"We have a CRM." Ask the question and nine times out of ten the answer is: a shared Excel file on OneDrive that half the team hasn't opened in six months. No judgement — that's a starting point. Here's how to move further, without being sold a Ferrari when what you need is a solid work van.
Why your current CRM is costing you more than it earns
A poorly used CRM — or no CRM at all — carries an invisible cost. It won't appear as a line item in your expenses, but it's very real.
Leads falling through the cracks. A prospect contacts you on Friday. Monday morning, you've forgotten about them. Your competitor got an automatic reminder in their CRM.
Opportunities left untracked. You sent 12 quotes this month. How many are waiting for a follow-up? You can't say for sure. Your CRM knows.
Scattered data. Sales rep A keeps their notes in their head. Sales rep B uses a notebook. The office manager has a different spreadsheet. When someone goes on holiday, nobody can find anything.
Time wasted rebuilding context. "Wait, where did we leave things with this client?" — a question that comes up several times a week in an SME without a structured CRM.
of Belgian SMEs with fewer than 20 people still use Excel as their main CRM (Digital Wallonia Barometer 2025)
recovered per week on average after adopting a real CRM (Pipedrive Study, 2025)
more commercial opportunities tracked thanks to a structured CRM (HubSpot State of CRM, 2025)
Excel: honestly, how far does it go?
Let's be straightforward. Excel is a great tool, and for some SMEs it's still the best option.
Excel works well when:
- You have fewer than 50–80 active clients to manage.
- You work alone or as a pair, sharing the same file without conflicts.
- Your sales processes are simple and linear.
- You don't need automations (reminders, follow-ups, sequenced emails).
Excel becomes a problem when:
- Multiple people edit the file and versions get lost.
- You can no longer track your open quotes without spending 10 minutes searching.
- You follow up with clients "from memory" and occasionally forget some.
- You want to connect your client tracking to your invoicing or calendar.
The cloud CRMs worth knowing
HubSpot (free version) is often the best entry point for an SME leaving Excel. The free version manages contacts, deals, tasks, and even email sending. Its limits: as soon as you want advanced automations or detailed reports, paid plans climb fast — between €90 and €450/month for 5 users depending on features.
Pipedrive is designed for sales teams. Clean interface, visual pipeline, automatic follow-ups, simple reporting. Around €25 to €30/user/month, so €125 to €150/month for 5 people. It's our recommendation for SMEs whose core business is sales — not global operational management.
Salesforce is the world reference. Powerful, customisable, connected to everything. And that's also where it gets tricky for Belgian SMEs: between €75 and €300/user/month depending on modules, an onboarding that can exceed €10,000, and an administrative complexity that often requires a full-time consultant. Unless you have a sales team of more than 20 people with highly structured processes, Salesforce is probably oversized.
Why we recommend Odoo to most of our clients
Yes, LTC Group is an Odoo integration partner. And no, that's not the only reason we recommend it.
Odoo is an open-source software suite that covers much more than a CRM: sales, invoicing, accounting, HR, inventory, website, marketing emails, helpdesk — all in a single system. For a Belgian SME looking to consolidate its tools, it is often the most coherent solution.
What convinced us, concretely:
The price. Odoo Online starts at around €12 to €26/user/month depending on the applications activated. For 5 users with CRM + invoicing + accounting, count €60 to €130/month — with no hidden fees on the core modules.
European hosting. Odoo SA is Belgian (Ramillies, Brabant wallon). Their cloud servers are in Europe. For SMEs with GDPR constraints or sensitive data, this is a significant argument.
Native integration with Belgian accounting. PCMN chart of accounts, Belgian VAT returns, eBilling — Odoo handles the Belgian context natively, whereas other CRMs often require third-party plugins that are poorly maintained.
The Belgian partner network. If an issue arises or you need to evolve the system, you have access to local integrators who know the context, speak French, and can respond quickly.
When Odoo is not the right choice: if you only need a simple sales CRM for a small team, Pipedrive or HubSpot will be faster to adopt. Odoo requires real implementation time — between 3 and 8 weeks depending on scope — and genuine initial training.
Head-to-head comparison — Odoo vs Salesforce vs Excel
| Criterion | Odoo | Salesforce | Excel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price/month (5 users) | €60–130 | €375–750 | Free |
| French-language quality | ✓✓ Native | ✓ Good | ✓ Yes |
| EU / Belgium hosting | EU native (BE) | US | Local |
| Belgian accounting integration | Native (PCMN, VAT) | Paid module | Manual |
| Learning curve | Moderate | Complex | None |
| Support in Belgium | BE partners | Paid dedicated contract | None |
Indicative comparison — April 2026. Prices excl. VAT, subject to change. LTC Group is an Odoo integration partner.
For reference, here is also where HubSpot and Pipedrive sit if you are still considering an intermediate solution — details higher up in the article.
Which CRM for which SME size?
| SME profile | Odoo | Salesforce | Excel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo / 2 people, < 80 clients | Premature | Oversized | Recommended |
| 3–10 people, active sales | Good choice for 360° view | Too heavy | Too limited |
| Sales + invoicing + integrated accounting | Recommended | Possible but expensive | Insufficient |
| Sales team 20+, complex processes | Possible | Recommended | Insufficient |
Summary of our recommendation by growth stage.
How to choose based on your growth stage
You work alone or as a pair, fewer than 80 active clients: keep a well-structured Excel or Google Sheets. Investing in a CRM right now would be premature. Revisit this question in 12 months.
You are 3 to 10 people, with active commercial growth: free HubSpot or Pipedrive. Quick to adopt, reasonable price, enough to structure your pipeline. If your business is primarily sales-focused, Pipedrive is probably your best choice.
You want to connect sales, invoicing, and operations in a single system: Odoo. Longer to set up, but you won't be switching tools again in 5 years. LTC Group can manage the implementation end-to-end.
You have a sales team of 20+ people with complex processes: Salesforce can be justified. But bring in an independent consultant to assess whether the advanced features are truly worth the extra cost.
What does an Odoo implementation look like?
If you go with Odoo, here are the main steps LTC Group follows with its Belgian SME clients. The timeline varies by scope, but the order stays the same.
1. Scoping & demo on your case (Week 0). We dig into your current sales process, identify the necessary modules (CRM, invoicing, accounting), and set aside anything that serves no purpose. Free demo with your own data.
2. Configuration & setup (Weeks 1–3). Creation of your instance, Belgian chart of accounts (PCMN), VAT, quote and invoice templates, sales pipelines, user permissions. We configure what will actually be used.
3. Data migration (Weeks 2–4). Cleaning the Excel file or exporting the existing CRM, mapping, importing contacts, open opportunities, and the required history. Line-by-line verification on critical accounts.
4. Team training (Weeks 4–6). Short sessions by role (sales, admin, accounting) based on real day-to-day cases. Internal documentation tailored to your business vocabulary.
5. Go-live & support (Weeks 6–8). Official switchover, support during the first weeks, adjustments as team feedback comes in. Support included for the first year.
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