In short
Very few mid-sized companies run Salesforce on their own: they pay a partner on a block of hours, an in-house admin, or both. That makes sense when the org is complex and you use it in depth. If every new field is a ticket and most hours go into keeping what you already have running, the problem isn't the consultant: you have more Salesforce than you need.
What a Salesforce consultant or partner does
We were that consultant for over 15 years, so this is the inside view. A Salesforce partner usually does three things:
- Implement: set up the org, data model, profiles, automations and integrations.
- Maintain: add users, change fields and layouts, fix failing Flows, review each of the three releases a year.
- Evolve: new projects like CPQ, an Experience Cloud portal, Agentforce, or moving Workflow Rules and Process Builder to Flow.
Implementation is a project. Maintenance never ends: a block of hours or a monthly retainer, year after year.
What it adds to your bill
| Line | How it's paid | Example for a 40-user company |
|---|---|---|
| Partner | Block of hours or monthly retainer | €14,400 a year (€1,200 a month) |
| In-house admin | One person, or part of their time | €26,000 a year (half-time) |
| One-off projects | Quoted per project | Varies: e.g. moving Process Builder to Flow |
These are the figures from the example in our Salesforce pricing in 2026 guide; every company has its own. Added to licences, in that example the licence is only just over half of Salesforce's total cost.
When you need a Salesforce consultant
A good partner, and staying on Salesforce, make sense if:
- You have hundreds of users across countries with very different processes.
- You depend on critical AppExchange packages with no alternative.
- You use Data Cloud, Marketing Cloud or Agentforce in depth with measurable return.
- Your team uses Salesforce well and it's worth what you pay.
Then the job is choosing the partner well: hours reported by type of work, documentation of every change, and someone who tells you what you don't need.
When it's a sign Salesforce is too much
- A new field on a layout is a ticket, a quote and a few days' wait.
- Most partner hours go into maintaining what exists, not improving it.
- Every release forces you to re-check things that worked.
- You still have Workflow Rules or Process Builder, unsupported since 31 December 2025, and you'll pay to rebuild them in Flow to stay where you are.
- Your admin spends more time fixing automations than helping the team.
- Nobody dares delete anything because nobody knows what it does.
Three or more, and you're paying consultants to hold up a platform bigger than the part you use. There are more signs in the 7 signs you overpay for Salesforce and in why your team doesn't use the CRM.
The alternative: a CRM you own
2Q Technologies replaces Salesforce with a CRM built around your sales process, with your data migrated, in about 6 weeks. You pay once, from €25,000. What changes:
- The code and data are yours, in your cloud and your repository, documented. Any technical team can work on it, yours or ours.
- Only what you use exists. No releases to review, no inherited configuration nobody understands.
- A change isn't a project. If you like, we handle changes under an optional, minimal maintenance plan.
- Adding a user costs €0.
| Salesforce with a partner | Your own CRM with 2Q Technologies | |
|---|---|---|
| Licences | Per user per month, every year | €0 per user |
| Maintenance | Hours or retainer, forever | Optional and minimal |
| A small change | Ticket to the partner | Your team or us, no block of hours |
| Releases | Three a year to review | None imposed |
| Ownership | The platform belongs to Salesforce | The code and data are yours |
This is the switch, week by week, and here is who we are.
FAQ
How much does a Salesforce partner cost per year?
It depends on the org and the contract, usually a block of hours or a monthly retainer. In the 40-user example in our guides, the partner adds €14,400 a year and a half-time admin €26,000, on top of licences.
Can I drop the partner and stay on Salesforce?
Yes, if you have a certified admin in-house and a simple org. The work doesn't go away though: users, permissions, releases and automations.
If I leave Salesforce, who maintains the new CRM?
You decide. The code is yours and documented, so your own team, another provider or us under an optional plan can maintain it.
Are you a Salesforce partner?
No. We are former certified Salesforce consultants. Today we build custom CRMs for companies leaving it, and we're not affiliated with Salesforce.
What happens to the automations my partner built?
In the first-week audit we inventory Flows, Workflow Rules, Process Builder and triggers, see which do something useful and rebuild only those, with tests.
Sources: end of support for Workflow Rules and Process Builder (Salesforce Ben). Cost example: Salesforce pricing in 2026.