How Much Does a HighLevel Consultant Cost in the UK?

If you’re considering bringing in a HighLevel consultant, one of your first questions is likely to be:

How much is this going to cost?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer.

You might find someone who will help you with HighLevel for a relatively modest hourly rate. At the other end of the scale, you could easily spend £10,000, £15,000 or considerably more on a major CRM implementation.

But I think there’s a more important question you should ask before comparing prices:

What exactly am I paying a HighLevel consultant to do, and what position will my business be in when they’ve finished?

Because in my experience, how you work with a consultant can matter far more than their headline fee.

What are you actually paying a HighLevel consultant for?

There are several very different services that tend to get bundled under the term “HighLevel consultant”.

You might simply need someone to carry out some technical setup.

You might need help migrating from another CRM such as HubSpot, Keap, Salesforce or Mailchimp.

You might want someone to build workflows, pipelines, calendars, forms, funnels, websites or AI automations.

You might need training for your team.

Or you might need someone who can look at your wider sales and marketing processes, understand what you’re trying to achieve and help determine what should actually be built in the first place.

Those are very different jobs.

And inevitably, they come with very different price tags.

The $15,000 “black box” mistake

One approach I would be very wary of is handing everything over to an outside consultant.

It might look something like this:

“Here’s our brief. Here’s $15,000. Come back in a month with our new HighLevel system.”

It sounds appealing.

You carry on running your business while somebody else disappears into HighLevel and builds everything for you.

A month later, they unveil the finished system.

The problem is that you can end up with a black box.

There might be dozens of workflows, pipelines, triggers, forms and automations. Technically, everything may even work exactly as specified.

But does anyone inside your business really understand it?

And what happens when your business changes?

Because it will.

Even the best HighLevel consultant doesn’t know your business like you do

This isn’t a criticism of consultants.

Even the best HighLevel consultant in the world cannot live and breathe your business in the same way you do.

They don’t hear every conversation your salespeople have with prospects.

They don’t know every objection customers raise.

They aren’t involved in the little operational problems that occur every week.

They don’t necessarily know that Sarah in accounts has developed a clever workaround for something, or that your sales team has quietly stopped following part of the sales process because it doesn’t work in the real world.

Your business is constantly evolving.

Your CRM and marketing automation therefore need to evolve with it.

That’s why I think it’s dangerous to completely abdicate responsibility for your marketing to an outside consultant.

Marketing is too important to your business to simply hand over and forget about.

You can outsource technical implementation.

You can bring in specialist knowledge.

You can ask someone experienced to challenge your thinking.

But I believe the knowledge and understanding of your marketing systems should ultimately exist inside your business.

This is why I believe every business needs a CRM Champion

When I work with a HighLevel client, one of my first objectives is to help them identify, train and develop an internal CRM Champion.

The CRM Champion doesn’t need to be an IT expert.

In fact, I’d generally prefer someone who understands, or is close to, your marketing, sales and customer journey.

They’re the person inside the business who gradually develops an understanding of how HighLevel supports the company.

They don’t necessarily have to know how to build every complicated automation themselves.

But they should understand what the system is doing, why it is doing it and what needs to change as the business evolves.

You can read more about how the CRM Champion fits into my wider approach on my How I Work With HighLevel Clients page.

For me, this is a much healthier model than making the business permanently dependent upon an outside HighLevel consultant.

Start with the business, not HighLevel

Another mistake is opening HighLevel and immediately starting to build things.

Before we start implementing, I want to understand the business.

What happens when somebody becomes a lead?

What should happen next?

What happens if they don’t respond?

How do they become a customer?

What communications do they receive?

Where are opportunities being lost?

What repetitive tasks could be automated?

And, importantly, what shouldn’t be automated?

This thinking then becomes what I call the Marketing Automation Plan, or MAP.

I often describe the MAP as the architect’s blueprint for the implementation.

Rather than randomly building workflows and automations, we have a plan showing what we’re trying to achieve.

And it isn’t a document that gets created once and then forgotten.

It’s a living blueprint that continues to evolve alongside the business.

I’ve explained the complete process, from the initial Discovery Call through to the MAP, implementation and ongoing support, on my How I Work With HighLevel Clients page.

So how much should a HighLevel consultant cost?

There isn’t a universal “correct” price.

A freelancer carrying out a clearly defined technical task might charge a few dollars.

Another consultant or agency might quote a fixed price for an implementation.

A major implementation involving strategy, migration, integrations, automation and training could run into many thousands of pounds.

My own consultancy rate is currently £1,500 per day.

But there’s something equally important about the way I charge.

Wherever possible, I prefer to work with clients on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than tying them into a long-term monthly consultancy retainer.

Why I don’t believe in retainers just for the sake of retainers

To be clear, there are circumstances where a retainer can make perfect sense.

If someone is continually managing campaigns, producing marketing, optimising advertising or carrying out a defined amount of work every month, there is an ongoing service to pay for.

What I don’t believe in is charging a consultancy retainer simply so that I can remain involved.

If we’ve done our job properly, there should come a point where you need less of me.

Your system is working.

Your internal CRM Champion understands it.

Your team can make routine changes.

You can build many of your own workflows and campaigns.

So why should I continue charging you a substantial amount every month if there isn’t a substantial amount for me to do?

Eventually, the client starts asking:

“What exactly are we paying this retainer for?”

The retainer gets cancelled which “burns bridges” and what had previously been a good relationship can end with both sides feeling dissatisfied.

I’d rather avoid that situation altogether.

My goal is actually to make you need me less

This might sound like a strange business model for a consultant.

But one of my measures of success is getting a client and their CRM Champion self-sufficient as quickly as reasonably possible.

If that means there are no more consultancy days for me to charge you for, that’s fine.

It means we’ve achieved what we set out to achieve.

I don’t want to deliberately create dependency simply to generate recurring consultancy fees.

And experience has taught me that something interesting happens when you work this way.

Happy clients tend to come back

The first thing that happens is that clients come back when they genuinely need help.

Their CRM Champion may become perfectly capable of handling most of the day-to-day work.

But as the business becomes more sophisticated with HighLevel, new ideas emerge.

Perhaps they want to introduce AI.

Perhaps there’s a particularly complicated automation.

Perhaps another system needs integrating.

Perhaps they want to completely rethink part of their customer journey.

That’s when it can make sense to bring me back in.

The difference is that they’re not paying me every month just in case they need me.

They’re paying for my time when there’s something valuable for us to work on together.

Happy clients also tell other people

The second thing that happens is referrals.

If a client feels that I’ve genuinely tried to make them self-sufficient rather than deliberately making them dependent upon me, then they’re much more likely to talk positively about the experience.

That leads to referrals and opportunities for me to work with new clients on new projects.

For me, that’s a much healthier business model than trying to maximise the amount I can charge every individual client each month.

One of my client relationships demonstrates this perfectly

My very first CRM consultancy client is a good example.

I started working with him in 2009.

HighLevel didn’t exist then. The CRM and marketing automation platform we were using was Infusionsoft, which subsequently became Keap.

When my client retired in 2010, he no longer needed my services.

There was no retainer to fight over and no awkward conversation about cancelling a contract.

We simply stopped working together and parted on good terms.

And that could easily have been the end of the story.

Except, fourteen years later, in 2024, he contacted me again.

He was involved in a new project launching an international art competition and needed a CRM and marketing automation system.

The technology had changed enormously since we’d originally worked together.

This time, HighLevel was the platform I recommended.

But when he needed CRM and marketing automation expertise again, I was his first choice.

For me, that’s what a successful consultancy relationship should look like.

I would rather have a former client who is delighted to call me again fourteen years later than a client who finally cancels a retainer wondering why they’ve been paying it for the previous six months.

Training your CRM Champion

Becoming self-sufficient doesn’t mean your CRM Champion has to work everything out alone.

We can combine training with implementation so that we’re working on your actual business and HighLevel account rather than using generic examples.

For more intensive help, I offer on-site HighLevel training and implementation, where we can work with your team on the actual systems and processes you need.

If you’re not ready for bespoke consultancy, you may not need to pay for training at all.

We also run a rolling programme of 13 free live HighLevel training workshops covering the major areas of the platform.

