Valentina Akpan: Founder of Rellatech, providing administrative and operations support to executives, founders, business owners and teams. Her background combines technical support, customer success, administration and operations.
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Everyone says they 'work with CRMs'. A real CRM consultant does something narrower and more useful: they make a specific CRM work for a specific business, then document it so the business can run it without them.
A plain look at what the work looks like, written by someone who does it for a living.
What the role means
A CRM consultant audits your current CRM setup, fixes what is broken, builds what is missing, and trains your team to run it. Less like an admin (who maintains what exists) and less like a developer (who builds custom software). More like a specialist who knows one or two CRMs deeply and makes them work for the business.
What a CRM consultant does in a typical engagement
- ●Audits the current account. Tag taxonomy, automation health, data hygiene, integration map, user permissions.
- ●Documents what is broken. Specific list with severity, recommended fix, and rough effort estimate.
- ●Rebuilds the core data model. Tags, custom fields, pipelines, stages, lifecycle stages.
- ●Builds the automations. Lead capture, nurture sequences, sales follow-up, customer onboarding, and win-back.
- ●Wires the integrations. Forms, payments, scheduling, web tracking, dashboards.
- ●Trains the team. Writes step-by-step instructions, runs walkthroughs, and sets up a maintenance schedule.
- ●Transfers the work clearly, with docs, a maintenance plan, and a clear list of what they would do next.
CRM consultant vs CRM admin vs CRM developer
- ●CRM admin: maintains the existing setup, runs day-to-day updates, handles user requests. In-house role.
- ●CRM consultant: rebuilds or fixes the setup, often during a transition, audit, or implementation phase. Project-based or short retainer.
- ●CRM developer: builds custom code, API integrations, or proprietary apps inside the CRM. Engineering role.
- ●Most growing businesses need a consultant for a defined project, such as an audit, rebuild or migration, then an admin (or admin-level virtual assistant) to maintain it. Developers come in only for custom builds.
Which CRMs need consultants
Not all CRMs need a specialist. Some do. This article stays platform-neutral; for Keap and Infusionsoft accounts specifically, see the separate guide to what an Infusionsoft consultant does.
- ●Need a consultant: Keap, Infusionsoft (Keap Max Classic), Salesforce, HubSpot Enterprise, GoHighLevel agency accounts, Ontraport, and custom tool setups.
- ●Usually fine with an admin: Pipedrive, basic HubSpot, Copper, monday CRM, basic Zoho.
- ●Probably do not need anyone: spreadsheet CRMs, a small and clean contact list with no automation, brand-new businesses.
What affects the quote?
Compare the same scope: systems reviewed, records involved, workflows changed, testing, documentation and ongoing support. A headline hourly rate does not describe the total project cost. Ask whether the quote includes software subscriptions, paid add-ons and post-launch work, and confirm its currency. Specialist platforms (Salesforce, Keap Max Classic, HubSpot Enterprise) tend to cost more because the depth is harder to find. Rellatech's administrative and operations support starts from CAD $30 per hour. Specialist projects and ongoing monthly support are quoted according to the agreed responsibilities and workload.
Signals you need one
The direct test: answer yes to two or more.
- ●You do not trust the data in your CRM, so people check somewhere else before acting on it.
- ●You are running automations that nobody on the team fully understands.
- ●You are about to migrate platforms, restructure the sales team, or onboard a major hire.
- ●Your sales team uses spreadsheets instead of the CRM because the CRM is harder to use.
- ●You inherited the CRM from someone who left, and the setup feels like a mystery.
How to vet a CRM consultant before hiring
- ●Ask which CRMs they will NOT take on. Specialists have a list. Generalists pretend to do everything.
- ●Ask for a 30 minute live audit of your account. The questions they ask in the first 10 minutes tell you everything.
- ●Ask what they would NOT change. A good consultant has restraint. A bad one wants to rebuild everything.
- ●Ask how they transfer the work back to your team. The answer should mention training, written instructions, and a documented maintenance plan.
- ●Skip case studies that read like brochures. Ask for one project where things went wrong and what they did about it.
FAQ
Work with Rellatech
CRM and automation work is the core of what I do (Keap, Infusionsoft, HubSpot, with generalist coverage of the rest). A short call is the fastest way to see whether it's a fit. See the full CRM & Automation service.
Book a free callTell me what needs attention and which tools you use. I review inquiries personally and normally reply within one business day with the next step. Any detailed audit or implementation is scoped separately.
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