A CRM consulting company is a company that provides various customer relationship management services, such as defining processes, collecting business requirements, creating an implementation roadmap, configuring, and customizing a client's CRM solution. By hiring a CRM consultant, companies can create and deploy a CRM strategy that will help them collect and analyze customer data to improve existing business efforts. 

CRM consultants help businesses streamline customer management and interactions across different acquisition stages by using CRM software. They are highly skilled in optimizing customer services and helping clients select the right CRM solution based on project needs. 

Most CRM consultants offer services, such as: 

• Strategy development 
  Develop strategies for improving customer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction 
• Workflow automation 
  Setting up and automating processes to reduce costs and save time 
• Lead management
  Tracking leads down the marketing and sales pipeline 
• Customer service 
  Collecting customer data to analyze their purchasing habits and provide a personalized experience 
• HR management 
  Optimal use of people and talents within the organization 
• Marketing 
  Setting up and running marketing campaigns to advertise your goods and services 
• Reporting and analytics 
  Writing business reports, forecasts, and exporting business data for use in other tools 
• Training and support 
  Train in-house employees on how to use the CRM software effectively and offer ongoing support to ensure smooth operations 

CRM consulting companies charge between $12,000 and $420,000 depending on your company size, project scope, CRM features, and customization complexity. The top CRM consultants on DesignRush charge an average of $58/hour. 11.5% of these companies accept projects with a budget of under $1,000, providing small scale CRM services. On the other hand, 2.9% require a $50,000+ budget, offering custom-built solutions with extensive features. 

These are some typical prices for additional services:

• Project management: $4,800
• Requirements analysis: $4,800
• System configuration and user setup: $1,600
• Account and contact configuration: $3,200
• Custom tables: $3,200
• Custom reports: $1,600
• Account and contact migration: $2,400
• End-user training session: $3,200
• Post-launch support: $1,600

You should hire a CRM consultant to define the scope of your business needs and pick the right CRM solution that fits your budget and that can support company growth over time.

More specifically, you should hire a CRM consultant because they:

• Have extensive expertise on CRM platforms available on the market 
• Offer solutions that are more affordable than CRM tools and features that you would potentially buy 
• Recommend customized solutions to ensure CRM software compatibility 
• Help seamlessly integrate new systems with existing ones 
• Provide appropriate training for your internal team members to ensure they get familiar with all the features and applications in the shortest possible time 
• Ensure the CRM platform can support your company’s needs and scale as your business evolves 
• Create the right CRM platform that will support your growing company’s needs and scale as your business evolves 

Success story

Our team of experts has chosen this case study to highlight the benefits of hiring a CRM consulting company to streamline business growth: 

• Challenge: A financial solutions provider partnered with a CRM consulting company, a1qa, to improve and automate its CRM system.  
• Solution: Recognizing the absence of an existing testing process, a1qa’s team analyzed the customer’s workflow and established a comprehensive testing framework from scratch. It enabled functional testing to verify core functionalities, GUI testing to assess user interface quality, and mobile app testing to ensure device performance and usability. The CRM consulting company also performed test automation to streamline processes and web services testing to validate API interactions. 
• Result: After running over 1,000 acceptance tests for its system, a1qa identified 2,300+ defects, which helped the client improve the software and successfully launch its 24 versions within 2 years. 

To choose a CRM consulting company for your business, follow these steps: 

1. Identify your goals
   Define which processes you want to manage through CRM (HR, marketing, sales, customer support, etc.) and determine which features you need (data collection, analytics, reporting, etc.).
2. Find the right expertise
   Look for a CRM consultant with experience in the services you need. Browse through DesignRush’s Agency Directory to find ideal candidates for the job. Some companies only provide off-the-shelf solutions, while others specialize in developing custom CRM software.
3. Set a budget
   Determine the total amount you can invest in your CRM system.
4. Research potential partners 
   Use search engines or browse online directories like DesignRush to find CRM consultants for your project. 
5. Review agency experience 
   Review the services of the CRM consulting company and the services they specialize it to check compatibility from the get-go. 
   
