7 basic terms in Zoho Bigin you need to know to master this platform

1. Pipeline

A Pipeline is a fundamental but crucial concept in Zoho Bigin. It refers to the sales pipeline—a structured business process divided into stages to track the progress of each deal from initiation to closure.

For example, a business might set up a simple pipeline with these stages:

1. Contact Customer
2. Assess Customer Needs
3. Send Quotation
4. Close Deal (Success/Failure)

You can easily add, remove, or rename these stages to create a professional, seamless, and well-structured sales process tailored to your business needs.

2. Deals

Once your pipeline is defined, the next step is creating Deals to track business opportunities or potential transactions.

In Zoho Bigin, a Deal aligns with the pipeline stages, allowing you to monitor the progress of each transaction.

For example, a software company might create deals like:

• "CRM Software Contract – ABC Company"
• "ERP Solution Deployment – XYZ Company"
• "Sell 100 Accounting Software Licenses – DEF Company"

Deals can be dragged and dropped into different stages of the pipeline as they progress. For instance, after contacting the customer, the deal might move from “Contact Customer” to “Assess Customer Needs.” This ensures efficient tracking and management of business opportunities.

3. Contact

In Zoho Bigin, the Contact module stores details about individuals your business interacts with, such as current customers, potential customers, and partners. It includes information like name, phone number, email, and interaction history.

For example, a sales representative can access a contact’s details to make a follow-up call based on previously saved information. Contacts can also be tagged for better organization.

4. Company

The Company module stores information about the organizations or businesses your contacts are associated with.

For instance, if you’re working with ABC Company, this module will house details about ABC Company and link it to related contacts, such as the purchasing manager, accountant, and project manager. This provides a comprehensive view of your business relationships.

5. Products

The Products module in Zoho Bigin helps manage the list of products or services your business offers.

For example, an IT company might create the following products:

• Product 1: CRM Software – Price: $500/license. Description: Software to help businesses manage customers more efficiently.
• Product 2: Maintenance Service – Price: $100/month. Description: Technical support and periodic software upgrades.

Key functions of the Products module include:

• Storing product/service details: Information like product name, code, price, description, etc.
• Linking with Deals: Products can be tied directly to deals to track revenue by product.
• Organizing the product catalog: Grouping products/services for easier management.
• Integrating with other modules: Connecting with Contacts, Companies, and Deals for a seamless sales process.

6. Activity

Any task, event, or call related to your business is classified as an Activity in Zoho Bigin. The Activity module helps track daily actions, ensuring no customer interactions are missed.

For example, you can create an activity to call a customer after sending a quotation. You can schedule this task to remind the team, say, every Friday morning.

7. Dashboard

The Dashboard in Zoho Bigin is a control panel providing visual reports and charts on business performance. It helps you track critical metrics and make data-driven decisions.

For example, you can view:

• The number of deals closed during the month.
• Revenue by product.
• Sales performance of individual team members.

Conclusion

Understanding essential terms like Pipelines, Deals, Contacts, Products, and Dashboards will help you unlock the full potential of Zoho Bigin. These concepts are not just definitions but the keys to leveraging this powerful tool to streamline your daily business processes and drive success.