February 6, 2024
When people think about customer relationship management software, the first options that come to their minds are Salesforce or Hubspot, the leading UK names in the field. This is indeed the easiest way to switch from the old spreadsheet arrangement to a business management system. Just buy the subscription, do a few adjustments here and there to make it work with your company, and skip the initial cost of development.
But off-the-shelf systems come with a series of down sides, the biggest being that you have limited customisation possibilities. Therefore, the solution many companies choose today is to invest in a bespoke customer relationship system that allows them to cover all the essential aspects of their business whilst cutting out all the fluff that comes with a generic product.
The initial cost is higher, and we explain below what to expect, but in the long run, the benefits are substantial. So, let’s discuss bespoke business management and how much it costs today in the UK.
Things are simple here. A bespoke CRM is a system tailored specifically to your business needs to help you manage sales and customer relationship operations within your organisation. Depending on its complexity, it may integrate a few essential modules handling customer support and sales or more complex functions like e-mail automation or social media integration.
For a company looking to reduce costs, especially for astart-up, which needs to come up with a smart cost management strategy to stay in the game, how much it will pay on a CRM is important. However, we consider that finding a good quality-price report is the best approach, and, in this respect, a bespoke system is usually the winner. Here is why:
Let’s take into account a standard CRM like Salesforce. You will be paying somewhere between £60 and £120, or even more, per user per month for a product that offers you access to a series of functions, standard or premium, depending on your subscription. There may be functions you don’t use, but you still pay for them. There may be specific functions you need but cannot have. In the meanwhile, the subscription keeps going.
This arrangement may function well for a company that has 10to 15 employees, but the costs become considerable when we are talking about an organisation managing over 40 employees. From this point forward, a customisable CRM solution should be considered, not only because it offers a tailored experience for the company and its customers, but because it is expected to pay for itself in about two years.
Custom CRM applications are designed to grow with your company without generating considerable extra costs. Think that with anoff-the-shelf product, you will need to pay extra every time you add a new user. This is not the case with a bespoke system.
You don’t need to have a complex system developed from the beginning. A minimum viable product can help you see how your new cloud-basedCRM would function without affecting your budget considerable. Then, you can add new functions at your own pace.
Probably the biggest advantage is that you own the software.You can modify the code in the future or license it on a subscription basis(SaaS). Generic products are not your property, so in this case, you won’t be able to make any modifications to them.
Since it is a customisable product, the price varies with the complexity of the project and the number of extra functions you want to add. More extensive systems tend to cost more as more resources go into developing them (more developers, more working hours, third-party integration, etc.)
However, based on our experience with previous projects, we can give you to following estimates:
· Small projects start at - £50,000 – basic CRM functions, like sales management and e-mail integration.
· Medium projects start at - £80,000 – more advanced functions, like forecast management and approval automatisation.
· Large projects start at - £120,000 or more – highly customised software with key performance indicator tracking and other specific functions.
If we are doing the calculations for you, it is clear to see how a bespoke business management system can work to your advantage. For instance, a service likeSalesforce, may charge around £25 per user per month for the essentials. In this case, a small company with a workforce of around 15 employees, will expect to pay £4,500, per year.
But things become even more interesting when we are talking about a bigger company that needs extra functions like pipeline and forecast management. The generic product subscription is £150 per user per month, generating a total of £72,000 per year. In this case, by choosing a bespoke option, even a large system with extra functions, you will be able to cover your costs in under 2 years.
Here at CodePixi, we cherish transparency and professionalism, so we have an already-tested system that helps us evaluate the costs and provide you with the best estimates. It all starts when you book a meeting with us to tell us about your idea. We will make you suggestions based on your company’s needs and our experience with other projects, thus ensuring that no essential function is overlooked.
Once we’ve agreed on the final product and budget, we can assign the developers and present you with a timeline. We use Agile technology to release bits of the system to you so you can test them as we go.
Finally, we test, test, and test until everything is perfect. And we offer assistance in case you need to teach your employees how to use the new system.
Get in touch with us now to discuss your idea and get a price estimate!
To learn more, contact CodePixi Solutions today and speak with a bespoke CRM development expert who can answer any questions you might have.
