State of Salesforce Exits 2025: Year in Review

By the Numbers: 2025 Exit Activity

Colby's Data Movers Portfolio

// Our 2025 engagements
Total exit projects: 47 (up 34% from 2024)
Completed exits: 38
In-progress (Q1 2026 completion): 9

Records migrated: 847M
Average org size: 22.3M records
Largest exit: 186M records (global financial services)
Smallest exit: 340K records (Series B SaaS startup)

Total cost avoidance: $312M over 3 years
Average savings per exit: $6.6M

Exit reasons:
  - M&A consolidation: 42% (20 exits)
  - Platform migration: 28% (13 exits)
  - Cost reduction: 19% (9 exits)
  - Compliance/sovereignty: 11% (5 exits)

Industry Trends

• Exit volume increased 34% YoY (our portfolio)
• Average exit timeline: 7.2 months (down from 9.8 months in 2024)
• AI-assisted data mapping reduced planning time by 60%
• Multi-org consolidation replaced 68% of traditional single-org exits
• HubSpot emerged as #1 destination platform (38% of exits)

Trend 1: AI-Powered Exits Arrived

What Changed

AI tools (LLMs, specifically) reduced exit planning overhead significantly in 2025.

Data Mapping Automation

// Traditional mapping (2024 and earlier)
Manual field analysis: 180 hours
Spreadsheet correlation: 60 hours
Validation meetings: 40 hours
Total: 280 hours

// AI-assisted mapping (2025)
AI field suggestions: 2 hours (prompt engineering + review)
Manual refinement: 20 hours
Validation meetings: 18 hours
Total: 40 hours

Time reduction: 86%
Cost savings: $36K per exit (at $150/hour)

How It Works

// AI prompt for field mapping
Input:
  Source: Salesforce Account object (47 fields)
  Target: HubSpot Company object (62 properties)
  
Prompt: "Map Salesforce Account fields to HubSpot Company properties.
         Consider semantic similarity, data types, and common conventions.
         Flag fields with no clear target match."

Output:
  Direct mappings: 38 fields (81% confidence avg)
  Conditional mappings: 6 fields (require business logic)
  No mapping: 3 fields (custom Salesforce-specific, no HubSpot equivalent)
  
Human review time: 2.5 hours (down from 28 hours manual)

Tools That Emerged

• ChatGPT/Claude for schema analysis and mapping suggestions
• GitHub Copilot for ETL script generation (Python, Apex)
• AI-powered data quality tools (deduplication, enrichment)
• Custom GPT agents trained on Salesforce/HubSpot/Dynamics schemas

What AI Still Can't Do

• Understand business context (why a field exists, how it's used)
• Make strategic decisions (sync vs. exit, phased vs. cutover)
• Validate data integrity (AI suggests, humans must verify)
• Manage stakeholder politics (exec buy-in, change management)

Trend 2: HubSpot Displaced Dynamics as Exit Target

2025 Destination Platform Distribution

// Where companies exited TO (our portfolio)
HubSpot: 38% (18 exits)
Microsoft Dynamics 365: 23% (11 exits)
Custom-built (PostgreSQL/MySQL): 17% (8 exits)
Monday.com / Notion / Airtable: 13% (6 exits)
Pipedrive: 9% (4 exits)

// 2024 comparison
Dynamics: 41%
HubSpot: 28%
Custom: 18%
Others: 13%

Why HubSpot Won

• Free tier for small teams (vs. Dynamics $65/user/month minimum)
• Superior UX (sales teams actually want to use it)
• Strong API, easier integrations
• Marketing automation included (Salesforce Marketing Cloud costs extra)
• Transparent pricing (no hidden storage/API fees)

HubSpot Migration Economics

// Typical mid-market migration (500 users)
Salesforce annual cost: $450K (Sales Cloud + platform fees)
HubSpot annual cost: $180K (Professional tier)
Annual savings: $270K

Migration cost: $120K (6-month project)
Payback period: 5.3 months
3-year savings: $930K

Trend 3: Multi-Org Consolidation Became the Norm

The Shift

2024: Most exits were single org → single target platform.

2025: 68% of exits involved consolidating multiple Salesforce orgs.

