CRM is the essential tool for managing sales and marketing performance. If you're about to invest in a solution, you're probably wondering how much a CRM costs.
A quick look at the price pages of the main players in the market reveals prices starting from €18 excl. tax per month per user, for basic functions.
What's more, most CRMs offer a free test version, limited either in time or functionality.
However, a number of parameters can have a considerable impact on the budget for your CRM project: functionality requirements, number of users, customization and specific integrations. As a result, it's not uncommon for the cost of a CRM solution to exceed EUR 20,000 for an SME. And much more for a large company!
To help you assess the financial impact of your CRM project, we've drawn up a list of 8 crucial points to master in order to measure the stakes and frame it properly:
💡 Reminder:
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is an IT system designed to help companies manage their interactions with customers, prospects and partners. It helps centralize and organize customer data, track contacts, manage sales, implement targeted marketing campaigns and provide effective customer support. In French, it's known as GRC (Gestion de la Relation Client), although it's customary to use the term CRM.
To begin with, it is important to distinguish between two elements:
So, while most of the leading software packages advertise a license cost of between EUR 20 and EUR 150, in reality, the total cost of a CRM project is likely to be between EUR 5,000 and EUR 100,000!
🧐 Why such a wide range?
Because the costs of a CRM project vary considerably (especially when implementation is included) depending on the size of the company, its specific needs and the functionalities required in the CRM solution.
These figures are only estimates, and actual costs can vary considerably depending on many factors.
To help you understand, here's how CRM software is implemented.
This is the recurring cost of using a subscription-based solution in SAAS mode (we'll explain what this means below). This subscription is generally annual and tacitly renewed. Packages may apply if specific functionalities or modules are to be integrated into the basic offering.
It's important to understand the scope of services included in the initial price. Indeed, some CRM publishers push their customers to opt for dedicated IP address leasing, which entails an additional cost. Other services can also add to the price, such as unlimited technical support, access to third-party integrations, or database cleansing, which can be very labor-intensive.
Next comes the installation phase, which generally involves the following steps:
All integrations not included in the basic subscription will require specific developments. These may involve both internal tools (ERP, CMS etc.) and external ones (links with your customers' or suppliers' information systems, for example). This work is fundamental, as it guarantees the fluidity and efficiency of your CRM. It requires a significant number of days of in-house development, or the services of an external service provider. Another cost!
💡 Good to know: some CRMs still have closed APIs, i.e. they don't let other software connect to them for free (although open APIs don't mean easy integration!). Others are developing native integrations with third-party software and vice versa, which helps keep costs down.
If your CRM is to be used for marketing purposes (more on this later), it's highly likely that you'll want to integrate automated scenarios (e.g. sending a thank-you e-mail when a customer places an order on your e-commerce site).
Automating tasks can represent a considerable amount of work, requiring a consultant or associate to develop processes and create templates and emails. The latter will also take care of setting up tracking and reporting parameters.
The cost of training for your new CRM will vary according to the scale of the change and the resources put in place to support it. For a small business, it may be relatively straightforward to train three sales reps on the new software. But for a sales force of several hundred people, it may require a launch seminar, animation meetings, on-site training and follow-up meetings.
The success of a CRM rollout generally implies that a member of staff is in charge of making it live and kicking, not only in terms of use but also in terms of continuous improvement. In this case, charge the cost of this employee in proportion to the time spent on this task.
It is classified as verificative (ensuring that all functionalities work correctly), corrective (resolving technical bugs) and preventive (improving existing functionalities). In SaaS, this cost is borne by the software publisher. However, there may be some off-fix interventions on your specific developments.
As you can see, defining the cost of a CRM project requires an upstream study. It is therefore essential to draw up specifications. Here, for example, is a model adapted to retail brands. You'll also find other sample specifications online, so don't miss out!
The cost of a CRM project therefore depends on many variables. And to help you run such a project efficiently, we strongly recommend appointing a project manager or hiring a consultant for the purpose.
However, it is important to understand the different roles that the latter will be called upon to play, which may correspond to as many professions:
These missions do not take place in the same timeframe, and may involve different profiles with specific skills. Profiles are generally more technical (software, data, API development, etc.) or marketing (performance, automation, etc.).
Finally, the use of external service providers should not dissuade you from appointing a person who will be responsible for coordinating and smoothing the various stages of your CRM project implementation internally. The more players involved, the more you'll benefit from having a key internal coordinator.
From the self-employed contractor who loses the business cards he picks up on the job site to the sales manager who wants to centralize the reports of his sales force, it's in everyone's interest to structure and make the most of their sales and marketing data!
