PIPELINEGuide
What does CRM integration cost? Factors, process and funding options
There is no responsible flat price for CRM integration — the projects behind them are too varied. What actually drives the effort, how you get a concrete proposal and which funding options are available in Austria.
A flat price for CRM integration cannot be quoted responsibly — it depends on the scope of the project, not the provider. Depending on the number of sources and condition of the data. The actual proposal comes only after a brief, no-obligation initial consultation.
01 — Price
What it costs
- Price
- Individual based on effort
- Typical duration
- 3 to 6 weeks
Depending on the number of sources and the state of the data. A fixed price can only be quoted seriously after the initial consultation — drop us a brief description of your project, and we'll send a proposal that fits the scope and effort.
02 — Factors
What drives the price
- Scope and number of integrations. Every additional system that needs to participate costs effort — regardless of how simple the core is.
- State of your starting point. Clean data, existing content and documented processes significantly reduce effort. Chaos is the most expensive cost factor.
- How much new material needs to be created. What you can contribute doesn't need to be invented by anyone. This is the biggest lever you have in your own hands.
- Requirements for design and customization. A solid standard system costs a fraction of a custom solution — and is sufficient more often than vendors admit.
- Operating model. One-time project costs or ongoing support: calculated over three years, this often gives a different picture than the quote comparison.
03 — Funding
Subsidies in Austria
For digitalization projects, there are several funding programs in Austria, such as KMU.DIGITAL or the aws digitalization funding. Whether and to what extent one of these is currently relevant for your project, we'll review with you individually. Current conditions: kmudigital.at, aws.at.
Which program is relevant, how high the subsidy currently is, and whether the budget for the current funding period is still open changes regularly — plus there are regional funding programs that vary by federal state. Only the information from the funding agencies themselves is reliable, not a fixed percentage stated here.
The most common mistake is always the same: commission first, then want funding. That doesn't work. Allow several weeks of lead time for application and approval.
04 — Scope
What's included
- Selection or review of the CRM based on your actual workflows
- Automatic capture from website forms, email, and phone
- Merging of duplicates from existing sources
- Connection to quotes and invoicing
- Reports that allow conclusions, not just show charts
- Team training on your own data
05 — Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do we ensure it gets maintained?
By making as little maintenance necessary as possible. Everything that can be created automatically is created automatically. What remains manual work is reduced to what is actually needed in daily operations.
What if different departments use different systems?
Then one of them is designated as the central source, the others feed into it automatically. Maintaining two equal systems in parallel leads, experience shows, to exactly the contradictions that a CRM is supposed to resolve.
Which CRM is the right one?
The one your people actually use. For small businesses, a lean system that gets filled automatically is almost always better than a powerful one that stays empty. We recommend based on workflow and team size, not feature list.
What does the training look like in practice?
Using your real data, not sample datasets. The team practices the workflows it needs daily and receives a brief written summary afterward as a reference.
Can we simply import existing Excel lists?
Yes, that's the standard when starting. Before import, duplicates and inconsistent spellings are cleaned up, otherwise the new system just inherits the old mess.
Is this GDPR-compliant?
With a European provider, data processing agreement, deletion concept, and documented legal basis, yes. A CRM without a deletion concept is an open issue under data protection law — that needs to be set up as well.
What happens to our old data?
It will be transferred, cleaned, and consolidated. Duplicates are the norm — usually the same company exists three or four times in different spellings.
06 — Error
The most common mistakes
- Starting too big. Projects where nobody can use anything for months fail more often than average. A small, usable first step is almost always the better way.
- Not involving the people who work with it. Requirements that only come from management rarely match the actual work.
- Not defining a success measure. Without a metric defined in advance, you can't say afterwards whether it delivered anything — and the next decision will be made on gut feeling again.
- Overlooking operating costs. The project price is only part of it. What operation costs over three years belongs in the same calculation.
- Creating dependency. If you don't get access, documentation and source code, you're locked in. That needs to be clarified before commissioning, not after.
07 — Next
Related pages
- CRM integration — Overview
- CRM integration — Cost-effectiveness
- CRM integration — Common mistakes
- CRM integration — Where to start
- CRM integration — do it yourself
- CRM integration — Risks
- CRM integration — Checklist
- CRM integration — Privacy
- Process automation
- Lead qualification
- Custom software
- All guides
CRM integration by region
Next step
Initial assessment, no obligation.
Briefly describe what you need. You'll get an honest answer about what's realistic and what it will roughly cost.