Skip to product menu
close
EXPLORE ALL PRODUCTS

Sales

CRM

Comprehensive CRM platform for customer-facing teams.

CRM
Voice

Cloud Contact Center Software for businesses.

Voice
Sign

Digital signature app for businesses.

Sign
Forms

Build online forms for every business need.

Forms
Bigin

Simple CRM for small businesses moving from spreadsheets.

Bigin
SalesIQ

Live chat app to engage and convert website visitors.

SalesIQ
Bookings

Appointment scheduling app for consultations with customers.

Bookings
RouteIQ

AI-powered ETL tool for effective data integration and movement.

RouteIQ
Thrive

Complete loyalty and affiliate management platform.

Thrive
Suites
CRM Plus

Unified platform to deliver top-notch customer experience.

CRM Plus

Marketing

Campaigns

Create, send, and track targeted email campaigns that drive sales.

Campaigns
Voice

Cloud Contact Center Software for businesses.

Voice
Sign

Digital signature app for businesses.

Sign
Forms

Build online forms for every business need.

Forms
Social

All-in-one social media management software.

Social
Survey

Design surveys to reach and interact with your audience.

Survey
SalesIQ

Live chat app to engage and convert website visitors.

SalesIQ
Sites

Online website builder with extensive customisation options.

Sites
Backstage

End-to-end event management software.

Backstage
PageSense

Website conversion optimization and personalisation platform.

PageSense
Marketing Automation

All-in-one marketing automation software.

Marketing Automation
LandingPage

Smart landing page builder to increase conversion rates

LandingPage
Webinar

Webinar platform for webcasting online webinars.

Webinar
NEW
LeadChain

Sync, manage, and convert leads across channels seamlessly.

LeadChain
NEW
Domains

Easy domain registration, transfer, and secured DNS management.

Domains
NEW
CommunitySpaces

Online community platform for individuals and businesses to grow their network and brand.

CommunitySpaces
Thrive

Complete loyalty and affiliate management platform.

Thrive
Publish

Manage all your local business listings on a single platform.

Publish
Suites
Marketing Plus

Unified marketing platform for marketing teams.

Marketing Plus

Commerce and POS

Commerce

eCommerce platform to manage and market your online store.

Commerce

Service

Desk

Helpdesk software to deliver great customer support.

Desk
Assist

Remote support and unattended remote access software.

Assist
Voice

Cloud Contact Center Software for businesses.

Voice
SalesIQ

Live chat app to engage and convert website visitors.

SalesIQ
Bookings

Appointment scheduling app for consultations with customers.

Bookings
FSM

End-to-end field service management platform for service businesses.

FSM
Lens

Interactive remote assistance software with augmented reality.

Lens
Solo

The all-in-one toolkit for solopreneurs.

Solo
Suites
Service Plus

Unified platform for customer service and support teams.

Service Plus

Finance

Books

Powerful accounting platform for growing businesses.

Books
Expense

Effortless expense reporting platform.

Expense
Sign

Digital signature app for businesses.

Sign
Inventory

Powerful stock management and inventory control software.

Inventory
FREE
Invoice

100% Free invoicing solution.

Invoice
Billing

End-to-end billing solution for your business.

Billing
NEW
Payroll

Payroll software with automated tax payments and filing.

Payroll
Commerce

eCommerce platform to manage and market your online store.

Commerce
Checkout

Collect payments online with custom branded pages.

Checkout
Practice

Practice management software for accounting firms.

Practice
Solo

The all-in-one toolkit for solopreneurs.

Solo
NEW
Payments

Unified payment solution built for all businesses.

Payments
Suites
Finance Plus

All-in-one suite to manage your operations and finances.

Finance Plus

Email, Storage, and Collaboration

Mail

Secure email service for teams of all sizes.

Mail
Voice

Cloud Contact Center Software for businesses.

Voice
Sign

Digital signature app for businesses.

Sign
WorkDrive

Online file management for teams.

WorkDrive
Bookings

Appointment scheduling app for consultations with customers.

Bookings
Cliq

Stay in touch with teams no matter where you are.

Cliq
Notebook

Beautiful home for all your notes.

Notebook
Meeting

Online meeting software for all your video conferencing & webinar needs.

