How to calculate CRM costs

Business & tech

by   INSIGHTLY TEAM

Switching CRMs is an important investment that carries consequences for your entire business. It requires stakeholder buy-in, planning (including a CRM needs assessment), and research. Your team and other stakeholders may be reluctant to switch, considering how much time and money they have already invested in your current system. Staying put might feel like a safer choice.

In order to make the right decision and build a case for switching CRMs, look at facts and numbers. Calculate the total cost of ownership of your current CRM and compare it to the costs of other CRMs on the market. Remember to include switching costs. You may find that staying with the status quo is riskier and costlier than switching to a new system that better meets your business and budget goals.

Here’s a list of a few key cost factors and a CRM cost calculator to help you crunch some numbers and make the best CRM decision for your business.

CRM cost factors

Data migration costs

Depending on the size and complexity of your CRM database, you may need to hire a consultant or spend additional staff time to migrate data to a new CRM. This is usually the case with large legacy CRMs. If you want to save on data migration costs, choose a CRM provider, like Insightly, that will migrate all your data at no extra charge.

User training & ongoing support costs

With so many CRM options on the market today, you are no longer limited to choosing between complicated and costly legacy systems. The new generation of CRMs offers easy-to-use, scalable, enterprise-grade solutions that don’t require extensive user support or consultants. And, if you still want an option with support, choose a CRM that offers plans that include ongoing user support and training at no additional cost. This way you gain access to expert support without receiving an unexpected bill every time you use it.

Customization costs

As you calculate new CRM costs, make sure all your customizations are factored into your plan from the get-go.

Current & long-term costs of maintaining the status quo

Calculate your current CRM subscription and support fees. Has this expense remained relatively constant over time? If it has increased, then determine by what percent annually. If you have to hire consultants or a full-time CRM admin to manage the system or implement changes, how much does that support cost you annually? What are the intangible opportunity costs of staying with your current CRM?

CRM cost calculator

Use a CRM cost calculator to compare costs between a legacy CRM, like Salesforce, and Insightly, based on a number of users/licenses and time horizon.

Crunch some numbers

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