You can also read my guide to the best ways to learn HighLevel.

What should you ask before hiring a HighLevel consultant?

Price matters, but I wouldn’t choose a consultant based solely on their hourly rate, day rate or project fee.

I’d want to know:

• Will they spend time understanding my business before they start building?
• Do they understand marketing and sales, or primarily the HighLevel software?
• Will they document what they’re building and why?
• Will they train somebody inside my business?
• Will we understand the system when they’ve finished?
• Are they helping us become more self-sufficient or more dependent upon them?
• What happens when our business processes change?
• Are we being tied into an ongoing retainer?
• If we stop paying the consultant, can we continue running and developing the system ourselves?

There’s another question I’d ask too:

Do I actually like and trust this person enough to work closely with them?

A good HighLevel implementation requires the consultant to understand a lot about how your business really works. That means there needs to be a mutual fit and some chemistry between both sides.

Freelancer, HighLevel technician or marketing consultant?

This is also why comparing HighLevel consultants purely on price can be misleading.

If you already know precisely what needs building and simply need somebody technically competent to build it, a good HighLevel freelancer may be exactly what you need.

There’s little point paying for strategic consultancy you don’t require.

But if the challenge is working out what should be built in the first place, you’re buying something different.

You’re paying for experience, questioning, strategy and judgement as well as technical HighLevel knowledge.

Personally, I describe my own positioning as marketing first, HighLevel second.

I’ve worked in direct-response marketing since 1996 and with CRM and marketing automation systems since 2009.

HighLevel is an extraordinarily capable tool, but ultimately it is still a tool.

Knowing which buttons to press isn’t the same as knowing what marketing and sales process you should create.

So, how much does a HighLevel consultant cost in the UK?

The answer could be anything from a relatively small amount for a few hours of specialist technical help to tens of thousands of pounds for a substantial implementation.

My own consultancy rate is £1,500 per day, normally working on a pay-as-you-go basis.

But I wouldn’t recommend choosing your HighLevel consultant by asking:

“Who can build this for the lowest price?”

And I wouldn’t simply ask:

“What will I get for £15,000?”

I’d ask:

“When this project is finished, what knowledge and capability will be left inside my business?”

If the answer is a mysterious black box that only the consultant understands, I’d be concerned.

If the answer is a well-designed HighLevel system, a documented plan, an increasingly capable internal CRM Champion and an experienced consultant you can call when you genuinely need them, that’s a very different proposition.

The objective shouldn’t be to become permanently dependent on your HighLevel consultant.

A good consultant should help you become increasingly capable without them.

And then be there when you need them for the next challenge.

Frequently Asked Questions About HighLevel Consultant Costs

How much does a HighLevel consultant cost in the UK?

There isn’t a standard industry rate. The cost will depend on whether you need a few hours of technical assistance, training, strategic consultancy or a substantial HighLevel implementation.

My own consultancy rate is currently £1,500 per day, normally on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than an ongoing consultancy retainer.

How much does it cost to have HighLevel set up for you?

That depends enormously on what you mean by “set up”.

Connecting your domain, email, calendars and basic settings is very different from designing sales pipelines, migrating data, creating workflows, building marketing campaigns and integrating HighLevel with other systems.

A substantial implementation can therefore cost many thousands of pounds. I’d be wary of comparing quotes until you understand exactly what each consultant is proposing to do.

Should I pay a fixed price for a HighLevel implementation?

Sometimes a fixed price makes sense when the scope is clearly defined.

My concern is with the “black box” approach where a business hands over a brief and a substantial sum of money, then expects a consultant to disappear for a month and return with the perfect finished system.

Your business will continue to change after the implementation is finished. I therefore prefer a Done-With-You approach where knowledge is transferred to somebody inside the business as we progress.

Do I need a monthly HighLevel consultant retainer?

Not necessarily.

A monthly retainer can make sense when there is genuine ongoing work to be done every month.

I don’t believe in charging a retainer simply to remain available. My preference is to help clients and their CRM Champions become increasingly self-sufficient and then charge for additional consultancy when they actually need my help.

Is a cheaper HighLevel freelancer a better option?

It can be.