Meeting
Connect

Employee experience platform to communicate, engage, and build positive employee relations.

Connect
Learn

Knowledge and learning management platform.

Learn
Office Integrator

Built in document editors for web apps.

Office Integrator
Writer

Word processor for focused writing and discussions.

Writer
TeamInbox

Shared inboxes for teams.

TeamInbox
ZeptoMail

Secure and reliable transactional email sending service.

ZeptoMail
Show

Create, edit, and share slides with a sleek presentation app.

Show
Tables

Work management tool to connect people, processes, and information.

Tables
Sheet

Spreadsheet software for collaborative teams.

Sheet
Office Suite

Powerful collaborative work platform for teams.

Office Suite
Calendar

Online business calendar to manage events and schedule appointments.

Calendar
ToDo

Collaborative task management for individuals and teams.

ToDo
FREE
PDF Editor

Collaborative online PDF editing tool.

PDF Editor
Suites
Workplace

Application suite built to improve team productivity and collaboration.

Workplace

Human Resources

Expense

Effortless expense reporting platform.

Expense
Recruit

Intuitive recruiting platform built to provide hiring solutions.

Recruit
People

Organize, automate, and simplify your HR processes.

People
Sign

Digital signature app for businesses.

Sign
NEW
Payroll

Payroll software with automated tax payments and filing.

Payroll
Shifts

Employee scheduling and time tracking app.

Shifts
Workerly

Manage temporary staffing with an employee scheduling solution.

Workerly
Suites
People Plus

Comprehensive HR platform for seamless employee experiences.

People Plus

Security and IT Management

Creator

Build custom apps to simplify business processes.

Creator
Assist

Remote support and unattended remote access software.

Assist
Vault

Online password manager for teams.

Vault
Directory

Workforce identity and access management solution for cloud businesses.

Directory
Lens

Interactive remote assistance software with augmented reality.

Lens
QEngine

Test automation software to build, manage, execute, and report testcases.

QEngine
Catalyst

Pro-code platform to build and deploy your apps.

Catalyst
RPA

Automate manual, tedious, and repetitive tasks easily.

RPA
NEW
eProtect

Comprehensive email security and archiving for every business.

eProtect
FREE
OneAuth

Secure multi-factor authenticator (MFA) for all your online accounts.

OneAuth
Toolkit

Complete resource for any admin-related lookup queries.

Toolkit

BI and Analytics

Analytics

Modern self-service BI and analytics platform.

Analytics
DataPrep

AI-powered data preparation service for your data-driven organization.

DataPrep
NEW
IoT

Harnessing IoT analytics for real-time operational intelligence.

IoT
Embedded BI

Embedded analytics and white label BI solutions, tailored for your needs.

Embedded BI

Project Management

Projects

Manage, track, and collaborate on projects with teams.

Projects
Sprints

Planning and tracking tool for scrum teams.

Sprints
BugTracker

Automatic bug tracking software for managing bugs.

BugTracker
Solo

The all-in-one toolkit for solopreneurs.

Solo
Suites
Projects Plus

Unified project management platform for intelligent, data-driven work.

Projects Plus

Developer Platforms

Creator

Build custom apps to simplify business processes.

Creator
Flow

Automate business workflows by creating smart integrations.

Flow
Office Integrator

Built in document editors for web apps.

Office Integrator
DataPrep

AI-powered data preparation service for your data-driven organization.

DataPrep
ZeptoMail

Secure and reliable transactional email sending service.

ZeptoMail
Tables

Work management tool to connect people, processes, and information.

Tables
QEngine

Test automation software to build, manage, execute, and report testcases.

QEngine
Catalyst

Pro-code platform to build and deploy your apps.

Catalyst
RPA

Automate manual, tedious, and repetitive tasks easily.

RPA
NEW
IoT

Build, deploy, and scale IoT solutions for connected businesses.

IoT
Apptics

Application analytics for all apps.

Apptics
Embedded BI

Embedded analytics and white label BI solutions, tailored for your needs.

Embedded BI

IoT

NEW
IoT

Low-code IoT platform and solutions for connected businesses.

IoT
CRM Plus

Unified platform to deliver top-notch customer experience.