6. Assess portfolios and client feedback 
   Look into the CRM consulting companies’ previous work to see how they turn client challenges into solutions. Assess the client feedback on projects similar to yours so that you have a better picture of their work ethic and internal process. 
7. Ask for proposals 
   Send a request for a proposal (RFP) to the shortlisted CRM consultants.  
8. Evaluate communication and responsiveness 
   Confirm the consultancy is responsive, easy to communicate with, and willing to explain the intricacies of a CRM system in understandable terms. 
   
9. Ask about the processes 
   Find out about the project’s stages, milestones, deliverables, and the information the consultancy will require from you. 
   
10. Inquire about analytics and reporting 
    Ask the company how it tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) and what kind of reporting it provides. 
    
11. Interview 
    Set up interviews with prospective CRM consulting companies to discuss the project in detail and determine if they fit your team well. 
    
12. Make a decision 
    After reviewing the RFPs, choose the best-suited agency and establish all project development processes 

If you need a custom-made list of CRM consultants, contact us. Our team will provide you with the list of the most suitable agencies, based on your list of requirements. You can browse our Marketplace for more details.

Use DesignRush’s advanced filters to find the best CRM consultants based on your budget, ranging from $1,000 to $50,000, and other relevant criteria. 

Browse our agency directory to explore more profiles by location, industry niche, expertise, team size, pricing, and hourly rates so you can compare the best CRM consultants and find the perfect fit for your project. 

You should consider these red flags when hiring CRM consultants to ensure a seamless partnership: 

• Limited experience 
  Avoid CRM consultants with little or no expertise and experience in CRM platforms that align with your business goals and technology stack. 
• Neglects data analysis 
  Stray from CRM consulting companies that don’t prioritize data analysis as it may compromise the effectiveness of your CRM implementation. 
• Deploy generic strategies 
  Disregard CRM consultants who don’t make the effort to understand your unique business processes and customer needs as it may lead to ineffective campaigns. 
• Short-term results 
  Avoid CRM consultants who care more about quick wins rather than creating sustainable solutions because it may affect customer retention in the long run. 
• Lack of ongoing support or training 
  Stay away from CRM consulting companies that don’t provide ongoing support or offer post-implementation services. It may be difficult for your business to address platform challenges in the early phases of your transition without proper help. 

You should ask these questions before hiring CRM consultants to ensure project success: 

Its Relevant Background

1. How many years of experience do you have in CRM consulting?
2. Do you have a portfolio with relevant CRM projects?
3. What CRM certifications and training do your team members have?
4. Do you have experience working with companies from my industry? Are you familiar with its specifics?
5. Do you have experience deploying a CRM system to a company of my size?
6. Which CRM systems (HubSpot, Salesforce, Amazon CRM, etc.) do you have experience with?

Its Services and Processes

1. How do you store customer data?
2. Do you offer sales support as well?
3. Will you provide training and onboarding for my team members?
4. What security measures do you apply to protect collected customer data?
5. Do you develop custom CRM solutions?
6. Do you use Agile or another methodology for your processes?

Related to Your Project

1. How do we define monthly deliverables? What happens if they still need to be met?
2. What will be the team structure for this CRM project?
3. What metrics will you use to measure the project's success?
4. How often will you provide us with status reports and relevant metrics?
5. Can I migrate my existing system to this CRM platform?
6. Will you provide integrations with my existing tools?
7. What is the planned budget? Are there any additional costs we can expect?
8. What kind of additional support will you provide after the CRM system is up and running?

 The best CRM consulting companies in the US are: 

1. a1qa
   • 4.8 stars on DesignRush (7 reviews)
   • Top clients: Expedia, Adidas, Pearson, SAP
2. AllianceTek Inc.
   • 4.9 stars on DesignRush (23 reviews) 
   • 4.6 stars on Google (14 reviews)
   • Top clients: NFL, Money360, Johnson-Johnson, Innosite
3. ELEKS
   • 4.9 stars on DesignRush (27 reviews)
   • Top clients: Aramex, ESET, Eagle, Autodesk
4. Sunrise Integration
   • 4.8 stars on DesignRush (12 reviews)
   • 5.0 stars on Google (8 reviews)
   • Top clients: Recharge, DHL, Bombas, Live Nation
5. CleverDev Software
   • 4.7 stars on DesignRush (4 reviews)
   • 5.0 stars on Google (3 reviews)
   • Top clients: Lanit, Veritas, BrainRocket, AI Superior