CRM Agency or DIY CRM for Agencies? How to Choose Fast in 2025

What people mean by CRM agency

When someone says “CRM agency,” they usually mean a specialist team that implements a platform like HubSpot or Salesforce for you. They map your process, migrate data, build pipelines, automations, reports, and train your team.

Sometimes, people mean something else: a CRM platform tailored to agencies, so you don’t need a consultant to make it usable. That’s a different decision.

CRM for agencies vs hiring a CRM agency

You have two paths: adopt a CRM that already fits agency sales, or hire experts to shape a flexible platform into your workflow.

Here’s how they trade off in practice:

Dimension	Agency-friendly CRM	Hire a CRM agency
Speed to go live	Days; templates and built-in calling	Weeks–months; discovery, build, QA
Budget predictability	Flat per-seat; minimal add-ons	Upfront project + retainers; change orders
Customization depth	Enough for pipelines, proposals, tasks	Deep objects, complex automations, custom data
Ongoing admin	Light; owner-led tweaks	Dedicated admin or ongoing partner
Team training	Minimal; familiar UI	Formal enablement needed

Pipedrive leans on integrations and a broad ecosystem. Great flexibility, more moving parts. Leadchee optimizes for speed, simplicity, and predictable $29/seat pricing. If you need dozens of apps talking together, Pipedrive fits. If you need reps closing tomorrow, Leadchee is lighter.

Must have CRM features for marketing and sales agencies

Agencies live on billable hours. Your CRM should help you win work fast, not create admin debt.

Must-have	Why it matters
Visual pipelines & deal tracking	Clear stages for retainers and projects; zero ambiguity
Contact/company management	Keep relationships and decision chains straight
Proposal generation + e‑sign	Send faster, close faster; reduce back-and-forth
Integrated calling & VOIP	Fewer no‑shows; one-click calls and recordings
Task & calendar management	Never miss follow-ups; protect your pipeline
Simple automations	Assign tasks, move stages, nudge deals without ops help
Reporting & dashboards	Track win rate, cycle time, and source ROI
Email logging	Keep context in the deal, not inboxes
Multi-pipeline support	Separate retainers vs projects, partner referrals, and renewals
Fast onboarding + multilingual UI	Get a team productive in days; work across regions

Leadchee ships these out of the box: pipelines, proposals, integrated calling, tasks, calendars, and fast onboarding — tuned for agencies.

Cost and ROI calculator for agencies

Budgeting starts with two numbers: what you pay to set up, and what you pay per seat monthly.

• Agency partner rates commonly run $150–$250/hour; focused day rates $800–$2,500/day. Useful for sprints or complex builds (source: MPIRE).
• HubSpot Sales Hub tiers often range ~$9–$90/seat/month, with Enterprise ≈ $150/seat/month, plus core-seat pricing in suites (source: Cargas).
• Full implementations can range ~$12k–$60k+ for HubSpot; custom builds run ~$20k–$110k+, with complex cases far higher (sources: Cargas, Creatio).

A quick ROI sketch:

Inputs

• Seats: 8
• Monthly CRM cost: $29/seat
• Setup time: 20 hours DIY vs 160 hours agency
• Admin saved: 4 hours/rep/month
• Win-rate lift: +3 percentage points
• Cycle time cut: 10%
• Average deal: $12,000
• Deals/month: 6

How it pencils out

Item	DIY agency-friendly CRM	Hire CRM agency
Monthly license	8 × $29 = $232	8 × $90 = $720 (example)
Setup cost	20 hrs × $0 external = $0	160 hrs × $200 = $32,000
Admin time saved	8 × 4 hrs = 32 hrs/month	Similar if well-implemented
Revenue impact	+1 extra win/month from faster proposals + follow-ups	+1–2 wins/month if advanced automation

Benchmarks to sanity-check

• Many CRM studies cite $3+ return per $1 when adoption is strong.
• If your average deal is ≥ $10k, one extra close per quarter usually pays the year.
• If you need heavy custom objects, expect a multi‑month payback; if not, aim for 30–60 days.

Fast setup plan for agencies in 7 days

Adopt the minimum lovable workflow first. Improve after real deals move.

Days 1–2: foundations

• Import companies, contacts, and open deals. Clean obvious duplicates.
• Create two pipelines: Retainers and Projects, with 5–7 stages each.
• Connect email and VOIP. Verify call recording and logging work.

Days 3–4: proposals and tasks

• Build proposal templates with fees, scope, and e‑sign blocks.
• Add stage-based tasks: discovery, proposal sent, verbal yes, signed.
• Set calendar rules for first calls and proposal reviews.

Days 5–6: dry run and dashboards

• Run a mock deal from lead to closed-won with the team.
• Create dashboards for win rate, cycle time, and source performance.
• Trim any fields no one used during the dry run.

Day 7: go live and reinforce

• Move active deals into the new pipelines.
• Daily standups: 10 minutes, update stages and next actions.
• End of week retro: what slowed reps, and fix it.

When Leadchee makes sense for agencies

Pick Leadchee if you need clean pipelines, integrated calling, proposals, tasks, and calendars in one place — without a multi‑month build. It’s $29/seat flat, multilingual, and built for startups, consultants, and lean agencies.

It’s not for teams that need enterprise‑grade marketing automation, deep custom objects, or elaborate data models. For that, a HubSpot or Salesforce stack with a partner is safer.

Pipedrive vs Leadchee

• Pipedrive offers a large ecosystem and integrations, but expect add-ons and admin overhead.
• Leadchee favors speed, focused features, and predictable pricing. Fewer toggles; faster adoption.

Decision checklist for founders and agency owners

Use this to decide CRM platform vs CRM agency vs hybrid.

Question	Yes	No
Do you need built‑in calling and fast proposals?	Choose Leadchee or similar	Consider platform + dialer add‑ons
Is budget predictability critical this quarter?	Agency-friendly CRM	Agency partner or hybrid
Do you require complex objects/automation?	Partner on HubSpot/Salesforce	Lightweight CRM
Can you spare an internal admin?	Hybrid or partner	Lean CRM with minimal admin
Do you run retainers and projects in parallel?	Multi-pipeline CRM needed	Single pipeline may suffice
Are reps multilingual or cross‑region?	Multilingual CRM like Leadchee	Any single-language tool

If you still hesitate, try a hybrid: start in a lightweight CRM, prove the process, then engage a partner for advanced automation.

A no-pressure next step: spin up a pipeline in Leadchee, load five live deals, and measure time-to-proposal this week. If it drops, you’ve got your answer.