CRM Implementation costs: What you'll really pay beyond the license

How to budget for a CRM rollout in 2026 without getting hit by surprise fees, stalled timelines, or "change order" fatigue.

If you are evaluating a new CRM (or rescuing a failed one), you have likely looked at the pricing pages for HubSpot, Salesforce, or Microsoft Dynamics. You see a per-user license fee, perhaps €100 or €150 per month, and do the mental math.

Stop right there.

That license fee is just the tip of the iceberg. For medium to large organisations in complex sectors like aviation, defence or specialised services, the software license typically represents only 30-40% of your first-year investment.

The remaining 60-70%? That’s implementation: migration, integration, customisation, and training.

At Avidly, we believe in radical transparency. We know that "It depends" is a frustrating answer when you’re trying to build a budget for the Board. Below, we break down exactly what CRM implementation costs, where the money goes and why the cheapest quote is often the most expensive choice in the long run.

The Quick Answer: What Does It Cost?

For a company with 50–500 employees, moving from a legacy system or spreadsheets to a modern CRM, a professional implementation project typically ranges between €15,000 and €100,000+ in one-time fees, separate from software licenses.

• Basic Rollout (€15k - €30k): Standard configuration, clean data migration from one source, native integrations (e.g., Outlook/Gmail), and basic training.

• Complex Operational Rollout (€40k - €90k): Custom pipelines, deep ERP integration (SAP/Xero), dirty data cleanup, custom automation for compliance/SLA tracking, and departmental training.

• Enterprise Transformation (€100k+): Multi-subsidiary setup, custom API development, data warehouse connections, and full-scale change management.

The Cost Stack: Where Does the Money Go?

Why does implementation cost this much? Because CRM is not "plug and play" for businesses with complex operations. Here is the itemised breakdown of the "Hidden Iceberg."

1. Setup & Configuration

• Cost Range: €5,000 – €25,000

• What it is: Mapping your actual business processes to the software. This isn't just creating login accounts; it’s building the architecture of your data.

• Cost Drivers: Number of pipelines (Sales vs. Ops vs. Renewals), complexity of user permissions (who sees what data?), and automation logic. If you need your CRM to trigger a compliance alert when an aircraft part is 3 days late, that logic has to be built here.

2. Data Migration (The "Silent Budget Killer")

• Cost Range: €5,000 – €50,000

• What it is: Moving data from your old system (spreadsheets, legacy SQL, old CRM) to the new one.

• Why it varies: If your data is clean, this is cheap. If you have 10 years of duplicates, missing fields and non-standard formatting across three different spreadsheets, it requires massive manual cleaning and scripting.

• Warning: Never trust a vendor who quotes a low flat fee for migration without auditing your data first.

3. Custom Development & Automations

• Cost Range: €10,000 – €100,000+

• What it is: Tailoring the system to do things it doesn't do "out of the box."

• Real-world examples:

  • Creating a "Project Object" that tracks grant milestones for EU funding.

  • Building a custom quoting tool that calculates margin based on real-time labor rates.

  • Automating renewal notices based on certification expiry dates.

4. Integrations

• Cost Range: €3,000 – €30,000

• What it is: Getting the CRM to talk to your Finance (Xero/NetSuite), ERP, or Project Management tools.

• The nuance: Native integrations (pre-built) are cheap or free. Custom API integrations (bi-directional syncs with proprietary legacy systems) are expensive to build and maintain.

5. Training & Change Management

• • Cost Range: €2,000 – €20,000

  • What it is: Ensuring your team actually uses the tool.

  • Why pay for it: The #1 cause of CRM failure is not software bugs; it's user rejection. Effective training includes role-specific workshops (e.g., "CRM for Project Managers" vs. "CRM for Sales"), documentation, and "office hours" support during go-live.

Comparison: HubSpot vs. Salesforce/Dynamics Costs

Not all platforms cost the same to implement. The "ecosystem tax" varies significantly.

Three Ways to Buy: Which Approach Fits You?

1. The "DIY" Approach (Do It Yourself)

• Cost: €0 (Cash) + 500 hours of internal time.

• Pros: No vendor fees.

• Cons: High risk of failure. Your VP of Ops becomes a part-time IT admin. Usually results in a "database of chaos" that requires an expensive rescue project 12 months later.

• Best for: Startups with <10 employees and simple processes.

2. The "Guided" Implementation (Partner-Assisted)

• Cost: €15,000 – €40,000.

• Pros: You do the heavy lifting on data entry, the partner handles architecture and strategy. Good balance of cost vs. expertise.

• Cons: Requires significant time commitment from your internal project lead.

• Best for: Companies with a savvy internal technical lead.

3. The "Fully Managed" Rollout (White Glove)

• Cost: €50,000 – €120,000+.

• Pros: Partner handles everything—data cleaning, API coding, training, documentation. Your team just shows up for testing and training. Fastest time-to-value.

• Cons: Highest upfront cost.

• Best for: Complex organisations (Aviation, Defence, Government) where internal teams are too busy to manage a software project and failure is not an option.

Is it worth it?

When the CFO asks why you need €50k for implementation, show them the Cost of Inaction (COI).

If your implementation costs €50,000 but achieves the following, the payback period is usually under 6 months:

1. Stops Revenue Leakage: No more missed renewal dates or lost invoices (Value: €20k/year).

2. Reduces Admin Time: Saves your high-cost engineers/PMs 5 hours a week of data entry (Value: €40k/year in reclaimed productivity).

3. Data Trust: Eliminates the "Excel Hell" that delays Board reporting by 3 days every month.