CRMs can't run on their own.
Technology is great - it’s designed to make our lives easier. But, technology can also be cumbersome, inefficient, and even dangerous without the people who know how to use it.
Internal Resources Dedicated to CRMs
In recent research looking at the Total Cost of Ownership of HubSpot vs. Salesforce, virtually all respondents (98%) indicated that they have at least one paid employee working on the support of their CRM and associated technology.
That’s not a surprise. CRMs require human attention and help when it comes to data cleansing, creating documentation, integrating other software, fixing bugs, customization, and more.
But, is your CRM making money if you need to pay more to support it?
How much does internal support cost?
Let’s take a look at a more detailed view of how that 98% varies in their staffing expense, broken down by the use of HubSpot vs. Salesforce.
- 63% of HubSpot users report that 3 or fewer people support their CRM as a core part of their job.
- Nearly half (45%) of Salesforce users report that 4 or more people support their CRM as a core part of their job.
- An estimated 6% more admins are required to manage Salesforce than to manage HubSpot
So what does that translate to in dollars?
Warning: Math Ahead
Remember, for every 1 HubSpot administrator, a company needs about 1.06 Salesforce administrators.
More people means more salary, more benefits, more training, more materials, and more oversight. And while it’s difficult to do the math on ALL of those extra costs, we can easily take a look at the baseline salary and benefits comparison.
Let's take a look at a Salesforce Admin for example.
- $74,000 - The current average salary for a Salesforce admin (Glassdoor)
- 70% - How much of an employee’s total cost to an employer is dedicated to salary (ECEC Survey)
- $105,714 - A Salesforce admin’s total cost to an employer
- 1.06 - The number of Salesforce Admins needed for each HubSpot admin
- $112,057 - Total estimated cost of a solo Salesforce admin when being compared to 1 HubSpot administrator.
Needless to say, the average cost of CRM admins is not pocket change.
What drives this cost?
Many factors are going to affect the internal resource's price tag of running your CRM. Such factors include the number of users in your CRM, the complexity of your martech stack, and the complexity
of your marketing/sales process.
This can vary wildly depending on how your CRM is set up. Are you utilizing automation or are many of your processes manual? Do you have an integrated tech stack that works well together or do you have to switch between software? Are you utilizing the tool to its full potential?
How would outsourcing compare?
The benefits of working with a CRM partner is that you get the expertise of a whole firm who specializes in these things. They can quickly and easily recognize solutions for optimizing your processes and getting the most out of your CRM because they do it daily.
But how much does that cost?
According to some research, a ballpark yearly estimate for a retainer with a top tier CRM Partner is $68,400.
The Bottom Line:
- The cost of support with a CRM partner is about 60% of the cost of one solo Salesforce administrator.
- The cost of support with a CRM partner is about 15% of the cost of four Salesforce administrators.
Assuming all other expenses were equal, utilizing a CRM Partner would save nearly half of all companies 85% off their cost of running Salesforce. This is assuming all other expenses are equal, which they are not.
No matter what way you slice it, you’ll have a much heftier financial burden maintaining Salesforce over HubSpot. And as your company scales, that difference in cost will continue to widen.
Let's Talk
Interested in learning more about outsourcing your CRM management and support? Aptitude 8 would love to help.
Our team of experienced and certified HubSpot and Salesforce consultants can walk you through your options to help you decide which CRM is the right fit for you OR help you reduce your internal support costs. Reach out today and let's get started!
