In-House vs. Outsourced SDR
On paper, you could just post a job and hire an SDR. In reality, modern outbound is messy. It requires data hygiene, tech stacks, and constant management.
Before you decide, look at the math. Building internally gives you control, but it comes with a heavy tax on your time and budget.
Real Cost
High Fixed Cost: Salary, benefits, tools, and management overhead can reach $90k-$125k+ per rep/year.
Lower Variable Cost: Typically a flat fee (approx. $60k-$70k/year). Total cost is often 30-50% lower.
Ramp Time
Slow: 3-4 months to recruit, onboard, and ramp to full productivity.
Fast: Experienced teams can deploy in 2-4 weeks.
Risk
High: You bear the cost of turnover (avg tenure <16 months) and bad hires.
Low: The vendor manages turnover and replaces reps behind the scenes.
Tech Stack
You Buy It: CRM seats, data sources, dialers, and sequencing tools (~$5k/rep).
Included: Top agencies bring their own enterprise-grade tech stack and data.
What a Good Outsourced SDR Team Actually Does
To get results, you need to know what you are buying. The best outsourced SDR partners don’t just take a list from ZoomInfo and start dialing. They own the entire front-end of your sales cycle:
- Targeting & List Building
They refine your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), clean prospect lists, and add context (funding news, tech stack data) so outreach feels relevant, not spammy. - Multichannel Outbound
They don’t rely on just one channel. They orchestrate cold email, cold calling (for live qualification), and LinkedIn touches to meet buyers where they are. - First-Line Qualification
They confirm fit (role, company size, timing) before booking. They aren’t closing; they are protecting your AEs’ time. - Booking & Logistics
They handle the friction of scheduling, rescheduling, and sending reminders to ensure meetings actually happen. - Data Hygiene
They log every touch and update statuses in your CRM, turning outbound into a system rather than a chaotic heroic effort.
5 Keys to Hiring an SDR Partner That Performs
If you want to be in the 7% of success stories, these are your non-negotiables.
- Start with a Sharp ICP
Outsourced SDRs can’t fix a fuzzy value prop. Before you sign, you must be able to define exactly who you help and what painful problem you solve. A good partner will push back if your target is “anyone in B2B”, they know that specificity sells. - Align on “Qualified” Metrics
If you only pay for “meetings set,” you will get a calendar full of fluff. Insist on shared success metrics:- Held meetings (not just scheduled)
- Pipeline created from those meetings
- Conversion rates to Opportunity/SQL When you hire an outsourced SDR team, you are paying for pipeline, not just activity.
- Vet Their Feedback Loop
Strong SDR programs don’t just set meetings; they learn. Ask potential partners:- How do we review call recordings together?
- What happens if an AE marks a meeting as ‘unqualified’?
- How fast can you pivot messaging if we see a low reply rate? If they don’t have a structured process for continuous improvement, they aren’t a partner, they’re just a lead list service.
- Evaluate Their Tech & Messaging
Strong programs live and die by message-market fit. Look for a clear method for testing subject lines and openers. Ask if they use parallel dialers or power dialers where it makes sense. If every client gets the same copy-paste playbook, your results will be average at best. - Prioritize Quality Over Sheer Volume
More dials don’t automatically mean more revenue. At LevelUp Leads, we design our outreach around calendar quality. A stuffed calendar with unqualified calls hurts your sales team more than it helps. Ask partners how they handle “not a fit” conversations, do they push for a meeting anyway, or do they disqualify gracefully?
Common Mistakes Companies Make When They Hire SDR Support
Even great vendors can’t save a broken approach. Avoid these common traps:
- Mistake 1: Treating SDRs as a Magic Switch
Outbound takes iteration. If you expect fully ramped results in two weeks, you’ll be disappointed and tempted to churn just as the learning curve kicks in. Give the pilot 60-90 days to mature. - Mistake 2: Choosing Purely on Price
The cheapest outsourced option often means inexperienced reps and spray and pray tactics. The real cost isn’t the monthly fee, it’s burning your Total Addressable Market (TAM). If a cheap vendor blasts your top 1,000 prospects with irrelevant, poorly written emails, you haven’t just wasted money; you’ve burned your reputation with the people you need to close most. - Mistake 3: Under-Supporting Your Partner
“Here’s a list, go get ’em” is not a strategy. Your partner needs input from your best AEs, clarity on which deals to clone, and honest feedback on meeting quality. The more context you share, the more they sound like you. - Mistake 4: Ignoring the AE Handoff
You can have a great SDR program and still lose revenue if your AEs aren’t prepared for the calls or if notes aren’t carried over. Winning setups treat the SDR → AE handoff as a critical relay pass, not an afterthought.
Final Take: Don’t Just Hire SDRs, Build a System Around Them
Whether you build in-house or go with an outsourced SDR team, the principles of success are the same: Be specific about who you want to reach, align on what a good meeting looks like, and optimize for held, qualified conversations.
If you want help building that kind of engine – not just renting a few callers, the team at LevelUp Leads can support you. We specialize in outbound programs where your message, your ICP, and our SDR team work together to create the one thing every sales org needs more of: consistent, high-quality conversations with the right buyers.