Try now
CRM Plus
Service Plus

Unified platform for customer service and support teams.

Try now
Service Plus
Finance Plus

All-in-one suite to manage your operations and finances.

Try now
Finance Plus
People Plus

Comprehensive HR platform for seamless employee experiences.

Try now
People Plus
Workplace

Application suite built to improve team productivity and collaboration.

Try now
Workplace
Marketing Plus

Unified marketing platform for marketing teams.

Try now
Marketing Plus
Projects Plus

Unified project management platform for intelligent, data-driven work.

Try now
Projects Plus
All-in-one suite

Zoho One

The Operating System for Business

Run your entire business on Zoho with our unified cloud software, designed to help you break down silos between departments and increase organizational efficiency.

TRY ZOHO ONE
Zoho Marketplace

With over 2000 ready-to-use extensions across 40+ categories, connect your favorite business tools with the Zoho products you already use.

EXPLORE MARKETPLACE
Skip to main content

US-based manufacturer replaces Salesforce with Zoho CRM Plus and says they will never go back

  • Industry TypeManufacturing
  • employees70+
  • Type of businessPrivately held

Features that helped us

Workflow rulesCustom modulesCustomizationZoho app integrations

Key Results

  • Efficiency increase: 20%
  • Time saved: 10-15%

About the Company

Electric Mirror is the brainchild of a small family distinguished by their backgrounds in law and dentistry and united by a dream of starting their own business. From its humble beginnings in a garage, Electric Mirror has successfully evolved into a trendsetting manufacturing company headquartered in Everett, Washington with approximately 70 employees. They have been in the market for nearly 20 years and are now a key player within the hospitality industry, working with huge clients such as MGM Grand and the Bellagio. Electric Mirror is known for being extremely innovative when it comes to integrating mirrors with technology. Their innovative back-lit mirror changed the game in the industry and became an extremely popular product at luxury hotels.

As a manufacturing company, most of their competition is in China. Electric Mirror does have a working warehouse in China, but they pride themselves on the fact that two-thirds of their products are built domestically, which their customers highly appreciate, too.

The challenges

Reasons for switching CRM

Electric Mirror already had a CRM in place: Salesforce. Robert Hernandez, Vice President of Sales Operations, had experience working with Salesforce at his previous companies and was the driving force behind deploying it at Electric Mirror. The company initially saw great value in the product, but after a decade of using Salesforce, the sales and marketing teams gradually began to see signs of deterioration. As a long-term customer, Hernandez's disappointment with Salesforce was directed at their inefficient customer support and user limitations. Eventually, Hernandez felt it was next to impossible to perform the actions and tasks they needed to in Salesforce without having to pay more money and buy another company's app on the platform, which created barriers for internal teams and individuals accessing the CRM.

"In terms of value [Salesforce] isn't even close to Zoho CRM." Robert Hernandez,Vice President of Sales Operations, Electric Mirror.

Unable to achieve their desired results with Salesforce, the marketing team switched to Pardot, which was later acquired by Salesforce, too. Nevertheless, Electric Mirror tried to make the best of the situation by focusing on the positives offered by Salesforce. Eventually, the final blow came when Salesforce replaced quarterly billing with an upfront annual payment. As a mid-sized manufacturing company, their budget could not accommodate paying upfront for a CRM system, and Salesforce gave no room for negotiation. That was when Electric Mirror began the process of evaluating alternative CRM solutions.

Strict migration timeline

Electric Mirror faced a strict timeline of 90 days to find a suitable CRM. After 30 days of rigorous research, the list was narrowed down to Zoho CRM Plus and Sugar CRM.

The Solution: Choosing Zoho

After careful consideration, Zoho CRM Plus was an easy choice for many reasons. Zoho CRM Plus had a better price and had been recommended to the company by several individuals. Electric Mirror also found that Zoho CRM's features and the look and feel of the product were extremely similar to Salesforce, in ways that SugarCRM isn't. This made it easier for their team to switch. With Zoho CRM only requiring minimal training and offering quick implementation, which only took two weeks, the manufacturing company knew this was the product that they were looking for.

The decision to switch to Zoho CRM Plus was informed by its feature set, but also based on the time constraint they faced and Zoho's similarity to Salesforce, which made the transition seamless. Electric Mirror felt that Zoho CRM Plus was the best option, given their situation, but it well exceeded their expectations.

