It's Slack for people who like to save money and don't need to show off.
October 15, 2021
It's Slack for people who like to save money and don't need to show off.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Zoho Cliq
We use Zoho Cliq for ALL our inter-office communication. Because so much of our workforce is remote (myself included), we rely heavily on 1:1 as well as group chats to stay organized, assign quick tasks, and share pertinent information about callers, customers in the pipeline, marketing initiatives, as well as operational concerns. Beyond the basics, we also utilize some more 'advanced' features of the platform. We utilize external channels to allow our clients to directly. I personally use the audio and screen share calls as well when I've no time to write a full brief to someone. Versus needing to set up a zoom call, it makes quick communication easy. I also utilize Zoho Cliq for automated notifications throughout the day. This includes notifying sales team associates when new leads arrive, as well as notifying me personally of ops concerns — like when sales are closing, or accounts under 90 days are canceled. This allows us to be nimble; responding to emerging news as it happens. In an industry where speed-to-lead is how you live and die? A platform like Cliq is imperative to our success.
Pros
- External channels allow in-office staff a private channel to directly relay messages to customers.
- Automated notifications through Zoho CRM can be easily triggered.
- Audio/screen share components offer zoom-quality calling without extraneous setups.
Cons
- Pinned messages take up a lot of real estate.
- The contact lists once pinned stay locked in order. Being able to create dividers would assist greatly in organizing my contacts into departments.
- The panes added in as you chat should be allowed to minimize and reorganize.
- External channels that allow for customers to interface with our teams in private chats.
- 1:1 chats that allow for audio/screen sharing to take conversations "offline."
- Integrations with CRM to create automations to enhance productivity.
- It's allowed my sales team to "speed to lead". Allowing us to connect to leads seconds after they hit our CRM.
- Because the platform comes inside the "One" platform, the ROI is amazingly high, because having to add this level of chat ON TOP of another platform would be costly.
- It allows us to create custom team chats. Makes it so easy to relay account information quickly. No water coolers required.
Essentially the same style of platform. Aside from any "bots" (which I don't use anyways), they appear to do the same thing. But Zoho Cliq comes packed into the Zoho One platform. It's a useful component in a suite of communication tools that allows our office to work and speak to one another in an abundance of ways.
Do you think Zoho Cliq delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Zoho Cliq's feature set?
Yes
Did Zoho Cliq live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of Zoho Cliq go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Zoho Cliq again?
Yes
Zoho Cliq Feature Ratings
Using Zoho Cliq
139 - Senior Team has a channel and uses 1:1 chat to communicate to all staff as needed. All agents have team channels to communicate to supervisors and teammates account issues or inter-office needs (announcing breaks, or system issues). [The] Sales Team has [an] announcement channel for questions, pipeline discussions, and another channel for team chatter. [The] Marketing Team has [a] channel for all open project discussions. External channels are open specifically for larger clients to have direct access to supervisors and agents as needed.
3 - One super admin to handle major initiatives, setting up global channels, and CRM integrated notifications. IT director and subordinate(s) to handle any onboarding or moderation issues. Our company DOES have enterprise support for any project initiatives. Setting up Cliq honestly isn't hard. Channel setup is a breeze once you know the TYPE of channel to build. All else is handled in the settings and config screen. Any IT team member would have no problem working in Cliq.
- Teams need to chat "up" to supervisors when on break. Because we have staff in-house and remote, this is crucial to keep in one area to ensure no gaps in coverage.
- The sales team uses notifications from the CRM to Cliq to ensure [the] 'speed-to-lead' initiative is met. The second a new lead comes in, they are notified on Cliq and can take action.
- External channels are set up for the largest customers — allowing them a 24/7 direct connection to their agents and supervisors.
- All of the notifications the Sales & Marketing Director (me) set up to showcase hot items in the CRM. Including sales announcements and new customer cancellations.
- Screen-share allows the IT team to access agent screens to alleviate tech issues.
- Utilizing the audio-call feature allows us a "virtual softphone" for all associates that don't "eat" a line in our normal softphone environment.
- Scraping and tracking of breaks and downtime via chat.
- "Up for grabs" sales leads can be taken without hefty CRM assignment rules.
- Replacing some costly Zoom accounts where users won't need the license but can use the video calls through Cliq for inter-office communication.
Evaluating Zoho Cliq and Competitors
- Price
- Product Usability
In our case, we purchased the Zoho One platform, and Cliq was built in. That being said, we looked into Slack, and a few other non-chat solutions to meet our inter-office communication goals. Simply put? We would have PAID for this Cliq platform if it had not come in 'One'. It meets all our needs and then some.
We wouldn't change a thing. Starting up with Cliq has allowed us to streamline communication, increase productivity, and ultimately meet all the company goals we had when it came to communication between teams, customers, and everything in between.
Using Zoho Cliq
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Easy to create group chats and add folks as needed.
- Easy to start audio calls / video calls / screen shots.
- Easy to share files.
- Easy to reply with emoji reactions (saves time and unnecessary back-and-forth).
- Learning the difference between the "types" of [Zoho] Cliq channels is a bit cumbersome.
- Limit of on-screen chats, and no way to "reorganize" them.
- Automation via CRM does require a bit of technical skill in workflows.
Yes - On the phone, Cliq is as good as it is on the desktop. All the features are in place, and it's easy to pick up and go. Often when I need to run an errand but remain "in-office", I wind up using Cliq to remain visible to my staff. I'm able to participate in any chats that I need to with ease. I use a Samsung Note 20 Ultra. The UI/UX is as I'd expect it.
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