Hedge Fund: Custom CRM Replaces Salesforce
A hedge fund was paying $190,000 a year for a custom Salesforce implementation that only 12 of its 40 licensed seats actually used. We built them their own CRM — branded as their own internal platform, with an AI layer that writes the roundups — for $12,000 and $300 a month.
The fund's CRM bill had crept to $190,000 a year: a heavily customized Salesforce implementation licensed for 40 seats, layered with consultants' work nobody fully owned anymore. When we audited actual usage, 12 people were using the system in a typical month — the other 28 seats were being paid for out of inertia, and the customizations in daily use were a small fraction of what the platform was priced for.
There was a quieter cost, too. A fund that treats its operations as confidential was running client relationships through a third-party platform priced and packaged for someone else's workflow. What they actually wanted was simple to say and rare to get: their own system, shaped around their own desk, that they control end to end.
The approach
Usage and cost audit
Before proposing anything we measured what the $190,000 actually bought: which seats logged in, which objects and automations were touched, and which reports anyone read. The gap between licensed and used is what made the build case obvious — this wasn't a discount negotiation, it was a right-sizing.
Design around the desk
The replacement was modeled on how the fund actually works — its relationship stages, its notes discipline, its compliance sensitivities — and branded as the fund's own internal platform. To the team it isn't vendor software; it's theirs.
Six-month build and migration
The CRM was built and iterated over six months for a one-time $12,000, with Salesforce data migrated and a parallel-run period so nothing dropped between systems. Access was provisioned for the 12 people who use it, not the 40 the old contract assumed.
The AI layer and steady state
AI now does the administrative reading: activity is summarized into roundup emails, and follow-ups become tasks automatically instead of depending on someone's memory. The system runs on a flat $300-a-month support agreement — iteration requests included, month to month like every NetSys engagement.
- Custom CRM application, client-branded
- Salesforce data migration + parallel run
- AI-generated activity roundup emails
- Automated follow-up task creation
- Role-based access for 12 active seats
- Flat $300/month support & iteration
The results
Business-reported figures: $190,000/year prior spend; $12,000 one-time build over six months; $300/month ongoing support. Client identity withheld by agreement.
View data table
| Annual cost ($ thousands) | |
|---|---|
| Before — Salesforce | 190 |
| Year one — build + support | 15.6 |
| Ongoing — support | 3.6 |
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