"Zoho is the best replacement for Salesforce."

Robert Hernandez, Vice President of Sales Operations, Electric Mirror.

Primary sources for lead generation

Leads are generated and imported via trade shows and a commercial construction project management system called ConstructConnect, which the sales development team uses to review lists of various projects to identify potential deals. Potential customers that request price quotes on the company's website are also automatically pushed into CRM as leads.

Administering multiple departments

Currently, 55 users across the company, including the sales, marketing, global procurement, finance, IT, estimating, and project teams access Zoho CRM to carry out their daily tasks. It serves various different purposes in organization, from managing customer information and tracking the lead-to-deal pipeline, to marketing campaigns and documenting sales quotes.

Customization to suit unique business requirements

As the Vice President of Sales Operations for the company, Robert Hernandez is the sole admin of the product, and overlooks and manages the entire CRM system, with numerous departments reporting directly to him. The automation offered by workflow rules allows him to manage cross-functional communication and run multiple departments effortlessly. Hernandez created custom objects to minimize communication between different departments, such as sales and product management teams. For instance, when the sales team gets a price request for a highly customized product design to quote on a project, all the necessary information is already available in a customized template to eliminate the back-and-forth to get all the information required to accomplish the task. Project coordinators use customized checklists to manage orders and prevent delays in shipments to customers. The team has similar checklists for every step of their process, including invoicing, engineering designs, and approvals of designs.

As a power user of custom objects and modules, Hernandez also has his own checklist that allows him to track the progress of certain projects—another custom object that he created based on his experience using Salesforce. Although the checklist could be used to track the stages of a project, the company's project management officer and project coordinators prefer to use Zoho Projects to administer in-house projects for big clients, as it's more suited to managing production from the first step, order entry, all the way through to the final step, which is the finished product going out the door.

Hernandez has also automated the company's workflow so that price requests for custom orders are added to a queue for the product management team to take a look at and provide a price estimate.

Utilizing the CRM Plus bundle

Electric Mirror has effectively integrated other products available in the CRM Plus bundle with their CRM system. Zoho Campaigns is used to communicate their new products and exciting announcements to customers. Zoho Analytics is also a valuable integration for developing performance metrics.

Hernandez initially called the product "Salesforce Lite" due to the similarities and the remarkable difference in price between the products. But after using Zoho CRM Plus, Hernandez now thinks that Zoho CRM plus is equal, if not superior, to Salesforce in many ways.

Return on investment: Benefits

Since they started using Zoho CRM Plus, Electric Mirror's annual expenses have been reduced from $120,000 to $40,000, saving them a gross annual amount of $80,000 which cuts two-thirds of their annual expenses. But the company has not lost any functionality as a trade off for this lower price; in fact, they have gained it.

Moreover, by making the transition from Salesforce to Zoho CRM Plus, Electric Mirror's efficiency has increased by 20%. Zoho CRM Plus has also helped the company cut the time spent exchanging information between departments by 10–15%, allowing the company to direct their focus to other tasks, which has increased overall productivity.

  • Industry TypeManufacturing
  • employees70+
  • Type of businessPrivately held

Features that helped us

Workflow rulesCustom modulesCustomizationZoho app integrations

Future with Zoho

Electric Mirror prioritizes creating a small yet solid foundation first and then building on it. Currently, the company is focused on optimizing their use of the features and apps available as part of Zoho CRM Plus, including Projects, Campaigns, and Analytics. The company has yet to fully explore the wide range of products that Zoho CRM Plus offers. The company's marketing team has been considering implementing Zoho PageSense, and the same goes for the finance team with Zoho Books. Slowly but surely, Electric Mirror plans on deploying the entire Zoho One ecosystem, as they see the real value Zoho has brought to their business.

Electric Mirror highly recommends Zoho CRM Plus to companies that are currently using Salesforce, as Zoho CRM Plus offers everything Salesforce does and more at a better price. Transitioning to Zoho made a night and day difference to Electric Mirror in the best way possible.

"We switched to Zoho, and we are not looking back."Robert Hernandez,Vice President of Sales Operations, Electric Mirror.