The Dark Side of Directing Your Customers to Zapier for Integrations
Published: 2023-02-01 17:56:37


When it comes to automating repetitive tasks, Zapier is a fantastic app that can be used for a variety of use cases. I'm a big fan too. It works well for internal teams that don't want to spend time building integrations for simple things like getting an update on Slack when a team member updates a cell in a Google Sheet.

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> When it comes to automating repetitive tasks, Zapier is a fantastic app that can be used for a variety of use cases. It works well for internal teams. I'm a big fan too.

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As things are today, it may not be the best solution for _your customers_. There are solutions available that can help your team control _all_ factors in an integration and ensure that your customers are 10x happier.

It's easy to claim your app integrates with 3000+ apps through Zapier. Have you ever wondered what happens on the other side? And what you can do to mitigate the issues faced by your customers?

Find out what happens on the other side and 8 reasons why you may **not** want to direct your customers to Zapier for integrations:

### The User Experience  

One of the most important factors to consider when it comes to integrations is the user experience. Your customers may not appreciate having to navigate to another app to complete an integration. This can lead to frustration and a negative experience with your product. By providing native integrations, you can keep your customers within your app and make the process seamless.

### Zapier's Learning Curve

Zapier is a powerful tool, but it can be complex. This can lead to frustration and a negative experience with your product. You can make the process more user-friendly and remove the need to learn to use another app for your customers by writing just a few lines of code to offer the integrations within your app.  

> Is it just me or are some no-code solutions more confusing than just writing the code itself. 🤷‍♂️
> 
> — Founder Kyle (@kylekrzeski) [January 17, 2023](https://twitter.com/kylekrzeski/status/1615446485583159297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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### Data Transfer Limits

Zapier has data transfer limits for each Zap, which can be a problem for serious apps that need to transfer large amounts of data. This can lead to delays and errors, which can negatively impact your customers. How would you feel if that happened during one of your demos to an important client? With native integrations, you can ensure that your customers can transfer data seamlessly without any limitations.

### Troubleshooting

When things go wrong, it's important to have a reliable troubleshooting process in place. Your customers may not be happy if they miss important updates and tasks due to a Zap breaking, which can require time-consuming troubleshooting on their end. You eliminate the need for your customer to troubleshoot and make it easier for your customers to get things done by building native integrations for them.

### Price 

Zapier can be expensive, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. This can lead to financial constraints and a negative experience with your product.

> Wow, Zapier pricing goes from $30/mo to $450 a month as soon as you want to “collaborate” (pool zaps across a team)? Fuck that pricing model. What are people using for alternatives?
> 
> — Andrew Kenney (@syrneus) [April 26, 2022](https://twitter.com/syrneus/status/1518968165191102468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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> Genuinely asking.  
>   
> How do people afford Zapier? Am I misunderstanding how pricing works?   
>   
> It seems ridiculously expensive. [https://t.co/AGLw2MkrUJ](https://t.co/AGLw2MkrUJ)
> 
> — Jack Polivka (@Jack\_Polivka) [January 24, 2023](https://twitter.com/Jack_Polivka/status/1617715678840250369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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### Increased churn 

Many B2B SaaS buyers move away from a product because it does not provide the necessary integrations or their experience while using the integration was broken. With broken Zapier integrations, your customers will move away by looking for alternatives and your competitors will have an edge. By providing native integrations, you can ensure that your customers have everything they need to be successful, which can reduce churn and increase customer satisfaction.

### Customer effort vs your effort 

#### "Keep it simple, stupid"

You don't want to make your customers go through hoops to get simple things done. By building native integrations for your customers you can ensure that your customers can get things done quickly and easily, without any effort on their part.

### Limited Functionality 

Zaps usually work in this format - 'If X happens on 1, do Y on 2'. And your customer is now creating a Zap between your app, 1, and another app, 2, say Google Sheets. While you may support all possibilities that your API allows, you customers are limited by the functionality that Zapier supports for Google Sheets. All your customers may not get what they want from this Zap, and you end up with unhappy customers who couldn't get simple things done. A native integration on the other hand, will allow your customers to do anything they want on Google Sheets with the data from your app.

### Okay, what's the alternative? 

We have said it enough - build native integrations. Turn the experience butter smooth. Get your customers to do all their tasks within your app. You get to fix any errors quickly without them even noticing. And the fastest way to build native integrations? Use [Truto.one](https://truto.one/?ref=7_reasons_Zapier) and build native integrations with 200+ SaaS applications for free. Reduce development time by 90% with [Truto's Unified API for CRM](https://truto.one/#integrations), [Unified API for ATS](https://truto.one/#integrations), [Unified API for HRIS](https://truto.one/#integrations), [Unified API for Accounting](https://truto.one/#integrations) and 26 other categories.  

>Build +200 native integrations

>Use Truto's Unified API for CRM, Unified API for ATS, Unified API for HRIS, Unified API for Accounting, and 26 other categories
[Get started for free](https://truto.one/?ref=7_reasons_Zapier)