Example: Global Manufacturing Client

// Starting state (7 Salesforce orgs)
HQ (US): 18M records
EMEA (Germany): 12M records
APAC (Singapore): 8M records
FSI Division (US): 6M records
Healthcare Division (US): 4M records
Legacy Acquired Org 1: 2.1M records
Legacy Acquired Org 2: 1.8M records

Total: 7 orgs, 52M records, $2.8M annual Salesforce spend

// Exit strategy
Consolidated to: HubSpot (single instance) + Snowflake (data warehouse)
Migration timeline: 11 months
Final cost: $3.2M (one-time) + $640K annual (HubSpot + Snowflake)
3-year savings: $5.2M

Why Consolidation Accelerated

• M&A activity remained high (20 consolidation-driven exits)
• CFOs demanded multi-org cost reduction
• Remote work made regional org separation obsolete
• Data gravity: execs wanted unified reporting

Trend 4: Exit-as-a-Service Emerged

New Business Model

2025 saw the rise of "exit-as-a-service" offerings: pay monthly, exit over time, not one big project.

Traditional Exit Model

// Fixed-price project
Upfront payment: $400K
Timeline: 9 months
Risk: Customer owns all risk (scope creep, delays, failures)

Exit-as-a-Service Model (Colby's New Offering)

// Subscription-based exit
Monthly payment: $35K/month
Minimum term: 12 months
Includes: planning, migration, post-exit support
Risk: Shared (we're incentivized to finish on time)

Customer benefits:
  - Lower upfront cost ($35K vs. $400K)
  - Predictable monthly expense (easier budgeting)
  - Ongoing support post-migration (not one-and-done)
  
Our benefits:
  - Recurring revenue (vs. lumpy project revenue)
  - Long-term customer relationships
  - Incentive to build reusable tools (benefits all customers)

Adoption Rate

• Q1 2025: 0% of exits were subscription-based (didn't exist yet)
• Q4 2025: 23% of new exits chose subscription model (11 of 47 total)
• Projected 2026: 40%+ of exits will be subscription-based

Trend 5: Data Quality Became the #1 Blocker

The Problem

Poor data quality delayed or derailed 31% of exits in 2025 (15 of 47 projects).

Common Data Quality Issues

// Issues discovered during exit assessments
Duplicate records: 87% of orgs (avg 14% duplication rate)
Orphaned child records: 62% of orgs (Contacts without Accounts)
Incomplete required fields: 71% of orgs (missing Email, Phone, etc.)
Inconsistent picklist values: 93% of orgs (same concept, different labels)
Stale data: 68% of orgs (records not touched in 2+ years)

// Impact on exit timeline
No data quality issues: 6.2 months avg
Minor issues (< 5% duplication): 7.8 months avg
Major issues (> 15% duplication): 11.4 months avg
Severe issues (> 30% duplication): Project canceled (2 cases)

The Fix: Pre-Exit Data Quality Sprint

// New workflow (adopted by 80% of 2025 exits)
Week 1-2: Data quality assessment
  - Run deduplication analysis
  - Identify orphaned records
  - Flag incomplete data
  
Week 3-6: Remediation sprint
  - Merge duplicates (automated + manual review)
  - Enrich missing fields (ZoomInfo, Clearbit, manual research)
  - Archive stale records (not migrated)
  
Week 7: Validation
  - Re-run quality metrics
  - Get stakeholder sign-off
  
Result: 
  - Timeline impact: +6 weeks upfront, -8 weeks overall
  - Net time saved: 2 weeks
  - Migration success rate: 94% (vs. 68% without pre-sprint)

Failures: What Went Wrong in 2025

Failed Exit #1: Underestimated Integration Complexity

Client Profile

• Industry: SaaS (HR tech)
• Exit goal: Salesforce → HubSpot + Snowflake
• Timeline: 6 months planned

What Happened

Client had 47 integrations built on Salesforce APIs. Migration plan focused only on data, not integrations.

// Integration inventory (discovered month 3)
Salesforce → Slack: custom notifications
Salesforce → QuickBooks: invoice sync
Salesforce → Zendesk: ticket creation
Salesforce → Marketo: lead scoring
Salesforce → DocuSign: contract automation
... (42 more integrations)

// Actual effort
Original estimate: 180 hours (data migration only)
Actual effort: 640 hours (data + all integrations)
Timeline: 6 months → 14 months
Budget overrun: $180K

Lesson Learned

Integration audit must happen before exit commitment. Now a mandatory deliverable in Phase 1.

