Ask Achan: Why does it feel like our CRM is costing money but not delivering sufficient value?

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the ninth edition of Ask Achan. Who’s Achan, you ask? He’s our in-house HubSpot expert and the Chief Growth Officer here at Concentrate.

Each month, we’ll dive into your HubSpot questions with simple, actionable tips to help you get the most out of the platform. We're passionate about helping B2B companies like yours grow with HubSpot. If you’re struggling with personalisation or engagement, I’m here to guide you through it.

Got a question? Send it my way.

You evaluated the solution options.
You signed the agreement.
You implemented the CRM.
You trained the team.

And yet, a few months in, there’s a quiet tension in leadership conversations.

It’s a common frustration. We see versions of this question everywhere in conversations with prospects, online forums, peer groups, strategy sessions:

• “Our data can’t be trusted.”
• “Forecasting feels off.”
• “The workflows are messy.”
• “Sales still uses spreadsheets.”
• “We’re paying for features no one touches.”

In fact, research shows that many organisations struggle to reach the full benefits of a CRM.

• Between 20–70% of CRM projects fail, with poor user adoption the leading cause.
• Lackof integration (17%) and system complexity (7%).
• 88% of sales professionals say accurate customer data is critical for CRM success.
• Over 40% of businesses use fewer than half of their CRM’s available features.

The natural instinct is to question the tool, but most ofthe time, the tool isn’t the core problem.

CRM disappointment is usually an alignment problem

In many businesses, the CRM was set up with good intentions and then left to run.

Over time, small decisions stack up. A new field gets added for reporting. A pipeline stage is inserted to solve a short-term issue. A workflow is patched to fix a one-off scenario. An integration is connectedwithout fully mapping how data should flow.

Individually, those decisions seem harmless but collectively, they create friction which in turn – erodes trust.

When teams don’t trust the system, they stop using itproperly. When leadership doesn’t trust the reporting, they stop relying on itfor decisions. And that’s when a CRM starts feeling like a cost centre instead of an asset.

When pipelines don’t reflect reality

One of the biggest causes of poor CRM ROI is a pipeline that looks logical but doesn’t reflect how revenue actually moves.

If your sales stages don’t represent real buying behaviour, forecasting becomes guesswork. Different sales reps interpret stages differently. Close dates get pushed without structure. Qualification is inconsistent.

The CRM might look organised, but it’s no longer modelling reality. A CRM should reflect how deals genuinely progress not how we wish they did.

For example, if most of your deals sit comfortably in one middle stage slowly ageing, your pipeline isn’t healthy. It’s hiding uncertainty.

When data becomes noise

Another common issue is field sprawl.

As businesses grow, new properties are added to answer newquestions. Different teams create their own versions of similar fields. Namingconventions drift. Old fields aren’t retired.

Eventually, no one knows which field is the “source oftruth.”

Reporting becomes inconsistent. Data entry becomes optional. Adoption drops.

At that point, the system isn’t helping decision-making, it’s creating doubt. Good CRM performancerelies on governance just as much as functionality.

For example, every new custom field should answer one question: “Who will use this, and how often?” If no one owns it, don’t create it.

When automation turns into technical debt

Automation should make things easier. It should reduce manual follow-up, enforce process consistency, and keep opportunities moving.

But often, we see two extremes. Some businesses underbuild automation, meaning reps are still relying on memory and manual reminders. Others overbuild it. Workflows overlap. Logic conflicts. Triggers fire unexpectedly. No one wants to edit anything in case it breaks.

Automation without architecture becomes technical debt and hidden complexity that slowly drags performance down.

The goal isn’t “more automation.” It’s intentional automation, directly connected to revenue outcomes.

Just because you can automate it doesn’t mean you should. Automate revenue friction, not everything.

When integrations create confusion

Most CRMs sit at the centre of a broader tech stack -finance tools, quoting systems, marketing platforms, service software.

If those integrations aren’t carefully designed, you end up with duplicated records, overwritten data, and reporting discrepancies. Different systems tell slightly different versions o f the truth.

The result? Leadership loses confidence in the numbers. The issue isn’t integration itself, it’s integration without clear ownership and structure.

The “set and forget” trap

Perhaps the most common reason CRM ROI fades is the beliefthat implementation is the finish line. It’snot.

Sales processes evolve. Products change. Teams restructure. Strategy shifts. Reporting requirements grow more sophisticated.

If the CRM doesn’t evolve alongside the business, it drifts out of alignment and when alignment drifts, value declines.

So how do you turn it around?

This is where the conversation shifts from frustration to opportunity.

At Concentrate, we help businesses move from “We have a CRM” to “Our CRM drives revenue.”

That process usually starts with alignment.

We workshop with you on how revenue actually moves through the business and redesign pipelines to reflect real qualification and buying behaviour. We clean up data structures and establish governance so everyone knows what belongs where. We simplify automation so it supports performance instead of creating hidden complexity. We architect integrations intentionally, defining source-of-truth systems and clear data flow rules.

And then we anchor reporting to commercial outcomes such as pipeline health, conversion rates, sales cycle velocity, and revenue forecasting confidence.

This is where platforms like HubSpot come into their own.

When properly configured and aligned to your real revenue process, HubSpot becomes far more than a database. It becomes:

• A forecasting engine
• A performance management tool
• A structured sales process enforcer
• A revenue visibility layer
• A scalable automation platform

But that only happens when design, governance, and strategy sit behind the technology.

A final thought from Achan

If your CRM feels expensive, clunky, or underwhelming, that doesn’t mean CRM doesn’t work.

It usually means alignment is needed.

The real question isn’t:

“Is our CRM worth the money?”

It’s:

“Is our CRM configured to reflect how we actually generate revenue?”

When the answer is yes, the conversation changes.

And that’s when your CRM stops feeling like a cost and starts behaving like a tool for growth.

Ready to turn these tips into real results? Contact the Concentrate team today.

See you in the next edition of Ask Achan.

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