If you know exactly what needs doing and simply need somebody technically competent to build it, a good freelancer could be a much more economical choice than an experienced marketing consultant.

The distinction becomes important when you don’t know exactly what should be built.

In that situation, you may need somebody who can understand and challenge your existing marketing and sales processes before deciding how HighLevel should be configured.

Should I hire a HighLevel expert from Fiverr?

Yes, you can, and in the right circumstances it can be a very cost-effective way to get help with HighLevel.

I would be most comfortable using a HighLevel freelancer from Fiverr, Upwork or a similar platform when you have a specific, clearly defined task and you already have a good working knowledge of HighLevel yourself.

For example, you might know exactly what you want a workflow to do, but would rather pay someone experienced to build it for you.

What I wouldn’t necessarily expect is for a freelancer hired for an individual task to develop a deep, long-term understanding of your business, your customers and your wider marketing strategy.

That’s not a criticism of the freelancer. You’re hiring them to complete a particular task, and that’s what you should expect them to concentrate on.

The danger comes when a business outsources lots of individual tasks without anybody internally understanding how all the pieces fit together.

So yes, hiring a HighLevel expert from Fiverr or a similar platform can make perfect sense. But I would recommend doing so when you know what you want built and somebody inside your business understands HighLevel well enough to oversee the work.

Should I hire a HighLevel Certified Admin?

A HighLevel Certified Admin can be a very good choice, particularly if you’re looking for somebody with strong knowledge of the HighLevel platform.

These people have invested in HighLevel’s Certified Admin Programme, which demonstrates that they’re serious about developing their HighLevel knowledge and working professionally with HighLevel clients.

I haven’t personally gone down the Certified Admin route because I position what I do somewhat differently.

I’m not primarily offering a HighLevel administration service. I’m a marketing automation consultant who uses HighLevel as the technology platform.

I’ve worked in marketing for over 30 years and with CRM and marketing automation since 2009. So when I’m working with a client, my role isn’t simply to ask, “How do we build this in HighLevel?”

I’m also asking, “Should we be doing this in the first place? What are we trying to achieve? And is there a better way of designing the marketing or sales process?”

So I wouldn’t regard the choice as Certified Admin versus non-Certified Admin.

I’d look at what your business actually needs.

If you need someone with strong HighLevel administration and implementation skills, a Certified Admin could be an excellent choice.

If you need someone to help you think through your marketing, sales processes and automation strategy as well as implementing the technology, I’d look for a consultant with that broader experience.

Can I set up HighLevel myself?

Yes.

HighLevel doesn’t require you to employ a consultant, and many businesses can learn to do a considerable amount themselves.

We actually encourage this. Our objective is to develop capability inside the business rather than create unnecessary dependence on an outside consultant.

If you’d like to learn the platform, see our free live HighLevel training workshops.

Should my business have an in-house HighLevel expert?

I recommend having someone internally who takes ownership of the CRM and marketing automation system.

I call this person the CRM Champion.

They don’t need to know everything HighLevel can do. Their role is to understand your business, your sales and marketing processes and how HighLevel supports them.

They can handle the everyday work and bring in specialist assistance when they encounter something more advanced.

How long should I need a HighLevel consultant for?

Ideally, your dependency on the consultant should reduce over time.

My objective is to get the client and their CRM Champion self-sufficient as quickly as reasonably possible.

That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll never work together again. In my experience, successful clients frequently return with more ambitious projects where their CRM Champion wants additional advice or technical assistance.

What should I look for when hiring a HighLevel consultant?

I’d look beyond their knowledge of HighLevel itself.

Ask whether they understand marketing and sales, how they will learn about your business, whether they will document what they build, whether they will train your team and what happens when the initial implementation ends.

Most importantly, ask yourself whether their objective appears to be making your business more capable or making your business more dependent on them.

What’s the best way to get started with a HighLevel consultant?

I recommend starting with a conversation rather than asking immediately for an implementation quote.

My own process begins with a 20-minute Discovery Call. If there’s a mutual fit and it makes sense to continue, we can then have a more detailed Discovery and Strategy session before deciding what, if anything, needs to be built.

Book a 20-minute Discovery Call here.