Failed Exit #2: Regulatory Approval Delays

Client Profile

• Industry: Financial services (wealth management)
• Exit goal: Salesforce → Microsoft Dynamics (compliance requirement)
• Timeline: 9 months planned

What Happened

FINRA approval required for data migration. Approval process took 11 months (longer than planned migration).

// Regulatory timeline
Month 1-2: Submit migration plan to compliance
Month 3-7: Back-and-forth with FINRA (questions, revisions)
Month 8-11: Final approval process
Month 11: Approval granted
Month 12-18: Actual migration (after approval)

// Impact
Planned timeline: 9 months
Actual timeline: 18 months
Delayed savings: $720K (cost of running both systems in parallel)

Lesson Learned

For regulated industries, start regulatory approval process 6+ months before planned migration.

Cost Trends: TCO Shifts

Salesforce Pricing in 2025

// List price increases (2024 → 2025)
Sales Cloud Enterprise: $165 → $180/user/month (+9%)
Service Cloud Enterprise: $165 → $180/user/month (+9%)
Platform (app development): $30 → $35/user/month (+17%)
Data storage: $100/GB → $125/GB (+25%)

// Real-world impact (500-user org)
2024 annual cost: $1.2M
2025 annual cost: $1.38M (+15%)
3-year cost (2025-2027 @ 9% annual increase): $4.48M

Exit Economics

// Average exit ROI (2025 data)
Migration cost: $280K (one-time)
Annual savings: $380K
Payback period: 8.8 months
3-year ROI: 306%

// Best performer
Migration cost: $120K
Annual savings: $720K
Payback period: 2 months
3-year ROI: 1,700%

What We Got Right in 2025

1. AI-Assisted Planning

Reduced upfront effort by 60%. Faster time-to-value for customers.

2. Pre-Exit Data Quality Sprints

Prevented 13 potential delays. Improved success rate from 68% to 94%.

3. Subscription-Based Exit Model

Lower barrier to entry. More predictable revenue for us, easier budgeting for customers.

4. Integration-First Assessments

Post-failure-#1, made integration inventory a Phase 1 requirement. Zero integration surprises in H2 2025.

What We Got Wrong in 2025

1. Underestimated Regulatory Complexity

Financial services / healthcare exits took 2x longer than estimated due to compliance reviews.

Fix: Now add 6-month buffer for regulated industries.

2. Oversold HubSpot for Complex Use Cases

3 clients migrated to HubSpot, then hit limitations (complex workflow automation, custom object relationships).

Fix: Deeper discovery to identify edge cases before recommending platform.

3. Underinvested in Post-Exit Support

Customers needed more hand-holding after go-live. Left 8 CSAT responses below expectations.

Fix: Subscription model includes 90-day post-exit support (not just cutover).

2026 Predictions

1. AI Becomes Table Stakes

Every exit will use AI for mapping, data quality, testing. Manual-only exits will be 3x more expensive.

2. Salesforce Price Increases Accelerate Exits

Predicted 12%+ annual increases will push more mid-market orgs to exit. Expect 50+ exits in our 2026 portfolio.

3. Composable CRM Rises

Airtable + Zapier + Notion will gain share for small/mid-market. "Build your own CRM" becomes viable.

4. Exit-as-a-Service Becomes Default

Subscription model will dominate. One-time project fees will be reserved for enterprise-scale exits only.

5. Data Sovereignty Drives Exits

EU/APAC companies will exit US-hosted Salesforce for regional alternatives (Zoho, regional HubSpot instances).

Resources for 2026 Exit Planning

Free Tools

• Exit Assessment Calculator (TCO comparison): Email for access
• Data Quality Scanner (Salesforce org analysis): Audit Suite
• Integration Inventory Template: Email for template

Paid Services

• Full exit planning engagement: $28K (4-6 weeks)
• Exit-as-a-service subscription: $35K/month (12-month minimum)
• Traditional fixed-price exit: $180K-$600K (depends on org size)

Final Thoughts

2025 was the year Salesforce exits became mainstream. No longer a last resort—it's a strategic option.

AI made exits faster. HubSpot made them cheaper. Multi-org consolidation made them necessary.

If you're running a Salesforce org and haven't evaluated exit economics in the past 12 months, you're leaving money on the table.

2026 will be bigger. Faster. More competitive.

Your data belongs to you. Act accordingly.