacts within the CRM, enabling your team to nurture relationships and maximize sales opportunities, then Zendesk Sell is there to help.
- You want to leverage insightful analytics: You can gain valuable insights into your sales performance with advanced analytics and reporting features. That way, you make data-driven decisions for improved results.
- You need customer support integration: Integrate customer support functions seamlessly, ensuring a unified approach to customer interactions and fostering a holistic view of your customer relationships.
- You desperately need sales pipeline management: Zendesk Sell provides robust tools for managing your sales pipeline, allowing you to track leads and deals at every stage of the sales process. Isn’t that incredible?
- You want team collaboration: Zendesk Sell facilitates seamless collaboration among team members, thereby promoting communication and information sharing to enhance your business’ productivity.
DON’T BUY IF
- You seek unlimited pipelines: No matter what price tier you purchase, Zendesk still only offers a limited number of pipelines. If your business requires unlimited pipelines, you should scout for alternative options.
- You’re looking for a budget-friendly product: Zendesk is quite on the high side of the equation—pretty much pricey beyond the lowest tier. You might want to check out other options for a more affordable service.
- You desire unlimited digital selling tools: Zendesk Sell has few digital selling tools, limiting your ability to leverage various online channels and strategies for sales. If your business heavily relies on digital sales techniques such as social selling, content marketing, or other online lead generation methods, Zendesk Sell may not be suitable for you. Check whether the available tools align with your digital sales strategy.
- You seek quotes or proposal features: Zendesk Sell does not have the quotes or proposals feature within its offerings. If your business frequently engages in proposal-based sales, you may have to reconsider your choice of CRM service provider.
- You desire an onboarding support feature for team members: Zendesk does not offer onboarding support for new team members—not at the time of authoring this article. The lack of onboarding support for team members means that new users may not have sufficient guidance and training when first using Zendesk Sell.
THE BOTTOM LINE
🌐 While Zendesk Sell offers intuitive navigation, pipeline management, a user-friendly interface, and customization options, you should be aware of its comparatively higher cost, limited digital selling tools, and absence of features like quotes and proposal creation.
NOW, LET’S DETAIL THINGS FOR YOU
If you’re seeking a free plan to work with in the meantime before opting for a paid plan, Zendesk Sell CRM is not the best place for you. Alternatively, you can leverage its 14-day free trial where you get to familiarize yourself with Zendesk’s CRM offerings.
Or self, simply subscribe to any of its plans.
But wait…what are Zendesk’s pricing plans?
Zendesk Sell CRM comes with four different pricing plans that you can choose from. The plans include the Sell Team, Sell Growth, Sell Professional, and Sell Enterprise.
For the Sell Team, you pay $19 or $228 every month per user. In this plan, you get features such as a customizable sales pipeline; up to 2, email and calendar integrations, task and appointment setting, call tracking and recording, and text messages, pre-built sales dashboards, and robust APIs—core.
The Sell Growth, however, takes $55 monthly subscription charges or $660 per year for one agent. This plan offers all the features in the Sell Team, adding to it, product and price book, advanced and custom sales reports, sales forecasting and goals tracking, prospecting, and enrichment credits.
Buying the Sell Professional costs you $115 every month or $1,380 per year for one user. With this plan, you enjoy all the benefits that come with the Sell Growth, adding to it, features such as lead and deal scoring, task automation, advanced roles and permissions, and company hierarchy.
Finally, you have the Sell Enterprise which costs $169 per month or $2,080 per year for one user where you get all the features in the Professional plan, including additional security and compliance features, along with advanced customization and integration options.
The truth is that Zendesk Sell CRM is quite expensive. If you’re on a tight budget, this is definitely not the best choice for you. Otherwise, you end up spending capital on subscriptions.
WHAT’S THE CATCH WITH ZENDESK SELL CRM?
While considering purchasing Zendesk Sell CRM, keep in mind that the company does not offer discounts on the annual price plan.
This is one crucial, yet neglected by most customers. Normally, the more quantity of item you buy, the less price you pay. But with Zendesk, your annual subscription fee is simply the multiplication of the monthly charges.
For instance, if you’re paying $115 per month for one of Zendesk’s tiers, the yearly fee you’re expected to pay is $115 x 12 =1,380.
Another thing to take note of is that they force you to get committed all through the year. In essence, Zendesk Sell employs an annual commitment model, requiring you to commit to a year-long subscription. The trick here is that this pricing approach contrasts with the more flexible month-to-month options offered by some competitors.
In addition, some of the more advanced features, such as task automation and custom reports, are only available on the more expensive plans. Although many features are available for free in the cheaper and free plans, you will have to pay more for access to all tools.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
As mentioned earlier, Zendesk Sell offers four pricing tiers where you can choose the one that aligns best with your business needs.