CRM is designed to have an impact on the financial performance of all companies. It's an investment, not an outlay. That's why it's so important to determine its ROI. This return on investment can be translated into quantified objectives (sales, profitability, etc.), or operational benefits (time savings, internal information flow, etc.).
When the expected benefits are precisely stated and quantified, it's much easier to trigger the investments needed to complete the project. This usually appears at the beginning of the specifications.
Now that you've defined your objectives, you can decide which type of CRM tool to choose.
They are generally grouped into three categories:
🚗 S ales CRM: sometimes called SFA (Sales Force Automation), for companies whose growth relies on telephone or field prospecting;
💻 Marketing CRMs: if your development is based on your online business, particularly emailing or automated prospecting ;
☎️ CRM support or desks: customer relationship management systems for handling high volumes of incoming calls or e-mails.
Here are the most popular CRM solutions in France:
As will be explained below, the majority of solutions are based on user licenses (subscriptions).
But the type of CRM you use will have an impact on how you are billed:
In addition, general CRMs often offer packages covering different levels of needs, with graduated prices.
It should be noted, however, that some service providers are beginning to mix the two pricing approaches (license + volume of contacts or emails).
Modern CRM software is increasingly adaptable to companies' specific organizations and sales cycles. These days, no-code blocks can be used to customize certain modules of your CRM software to avoid loss of information or lack of granularity in sales management and data analysis.
But there are still exceptions in many sectors and industries.
For example, companies that sell their products through indirect channels (especially supermarkets) are confronted with the inadequacy of traditional CRMs, and are turning to industry-specific CRMs. As we explain in this article, the choice of a business CRM designed for supermarkets is crucial, since it fulfills all the objectives that can be expected of such a solution:
SaaS (Software as a Service) CRM is software hosted on the service provider's servers, which users access via a web browser or dedicated application. This is known as cloud operation.
This model of use has become widespread, to the detriment of local installation (on devices) of software, which was the most widespread practice in the past, known as "on premise". In those days, software was referred to as a perpetual license, since the customer purchased a program "forever".
The subscription principle was chosen for its flexibility (users can access CRM from any Internet-connected device), the automation of updates managed by the supplier, its scalability based on market trends and needs, and the simplicity of deployment.
This system considerably reduces the risk of software obsolescence or adaptation to new devices, as the licensed CRM publisher itself ensures the scalability of its system, enabling it to integrate fully into an ever-changing technological universe.
Another considerable advantage of SAAS is that CRM suppliers use the subscription principle to create packages that allow you to "limit" expenditure to the usage you need. Finally, as the license is defined over time, it avoids you having to make a definitive investment, and allows you to get out of it if your strategy changes. In this respect, it can be compared to a rental system.
Despite this, some companies still prefer locally installed CRM solutions for reasons of security, compliance or direct control over their data. This is referred to as on-premise licensing, and involves installing the programs on the users' own devices. This solution has the advantage of operating offline. The company also has absolute control over its data, which is no longer stored on third-party servers. It does, however, represent a significant deployment and maintenance burden, and can generate higher initial costs than cloud operation.
🧠 The chosen solution (saas or local) must be aligned with the company's general and financial strategy (outsourcing, amortization, data sensitivity etc.).
If we consider price alone (and not cost), the answer is... yes!
Here are your three options.
Royalty-free CRM software can be free to use. For example, Dolibarr is an open source solution that integrates several modules for managing sales, purchasing, invoicing, accounting and human resources. In addition to CRM, the solution is a true ERP. Dolibarr benefits from an active community to guarantee its development and maintenance. It can be deployed on site or in the cloud.
Of course, as detailed above, the cost of a CRM also includes other parameters, such as implementation, training, specifications, etc. In addition, open source can be complex to adopt for freelancers or very small structures.
What's more, most solutions offer free trials, which can then meet the essential needs of micro entrepreneurs, VSEs or startups just getting off the ground. In the case of Hubspot, we can even speak of a freemium model, since you can use a limited version without any outlay, then upgrade to a more complete version if necessary. But, as you've guessed, there's no such thing as a full version of free crm software.
Finally, despite the many advantages of standard CRM solutions, some companies still choose to create their own CRM. These cases, which have become rare, generally concern specialized tools for niches not covered by the market, notably due to an insufficient number of potential customers.
In other cases, the company considers that it has all the skills in-house to successfully complete such a project. If this applies to you, we'd like to warn you about the side-effects commonly encountered in this type of company: