This isn’t an attack. It’s a checklist.

We’re not saying all CRM consultancies are bad. Many do excellent work. But the industry has a structural problem: many consultancies’ business model depends on you not understanding what you’re buying.

And that needs to be said out loud.

If you’re working with a Dynamics 365 consultancy (or any CRM partner), here are 7 signs that something’s off. If you recognise more than two, it’s time to start asking uncomfortable questions.

This is the classic. And the hardest to spot if you don’t know Microsoft’s licensing model.

Most consultancies resell licenses. Every license sold generates commission. More licenses = more recurring revenue for the consultancy. The incentive is clear.

The real problem: they put everyone on Sales Enterprise at €95/month when half your team only needs Sales Professional at €60. Or they tell you everyone needs a full license when most of your people only look at data and could work with Team Members at €8/month.

What to do: ask for a user-by-user breakdown. Ask why each person needs that exact license and not a lower one. If they can’t justify it, you’ve got your first red flag. If you want to run the audit yourself, we have a complete license audit guide.

2. There’s no documentation

When the project wraps up, you should have in your hands:

System configuration documentation
Custom code, commented and documented
User guides by role
Integration map with other systems
Procedures for common admin tasks

If your consultancy doesn’t mention documentation in the proposal, it’s not an oversight. It’s a strategy. Without documentation, every time something breaks, every time you need a change, every time a new employee needs to learn the system… you have to call them. And pay.

Documentation is your independence. If they don’t give it to you, they’re selling you dependency.

3. The scope keeps growing but the deadline doesn’t move

You’re in the third progress meeting and new features appear that were “always part of the plan.” But you check the original proposal and they’re not there. Nobody signed a change request. Nobody adjusted the budget. But the work continues and so does the invoice.

This is called scope creep, and it can be accidental or deliberate. Either way, the result is the same: you pay more than agreed for something you didn’t ask for.

What to do: before starting, insist on a scope document signed by both parties. Any changes after that must be in writing, with their impact on cost and timeline. If your consultancy resists putting things in writing, ask yourself why.

4. They don’t train your team (or the training is a joke)

“Yes, training is included” — and then it turns out training is a 2-hour video call where someone shares their screen and clicks through things while your team tries to keep up.

That’s not training. That’s a demo.

Real training means:

Role-specific sessions. What a sales rep needs to know isn’t what an operations manager needs to know.
Hands-on practice. Users should do the tasks themselves, not watch someone else do them.
Reference materials. Quick guides, videos, documents they can check later.
Follow-up. A Q&A session 2-3 weeks after launch.

The ultimate test: if a month after go-live your team still isn’t using the system or is using it wrong, the training failed. And if training fails, the implementation fails. It doesn’t matter how good the system is if nobody knows how to use it.

5. You can’t access your own data easily

Your data is yours. This shouldn’t need explaining, but it happens more often than you’d think.

Warning signs:

You need to ask the consultancy to export your data
Only the consultancy has admin credentials
Reports and dashboards can only be created or modified by the consultancy
You don’t have access to the source code of customizations

If your consultancy has built the system so that only they can operate it, they haven’t given you a tool. They’ve given you a dependency with a nice interface.

What to do: demand admin access from day one. Demand that custom code is delivered documented and that you can take it with you if you switch partners.

6. All communication is remote, never on-site

We’re fans of remote work. We use it all the time. But let’s be honest about why many consultancies work 100% remotely: because it’s more comfortable and cheaper for them, not because it’s what’s best for you.

Most consultancies minimize on-site work because their own employees prefer it. That’s understandable. But there are moments where human proximity is irreplaceable:

During the initial analysis, your consultancy needs to see how your team actually works. Not what they tell you in a Teams meeting — what they observe in person. There’s a massive gap between what people say they do and what they actually do.

During training and the first days after go-live, you need someone on the ground. Someone who’s there when the sales rep doesn’t know how to log a visit, when the operations director can’t find the report, when the admin person gets stuck on a workflow. Questions come up in the moment, not at the next scheduled video call. Having someone resolving issues on-site during those first days is the difference between real adoption and a system people abandon out of frustration.

Remote works after that, once everything is stable and the team is self-sufficient. Then yes — remote support, distance maintenance, specific improvements. Perfect. But until you reach that point, physical presence is vital.

Direct question: when was the last time your consultancy visited your office? Will someone be on-site for the first days after launch? If the answer is “no, everything is via Teams”, think about whether that’s what’s best for your team or what’s most comfortable for the consultancy.

7. There’s no exit plan

This is the most important sign and the one fewest people ask about.

What happens when you want to switch consultancies? What happens if the relationship isn’t working?

Can you take all custom code with you?
Is the documentation up to date and complete?
Can another partner pick up the project without starting from scratch?
Can your data be exported easily?
Are there lock-in clauses tying you down?

If the answer to any of these is “no” or “it’s complicated”, you’re in a dependency trap. And your consultancy knows it.

A good consultancy doesn’t need to lock you in to keep you. They keep you by doing great work.

Bonus tip: hire a CRM expert on your team

This isn’t a red flag — it’s a recommendation. And it might be the best investment you make.

If your company has a CRM (or is about to), consider hiring someone internal who knows it well. Not a generic IT person — someone who understands Dynamics 365 (or whatever CRM you use), who can configure it, train new hires, and spot when the consultancy is proposing something unnecessary.

This person defends your interests. They’re your technical voice in meetings with the consultancy. They know when a change should take 2 hours, not 20. They know when a customization is overkill and when something critical is missing.

The risk: hiring someone who claims to know the system but doesn’t. And that happens more often than you’d think. Before hiring:

Ask them to demonstrate real projects they’ve worked on
Ask specific questions about the system you use (or find someone you trust to run a technical interview)
If possible, hire someone with verifiable certifications, not just what’s listed on their CV

A good internal CRM profile saves you money on consultants, speeds up changes, and gives you real independence. A bad one creates more problems than it solves.

What to ask your consultancy before signing

If you’re evaluating consultancies or want to review your current relationship, here are the questions you should be asking. Print them out. Bring them to your next meeting.

If any answer makes you uneasy or the consultancy gets defensive, you have your answer.

Yes, we’re a consultancy too

And yes, we think the industry has a problem.

That’s why at Black Holes Dynamics we operate with radical transparency. Full documentation included in every project. On-site training as standard. Complete access to your system and your code from day one. No lock-in clauses. And a money-back guarantee if we don’t deliver.

We don’t do this because we’re better than anyone else. We do it because we believe it’s the only honest way to work.

If you have doubts about your current consultancy, or simply want a second opinion, get in touch. We’ll review your situation with no commitment and no sales pitch.