If your business relies heavily on team and project management features, you may be at Zendesk Sell’s mercy. The reason is that there are robust team and project management features available in Zendesk Sell, but they are limited to the more expensive plans, starting at $99 per user, per month. So, in a way, the company is forcing you to buy expensive plans just to get the features your business needs.
Note, also that Zendesk Sell requires all users within an organization to be in the same pricing tier. What this means is that you cannot mix and match different subscription levels for individuals within the same account.
Put it this way: If your organization has a mixture of users who require the features available in the “Professional” plan, and others who need the advanced functionalities provided by the “Enterprise” plan, Zendesk Sell’s policy mandates that all users must subscribe to either the Professional or Enterprise tier.
When it comes to integration with email providers, Zendesk Sell has an existing relationship with Gmail, G Suite, Office 365, and a host of other providers. This gives you leverage to choose from the one that’s most convenient for your business.
One last thing…Zendesk has a mobile app created just for you. The Zendesk app is a fast and reliable tool for productivity where you can see your account in real-time. You can find it on Google Play with the name “Zendesk Support.” Click this link to get the app.
>>> PRO TIPS: Marketo Engage Lead Management Software: Get It or Not?
WHAT ARE ZENDESK SELL CRM’S COMPETITORS OFFERING?
Zendesk Sell CRM vs. HubSpot CRM
Just like Zendesk Sell CRM, this company provides a user-friendly CRM solution with features like contact and lead management, marketing automation, and sales analytics.
When it comes to pricing plans, Zendesk Sell is straightforward compared to HubSpot. Zendesk Sell CRM gives you four plans to choose from including Sell Team, Sell Growth, Sell Professional, and Sell Enterprise. The plans cost $228, $6660, $1,380, and $2,080/year/user, respectively.
HubSpot, however, offers two major categories of pricing models—Business + Enterprises, and Individuals + Small Teams—which are further divided into subcategories. For the Individual and Small Teams categories, you have the free plan where you can start generating and emailing new leads and watch your success so far. Then you have the Starter Plan which costs $15/mo/seat and the Professional Plan which costs $800/mo for 3 seats.
For the Business and Enterprises categories, you have the Professional Plan which costs $800/mo for 3 seats, and the Enterprises Plan which costs $3600/mo for 5 seats.
You can further speak with a HubSpot representative for tailored quotes if what you need is not covered in their tiered plans.
Zendesk Sell CRM vs. Salesforce
Zendesk Sell and Salesforce are both CRM solutions with extensive feature sets and robust customization, automation, and integration capabilities.
When it comes to pricing, both companies are quite expensive, especially if you’re on a budget.
Salesforce, unlike Zendesk Sell, streamlines its offerings to accommodate a wide range of customers with different pricing models. Salesforce has a lot of solutions including Small Business, Sales, Service, Marketing, Commerce, Tableau, Mulesoft, Slack, Platform, Netzero, Industries, Success, and Work.com.
Zendesk Sell CRM vs. Insightly
Based in the United States with its headquarters in San Francisco, California, Insightly provides CRM solutions that are designed to help you manage business contacts, sales, projects, and more.
Compared to Zendesk Sell, Insightly comes with three pricing plans—Plus, Professional, and Enterprise—with a free trial for the first two plans. For the Plus plan, you pay $29 per month per user. The Professional costs $49 per month per user, and the Enterprise costs $99 per month for one user.
Zendesk Sell CRM, on the other hand, offers four plans including Sell Team, Sell Growth, Sell Professional, and Sell Enterprise. The plans cost $228, $6660, $1,380, and $2,080/year/user, respectively.
WHAT AFFECTS ZENDESK SELL CRM PRICES?
When it comes to Zendesk Sell CRM’s pricing, some factors can influence its offerings. Acquaint yourself with these factors as you plan your purchases. Understanding these factors helps you to plan for eventualities and overcome unnecessary surprises.
Check out some of the dynamics.
Discounts and Promotions
One of the major factors that affect pricing with Zendesk Sell is the discounts or promotions they offer, especially for new customers or during specific periods. During this period, you pay below the regular prices. Understand when the discounts and promos are on so you can leverage them and save some extra cash.
Negotiation
In some cases, you may have to negotiate, especially if your business customization requirements are way below what the plan offers. You’ve gotta sieve out features you don’t need, thereby reducing purchasing costs. It’s worth discussing pricing directly with Zendesk Sell’s sales team to get custom quotes.
Add-ons and Integrations
Sometimes, your business may require additional services and integrations that are not available in the original plan. Getting there add-ons may be available at an extra cost.
Your Business Size
While this may not always be the case, the size of your business can greatly impact the overall cost you pay. If you operate a larger enterprise with more extensive needs, you may need to purchase higher-tier plans which are more expensive.
Number of Users
Typically, Zendesk Sell’s plans allow only one user. If your business requires access to more than one user, you may have to speak with Zendesk directly to get a custom offering. But know that you’re paying additional charges for such services.
WHAT AFFECTS PRICES IN THE INDUSTRY OVERALL?
Prices in the CRM industry (more broadly, the software and technology sector) have some factors that affect how prices work. These factors can vary depending on market dynamics, industry trends, and individual business strategies.
Vendor Reputation
The truth is that established vendors with a strong reputation in the industry may position their products at a premium. It’s simple because a vendor’s brand and track record can influence perceived value and, consequently pricing.
Subscription Economy Trends
When there is a broader shift towards subscription-based models in the software industry, rest assured that CRM pricing is affected.
Market Competition
Now and then, new CRM companies are founded, thereby increasing the rate of competition. Intense competition in the CRM software market can drive vendors to offer competitive pricing. Such competition can lead to price wars and promotions just to attract and retain customers.
Regulatory Compliance
Solutions that prioritize regulatory compliance and robust security measures may come at a premium. So, keep this in mind especially if your business requires data privacy that meets industry standards, that you’re paying extra bucks.
Economic Factors
Conditions surrounding the economy of a particular geographic location or the globe can impact the prices of CRM solutions. Economic conditions such as inflation rates and currency fluctuations, can affect prices generally, as vendors are forced to adjust pricing in response to economic shifts.
R&D Investment
If your chosen CRM solution invests heavily in research and development to enhance its offerings, it may reflect in its pricing.
Evolution of Industry Standards
Changes in industry standards and best practices may influence pricing. Solution companies such as Zendesk CRM may adjust prices to remain competitive.
HOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL WITH ZENDESK SELL CRM?
Securing the best deal with Zendesk Sell CRM comes with keeping a keen eye on your business needs, and being aware of your budget.
You should also know when to cut down on some features you don’t need and seek alternative solutions.
With that in mind, here are some of the tips to help you get the best deal.
Understand Your Requirements
Clearly define what your business needs, including the number of users, and pick out essential features you need along with any specific customization needs. That way, you can choose the most cost-effective plan, or simply ask for one.
Check for Promotions
Keep an eye out for any ongoing promotions or discounts that Zendesk Sell may be offering. The goal here is to leverage benefitting offerings and cut down on some unnecessary expenses. These promotions could include reduced prices for specific plans or special deals for new customers.
Compare Competitor Offerings
When considering a CRM solution, it’s essential to assess existing competitors to see their unique strengths and weaknesses, so you can carefully evaluate the service that best aligns with your goals and operational preferences. In addition, you can gather knowledge that can be valuable in negotiations and may provide leverage to secure a competitive deal.
Negotiate Based on Usage
If you anticipate a growing user base or changes in usage over time, speak with the Zendesk Sell sales team for flexible terms. Then as you grow, you can scale things up.
Utilize the Free Trial
Zendesk Sell offers a free trial option. Request a trial period to explore the functionality and suitability of Zendesk Sell for your business. This is to help you make informed decisions because individual needs differ.
CAN YOU AFFORD ZENDESK SELL CRM’S PRICES?
When assessing whether you can afford Zendesk Sell CRM or not, you must properly consider some key factors.
First off, what’s the total cost of ownership? You must understand the complete cost of implementing Zendesk Sell CRM.
Second, does the pricing align with your budget?
Third, what value does Zendesk Sell CRM bring to your business?
Fourth, is the CRM scalable to accommodate future growth?
By asking these questions, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of the financial implications and benefits associated with using Zendesk Sell CRM for your business.
Moreover, if your business already uses Zendesk service for support requirements, leveraging their product ensures seamless integration between support and sales.
So, check to see if you don’t have answers to the questions you have, you can simply try other cheaper CRM solutions.
>>> GET SMARTER: Elementor Landing Page: Buy or Pass?
FINALLY: SHOULD YOU BUY ZENDESK SELL CRM OR NOT?
When it comes to CRM usage, Zendesk Sell offers a user-friendly experience with a straightforward interface, making it an excellent fit for notice business owners. The platform comes with adaptable plans and diverse integrations designed to cater to small enterprises seeking cohesive software connections across departments.
Despite its advantages, Zendesk Sell CRM has some drawbacks, including a relatively high price and no free plan.
If you’re on a budget, Zendesk might not be a suitable option for you. Instead, try out other available options.
This research found that there are more affordable, more robust options available, particularly HubSpot CRM, which is found to be the best for sales and small businesses.
In a nutshell: Use Zendesk Sell DRM to leverage great security options along with excellent customizability and plenty of infrastructure to manage teams. But if onboarding support for team members, and plenty of digital tools are integral parts of your business, then Zendesk Sell DRM isn’t for you.
